Participation from the 31st of March till the end of June 2015
“I applied to Deshima AIR, because I was solely engaged in Ikebana, which is a solely Japanese form of flower arrangement. I was wondering how the flower culture was in other countries.”
Ryoko Nishimura
Ryoko Nishimura is an ikebana artist from Kyoto, where she owns her own flower shop. She stayed for three months in Amsterdam and organised a huge flower exposition called the United Flowers on the Watergardens of Hobbemakade. This was similar to a project that she did in 2012 on the Takase river in Kyoto. For Amsterdam she created a 60 metre long floating flower raft. It was the first time for the Netherlands that the Japanese Ikebana was shown in this kind of fashion. This unique project was realised in collaboration with the locals and volunteers of the Watergardens, who under the lead of Nishimura helped make the canals a colourful image. According to Nishimura, several people said her exposition was like a present for Amsterdam. Her project was also mentioned in at least two different Dutch newspapers and the Japanese ambassador also paid a visit to her exposition.
Nishimura wanted to learn about the Dutch flower culture and teach the Dutch people a little bit about ikebana. She gave a several workshops to people interested in Ikebana and did an internship at Dutch flower shop Sas bloemiste in Edam.
“United Flowers Amsterdam makes a special Japanese art form visible to a large audience”
By the AFK (Amsterdams Fonds voor Kunst)
Website: http://florist-westvillage.com/