European
Air Gallery a unique collection of Edo Kites painted by European artists
The
collection is now owned by North East Kite Fliers, a kite club based in the
North East of England. The collection was a gift to the club in March 1998 from
Sunderland City Council, who wanted these unique kites to stay in the North East
and continue to be exhibited or flown at Sunderland’s own International Kite
festival held at Washington, Tyne and Wear, UK, at the beginning of July each
year.
The
European Air gallery was an innovation promoted by Sunderland City Council early
in 1994 when the first phase of the project was launched. The inspiration for
the project came from the Hague Air gallery in Holland where some years ago
Gerard van der Loo in collaboration with Els Lubbers initiated a wonderful air
gallery of Edo style kites painted by many well known Dutch artists. This
original Hague Air Gallery gained an international reputation and was an
inspiration to many kite makers and artists alike across the world.
Sunderland
City Council with its team of enthusiastic workers from the Department of
Education and Community Services found sponsorship for this project and this has
culminated in the production of 22 of these unique works of art. Gerard van der
Loo gave guidance to the team and made the kite sails and frames at his kite
shop, Vlieger Op in Holland. The project achieved its full potential during The
Year of the Visual Arts in 1996. Sunderland City Council staff has taken the
kites to many European venues to display and fly with the help of locally
trained volunteers. In the UK, the kites have been displayed at a number of
venues including Newcastle and Stanstead airports and in the Civic Centre and
Central Library in Sunderland. Each year they have been flown at The Sunderland
International Kite Festival.
In
1997 Sunderland City Council felt that the Kite Collection had achieved all the
objectives set for the project and therefore the council offered the collection
to North East Kite Fliers, the present owners of the Kites.
North
East Kite Fliers accepted the gift and will endeavour to continue to promote the
collection and Sunderland’s role in the origination of the collection and the
wonderful work done by the original team. The club will display or fly the kite
whenever possible, in particular at Sunderland’s International Kite Festival.
Basic
technical information about the kites:
The
kites are based on the Japanese Edo Kite with the sails made in rip-stop nylon.
The
frames are made from detachable fibre glass and carbon fibre spars.
The
kites are rectangular standing 2.4 metres tall and 1.4 metres wide.
The
kites have 17 bridle/flying lines about 30 metres long, arranged in two groups,
each terminating in a padded wrist strap, the top group ends in a red strap and
when pulled causes the kite to climb, the other strap is yellow and is the
handle for descent. The bridle lines all pass through a plastic grid to keep
them separated and running free. The ascent and descent of the kites can be
controlled using the two handles but very little control can be exerted on any
lateral flight. This system of two handle control was devised by the Vlieger Op
team in Holland.
The
sails have been painted with a special Dupont paint Teflon, the brand name of
the paint is Lucite Household Paint manufactured in Germany. It is imported into
this country and is available in a limited range of colours but not in small
tins. It is a water-based paint and in Holland the Dutch suppliers will mix
almost any colour. Whilst it is an expensive paint probably around £12 to £15
a litre, a little goes a long way.
More
detail are available from the North East Kite Fliers
Pete
Sturrs 7 Tiverton Place, Parkside Grange, Cramlington. NE23 1PT
Tel
01670 732705
E-mail pete@sturrs.freeserve.co.uk
