Sixth Big Geekend held at Candie has Japanese theme
THOSE with offbeat interests came out in force at the weekend for Guernsey Museum’s sixth Big Geekend at Candie Gardens.
A Japanese theme ran through the event to tie in with the current exhibition – To Japan and Back Again – How a Corner of Guernsey Turned Japanese – which highlights the Japanese influence that James de Saumarez brought to Saumarez Park.
‘The Big Geekend is a chance to bring people who are passionate about their hobbies and interests into the museum,’ said Guernsey Museums access and learning manager Jo Dowding.
‘This is the sixth year and we always try to vary things,’ she said.
There were Japanese-themed crafts, activities and films taking place over both days.
Tomoko Nel, who is married to Alan, has lived in Guernsey for about nine years.
She was demonstrating the Japanese craft of origami, which dates from about 600 years ago.
‘When I was a child I began making paper cranes [long necked birds] out of paper with my family and friends,’ she said.
Mrs Nel said she now got many of her ideas from books and through looking on the internet.
A speciality of hers is to make miniature cranes that fit into bottles as small as about 40mm long for display.
Visitors were also given the chance to learn about many other topics including war gaming, cosplay, backgammon and manga.
They could also learn about moths, pollinators and Asian Hornets along with model trains, line dancing and much more.
The Guernsey Biological Records centre also hosted a bug hunt.
A friend of the museum who is a guinea pig and model making enthusiast designed and made eight model guinea pigs, each one only a few millimetres long, that were hidden in display cabinets around the museum for people to find.
The Guernsey Military History Company gave a display of living history, and live action role play was showcased by the Guernsey Group Tol Galen.
