That’s a wrap in Newport

We’ve all experienced a kid who snubs a carefully chosen gift in favor of playing with the box it came in. 

But the importance of wrapping extends far beyond the fickle preferences of pint-sized recipients, as will become clear in a presentation at Newport’s Pacific Maritime Heritage Center this Sunday, May 18

In “Wrapping Customs in East Asia: From Glass Floats to Furoshiki,” curator Sachiko Otsuki will cover wrapping customs and the aesthetics embedded in Japanese and East Asian cultures. 

One custom that will be explored is Furoshiki in Japanese, or Bojagi in Korean — a square cloth used for wrapping and carrying objects, which functions as a bag. Currently, Furoshiki is in the spotlight globally, as an ecological alternative to non-reusable kinds of bags. But, beyond functioning as a reusable transport method, cloth has played an important role for special occasions and in daily life.

This talk will also introduce some examples of wrapped objects, from glass floats on display in the Float Odyssey exhibit.

Finding glass floats is a big attraction for beachcombers all along the Northwest coastline, including Oregon Coast beaches. In the 1960s and ’70s, people found Japanese glass floats washed up more often than now. Some glass floats found were wrapped in rope. The rope’s function was to keep the glass float with its fishing nets and traps and to help protect the floats. While the rope had a practical purpose, some might find a sense of beauty in it.

Sunday’s presentation, a collaboration between the Lincoln County Historical Society and Oregon Coast Community College, will run from 2 to 3 pm at 333 SE Bay Blvd., with admission by donation. For more information, call 541-265-7509 or go to www.oregoncoasthistory.org.