Ikebana and us

The Sogetsu Branch, Chennai held its monthly workshop session on November 22nd, 2025 at ABK Hall. The meeting began at 11am to a room filled with anticipation. The theme held promise for creativity - apply Principles 39 and 44 of the 50 Principles of Sogetsu by founder  . Principle No. 44: "Be sure to make definite points of emphases and avoid redundancy in the arrangement."  Principle No. 39: "Ikebana must appear as if it is a product of the environment in which it is displayed."  Sensei's Demonstrations Sensei Prerana demonstrated Principle No. 44 and Sensei Trishala No. 39. S ensei Prerana's first arrangement used a play of artificial plastic wrappers, squeezed and stapled together. From this she created two beautiful lines that she placed in a three-opening vase. The central opening held a lone white anthurium that harmonized with the lines of plastic.  Sensei Prerana's arrangement: Plastic wrappers twisted and stapled together, and a white chrysa...

To celebrate Children’s Day on November 14 th this year, the Chennai Sogetsu Branch conducted an Ikebana Workshop for the children at Chennai Higher Secondary School, Alwarpet. This initiative was supported by Madras Metro Round Table 95 of Chennai . Senseis Meenakshi Sarin  and  Prerana Mehta , along with the supporting members, conducted the workshop most dexterously. They had the rapt attention of nearly 75 students from Grades 6 to 9. There were demos by the senseis, followed by an engaging hands-on session with the students. Beyond Ikebana, the children were given an insight into Japanese culture and language, and were taught the names of the flowers and materials used. This was truly a meeting of Ikebana and young minds, where the children were encouraged to appreciate the natural world. And what better way to do this than to work with flowers and plants, as demonstrated by the pictures below. The children enjoying the demos presented by the senseis The senseis...

“The essence of Ikebana lies in the relationship between the plant materials and the containers. By focusing on the container to be used, new ideas of composition may come to mind.” -    Akane Teshigahara on the importance of containers in Ikebana arrangements. This relationship between plant materials and containers, and the immense potential for new ideas, was beautifully displayed in the Sogetsu workshop held on Saturday, October 25 th at 11 am at the ABK hall. 11 members attended. Demos by the Senseis Senseis Meenu and Chitra Thiagarajan demonstrated their skills at bringing the best out of containers in their arrangements. Sensei Meenu started the workshop with a uniquely shaped black vase and arranged the materials - dried palm leaves sprayed with gold, a sunflower, and a dry philodendron leaf – to complement the shape of the vase. The rich hues of gold, brown, and yellow enhanced the beauty of the arrangement. For her second demo, Sensei Meenu chose a rectangu...

It was a busy Friday morning (September 19th, 2025) for the Sogetsu Chennai branch, as they gathered together for their monthly workshop. The group of 13 members was all keyed up. The topic for the day was  " The four Principles of Ikebana - fresh approach, movement, balance and harmony". It promised to be a creative and reflective session. Demo Senseis Dalley Verghese and Chitra Rajan were the presenters, and they kept the group enthralled with their compositions. Sensei Dalley started the session with two presentations focusing on the theme of relationship in Ikebana. Sensei Dalley's one arrangement was striking in its weaving together of natural elements - azeleas and geranium stalks against the backdrop of calm waters, pebbles and open space in a plain white container (far left in picture).  The other arrangement depicted the harmonious relationship of elegant lines (far right in picture). The calla lily and canna leaves blended well with the antique stone container. ...

It was that time of the month - the 3rd Saturday when the Chennai Sogetsu branch would meet to demo and practice their Ikebana skills. The theme for this month of August was "Showing Surface with Leaves". 14 members of the group gathered at the ABK Hall. The original demonstrators Senseis Meenu and Chitra T had personal emergencies; Senseis Pushkala and Prerana stepped in to ensure that the demonstration was conducted with no hitch. Demos by Senseis Sensei Pushkala’s first composition was created purely with coconut fronds. She improvised a central structure with a banana stem and covered it with coconut fronds. Ingenious! Next she created circular structures, and fixed them all together with pins. She finished with artistic stars also created from coconut fronds - a joyous arrangement springing with life. To complement the arrangement, she chose a coconut leaf-based moribana container - dried and painted. Sensei Pushkala at work on her arrangement ...