All wrapped up on Japanese Day

June 10, at our monthly general meeting, the theme was "How to wrap." Our Japanese members demonstrated with furoshiki, wrapping dishes, bottles and other items in their elegant Japanese cloths. Then they patiently helped the rest of us as we also tried. It is not easy to achieve a tidy, interesting design!







 A light lunch was welcome after our efforts......














The Japanese Consul-General, Ms Haneda, who is also our Patron, visited.




 






















Some diary notes :

Our next general meeting will be at Toorak Uniting Church Hall,  603 Toorak Road, Toorak, on July 8.
Jane Sawyer from the Slow Clay Centre will discuss ceramics, including her time studying in Japan. Doors will be open from 9.30. The meeting will commence at 19.30. Why not bring an arrangement in your favourite hand-made ceramic container?

The Annual Exhibition of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International will be held at the Gasworks Park in South Melbourne from 12th -17th August. All schools will be represented. This is the same venue as last year. More details about this in the next post.

Melbourne Sogetsu turns 50 !

Members of the Sogetsu school, as well as other ikebana devotees, were feted by Mr Tetsunori Kawana's  demonstration at Deakin Edge auditorium in Federation Square on May 21, 2014.
After welcoming the new Japanese Consul-General, Ms Keiko Haneda, and the 200 assembled guests, Mr Kawana congratulated the Chapter on its achievements. He then created a series of arrangements for public spaces. As a finale the large-scale piece which is pictured below was completed.
The dynamic bamboo structure had been erected earlier in the day and echoed the geometric framework of Deakin Edge. It also took advantage of the raked wooden structure at the back of the stage to cascade down towards the audience. A team of helpers (in black) were required to add the finishing touches, under the guidance of the visiting Master (in white evening shirt).

More photos of the event can be seen by clicking on the following link

https://picasaweb.google.com/100500534150448885234/Sogetsu50?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLmj6qiRrbv9cA&feat=directlink

A few days later we had a series of four workshops. Sogetsu practitioners from New Zealand and other states joined the Melbourne group.
There were 60 -70 people at each workshop. As usual the advice given by Mr Kawana as he painstakingly moved around the room making corrections offered invaluable insights.
Pictured are two arrangements from the workshop, for which the brief was to create a work in a suiban (shallow container) without using a kenzan (pin-holder).

The work in process. What a sea of material !! You can sense the concentrated effort...................




Some dates for your diary

The next general meeting of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International on Tuesday June 10 will be held at the usual venue, Toorak Uniting Church Hall, 603 Toorak Road, Toorak (to the west of the church).
The meeting proper will start at 10.30 but the doors will be open from 9.30 - giving time to meet and set up arrangements, if you wish.
The theme this month is Japanese Day. The Japanese ladies in our group will demonstrate wrapping with traditional Japanese furoshiki. Bring items to wrap and arrangements in this style.
There will be a light lunch to follow.


The Melbourne Chapter of Ikenobo is pleased to announce that Professor Hirotaka Furukawa from the Ikenobo headquarters in Kyoto, Japan will give a demonstration on Thursday 4th September 2014, from 7 pm to 9.30 pm at the Ballroom, Rippon Lea, 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick. Cost :$25

Professor Furukawa will also conduct an Ikenobo Ikebana Free Style Workshop on Saturday 6th September, 2014 from 12.30 pm until 4 pm, at the Tivoli German Club, 291 Dandenong Road, Windsor. Cost $20.
For further information : ikenobo.melbournevictoria@yahoo.com.au