Famous Japanese Ikebana master Tenkei Nomura is entertaining Doha audiences by showcasing his modern designs of the age-old Japanese tradition of flower arrangement. Ikebana, which has become very popular all over the world, is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. Nomura, who is in Qatar for the first time, demonstrated live Ikebana at a workshop hosted yesterday by the embassy of Japan in co-operation with Japan Foundation to coincide with the fifth anniversary celebrations of Qatar University’s Japanese club. He took the audience through the routine of flower arrangement using different parts of plants comprising flowers, leaves as well as stems and branches. He also included some dry plants or artificial flowers in the Ikebana mix, which showed the latest trend in the act of arranging flowers in Japan now. Nomura explained that the flowers’ structure tells the potter the kind of pot or vase to use that will bring out the beauty of the arrangement. “We just look at the plants or flowers and immediately know where to ‘pot’ them in order to show their beauty to the viewer,” he said. According to him, some of the potted Ikebana plants can survive up to one week or more depending on the plants and if the water in the pot is changed at least once. The Ikebana he made yesterday will be displayed in QU’s library for some time, the artist said. Nomura tryst with Ikebana started when he was a junior high school student in Tokyo, where he got engaged in flower exhibitions, classroom management and event planning, besides being the manager of a flower arrangement school. “I became a master of Ikebana some eight years ago and since then, I have been making decorations for events such as weddings and banquets. I also hold Ikebana classes for students,” Nomura told Gulf Times. According to him, there are about 3,000 Ikebana schools in Japan and each has a style of flower arrangement. “We have a particular style that we teach to our students. To become a master, a student needs to learn for three-four years. We usually give them a certificate as a professional Ikebana trainer at the end of the programme,” he explained. In 2011, Nomura moved to France to study flower decoration and shot to fame through his lectures and demonstrations there as well as in Romania and Saudi Arabia. “I was able to train around 100 students in Romania and up to 30 in Saudi Arabia,” he recalled. Nomura also held demonstrations yesterday in co-operation with Lagoona Mall and Al Maktab Al Qatari Al Hollandi. Separate exhibitions by the artist will be held tomorrow at Grand Hyatt Hotel and Grand Heritage Hotel. Japanese ambassador to Qatar Kenjiro Monji, who was accompanied to the QU event by his wife and embassy staff, said the mission invited the artist to Doha as part of its continued efforts to promote cultural relations with Qatar and to honour the long relationship between the two countries based on cultural and intellectual exchange. - See more at: http://www.qatarchronicle.com/life-style/entertainment/30919/master-tenkei-mesmerizes-audiences-with-flower-show/#sthash.Lb5UnnUR.dpuf

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