Ikebana and us

  Annual Exhibition 2025 All the members eagerly look forward to displaying their creativity at the Annual Exhibition. The process of planning and executing is always very exciting. This year our annual exhibition entitled “Ikebana And Us” was held from March 27 to March 31 at Lalit Kala Academi. The venue was prepared and the arrangements were made by the enthusiastic members  the day before the exhibition was inaugurated.  The exhibition was inaugurated on March 27 by the Japanese Consul-General Takahashi Moneo who was accompanied by his wife Ms. Takahashi Mitsu gracefully draped in a saree.  Nancy Secrest, the national secretary of the American section of the Theosophical Society was present too. The other distinguished guests were Maria Artamma, Mr and Mrs. M.R. Ranganathan, Mr. And Mrs. C. Sriram, Mr. Gopinath, Mrs. And Mr. Sivan Kumar  and Mr. Yogesh.  The guests were introduced by Sensei Chitra Thiagarajan. Vote of thanks was delivered by Sensei Moll...

 Annual Sogetsu Exhibition on January 20-21 2024  The Annual Sogetsu Ikebana exhibition for the public was hosted by The Chennai Sogetsu Branch members under the guidance of the Director Riji Mrs Malathi Pandurang on Jan 21 2024 and Jan 22, 2024 at Cholamandal Artist VIllage, Injambakkam, East Coast Road, Chennai. The    exhibition also featured    two workshops titled “Weaving coconut leaf accessories for Ikebana” and “Fundamentals of Sogetsu Ikebana”. The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday, 19 January 2024 at 5pm  by Mr Taga Masayuki , Consul General of Japan in Chennai. Other special guests included Ms Teraoka Mami, Vice Consul of Japan in Chennai, Mr Damodaraswamy    Secretary-Examinations ABK- AOTS Dosakai, Mr P Gopinath, veteran artist and and President of Cholamandal Artist Village. The traditional lighting of the lamp by the visiting dignitaries was followed by a welcome address by Sensei Chitra Rajan. Riji Mrs Malathi Pandurang inv...

 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. 21 members participated and we put up 33 exhibits Sensei Meenakshi, welcomed the gathering, and due to the wonders of technology, we could have her join us despite still being under quarantine!  We were honoured to have guests from across the world including Master Instructor Misei Ishikawa from Japan.    Sensei Molly introduced our Chief Guest Mr Masayuki Taga, Consul General of Japan in Chennai. Consul General, Mr Taga, had words of encouragement for u...

These are from our annual exhibition. the two men in our group have still not given me their freedback, so I am now publishing them without the artist's comments! By Ashoka By Ashoka - glass container By Venkatesh Venkatesh Venkatesh

Sensei Meenu and her students displayed a variety of styles and variations in our annual exhibition.  From no-kenzan compositions to minimal interpretations to sing of local material, enjoy the compositions below. By Meenu - Inspired by the marsh I see everyday from my window.  In a black moribana fibreglass suiban , I have used tamarind branches and guava branches without kenzan, canna buds, amaralyis and water hyacinth. I think l will call it The nest. By Meenu - "Connections".  The unusual shaped ceramic containers were connected with  wanda orchids, green mocha orchids and a colored bamboo vine By Meenu - "Twin Towers"  The woven branches of palm added an unusual touch, and the interesting openings in the vase were used to add colour with button chrysanthemums. By Divya - Using the openings of the ceramic vase, and adding heig ht with the tall bird of paradise By Divya - Teak branches used  in a composition in the open styl...