January 22nd 2022
The Sogetsu Branch had its 11th annual Virtual exhibition. Our first one as a branch.
Once again sadly, Chennai was in the throes of a Covid outbreak, this time the third wave was raging, and as a result, members were once again restricted to work and create from home, with materials they could find.
Many of our members went through quarantine, but yet we proceeded undaunted, wanting to use Ikebana to keep our spirits up, keep us connected to one another and continue to hope for better times.
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| 21 members participated and we put up 33 exhibits |
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| Sensei Meenakshi, welcomed the gathering, and due to the wonders of technology, we could have her join us despite still being under quarantine! |
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| We were honoured to have guests from across the world including Master Instructor Misei Ishikawa from Japan. |
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| Sensei Molly introduced our Chief Guest Mr Masayuki Taga, Consul General of Japan in Chennai. |
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| Consul General, Mr Taga, had words of encouragement for us, as he recalled the long relationship of 70 years of diplomatic ties between India and Japan, but an even longer cultural connection that could be traced back to the times of the Buddha. |
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Our Treasurer, Ms Chelvi introduced Mrs Veena Dass, Director of Sogetsu in Delhi and a long-time friend, well-wisher and mentor of our group.
Mrs Veena Dass, despite being indisposed, took us on her journey with Ikebana, through the years, and we were amazed and awed by her study with three schools!
We then had a virtual walk-through of our Exhibition, titled Plants and I. The idea this time was that we explored natural materials both as containers and as material. So one can notice the presence of mainly ceramic and wooden containers and the absence of artificial and man-made materials!
This time, we had each of the artists say a few lines about his/her arrangement. Of course it seems that no Zoom meeting is complete without some technical glitches, and we our meeting was no different, and Ambika had to quickly sign in from another computer to share the side show!
Please click on the link to see all the exhibits.
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| Our Branch Director Sensei Malathi personally thanked all the guests ad members for the good show. |
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| Many of our guests including Mr Yogesh of the Bonsai group, and Ms Cherry Venkatesh, had words of encouragement and congratulations for us, and we were delighted at their participation. |
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| No exhibition of ours would be complete without the presence of Ranga-san of ABK AOTS Dosokai, someone who has encouraged us over this last decade and more, ever willing to help us. We hope to have another exhibition soon in collaboration with ABK! |
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| The meeting was brought to a close by our Secretary Ms Bhuvana, who delivered the Vote of Thanks. |
I think more than anything, the persistence, never-say-die spirit, adaptability and guidance of Sensei Malathi is something that we in Chennai our especially privileged to enjoy as Sogetsu Ikebana artistes and as a group.
Let us hope that soon we are able to meet in person and renew our ties!
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