M'atural Bonsai Exhibition - Next Blossom
Is it obvious that I have no idea what I was doing?
Many had the idea that bonsai is a hobby acquired by old people, which isn't true at all.
I had the same idea too, the only impression I had of bonsai was it was a hobby of Nobita's
friend's dad and a very expensive plant that I purchased in Pet Society.
Today I'm going to debunk the myth! What I really meant was, I went to a bonsai exhibition.
Contrary to popular belief, the art of bonsai is appreciated by people of all ages.
It is a massive thing especially in Japan, and we have one young bonsai master ourselves in Penang!
Trestan Tan, the founder the M'atural has been planting since he was 7.
He was selected by bonsai master Masashi Hirao to learn the art as well as
the filming of a documentary 'Bonsai Meets the World' by Tokyo TV.
If there's only one thing to bring alone to the next stage of life, what will it be?
Held at Dad's Wood, the two-weeks exhibition curated by Trestan gave us a glimpse of
his creative hobby. Upon arrival, I was given this ticket that got me all giddy.
Next Blossom: The Enchantment
The intriguing performance was a combination of bonsai, contemporary dance and gu zheng.
It sounded really strange at first, I didn't know what to expect.
The idea of the show was that the artist brought along the most important thing
to him, which of course was the bonsai to a brand new planet so that the culture could live on.
The performance portrayed the journey of searching, growing and the next blossom of the culture.
No photography was allowed during the performance but this was the end product.
It was performed in a dimmed room with haunting(the good kind) live gu zheng
performance by the one and only Sara Heng.
It was beautiful.
Next Blossom: The Existence We Value was another part of the exhibition which I adore
as it was a mixture of bonsai, photography and words.
Many unused objects in the kitchen were transformed into part of the bonsai.
The old but pretty porcelain bowls, cups and more.
The goal of the exhibition was to redefine the value of unused objects,
who would have thought they would come together so perfectly?
This depicts the edge of the cliff, I love this piece the most cause being on top of the cliff
signifies the achievement of conquering the mountain and the view on top is always rewarding.
Unless you attempt a head stand and fall over. That's what I would probably do.
I was actually attracted by these black and white photos once I stepped in.
They captured the essence our mundane daily life, featuring body parts of the photographer's grandma.
Little did I know, the photographer is my good friend Stewart Ooi.
So proud of you T.T
If this got you interested, how does a bonsai workshop sound to you?
M'atural is coming up with one next month!
Instead of reading about bonsai, why not make one?
Register here.
Keep it up, we need more people like you :)
More about bonsai:
Comments
Post a Comment