Wilhelm Mueller
A biography on Wilhelm Mueller in the website of the German HIstory for Nature and Folkart of East Asia.
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A biography on Wilhelm Mueller in the website of the German HIstory for Nature and Folkart of East Asia.
Japanese Samurai Oban made into a small Edo kite. Featuring a lone samurai taking on a group of archers, with broken arrows at his feet. (10) bamboo sticks
Green Hata style fighter kite with a blue tip, created by Scott Skinner (1) fiberglass spar
Prism sport kite from Seatlle, WA. Delta shape, black with clear panels, ripstop. (6) spars
Kite tradition in the United States rests squarely upon the shoulders of Benjamin Franklin and his experiment to prove that lightning was “electrical matter.” Flying his kite during a thunderstorm, Franklin described the arc of electricity from kite-line-and-key to observers of the experiment. It has been questioned whether Franklin really carried out the experiment, but no matter, it has become a part of Franklin’s life story ,and America’s too.
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and North Africa. It encompasses the countries of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Israel, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, and its winds vary as the terrain is vast. We have general information on the history of fighter kites in much of the regions, which has lead to a resurgence in contemporary kiting in many of the countries.
The country of Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is one of Southeast Asia’s kiting mysteries. Information about the kites of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam is available, and one could easily assume that Laos has a history of kites as well.
The musical kites of Vietnam are a single, symmetrical wing, much like the Pechukan of Bali, equipped with sound-producing whistles. The dieu sao, musical kites, are also made in traditional forms like phoenix, dragons, and butterflies. In Vietnam, as in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, kites were typically flown by farmers in celebration of a successful harvest or to summon rain and good weather for their new planting.
In a continent as large as South America, many local kite traditions exist, but the most well known is the fighting-kite culture of Brazil. The small pipas are five-sided kites with a spine that protrudes forward, without a sail covering.
The guryon, a fighting kite of the Philippines, is made with protruding spikes that cut and tear the paper sail of its opponent. Another kite form similar to those found throughout the Southeast Asia area, the guryon has distinctive elliptical wings and is made with bamboo and inexpensive tissue paper. Drachen has attempted to conduct a survey of the kites of the Philippines with Orlando Ongkingco, but completion has been difficult due to political unrest.