Rhapsody: Annual Exhibition of Ikebana International Montreal Chapter

On April 25th and 26th, the Montréal Chapter of Ikebana International presented its annual exhibition in the Japanese Pavilion at the Montreal Botanical Garden. The title of this year’s exhibition was “Rhapsody.” I recognized many of the names of the presenters, since I have enjoyed some wonderful collaborations with the Montreal chapter over the years. As usual, the sensei and students came up with some creative and striking arrangements. I particularly liked this one by Nilofur Husain.






I thought that the use of fans was very effective in the following arrangement by Carol Morin.





The next arrangement, by Regine Denesle, played with the theme of "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin. She even included the musical score, which you may just be able to make out in the bottom left hand side of the photo. This arrangement is an inspired combination of Eastern and Western sensibilities.



A number of the presenters were on hand on Sunday afternoon and I was happy to have a chance to chat with Lois Shore and Madeleine Murphy, two ikebana artists who have given me so much encouragement with my own Japanese-inspired literary/art form of haiku.

I also had the pleasure of meeting for the first time another member of Ikebana International, Lorraine Desjardins. Here she is in a photo beside her own colourful tulip rhapsody.



What was most interesting to me was that Lorraine had included a tanka printed on the card at the right in the photo. Here is a close up of the poem, which is a French translation of a tanka (or as it was then called, "waka") by the ninth century Japanese poet Ono no Komachi.




I've read that it was sometimes a tradition for the old ikebana masters to incorporate a poem (either haiku or tanka) into their flower arangements. I think this is something that can certainly be revived and explored by ikebana artists and poets, with each art form enhancing and deepening the appreciation of the other's work.


Now for a few of the poems that I wrote today during my visit to the garden.


entrance
to the Rosarie--
Sunday morning prayer


This poem was written as I was sitting on a bench in the rose garden or Rosarie. I suddenly remembered my artist friend Serena, who was at one time interested in making beads from rose petals. The beads of the first rosaries were in fact made from rose petals, thus the name "rosary." One afternoon several years ago I accompanied Serena into the garden and rather furtively we scooped up fallen rose petals into bags for her to take back to her studio. We felt a bit like thieves, since we weren't sure whether we were allowed to take the petals or not. Serena has since left Montreal to go back to the US. I wonder if she is still making her rose petal jewellery.


wind in my hair
the tulips too
are dancing


I wrote this haiku in the Peace Garden where I was inspired by the beautiful tulip-patterned Iznik tiles.


The next poem was also written in the Peace Garden


birdsong around me--
from somewhere a child
cries "mama"




magnolia in bloom--
the talk is about
dividends and stocks


This haiku was written in the Japanese garden, where the conversation of the older couple on the bench next to me was all about money matters despite the splendour of the magnolias.


Here are a few tanka inspired by the ikebana exhibition.


bright pink gerbera--
I'm at that age
where a woman
starts becoming
invisible



those green orchids
embraced by palm leaves--
the universal desire
to be sheltered
& protected

the way the stem
of that tulip
rests
in the v of a branch--
how coupledom eludes me

ikebana exhibition--
how long will that spider
on the floor
survive
the flower-viewers' trampling

And I'll end with two last poems as I headed home:

tulips open
on a warm spring day
I shed another layer

between the cobblestones
the softness of moss--
will I ever
find comfort
in a man