Walking in the area of Zamalek in Cairo, one scene of New Year decorations will mesmerise you: 1000 colorful origami cranes strewn above the trees.
The initiative is by the Arthropologie Gallery, aimed at enhancing community work and spreading a message of peace in 2012.
One thousand origami crane figures became a sign of peace since the story of six-year-old Sadako Sasaki, who was suffering from leukemia after the atomic bombing in Hiroshima in 1945 and made 1000 figures in order to get well.
“It is my belief that my small paper crane will enable you to understand other people's feelings, as if they are your own,” Sadako said before her death on 25 October 1955.
“We wanted to display art outside,” said Lina Abdallah, one of the project’s organisers. “We had many people join the workshop, including children and adults, who showed great enthusiasm.”
“We are hoping to make more workshops of this sort,” she continued.
Many passersby marveled at the scene and took photographs of the decorations, largely unfamiliar in Cairo.
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