International Kite Festivals
Recent trips to two international kite festivals point out the value of travel as well as the dynamic nature of the kite world. After a frenzied weekend wedding of my daughter, Kathleen, it was off to Dieppe, France for the second half of the festival there, and about two weeks later, there I was in Buffalo, New York for the Niagara international kite festival. Seeing old friends and catching up on the happenings of their lives is always the first priority – it seems I know many of these people far better than my next-door neighbors – but actually accomplishing Drachen Foundation business happens, too.
In France, it was exciting to see the continuing impact of traditional materials on contemporary European kite makers. In the main display tent were two Austrian artists demonstrating their kite making. They had been students of Anna Rubin and Robert Trepanier in a Foundation workshop in Horn, Austria, 3 years ago. Their work was exciting, interesting, and unique and was complemented by the fantastic work of Claude Lea Comallonga who uses stunning combinations of natural materials – seed pods, leaves, bark – to make a variety of lovely kites. The festival featured its normal competition, with the overall theme of sound, and I was a bit disappointed in the official results. But it did lead me to Robert Trepanier, who has been doing workshops with children making windmills. His innovative approach has kids making working windmills that demonstrate the amount of energy it takes to power everyday appliances. A great teaching tool for today’s classroom!
Dieppe offered another opportunity to check in with the foremost experts in the historical kite world. Thierry Ninot (France), Jan Desimpelaere (Belgium), Nico van den Berg (The Netherlands), and Paul Chapman ( England), all offered opinions on the “oldest kite” held by the Foundation. It was also a chance to talk with Paul Chapman, who with Jean Roberts and Simon Bond from Drachen had just analyzed the Foundation’s Cody photo archive – a huge task. Future collaborations were also discussed, from Cody plans to historic kite flying at Spa.
Niagara, New York offered similar opportunities: kite-history-buff Meg Robinson, who also organized the event, found an interesting contemporary article in a contemporary history magazine that chronicles the exploits of Homan Walsh. Meg also asked that I present a short talk about the Drachen Foundation. This was the perfect opportunity (since he was in the room!) to introduce Thom Shanken and talk about his forensic work on Peter Lynn’s “world’s oldest kite”. Additionally, it was learned that the University of Buffalo may well be interested in doing research on the kite. Serendipity, for sure! Catching up on kite stamps with Russ Mozier, the Bell Centennial with Bob White and Gary Marks, the politics of the AKA with Dave Gomberg were all highlights of the trip. And there was kite inspiration, as well; stay tuned for a festival-kite collaboration with the help of Jon Trennepohl!
Big thanks to Ben Dantonio for making the Rev 20 th anniversary bash in Bristol England such a huge success!
- Scott Skinner
(Photo by Axel Kostros)