The annual exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney

I mentioned the exhibition of Bonsai Society of Sydney in my last entry, but didn’t say anything about it. First of all, there was a handful of decent trees like the one shown in the picture above (25 years old, 7 years in training). Secondly, it had a strong ikebana presence. In Japan ikebana is bonsai’s big brother and their history is intimately intertwined. 

There was an ikebana display and demonstration as well as calligraphy and origami demonstrations. All this gave this exhibition a genuine Japanese flavor, which was a good change. Unfortunately, an average bonsai grower in Australia doesn’t care much for the historical and cultural context of bonsai. This exhibition attempted to expose us to some of this context.