Class

Forge: a Craft Seminar with Naoko Fujimoto (Let’s Create Haiga!)

The goal of this class is for students to create their Haiga – a short poem and illustration – it does not require advanced art skills and materials. Haiga is usually represented by black ink, so students need paper and a pen. They will learn about the difference between waka and haiku poems.

Waka is the oldest Japanese poetry format, and haiku was invented relatively recently. We will study the differences between the two formats and how the waka concept was reformed into haiku. For example, Matsuo Bashō reused a waka in his haiku. In a way, he resurrected an old poem into a contemporary poem. Students may borrow concepts from their favorite poems and lyrics into a three-line short poem, or their own poems. I will navigate the writing process. Haiga is a poem with an illustration. If students draw something identical to the poem, the haiga may fail. We will also talk about the relationship between words and images. We will see examples of old haiga by Hinaya Ryuho, who lived around the same era as Matsuo Bashō.

Please submit this request form at least two to three weeks in advance if you have any accessibility requests for this class. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.