Hiroko Prado Ikebana

What is Ikebana?

Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging is not just about putting flowers into the vase.

It has evolved from Buddhist offerings to an art/activity free from its religious origin that has enriched the mind and everyday life over the centuries.

Now ikebana is practiced all over the world by anyone using any local materials.

Ikebana practitioners create a floral art expressing themselves by using living plants such as tree branches, leaves, stems, fruits and flowers, or sometimes even dried or painted materials.

Ikebana is different from Western floral arrangement in the way ikebana uses

negative/empty space. In ikebana, positive and negative space is considered equally important,

just like in the Japanese calligraphy or brush painting, the blank(white) part is as important as the brush strokes themselves. 

Sogetsu School of Ikebana

Sogetsu school of Ikebana is not the oldest but one of the largest and most popular Ikebana schools in Japan. The school was founded in 1927 by the late Sofu Teshigahara who questioned the traditions of ikebana which paid more attention to just following the established forms of the time.

Instead, he regarded ikebana as a creative art, and placed more importance on originality and individual expression.

Now Sogetsu has around 120 branches and study groups all over the world. 

In Australia, Sogetsu has 60 years of history since the late Norman Sparnon

introduced this art form to the country. 

草月とは

いつでも、どこでも、誰にでも

初代家元・勅使河原蒼風が形式主体のいけばなに疑問を持ち、「個性」を尊重した

自由な表現を求めたことから草月のいけばなは始まりました。

草月のいけばなは「型」にとらわれることなく、自由にその人の個性を映し出します。

いつも新しく、いつも美しい。時代と共に進化を遂げる草月いけばな、

花と向き合う時間を生活にとり入れませんか？