ikebana workshop and demonstration

japanese ikebana demosntration and certificates award ceremony
at the alhamra art center, lahore

Islamabad: 25th March 2015

Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement) Demonstration and Certificates Award Ceremony was held at the Lahore Arts Council on 25th March 2015. Begum Hameeda Waheed Uddin, Provincial Minister for Women Development, Government of Punjab, and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Japan to Pakistan Mr. Takeshi Katae 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.
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of Japan to Pakistan Mr. Takeshi Katae while expressing his 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 Lahore. 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. Mr. Katae expressed his 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 100 ladies participated, was held at the two venues simultaneously; Alhamra Art Gallery and Defense Public Library of  DHA from 20 March to 25 March 2015. The Embassy of Japan organized this workshop in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Council.  (End)