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Yuki Tatsumi was a waiter in a Japanese tavern in Kyoto when one day he was surprised by the object that a customer was leaving on the table, a paper envelope for the sticks folded abstractly. And so was born a collection of 15,000 pieces of origami
They were created by restaurant customers with the piece of paper on which are used disposable toothpicks .
"This first piece may have ended up in the trash," recalls the 27-year-old.But this made him think. "And if it was a message sent by customers?" Suddenly, removing the tables became fun. "
In Japan, it's not usual to leave pieces to the waiters, but Tatsumi ends up thinking that these little pieces of paper was something like a board" to the Japanese "and began to wait more and more.
He soon discovered that there was an immense variety of these miniobra of art left behind by the diners. Nothing surprising in a country where the art of origami (folded paper) is a hugely popular hobby that is even taught at school.
"I discovered that many of them had shapes that, in Japan, wore luck, a crane or a turtle," he says. "I even saw a table turned into an aquarium, with folded papers shaped like fish and seaweed. "
Delighted with these discoveries, he decided to look elsewhere and asked other restaurants to give him those little gifts left by the clients
An exhibition in Paris?
In April 2016, he undertook a one-year tour to Japan, asking hundreds of restaurants, taverns and noodle stands. to share with him his folded envelopes
There were reactions of all kinds from the owners of the establishments, between curiosity and suspicion.At the end, 185 companies, from the northern island of Hokaido in Okinawa comarcas in the south, promised to keep everything they could find to send them to him
"Many restaurateurs who have helped me said that they now felt much more gratifying than a tip with money," said Tatsumi
Currently, he works as a researcher in an art museum in Kameoka, near Kyoto, and has about 15,000 pieces, each of which is stored in a wooden box, as if it was a jewel.
Many are simple: a stick of paper rested, for example. But others are much more elaborate, like a little black and white dress or a blue envelope folded in the shape of a snake.
He sees a way of communication between customers and servers and is worried to think that there are more and more restaurants "In a restaurant and with a machine, I do not think that this makes you want to make objects, I really believe that they are created only when people communicate directly ",
Tatsumi has already exhibited his trophy collection in Japan and plans to present it in Paris or Korea. South this year
"Japan is a very rich country, where you can find something to eat anywhere and any where, but I've got it. impression that people experience less gratitude than before for what they have and for those who prepare the food, "he says.
"Money is not the only way to express positive feelings." (I)
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