Belgian Cathedral's Origami Installation will Help COVID Patients

People around the world are trying various means to raise funds to support various health means during the pandemic. An artist from Belgium has decided to use paper for the same. Belgian designer and artist Charles Kaisin has installed a flock of 20,000 multicoloured origami birds at a cathedral in Belgium aimed at raising donations for a local hospital in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The art installation is called "Origami for Life".

Suspended by thin wires from the ceiling of the medieval Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudula in Brussels, the multi-coloured birds are already attracting visitors. The creator, Klaisin had earlier asked people to make origami birds from their home to add to the installation. The paper creations came in from places as far as Hong Kong, New York, and Tokyo. The locals continue to deposit more birds in boxes set up in front of 160 shops around Brussels.

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Each bird was matched by a donation from companies across Europe raising over 100,000 Euros to develop two units for COVID-19 patients at the Erasmus hospital in Brussels. Kaisin had also organised an art auction that raised another 300,000 Euros for supporting hospitals&rsquo medical research, including studies of side effects of potential COVID-19 treatments.

&ldquoI had a very serious heart surgery and I was well taken care of by this hospital. It&rsquos why I wanted to help them,&rdquo Kaisin said.

Earlier this year, the Saint-Hubert galleries in Brussels had made a huge flower carpet made of 10,000 origami versions of the edelweiss, to raise awareness on the Rare Disease Day on 29 February, organised by the Belgian Rare Diseases Organization. Volunteers from across the country had spent weeks making origami edelweiss flowers that are considered to be rare.