PRESS RELEASE N0: JPNEMPAK 010-13

Islamabad: 23rd February, 2010

Ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement) Demonstration and Certificate Presentation Ceremony was held at Alhamra Hall, Lahore on 23rd February 2010. Mr. Nayer Ali Dada, a renowned architect, was the chief guest at the occasion. Mr. Aamir H. Shirazi, President, Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association Lahore and Honorary Consul General for Japan at Lahore, and Mr. Maki Mizusawa, Third Secretary, Press, Information & Culture Department, Embassy of Japan, were also present at the concluding ceremony of the week long ikebana workshop.

            The Ikebana workshop, in which around 50 ladies participated was held at the Alhamra Art Gallery, from 18 February to 23 February 2010, and is a part of the “Japan-Pakistan Friendship Fest 2010”. It was organized by the Embassy of Japan in cooperation with the Lahore Arts Council, the Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association, Lahore, and the MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan. Mrs. Asifa Ataka, Professor of Ikebana, had been specially invited from Karachi to conduct the workshop/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 simply decorative uses of flowers. The fragrance of flowers and artistic skill with creative approach gives spiritual as well as aesthetic pleasure to the viewers of this form of art. Then flowers do not look like flowers but art. (End)