PRESS RELEASE N0: JPNEMPAK 12-13

 Islamabad: 27th March 2012
           
            Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement) Demonstration and Certificate Presentation Ceremony was held at the National Art Gallery, Islamabad on 27th March 2012. Mr. Hiroshi Oe, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan awarded certificates to the participants of Ikebana workshop at the concluding ceremony. The Ikebana works made by the students of the workshop was also displayed at the gallery.

            The Ikebana workshop was held at the National Art Gallery, from 21 March to 27 March 2012. The Embassy of Japan organized this workshop in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. Mrs. Asifa Ataka, Professor of Ikebana, was specially invited from Karachi to conduct the workshop and demonstration. Mrs. Ataka has studied this art from the Ikenobo School, one of the leading flower arrangement schools in Japan.

            Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement), which literally means “flower kept alive”, developed into a distinct art form in Japan in the 15th century, and is now practiced all over the world including Pakistan. The attention given to the choice of plant material and container, the placement of branches, and the relationship of the branches to the container and the surrounding space, has distinguished this art from simple decoration of flowers. The simple but elegant appearance gives spiritual as well as aesthetic pleasure to the viewers of this form of art. (End)