The Deshima AIR (Artist In Residence) project is an initiative to promote the cultural exchange between the Netherlands and Japan.
Today I joined “NATUUR & MILIEU MARKT”.
I had a booth to arrange ikebana flower and
give my information about my flower exhibition in Jun!
Many people showed their interest and it was very encouraging for me!
It was also fun to see around other booths about nature and water!
Of course I love music, but I have felt something like guilty to music.
Because I gave up practicing a piano after I had learned for many years.
It was the first time to quit something with my will.
So I know how difficult it is to play instruments well.
That is why I said “Flower is the same ” after a hesitation,
when I was talking with musicians about “Music breaks language barrier”
I was sure that flower is the same.
But I was not sure whether flowers I arranged had worth to a music
based on their huge efforts.
Today, I was happy to see my flower were suit to the church
and Bach.
I am very happy to go back to music
after I gave up it and found another thing.
I will present my flower work to a concert at Maarten Luther Kerk.
While the play “Sonata for violin and harpsichord No. 3, BWV 1016”,
I will exhibit arranging ikebana work.
Today, they had a rehearsal.
I took cherry blossoms, roses, and spiraeas.
And vases are created by Marten, the pianist.
I did not so much interesting “a collaboration of music and flower”.
But today, I felt it when I hold a spiraea,
“it suits with Bach”.
I was surprised what I felt and my hands stopped.
I have never felt like that.
But two musicians also stopped their hands and told me
it is beautiful.
I was moved close to crying.
The sonata of Bach they were playing was beautiful and
spiraea were really suit with it.
We all felt same things beautiful.
I always try to arrange flowers to suit each places.
Musics make an air at the place.
Now I believe there is a flower suit to the music
and that flower will break the language barriers.
Ayumi, Marten, Thank you for telling me about it.
I had looked for bamboos the last week to create ikebana vase,
then I found it in a doityourself shop yesterday!
It was so huge that I was able to hung around whole day. They had Buddha or flamingo statues and bamboos too!
It was very funny that Dutch man and Japanese woman were buying 4 bamboos
the length of which is more than 2m in the early morning!
While I was laughing, he cut them, and smoothed their edges
and created vases for ikebana!
That was amazing.
I will arrange ikebana for a concert in a church on Sunday!
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.
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!
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