Monday 10 September 2018

Ikebana for a Medical Reception


Shoso Shimbo and his students will exhibit their works at Wa.
6 & 7 October 2018: Wa Ikebana Exhibition and Workshops.
https://www.facebook.com/wa.ikebana/


Sogetsu School
Origin 
The Sogetsu School of Ikebana was founded in 1927 by Sofu Teshigahara.
He felt that the strict rules of traditional Ikebana did not allow for individual expression, so after studying and mastering traditional Ikebana he broke away to develop his own school.
The underlying philosophy of the Sogetsu school is summed up in a famous saying by Sofu: ‘Sogetsu Ikebana can be done by anyone, anywhere, anytime, with any kind of material.’
This inclusive and innovative approach to the study allows us to express ourselves freely through our arrangements as we are not restricted by fixed styles, unlike the more traditional ikebana schools.
Sogetsu Ikebana incorporates a wide range of styles, from home arrangements and shop window displays, to large scale works in a variety of venues. Sogetsu styles stimulate us, provide us with beauty, and share the healing powers of plants.
Sofu Teshigahara was the first headmaster (Iemoto) of the Sogetsu Ikebana school.  His daughter Kasumi, a gifted artist, was the second headmaster from 1979 until she died in 1980 at the age of 47. Her elder brother, film director Hiroshi, took over. The current headmaster is Hiroshi’s second daughter and Sofu's granddaughter, Akane Teshigahara, who took over in 2001.
The Sogetsu school was one of the first to have English textbooks. There are currently 49 branches of Sogetsu in Japan (three in Tokyo) and 120 branches and study groups worldwide.

Shoso Shimbo
Dr Shoso Shimbo is a highly accomplished Ikebana artist, sculptor and teacher. He studied Ikebana under the third Sogetsu Head Master, Hiroshi Teshigahara and also has an MA in Japanese Studies, a Master of Fine Art and PhD in Education. Shoso is a qualified garden designer (Japan Horticultural Society), specialising in Japanese gardens. 

Shoso’s skills, expertise and mastery have been recognised in the many awards and acknowledgements he has received over the years. Winner of the Gold Award at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, he was also awarded the 2017 Arnold Bloch Leibler Prize in the Yarra Valley Arts/Yering Station Sculpture Awards. He was selected by Belle Magazine as one of Australia’s Top Floral Designers and is a finalist for the Yering Station Sculpture Awards 2018. 
Shoso was a featured presenter at the Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities 2018 in Kobe, Japan. He has won an artist residency in the Biennale of Australian Art (BOAA) for October 2018. 
His recent commissions include a public work of art for the 2015 Archibald Award Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat and the Wye River Project as part of the 2016 Lorne Sculpture Biennale.
Shoso is a director of the International Society of Ikebana Studies and the Ikebana Gallery Award. He teaches a short course in Japanese Aesthetics at Melbourne’s RMIT University, along with Sogetsu Ikebana courses with students throughout the year. He has written for Ikebana and contemporary art publications and is a regular contributor to the International Journal of Ikebana Studies.
Shoso Shimbo Group
Many of Shoso’s students have qualified as ikebana teachers and begun teaching and working as ikebana artists. His students are also well represented in ikebana awards and floral exhibitions. Akemi Suzuki and Shoan Lo each exhibited large works in the shop window competition at the 2018 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, while Sophi Ye won first prize in the category of wedding table arrangement. 
Shoso’s students Shoen Loo, Elena Iampolski, Madeleine Duke, Kim Ta, Pulcheria Reeves and Aileen Duke have won Ikebana Gallery Awards, a prestigious international online competition for students of ikebana. 


Contact: Shoso Shimbo
E: shososhimbo@gmail.com
W: shoso.com.au
http://www.shoso.com.au 
https://www.facebook.com/ikebanaaustralia