About Gerardo
Gerardo Gacharná Ramírez (given name "Gerardo" and family names "Gacharná Ramírez")* works in the human and social sciences, having several years of experience as a teacher. Regarding origami, he has been seriously dedicated to this art-form since 2010. He currently has around 80 models of his own design. Some have been included in publications from Spain, England, and United States. He had founded the Neorigami collaborative blog and co-founded the Mini Neo e-fanzine. He ran the Inter-forum Useful Model Challenge in 2012 and edited the book Practigami the year after that. Now he runs the United to Fold and Foldeas activities, as well as the Diálogos Origámicos online group. Gerardo has mainly created a wide variety of practical models, including different types of containers, but has also created figurative and conceptual models. With his conceptual works, he has participated in different art calls, for example, the 2021 Revela art exhibition in his country, Colombia. Gerardo's editorial "Would a Kawasaki Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?" was added to The Fold e-zine in 2018, and in 2020, his paper "Between human and folded bodies: Examples of affection and care in Bogotá" was included in a social sciences journal. Aside from that, he was one of the special guests of the Origami Bogotá 2022 convention and received OrigamiUSA's Florence Temko innovation award in 2023.
Gerardo's goal/dream: to be a special guest at foreign in-person conventions.
Gerardo's resume
More than 100 hours of experience in origami workshops both in-person and online.
Awards & Honors
Recipient of OrigamiUSA's 2023 Florence Temko innovation award.
Special guest of Origami Bogotá 2022 (Colombia).
16th and 23rd places in the mixed media category of the Revela 2021 art contest, Bogotá (Colombia).
Groups
Origami Authors & Creators, as a member.
Community for Creators, as a member and part of the CfC3 Bogotá organizing committee.
OrigamiUSA, as the COGs (Community Origami Groups) online coordinator.
Presentations
Conceptual Origami: First Work on the Model's Subject, at Convention for Creators CfC3 in Bogotá, Colombia in 2023.
De Cajas y Sobres: Origami y el Diseño Industrial de Empaques, at World Origami Days Festival, by the Bolivian Origami Society in 2021.
Of Boxes & Envelopes: Origami and Industrial Packaging Design, for Foldeas: Sharing Ideas Through Origami in 2021.
Creating through the Frankensteinian Method in Origami, self-managed through Zoom in 2020.
Workshops at international events
Organizer with Drawers and Slides at the Origami World Marathon OWM4, in 2023.
Masu Stacking Lid at FoldFest Spring 2023, by OrigamiUSA.
Locking Paper Bag at the Origami World Marathon OWM3, in 2022.
Lady of Fashion (envelope variation), original version created by Kunihiko Kasahara, at ORIFOLD Creasing Together - 2022, by Origami Oritai (India).
Wooden Box as a guest instructor at Origami Groep Eindhoven in 2022.
Bento Box at the Practical | Puzzle | Play Origami Convention (POC1), by Origami & Beyond in 2022.
Two-Pocket Envelope at VCon Spring, by the British Origami Society BOS in 2022.
Balance at Origami Connect Winter/Spring, by OrigamiUSA in 2022.
Three Origami Ways to Divide into Thirds and 2 x 2 Envelope at Online Origami Day, by Origami Deutschland (Germany) in 2021.
Boxed Fortune Teller at VCon Autumn, by the British Origami Society BOS in 2021.
Bookend at the Origami World Marathon OWM2, in 2021.
A variation of Box with Lid 2, original version created by Philip Shen, for FUNDAPROMAT (Foundation for the Promotion of Mathematics - Panama) in 2020.
Diagrams
The following does not include diagrams or crease patterns on websites.
Memo Pad Holder in Orison, vol 39 #1, a magazine from the Netherlands in 2023 (diagrammer: Monique Kolvers).
Shopping Bag in Mini Neo #19, a fanzine in 2014 (diagrammers: Leonardo Pulido and Jens Kober).
Fireplace Bellows in Practigami, a book from 2013 (diagrammers: Alexander Oliveros and an anonymous helper).
Grabber in Practigami (diagrammers: Juan David Bernal and Polo Madueño).
Nativity Stable in Origami for Christmas, a book by BOS in Great Britain, 2013 (diagrammer: Polo Madueño).
Graciela's Toilet in Pajarita 2013 Convention Book, from AEP in Spain (diagrammer: Pere Olivella).
Thin Two-colored Pocket in Origami Collection 2012, a convention book by OrigamiUSA (diagrammers: Steven Keyser and Gerardo Gacharná R).
Books & Articles
Origami and Creative Commons Licenses in Orison, vol 39 #1, in 2023.
Between Human and Folded Bodies: Examples of Affection and Care in Bogotá in Hojas y Hablas #20, an academic journal specialized in social sciences, in 2020.
How to Better Display Folds at Origami Conventions a Community for Creators resource, in 2020.
Moderu no namae or kashō hyōka shinaide kudasai in Origami Tanteidan #171, a magazine from Japan in 2018.
Would a Kawasaki Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet? in The Fold, an electronic magazine in 2018.
Teaching Preschoolers their First Model Isn't Easy! in 4 Esquinas: Revista Latinoamericana de Origami #24, in 2018.
Behind the Scenes of the Shopping Bag: A Supposed Interview with Gerardo Gacharná in Mini Neo #19, in 2014.
Practigami, a book in 2013.
Find some original articles as well on the corresponding section, here on neorigami.com
Art exhibitions and related
The following does not include exhibitions at origami conventions.
Revela art exhibition, as one of the winners of the mixed-media category, in Bogotá, Colombia in 2021.
Works showcased in Bogografo #2, an art e-zine, in 2020.
Exhibitions in Confinement, on the Facebook page of Carta Abierta art gallery, 2020.
Origami Survival 2020 - "The Search for Meaning" online gallery, on the Facebook page of the Croatian Origami Society.
Solo exhibition, at the Colombian School of Design and Arts ESDIART in 2015.
Interviews and related
Interview with an Expert–Gerardo Gacharná, interview by Leyla Torres for Origamigos, the OrigamiSpirit membership, in 2021.
Passion for origami, a podcast for the radio station National Radio of Colombia during the 12th International Radio Biennial, in 2018.
For a web article about introducing origami to children, written for parents and caregivers, on Care.com in 2017.
Gerardo Gacharná: Useful models from Colombia, interview by Juan Arriagada for Mini Neo, an e-zine in 2012.
Projects
Foldeas (founder): Hands-on presentations related to origami with international guest-speakers, through Zoom, since 2020.
United to Fold - UnFold (founder): International folding gatherings through Zoom, since 2020.
Diálogos Origámicos (founder): a Spanish-language online group for conversing about and sharing origami, since 2020.
For FlyIt4ward: An original model (figure) for the NGO Miracle Flights fundraising campaign, in May 2016.
Mini Neo (co-founder): An origami e-zine which came out both in English and Spanish, between 2011 and 2017.
Neorigami (founder): A collaborative blog for creators to showcase their models, diagrams, and ideas, between 2011 and 2017.