Harmony through flowers

Japanese aroma

A demonstration of ‘Ohara Ikebana’, a style of Japanese flower arrangement, was conducted recently at the Citrus Cunningham Hotel by the Grandmaster of the Ohara school of Japan, Yoshiko Ishibashi.

The event was held to mark the silver jubilee of the Bangalore Chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana.

Tadashi Hasegawa, the Security and Cultural Officer, was one of the guests.
 
A heady aroma of exotic flowers lingered in the banquet hall as Ishibashi demonstrated a variety of styles like ‘Rimpa’, ‘Bijun’, colour-scheme ‘Moribana’, Radial and free-style forms.

The event started with an invocation and the president of the Bangalore chapter went on to introduce Ishibashi’s work describing her arrangements as ‘exquisite’.

Certificates were distributed to students of the Bangalore Chapter before the  demonstration.

A brief history of Ikebana was also given by her.

Ikebana dates back to a Japanese art form, centuries ago, and its asymmetrical forms are its unique feature.

The art form creates a sense of harmony among the compositions and the setting of the flowers.

Ikebana shares its aesthetics with traditional Japanese paintings and architectures through materials like flowers, leaves, twigs, grasses, moss and fruit.

Ishibashi described different styles of flower arrangements and said, “After a flower arrangement, it’s nice to see the different feel a flower takes.”

Pointing to a freestyle arrangement, Ishibashi said that the Japanese style has been tweaked a little to suit Indian tastes.

“The arrangement consists of Hamelia flowers, Crotons and Brachia leaves. There is also a display of twigs, branches and arecanut seeds, with gold and silver decorative items. Though people may consider such materials as rubbish, they come in useful during flower arrangements.”  

Another arrangement, that was in ‘rimpa’ style, included Heliconia, coffee berries from Chikmagalur and bottle-brush leaves.

Ishibashi then demonstrated a simple flower arrangement in the ‘moribana’ style by first fixing leaves and twigs in wine glasses, trimming branches and cutting leaves with her hand.

The audience was amazed at her eye for detail, precision and most importantly, patience.

Ishibashi said, “The flowers in India are beautiful and look great for flower arrangements as we have a wide variety like roses, lilies and jasmine.”

During the process, the entire arrangement seemed haphazard but the outcome had a pleasing and visual appeal.

She gave out a few tips for cutting and trimming during the arrangement and the care that one must take while selecting plants.

“It is important to enjoy nature and to study the modern progressions of flowers and the art through history,” she added.

The ceremony was mainly to bring about awareness in the Japanese traditional art form and strengthen ties between the two countries on the cultural fronts.

Through a confluence of nature’s beauty and manmade techniques, the art mainly develops a relationship of its own, in the end, independent of its form in the natural world.