Wara art is the Japanese art of making large sculptures from rice straw.
Wara art in Japan
Traditionally, rice straw was used for making tatami mats and other objects. At the beginning of the 21st century, these objects were increasingly replaced by manmade materials, leaving rice farmers with a problem, namely what to do with the rice straw.
In 2007, the farming community in
Niigata prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...
, Japan, a major rice growing prefecture, asked Professor Shingo Miyajima of the Department of Science and Design at the
Musashino University
is an institution of higher education in Ariake, a district in Kōtō, Tokyo, with a suburban campus in Nishitōkyō. Musashino University is uniquely focused on the ideals associated with the Hongwanji Jodo Shinshu School of Buddhism.
Histo ...
to find a creative solution for the problem.
He suggested using the straw to create sculptures of animals supported by a wooden frame. This straw art is called in Japan, wara art, “wara” meaning rice straw.
Since 2007, there have been annual festivals of wara art in Niigata prefecture,
York, Western Australia
York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...
as part of the annual York Festival. There are seven statues in York. They were constructed by Australian fibre artists and Japanese wara artists brought to Australia as part of Japanese/ Australian art exchanges, assisted by many volunteers. As there is no rice straw in Western Australia, the York sculptures are made from wheat straw sourced from a York farm that still harvests in
stook
A stook /stʊk/, also referred to as a shock or stack, is an arrangement of sheaves of cut grain-stalks placed so as to keep the grain-heads off the ground while still in the field and before collection for threshing. Stooked grain sheaves are ...
s.Information supplied by the Wara Art Japan foundation and York Arts & Events, Inc.