Sogetsu Ikebana - a breathtaking floral exhibition

LAHORE:Teachers of Lahore Sogetsu Ikebana Study Group held a breathtaking floral exhibition on Tuesday with many out of season flowers and some from tropical areas. The blending of wood with unusual flowers was, to say the least – refreshing and evoked joy in the viewers.

Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal was the chief guest on the occasion. Other notables were Seemi Raheel and Farida Hassan. Every arrangement had a title and a story to tell. The arrangements did make viewers wonder how the artists managed to get winter flowers in summer or tropical plant in Lahore. There were chrysanthemums, Ixora, monsteria, casa nodosa and white bird of paradise but the most remarkable was heliconia flower, which grow in tropical climate.

Neveen Syed, Director of Sogetsu Ikebana used predominantly orange and yellow flowers. There was a branch from a tree that appeared like a dancing man. She adorned it with light yellow sunflowers and bicane on top of it that appeared like rain. The arrangement was titled ‘Dancing in the Rain’.

Another of her exhibit was titled ‘Celebration Tree of Contentment’ made with gift paper origami, chrysanthemums and goody bags that reflected a state of happiness of its creator. ‘Sunshine through the Trees’, ‘Summer Night’ and ‘Stream of Water’ were her other works. There was a flower arrangement titled ‘Fruits of Nature’ by Afshan Shahzad in which she had used banana pod, chrysanthemum and monsteria leaves. In the background, she had put brinjal to balance the vertical arrangement. She had recreated ‘Oriental Summers’ with Ixora (red flowers) planted in her home and dracaena. She and two other artists had used palm pods.

Lubna Usman had prepared presentations with exotic tropical plants such as heliconia flower that appears like buds. The artist told this scribe that this flower needs sunny shades by which she meant sunlight filtered through foliage. Shaista Khawar created ‘Summer Delight’ with light yellow sunflowers and dracaena leaves and cane. ‘Edge of the Cliff’ created with wood that appeared like a reef, wore an exotic look. She had used euphorbia and Purple Heart stem. Rubina Khalid had created ‘Riverside’ and ‘The Wood’ among other arrangements with logs amazingly decorated with flowers.

Sogetsu is a 5 books course and every book has 20 lessons per course with the exception of the 5th book which has 30 lessons. The students can do up to 2 lessons in one session, but it is preferred that they take one lesson per session. It takes a minimum of 6 months to a year to complete one book.

The organiser of the flower show and instructor Neveen Syed is training women in Sogetsu Ikebana for 25 years and says it requires a lot of self-discipline.