straw

Autumn is the rice harvest season in Japan. Every year, farmers make sure that the leftover rice straw, known as "wara", does not go to waste. Japanese artist, Niigata, has found a very creative way of using these leftover rice husks by hosting an annual event called "Wara Art Festival". Ever since 2008, the straw has been used as a material to make giant sculptures exhibited at Uwasekigata Park. All of the monuments are handcrafted out of wooden rods that serve as the spine of the sculptures and dried straw molded on the frame. Each handicraft takes about a week to be completed. Via: Design you trust

Fall is a season of harvesting, and festivals to celebrate it are currently taking place all over the world. In Northern Japan, the Wara Art Festival recently rang in the September-October rice season, and it's a wildly inventive and fun way to repurpose rice straw left over from the harvest.