Visit to the National Gallery of Victoria

On Wednesday 18th March 30 members and friends of the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International attended a 'floor-talk' at the National Gallery of Victoria given by Wayne Crothers, curator of Asian Art. He took us through the beautiful exhibition of textiles and ceramics in the current, Mingei Exhibition, in the Pauline Gandal Gallery of Japanese Art. One of the objects on display is a large ceramic vessel that you can see by clicking on the following link: Shigaraki storage vessel. Craft work of this kind inspired the artists of the mingei movement to create beautiful handmade work for daily living.

We then went to the temporary exhibition space where Mr Crothers spoke to us about the modern sculpture by Takahiro Iwasaki that was commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria called Reflection Model Itsukushima

If you click on the blue text you can read Wayne Crothers extensive essay Reflection Model Itsukyshima. 

WHITE MATTER and GREY MATTER

At the monthly meeting on 10th March members were treated to a presentation by Dr David Finkelstein from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. He gave a fascinating presentation about research into and treatment of Parkinson's Disease and also spoke about Alzheimer's Disease. His emphasis was on encouraging affected people everywhere to ensure they were seeking expert advice and only using evidence based treatments. Following his presentation there was a lively question and answer session, followed by a review of the ikebana created that morning on the theme 'White and Grey Matter'. Three examples are shown below

Lee Johnstone - Sogetsu School

Rosemary Farrelly - Ohara School

Philip Keon - Sogetsu School

Further photographs click: White matter and Grey Matter .



A reminder. There is an additional Chapter activity on March 18th. Wayne Crothers, Curator of Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, will give a 'lecture tour' of the current Mingei Exhibition in the Pauline Gandel Gallery of Japanese Art and of the 'Reflection Model Itsukushima' contemporary sculpture in the Rio Tinto temporary exhibitions space. The tour begins at 2.00pm. Please advise Helen Gray if you wish to attend

Memories of Summer Holidays

The first meeting for 2015 was held on Tuesday 10th February. The ikebana theme was 'Memories of Summer Holidays'. Christopher James gave a demonstration in which he used materials gathered locally to his seaside home. He spoke of his memories, going back to childhood, of the beach, sand dunes and cliffs where materials are strongly affected by the elements: hot summer sun, salt air and prevailing winds. The materials he used were: driftwood, cushion bush (leucophyta brownii) and marrum grass seed heads.

 Below is the finished arrangement in a ceramic vase.

Other members had their own individual responses to the theme:

Thea Sartori arranged berries in a tall bottle shaped vase.

Margaret Wilson used a glass bowl to show the lines of blackberry stems and a mass of fruit cascading down the side of the bowl.

Chieko Yazaki, who spent the January holiday period in Japan, had memories of snow covering plants that were waiting for the promise of springtime.

Click on the coloured text for further photos of 'Memories of Summer Holidays' arrangements. 

The next meeting is on March 10th at Toorak Uniting Church Hall at 10.30 am. The theme is: 'White and Grey Matter' with a speaker from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. 

Please note that there is an additional Chapter activity on March 18th. Wayne Crothers, Curator of Asian Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, will give a 'lecture tour' of the current Mingei Exhibition in the Pauline Gandel Gallery of Japanese Art and of the 'Reflection Model Itsukushima' contemporary sculpture in the Rio Tinto temporary exhibitions space. The tour begins at 2.00pm. If you wish to meet other members for lunch look out for them near the information desk in the Federation Court, inside the main entrance to the gallery at 1.00pm.