Themes in vases
Sogetsu School of Ikebana, Bangalore, the authorised branch of the renowned Sogetsu School of Japan, organised an exotic exhibition called Suzumi, recently at the Ladies’ Club in the City.
Actress Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the exhibition. “Flowers bring beauty to the eyes and this exhibition has blown me away,” she said.
There were nearly 60 admirable flower arrangements created by the members of Sogetsu School. The flower arrangements were thematic. Some were done based on themes like serenity, passion, global peace and nature and were placed in a very artistic manner using both flowers as well as beautiful vases.
Exotic flowers like hanging heliconias, bilbergias, chrysanthemums, asparagus, bird of paradise, cala lilies and anthoriums were used. Each and every Ikebana
was done by co-ordinating it with the height, form, and colour.
Jyothi Anantha, who is the director of the school as well as the creator of some of the Ikebana, said, “A lot of effort goes into the making of an Ikebana and it is more
like a stressbuster when we involve ourselves in making these pieces. At the end of it, we feel really nice to see our effort taking an enchanting form.”
Nirmala Narayana paid a tribute to Michael Jackson through one of her creations. The one which attracted the most attention was the one which had malformation from the chikkoo tree, made in the form of a merry-go-round. Some Ikebana were done in tall containers, traditionally known in Japanese as Nageier, and some in shallow containers which are known as Moribana.
Some were done by keeping in mind Japanese traditional principles like Shin, Soe and Haiki, which means heaven, man and earth.
The flowers used for the Ikebana were in odd numbers and most of them were done in free style. The Ikebanas were adorned with baskets, dried creepers, branches, pebbles, bamboos, Japanese fans, small boats, artificial cherries, images of Ganesha and dried straws.