The Deshima AIR (Artist In Residence) project is an initiative to promote the cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Japan.
Goede middag!
I went to Hotus UV looking for bamboos.
I will use bamboos to create vases for the concert in church invited by Ayumi.
Hotus VU is the part of Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
It was the longest tram trip for me (30 minutes though) and
The scenery was different from the center.
I didn’t get bamboos there but I was lucky to see their huge plants collections!!!
Hoi!
It was Japan Market at “Japan Cultural Exchange” ( next to my house).
I presented ikebana works there.
When I went to flower stands and markets,
willows looked pretty close to Japanese one.
So I took willows at first, then narcissusses and tulips
because they are very available here.
But I got surprised when I started arranging willows in ikebana.
They were actually from Japanese one.
They were thinner and squiggle on everywhere.
Its natural shape will be nice when I arrange into a vase
but it wasn’t a right way to force forming to exact Japanese traditional shape.
conversely narcissusses and tulips I was thinking about how to use their differences
were simply arranged.
I found that I have to see differences of flowers
and using them as they are.
Here, I am in Holland, not Japan.
We always say
ikebana should be natural as the flower is.
I caught such basic thing
after I left my country.
When I leaver there after my summer holiday when I was 19.
When I opened the door to go out,
I found rabbits at my feet!
Mayu, who is living upstairs, left them.
She said she got many chocolates of Easter in her working place.
Surprise will be the special present!
I could only bite their bottom!
I started my day with happiness with these sweet rabbits!
Thank you Mayu,
What am I going to leave at her door?
Today I visited Ayumi’s house.
She is a recorder player and teach it in an international school.
She also organize a concert in a church.
I accidentally met Marten, Ayumi’s fiend there.
He is a pianist and come to go throw a rehearsals with Ayumi
for the next concert on 19th April in the church.
They played Bach with a cembalo and recorder, it was just amazing.
Kids are very happy to grow up in her music.
He talked about when he played organ with choir from Ghana.
“When I finished playing, I was asked ‘Are you from Ghana?’ ”
He say with laughing.
“At first they were not very friendly, but once I played a organ,
We got to be friends quickly,
Music has no borders”
“Same flower” I said it.
Ayumi send me a message at the night.
“I believe that I can sweep away borders between age or culture or position
with this small recorder
It will be beautiful if we can share the same happiness simply with art ”
They invited me to arrange flowers on the next concert!
We Japanese has created a lot of rules for flower in ikebana.
There is no meaning to explain the rule to the world ,
But I also believe it can sweep away borders
that we have confirmed what is beautiful again and again in the long history.
I visited a volunteer community with Hannie today
to ask for some help to work out our flower exhibition in a canal.
They clean rubbish in a canal once a month.
It was lucky that they were very cooperative for us!
They offered to us to join the cleaning with a “free boat”!
It was the first time I was on a canal.
The city looked more beautiful than I always see on the ground.
But, I was sorry, there were so many rubbishes in the canal
I didn’t see from the ground…
It is the same as my city Kyoto.
Some people leave them at the beautiful city,
then some people clean it to keep the city beautiful.
Anyway, we get the possibility to use this wood framed plants box!
At first, let me describe my apartment.
The house next to my place is a Japanese stuff shop ” ‘t Japanse winkeltje” on the ground floor,
and a Japanese culture center ” ‘t Japnase cultureel centrum” on the first floor.
Emiko is the manager of the center.
She’s already suggested me to join a lot of events there! (Thank you Emiko)
Today, I joined a Dutch lesson.
Our teacher is Carolien.
She is pretty and fun and speaks fluent Japanese!
And students are Masaki and Kyusan and me.
They are both artists and have already lived in Holland a few years.
They are calm people but have energy and love to their art.
It was very nice to see them and I’m looking forward to the next lesson!
Somehow, I don’t feel being a stranger in this city, Amsterdam.
Almost all Dutch people (also non Dutch people) talk to me naturally
in English while I just studied Dutch language a little.
I can hear many accented English in the whole city where
nobody care about my Japanese accent and broken grammar.
That makes me easier to speak English for me.
Today, my friend Martha walked around the city with me.
She went along with me and told me more.
Dutch culture is working out differences between
where they were born or their position or their age.
And she continuted telling that one idea will be at the bottom of
Holland, especially Amsterdam.
“Doe maar gewoon”
It’s a little tough for me to translate Dutch into English,
“Be natural ” or “Go to your natural way” .
Now, the city is filled of the air that they have thought so for hundreds years in Amsterdam.
If I call the air, it would be “freedom”
In this Evening, I went to her place and she cooked me “Martha dish”.
I loved it.
日本語；http://florist-westvillage.com/archives/5844/
Groede morgen!
This is the very first day in Amsterdam!
I was just unpacking my bags when she visited me.
I actually can’t start talking about my Amsterdam life without her.
She is Hannie van den Bergh, the support member of this
‘deshima AIR’.
We talked about how we manage our flower exhibition,
and the schedule of appointments to see people who will help us.
Then, she invited me to a talk about “bee in the city”.
“Why are bees so important?” I asked,
Flowers won’t bloom without bees.
When bee is fine, the natural circumstance is fine.
“That’s why People here have interest about bee in these days”
We Japanese wouldn’t think that much.
We think making a effort to protect our nature but
our discussion doesn’t reach to the Amsterdam level, I feel.
This is the only first day in Amsterdam.
I’m really excited what’s going to happen tomorrow.
★My Japanese friend in Kyoto city office told me the bee project in Kyoto
Hoi!
I am Ryoko Nishimura, an ikebana artist. from Kyoto, Japan.
I’ve come to Amsterdam to see how Dutch people love flowers and live with them.
I will stay here for 3 months then I hold a flower exhibition in the last terms of my stay.
Ikebana is a Japanese tradition,
but I don’t think it’s only a tradition.
Ikebana has many rules we created in the long history.
But I think the rules and traditional shapes aren’t the most important thing.
I say, ikebana is, trying to image something unvisiable on the flower.
Or, arranging flowers to make something visiable.
Blowing wind, seasonal changes, someone’s heart, attractions of the place, history of the city…
Even Japanese people will say “ikebana is complicated” but
If you just can feel those things on flower whether you can’t arrange flowers in the traditional way,
ikebana is your side.
Ikebana is imagination.
I’d like to tell that to Dutch people, and Japanese people.
Ryoko Nishimura
Website; http://florist-westvillage.com/
Email;westvillagegoodgirl@gmail.com