This workshop introduced participants to Kusudama, a traditional Japanese paper form historically associated with protection, well-being, and the symbolic holding of positive intentions.

Rather than approaching origami only as a technique to be learned, I designed the workshop as a quiet participatory experience centred on making, mindfulness, and personal meaning. Through a guided folding process, each participant gradually constructed their own Kusudama while discovering the geometry, repetition, and patience embedded in the practice.

The object became a personal container for intention. Participants were invited to write a wish or thought and place it within their Kusudama, transforming the finished form into something that could symbolically hold and protect what they wanted to carry forward.

Hosted in the intimate setting of @studiothirteen_dxb, Dubai, the workshop created a temporary space away from the pace of everyday life where Japanese craft, individual reflection, and collective making could come together.