The delicate art of Ikebana

Posted by: westiemamamelbourne on: May 13, 2009

• In: Flowers | Gardening
• 6 Comments

On the weekend I had the priviledge of attending the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International.

For those of you that don’t know, Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of flower arrangement. But this is not simply putting some flowers in a vase. There are many different schools of Ikebana with different approaches, different rules, different philosophies… a whole world!

My Mum recently took up the mantle as president of the Adelaide
Chapter of Ikebana International. They have a small group of just 14 members but of these 14, 11 of them are active members – they are regularly invited to run workshops, run demonstrations, and display their ‘constructions’ at various events, flower festivals, gardening festivals, cultural events, art galleries, you name it!

The Melbourne Chapter if the biggest in the country. They have been going strong for 50 years and have almost 100 members.

Many of the members of the association are older, and what a wealth of knowledge and experience they have! Would you just have a look at some of their ‘constructions’ as they call them – and they really are constructions. Truly sculptural! As the members get older, the chapters are growing concerned about finding new and younger members to teach their skills to and to continue to promote the art form. Unfortunately it can also be an expensive hobby because flowers can be costly. Though in its own way this makes these artists think outside the square, and encourages them to use other found objects to transform in their pieces. This is especially the case in the Sogestsu school who seem to take a more modern approach

Who ever thought you could make THIS out of newspaper?

Look at these other beauties!

If you’d like to find out more contact your local Ikebana International chapter.

Melbourne Chapter have a website here.

If you are in Melbourne you may also be interested in heading down to the NGV to see the magnificent giant contemporary bamboo sculpture installation called ‘Five Elements – Water’ that is currently being completed by Master Tetsunori Kawana (who has been especially brought out from Japan to construct it). You can see more details on the NGV website here.

If you are in ADELAIDE and would like to find out more drop me a line and I will give you their email details.