I’m excited to be part of the Collaborative Wood Project again, organised by the IWCS (International Wood Culture Society) which this year will take place in Kathmandu, Nepal in March 2016. Running alongside World Wood Day I will be working with 19 other woodcarvers from around the world to create a sculpture together, to be exhibited at the Royal Nepal Academy in Kathmandu. Due to the earthquake last year and now the continuing blockade of essential goods coming from India it could be a challenging time, but I hope by being there we can help bring awareness to their continuing difficulties and involve local businesses and craftspeople in our project.
Jacques Vesery- USA [co-team leader]
Cillian O’Suilleabhain- IR [co-team leader]
John Van Der Kolk- Australia…
Anees Maani-Jordan/ and now Malaysia
Jon Steinolfsson- Iceland
Henry Villalobos- Costa Rica
Louise Hibbert -United Kingdom
Nathalie Groeneweg – France
Aditi Agrawal- India
Charles Chambata- Zambia
Natanahira Pona- New Zealand
Wang Haibo- China
Lukman Alade Fakeye- Nigeria
Michael Cullen- USA
Miguel Geronimo Villalba- Argentina
Shanta Tuladhar- Bungamati, Nepal
Indra Prasad [IP] Shilpakar- Bhaktapur, Nepal
Surya Bhadur Shilpakar – Bhaktapur, Nepal
Tara Prasad Ojha – Kathmandu, Nepal
Sarmila, Nepal
Part of the collaborative wood project in Kathmandu is ‘Brick by Brick’ which aims to include bricks made of wood created by woodworkers from around the world. This idea was formed when Cillian O’Suilleabhain and Jacques Versery went on a recce to Nepal and saw that there were still piles of bricks everywhere as a result of the earthquake and they thought it would be a fitting thing to have people send wooden bricks that they have made as a gesture of support and awareness of the continuing crisis. So if anyone out there is interested, the bricks need to be 21cm long x 8cm deep x 5cm high, with any carving / decoration on just one of the 21cm x 5cm sides. It would be great for people to use their native woods (nothing endangered) and to keep any colour to a minimum to create a united look. They request that you send them to Nepal before March 1st 2016 and you can ask me for the address.
Louise Hibbert 