ikebana education & workshop

At the Faisalabad institute of textile & Fashion design (10-17 February 2014)
and Chenab club, faisalabad (12-17 february 2014)

Islamabad: 18th February 2014

Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement) Demonstration and Certificates Award Ceremony was held at the Faisalabad Arts Council on 18th February 2014. Ms. Tomoko Koide, Deputy Head of Public Affairs Section, Embassy of Japan, awarded certificates to the participants of the Ikebana workshop at the concluding ceremony. An exhibition of the Ikebana which was made by the students of the workshop was also displayed at the occasion.

             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 flowers and containers, the placement of branches, harmonization of the flower, its leaves and stems, and the branches, and the relationship of the arrangement to the container and the surrounding space, has sublimated this work into the art, distinguishing from simply decorative uses of flowers.
Ms. Tomoko Koide while expressing her views at the concluding ceremony appreciated the services of Prof. Asifa Ataka, for teaching the art of ikebana to the Pakistani people specially women for the last many years. Prof. Asifa Ataka was specially invited from Karachi to conduct this workshop in Faisalabad. She informed that Ms. Asifa Ataka has taught this art in Pakistan since 1994 in the manner of the Ikenobo School, one of the leading flower arrangement schools in Japan. Also, she expressed her hope that the students habitually make the flower arrangement at home or somewhere so that a fragrance and beauty of Pakistani flowers yet arranged in the Japanese style would make people around the flowers feel happy.

            The Ikebana workshop, in which around 130 ladies participated, was held at the Faisalabad Institute of Textile and Fashion Design, GC University Faisalabad and Chenab Club Faisalabad, respectively from 10 February to 18 February 2014. The Embassy of Japan organized this workshop in collaboration with the Faisalabad Arts Council.  (End)