The OrigamiUSA Annual Convention for 2009 was held at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, June 26-30, 2009.

The Experience

The complete convention experience includes:

  • Survival Kit with tote bag full of origami paper and other goodies
  • OrigamiUSA 2009 Origami Collection (book of diagrams)
  • OrigamiUSA 2009 T-shirt (see right)
  • Friday Open House
  • Saturday & Sunday classes
  • Saturday evening showing of "Between The Folds" (see below)
  • Monday classes and presentations
  • Monday night dinner
  • Tuesday mini-conference on "Origami Copyright"

Registration will be mailed and online registration opened in early May 2009. See the menu to the left for everything that's going on at Convention 2009!

Special Guests

Our special guests this year will be Carmen Sprung from Germany and Dave Brill from England.

Carmen is an innovative creator and excellent teacher who specializes in sophisticated modulars and elegant objects. She especially loves to create stars, which she calls "a wonderful combination of aesthetics and geometry, like mandalas they are perfect for relaxing."

And everyone knows Dave, of course, as a respected artist and creator, and author of Brilliant Origami. A successful painter, he says that he is "still intrigued by the endless possibilities available to the origami artist. I gain immense pleasure from seeing and discovering new interpretations of over-familiar subjects and techniques. I'm intrigued by unexpected movements of the paper while folding, and I am attracted by its warmth and tactile qualities."

Join us at the convention to meet these two wonderful, innovative and personable origami personalities.

Between the Folds

Vanessa Gould's film about origami, Between the Folds, has been completed, and is making the festival circuit to great acclaim and sold-out crowds. We're very pleased that Vanessa has agreed to present the film at the convention. There will be two showings Saturday evening, at 8:30 and 10:00. First come, first served to the capacity of the Auditorium, and no one will be admitted after the film starts. In addition, we will be selling DVDs of a Limited Edition Director's Cut version of the film in the Gold Mine. Vanessa will be available after each showing to answer questions and autograph your DVDs. This is an opportunity not to be missed! The DVDs will also be available via the Sorry Kit form, but will not be available after convention.

For more information about the film, and to see a trailer, go to www.greenfusefilms.com.

Note: in order to ensure that people have time to attend the Annual Meeting and have dinner before the showings, we will start the Annual Meeting on time this year. If you're late, you'll miss some important information, and also miss out on some wonderful door prizes!

Copyright Conference

On Tuesday, at the American Museum of Natural History Kaufmann Auditorium, we will present the 2nd International Conference on Copyright in Origami. The meeting will be free to members and $25 for non-members (tickets sold at the door). Please let us know in advance if you plan to attend by checking the appropriate box on the Convention Registration page.

There will be a brief lunch period. You can get lunch at the Museum Food Court or at one of the nearby restaurants, or to save time you can order a box lunch for $10. The lunch choices are available on the registration page.