TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - During the month of March, The University of Alabama will celebrate the 17th annual Sakura Festival, a festival that promotes the understanding of Japanese culture. The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library will sponsor a special exhibit in conjunction with Sakura.

From March 3 - 31, the exhibit “Alabama Kozo: The Art and Science of Japanese Papermaking,” will be on display in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, on the second floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall. This exhibit illustrates the unique art and science of Japanese papermaking, from the tree to finished paper.

The exhibit is curated by Leigh Holden, Master of Fine Arts candidate in the Book Arts at UA, along with Jessica Lacher-Feldman of the Hoole Library. Kozo is the Japanese word for mulberry, which is the type of tree used in this papermaking technique. Kozo also is used to describe this particular style of papermaking.

The exhibit features selected examples of Japanese style papers and books from the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and private collections, including materials from Glenn House, professor emeritus for the UA Book Arts Program, and who initially discovered Kozo in Alabama in the early 1980s. Also on display are Japanese paper making tools, photographs and other items.

There also will be Japanese cultural items on display during the month, including a 16th century map from the Warner Map Collection and materials from the Lafcadio Hearn Collection at the Hoole Library. Hearn was an author who is best known today in Japan. He immigrated to Japan at the turn of the 20th century and published numerous translations of Japanese folktales. His writings today are widely known by Japanese schoolchildren, who are first introduced to English through Hearn’s writings.

This year’s theme of the Sakura Festival is Takara, or “treasure.” The celebration will inspire reflection on the special treasures of life, spiritual or material.

For more information, contact the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library at 205/348-0500 or archives@bama.ua.edu.