Speeches
Tuesday, 07 April 2026
Launch of Tomoko Fuse Exhibition
I am pleased to join you for the launch of ‘The Origami Art of Tomoko Fuse’.
As Hawke Centre patron, this is the first exhibition I’ve attended since the launch of the new Adelaide University, and I thank the Centre’s staff for all their hard work to ensure a successful transition.
Japan has left a deep imprint on my family and on my own life.
In his teens, my brother was an exchange student in Japan, and still visits from time to time, making good use of his Japanese language skills.
My father, as a young businessman in the 1960s, made regular visits to Japan and came home with presents and stories that brought the country alive for me long before I ever set foot there.
He gave my sister, brother and I our first origami paper and taught us how to use it, very simply.
I have always admired the unique combination of beauty and precision in the tradition of origami, as well as other Japanese contemplative art forms, such Ikebana and Zen gardening.
If you haven’t been already Tomoko, I recommend you visit the Adelaide Himeji Garden on South Terrace, among other tourist attractions.
It’s a tranquil corner of our city, reflecting our more than 40-year sister city relationship with Himeji.
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Japan several times as a diplomat, and I look forward with great anticipation to my second visit to Japan as Governor this coming June.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Australia and Japan, a milestone honouring five decades of growing ties, mutual respect, cooperation and cultural connection.
It’s been my privilege to play a role in contributing, along with many others over the years, to the deepening of Australia’s relationship and indeed our friendship with Japan.
Tomoko’s exhibition here in Adelaide reflects aspects of what that relationship has, and will continue, to produce.
Tomoko, your work is truly striking, and I thank you for bringing it to Adelaide to share with South Australians.
I’m intrigued to explore your work closely today, and to examine how your practice bridges art, mathematics, and architecture, transforming simple sheets of paper into spirals, tessellations, knots – a testament to precision and imagination.
Your work also reveals origami's potential, far beyond its traditional associations.
I was interested to learn about the impact of origami in the space sector, a sector of significance to the relationship between Australia and Japan.
The Miura fold, invented by Japanese astrophysicist Kōryō [KOH-RYOH] Miura, has enabled enormous solar arrays to be compacted inside rockets and then unfold in orbit, and is now used across the space sector – and in other technological endeavours – internationally.
Speaking of compaction, I thank Tomoko, the Hawke Centre and everyone involved in the logistics of bringing these from artworks overseas to Adelaide.
Packing, folding, and assembling the works is no doubt an extensive task, requiring much attention to detail!
Tomoko, I trust you will enjoy your time in Adelaide and I thank you for holding workshops with students and the public while here, sharing your knowledge and skills with South Australians.
I thank the Japan Australia Friendship Association for its role in helping to bring about this exhibition, and for promoting it through their networks.
May we all today experience the meditative beauty of origami, the joy of creativity, and gain a deeper understanding of Japanese art and culture, all while celebrating an important 50th anniversary.
It is now my pleasure to declare ‘The Origami Art of Tomoko Fuse’ officially open.