Monday 19 May 2014

Designed for Flowers - Opening Lecture on Ikebana

I rarely find interesting lectures on ikebana online. This one is from the opening of the exhibition Designed for Flowers: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Robert Mintz, Chief Curator, gives an introduction to the exhibition by talking about the flowers that are not there, that the audience have to imagine on their own, and the long tradition of arranging flowers in Japan.

What I like about this talk is the way it explores the roots of ikebana, and links the evolution of it to historical personalities and political leaders. As it is an introduction to this specific exhibition, talking place earlier this year, it also highlights the essential relationship between ikebana and ceramic arts, or rather the containers used as vessels for flowers.

The talk is a bit long, but almost 20 minutes at the end is a question and  answer session, that you could skip if you don't have the time. By the way - Isn't the poster design great?


1 comment:

Gail said...

Thank you for posting this video. You are a wonderful source for Ikebana information.

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