Melbourne Ikebana Festival, Spring 2024ikebanafestival.com

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Mother's Day Ikebana


11:00 - 12:30, Saturday 11 May 2024

Murrumbeena, Melbourne

$100 per person

Booking



Celebrate Mother’s Day with Ikebana!

Indulge in a 90-minute Ikebana flower-arranging class with your mother. Perfect for beginners, immerse yourself in this Japanese art of flower arrangement in Melbourne.

Led by experienced teacher Shoso, you'll receive a brief introduction to Ikebana and learn the basics to kickstart your Ikebana journey. Create your own small Ikebana arrangement to take home, along with newfound knowledge and skills.

Afterward, relish Japanese tea at Shoso’s stunning Japanese garden, as featured on ABC Gardening Australia.

Please note:

  • The studio is upstairs; inform us of any mobility concerns.
  • Notify us of any pet allergies.

Join us for a memorable Mother’s Day experience!

https://www.shoso.com.au 


Sunday 11 February 2024

Shoso Valentine's Day 2024


Beyond Design Principles 

Dr. Shoso Shimbo demonstrates the creation of a straightforward Valentine's Day flower arrangement, elucidating various design principles in ikebana. This tutorial caters to both beginners and advanced ikebana enthusiasts, providing an opportunity for all to learn and experiment with ikebana arrangements. https://www.shoso.com.au 

One-hour introductory workshop: https://bit.ly/ikebanaIntro 

Melbourne Ikebana Festival: https://www.ikebanafestival.com 

Ikebana Dojo - Online ikebana learning community. Open for anyone around the world. Web: http://bit.ly/IkebanaDojo


Wednesday 13 December 2023


Tuesday 21 November 2023

Hanadayori 2023 (Part 2) - Ikebana by Request - Online Exhibtion 花信:今、世...


Hanadayori Part 1&2 Launched. 

Following is our thank you letter to the Hanadayori Artists:
Dear Hanadayori Artist,

We are delighted to announce the launch of Hanadayori 2023 Part 2. You can explore the captivating creations at [https://www.ikebanafestival.com/hanadayori-2023/hanadayori-2023-part-1-2-launched].

We extend our sincere gratitude for your valuable contribution, to showcasing ikebana's profound beauty and power to a wider audience. Your patience during the postponements is truly appreciated.

As we unveil Hanadayori 2023 Part 1 & 2, we are deeply moved by ikebana artists' genuine and respectful expressions towards viewers and those who made special requests. Our aspiration for Hanadayori was to foster a meaningful, even spiritual connection between artists and viewers, and we are thrilled to see this vision come to life in Hanadayori 2023. The project underscores that ikebana's essence lies in developing the skill to quietly speak to the soul of others through meditation on nature.

Looking ahead, we are actively working on the launch of the Hanadayori 2023 photobook. A sneak peek of the front cover is attached. We anticipate commencing the photobook sale by the end of 2023. While we aim to include all the remarkable works received, the final selection may be influenced by the quality of the photos.

Proceeds from the photobook sales will be allocated towards production costs, and any surplus (though unlikely) will contribute to the ongoing expenses of the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival.

Once again, we sincerely thank you for your cooperation in making this project an integral part of the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival. We look forward to your participation in Hanadayori 2025 and our exhibition at the festival in September 2024.

Special appreciation goes to our dedicated volunteer team and the generous support from our major sponsor, Metascent. They have crafted the Hanadayori collection, a new set of perfumes, appreciating the spirit and significance of our Hanadayori project.

Thank you for being a crucial part of the Hanadayori journey.

Warm regards,


花信にご協力いただいた方々へ

おかげさまで以下のようにHanadayori 2023 Part 2を公開することができましたのでお知らせいたします。

https://www.ikebanafestival.com/hanadayori-2023/hanadayori-2023-part-1-2-launched

世界の方々にいけばなの力を示すこの活動にご貢献いただき、誠にありがとうございました。なお、さまざまな理由により、公開が予定より遅れましたことをお詫びします。

Hanadayori 2023 Part 12を拝見し、いけばなアーティストの皆さまが鑑賞者、特にリクエストをされた方々に対し、真摯で敬意に満ちた態度で対応されていることに感銘を受けました。Hanadayoriプロジェクトがアーティストと鑑賞者との間により深い、ひいては精神的なつながりをも生み出せることを願っていましたが、この願いが叶えられたことを嬉しく思います。Hanadayori 2023は、いけばなのひとつの目標が、自然を瞑想することを通じ、他者の魂に静かに語りかけるスキルを育てることであることを明確に示しています。

現在、Hanadayori 2023の写真集の発売に向けて取り組んでいます。添付のように井口氏の作品を用いた表紙を予定しています。写真集の売上げから得た収益は、写真集の制作コストに充てられます。もし売上げが制作コストを上回る場合(それは考えにくいですが)、余剰分は和·メルボルン生け花フェスティバルの運営費用に充てさせていただきますのでご了承願います。

和·メルボルン生け花フェスティバルの重要な一環であるこのプロジェクトへのご協力に再度感謝申し上げます。Hanadayori 2025へのご参加、さらに、20249月のフェスティバルでの華展へのご参加もぜひご検討ください。

なお、当方のボランティアチームの尽力と、当プロジェクトの精神と意義を評価してくださった主要スポンサー、Metascentへもお礼申し上げます。当プロジェクトに因んだ新しい香水セット、Hanadayoriコレクションを発売し、助成していただいています。

Best Regards

Shoan Lo & Shoso Shimbo, PhD
Curators, Hanadayori 2023

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Saturday 4 November 2023


Wednesday 20 September 2023

How to Teach Ikebana (and Its Essence)


Application opens in November 2023. Book from our Schedule page. 

Visit our Curriculum page to find out why our one-year Ikebana Dojo program would help all ikebana students and teachers.  

We believe that there is a gap between basic styles and freestyles in many ikebana courses. After learning basic styles, students are encouraged to make freestyles such as "vertical arrangement" or "horizontal arrangement".  However, where is the connection between the basic and freestyles? The approach used in such courses can be called a style-based approach to freestyle ikebana. Such courses make many students confused, and will never teach the most important aspect of ikebana: Meditation. 

Unfortunately, many ikebana practitioners, in particular outside Japan, are learning freestyle ikebana using the style-based approach, copying good "designs"(or something visible), and producing ikebana-like works that lack vital energy. The style-based approach is useful in learning basic styles because you can usually follow diagrams to make a good ikebana. 

To make a good freestyle ikebana, however, you need to develop a different competence to see and actualise invisible principles through meditation. Those ikebana principles are not easily visible but recognizable if gazed at by a selfless mind. We call such an approach the principle-based approach, which we use in Ikebana Dojo. We are trying to teach ikebana as art not as design. 

Our courses intend to teach the true essence of ikebana. 


上記の英語をGoogleの翻訳機能で日本語に訳してみました。下記の通り驚くほど性能が向上していますね。


申し込みは 2023 年 11 月に開始されます。スケジュール ページからご予約ください。


私たちの 1 年間のいけばな道場プログラムがすべてのいけばな生徒と教師に役立つ理由を知るには、カリキュラム ページをご覧ください。


多くのいけばなコースでは、基本スタイルとフリースタイルの間にギャップがあると私たちは考えています。基本的なスタイルを学んだ後は、「縦配置」「横配置」など自由なスタイルを作っていきます。しかし、ベーシックとフリースタイルの関係はどこにあるのでしょうか?このような講座で行われるアプローチは、フリースタイルいけばなに対するスタイルベースのアプローチと言えます。このようなコースは多くの生徒を混乱させ、生け花の最も重要な側面を決して教えません。瞑想。


残念なことに、多くの生け花実践者は、特に日本国外で、スタイルベースのアプローチを使用してフリースタイル生け花を学び、優れた「デザイン」(または目に見えるもの)をコピーし、生命エネルギーに欠ける生け花のような作品を制作しています。スタイルベースのアプローチは、通常は図に従うことで優れた生け花を作成できるため、基本的なスタイルを学ぶのに役立ちます。


しかし、優れたフリースタイル生け花を作るには、瞑想を通じて目に見えない原理を理解し、実現するための別の能力を開発する必要があります。これらの生け花の原則は、簡単に目に見えるものではありませんが、無私な心で見つめれば認識できます。このようなアプローチを私たちは原則ベースのアプローチと呼び、いけばな道場ではそれを採用しています。


私たちのコースは生け花の真髄を教えることを目的としています。


https://www.shoso.com.au 

Wednesday 13 September 2023

Hanadayori Night in Ho Chi Minh City


Message from Shoso Shimbo, PhD

9 September 2023

Thank you for coming to our performance tonight. 

This was a very challenging experience for me. I had to work with a new site, new materials, & new staff. I know the site, materials and staff are all great, but I was still anxious. All I could do was to do my best to actualise my new design. 

According to Japanese mythology, when the heavenly gods created Japan, they were so impressed with the living energy of the reeds in the wet lands that they decided to send their descendants to introduce rice farming and rule the nation. 

The god met a beautiful princess, konohananosakuyahime, in Kyushu, and they got married and their descendants became Japanese emperors. Sakihana, one of the Hanadayori perfumes comes from the name of this princess.    

I often wish I could express a living energy that would impress the heavenly gods in my work. I hope that my work this time has a small part of that sort of energy. 

I would like to thank so many people who made it possible to realise this special event. 
First, Yen and her team worked so hard for me. They were so kind and efficient. I feel so grateful that they have made this a very special event for me. 

Hanadayori was a small part of the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival. It asked ikebana artists around the world to create an ikebana work according to the request chosen for them. It aimed to promote ikebana and our ikebana festival. But Metascent became a sponsor of the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival and Yen took our Hanadayori project to the next level. 

To support the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival, Metascent has created a new set of perfumes inspired by Japanese culture. We are so excited with this collaboration. We hope many of you will appreciate the hanadayori perfumes and that you will have a chance to visit or exhibit at the  Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival in September 2024. 

I am also grateful to Mr Duc Tri and his musicians. It is a great honour to be able to work with such talented and highly regarded musicians. 

Thank you also my flower sponsor, Dalat Hasfarm. Their high quality flowers were crucial for my work today. Thank you very much.

I am also thankful to the Gem centre and its team. It is great to show my work on such a world class stage. Thank you very much. 

https://www.shoso.com.au 


Tuesday 12 September 2023


Thursday 30 March 2023

Perfumes for Ikebana Festival


Hanadayori is a Japanese word that means that the flowers you have been waiting for have bloomed. Hanadayori: Ikebana by Request 2023 will be launched on our website in June as part of the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival. It is a photographic collection of personal arrangements made by Ikebana masters and practitioners around the world in response to specific requests.

To celebrate the launch of Hanadayori 2023, Metascent has created a new suite of perfumes, the Hanadayori Collection. The collection includes three types of perfume, which have been newly developed using the Japanese plant essences of sakura, yuzu and hinoki. The Hanadayori Collection is a celebration of nature by Metascent.

You can pre order the Hanadayori Collection from now to June 2023. Your purchase will support the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival, which will be held on 7 & 8 September 2024.






Friday 17 March 2023


Saturday 11 March 2023


Tuesday 7 March 2023

New Publication - What is Ikebana ? (2)


What is Ikebana? (2): Selected passages from “Hana ni ikiru hitotati e (Messages for those who live for flower)” by Yamane Suido (1967).
2023 International Journal of Ikebana Studies, 10, 29-30.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.57290/ikebana.10.0_29

What is Ikebana? (1)
2022 International Journal of Ikebana Studies, 9, 76-78.  

https://www.shoso.com.au 

Monday 6 March 2023

New Publication - About Ikenobo Senno Kuden


Seeing the Invisible: Applying Discourse Analysis to the Introduction of Senno Kuden

Abstract

Senno Kuden (16th century) historically presents the most influential definition of ikebana, which includes both ontological and epistemological concerns in representation. Although the former contributed to the development of the common definition of ikebana as a symbolic representation of nature or the universe, the latter has been largely ignored. This study points out that the latter has not only significant meanings in understanding Senno’s teaching on ikebana, but also a strong connection with the traditional Japanese aesthetics that values contemplative awareness of the transiency of beings.

Author Information
Shoso Shimbo, International Society of Ikebana Research, Australia

Paper Information
Conference: KAMC2022
Stream: Aesthetics and Design

This paper is part of the KAMC2022 Conference Proceedings (View) 
Full Paper
1. View / Download the full paper in a new tab/window

2. Academia

To cite this article:
Shimbo S. (2022) Seeing the Invisible: Applying Discourse Analysis to the Introduction of Senno Kuden ISSN: 2436-0503 – The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture 2022: Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2022.6
To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2436-0503.2022.6

同論文の増補日本語版は以下です。

『専応口伝』における「面かげ」の形而上学

要旨

『専応口伝』序文にディスコース分析を応用し、従来あまり注目されてこなかった序文中の主要語「よろしき面かげ」の重要性について考察してみたい。「よろしき面かげ」はもうひとつの主要語「をのずからなる姿」とともに形而上学的な文脈で理解されるべきである。「をのずからなる姿」がいけ花を大自然の象徴的表現と定義したのに対し、「よろしき面かげ」はいけ花の始原についての定義と解釈できる。専応の教えは存在の無常性を瞑想を通じて認識することで、草や花の純粋な本質を捉え、それをもとにして挿してゆくものだということになる。さらにこの点において専応のいけ花の思想は日本の美意識の典型的な内的機構とも強い関連性があることが明らかになるのである。


Monday 27 February 2023

Ikebana Calendar - March 2023


11 March 2023: Ikebana Introduction Workshop ($60)


12 March 2023: Ikebana Workshop at Glen Eira City Gallery


18 March 2023: 1000 Ikebana Challenge (2022 Groups)


25 March 2023: 1000 Ikebana Challenge (2023 Groups)


25 March 2023: International Society of Ikebana Research (ISIR) 40th Regular Conference - Free online event


29 March - 2 April 2023: Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. Shoso and some of his students will exhibit at the shop window displays section. 


29 April 2023: Ikebana Introduction Workshop ($60)


3 May 2023: Art of Bloom Cocktail Party, National Gallery of Victoria


4 & 5 May 2023: Art of Bloom, National Gallery of Victoria. Shoso has been selected as an exhibitor.  


6 May 2023: Term 2 starts for our Certificate Courses 


12 May 2013: Ikebana in School (Saint Maria College) 


13 May 2023: Zoom Ikebana Dojo, Ikebana Aesthetics Program Level 2 starts


13 May 2023: Ikebana Introduction Workshop ($60)


27 May 2023: Ikebana Introduction Workshop ($60)


31 May 2023: Deadline for submitting works for selected Hanadayori artists


June 2023: Launch of Hanadayori 2023


17 June 2023: Ikebana Introduction Workshop ($60)


24 - 30 June 2023: Application opens for Ikebana Gallery Award 2023 


July 2023: 1000 Ikebana Challenge starts for a new group


7 & 8 September 2024: Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival  


https://www.shoso.com.au 

Saturday 11 February 2023