Earlier this month, the Sogetsu Azalea Study Group (Belgium) invited me to present a workshop at the Botanical Gardens in Meise. As the workshop coincided with the start of Belgium school holidays, I suggested the theme of Ikebana for Children.
The workshop was open to Azalea Study Group members, as well as members of the public. It was a delight to welcome children and their parents who had no experience of ikebana, as well as seasoned ikebana artists and their grandchildren.
I was also happy for some members of the Study Group to adopt my own children for the day, so that they could participate in the workshop.
When designing and developing ikebana workshops, particularly for children, there is often the dilemma of portability of materials once the workshop has finished.
To overcome this issue, I designed a workshop around the theme of self-made vases. The first part of the lesson focused on creating a vase, using cardboard and recycled bottles. Although the participants were given free rein in the design and colours of their vases, as a teaching element I explained the concepts of 'ma' and asymmetry in relation to ikebana and encouraged the children to apply these concepts to their vases.
Once everyone had completed their vase, they were able to create their own unique arrangements.
It was fabulous to see each child's personality unfold through the creation of their vases, and even more of a delight when their arrangements were placed together with their parents’/ grandparents’ arrangements.
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