Page 61 - BSAM 2015 Q3

BCI Excellence Award at the 30th Arcobonsai in Italy IBy Massimo Bandera, Italy
n May, the annual event Arcobonsai and Arcofiori in Arco, Trentino, organized by Arcobonsai Club celebrated its 30th year, an event, the organizers
have called “The Europe of Bonsai in Arco” and, in collaboration with the Board of the European Bonsai Association, have called on the 19 countries belong- ing to the association to send two representatives to Arco to compete in yamadori styling for the trophy Euro Arcobonsai.
Italy, represented by Salvatore Liporace, was joined by eight other countries, namely, France, Monaco, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Switzerland. The representatives from Switzerland unfortunately did not show up but the other repre- sentatives competed in a contest that was a showcase of talent.
The representatives from Slovenia won the com- petition with a striking and technically interesting composition. The program also included a contest of twenty Italian clubs and, among these, the fourteenth Arcobonsai Trophy was awarded to Giardino delle Nove Nebbie di Udine.
On Saturday and Sunday, the instructors, previ- ous winners of the trophy and the founders of five of the Italian Bonsai Schools, demonstrated their high professionalism in styling trees, during which they provided to the audience all technical and artistic ele- ments related to the material being processed. Also for the technical and artistic component, instructors Carlo Cipollini and Adriani Bonini, designed plants proposed by convention participants.
The cultural component was guaranteed by the reports from professor Augusto Marchesini, Luca Bragazzi, Massimo Bandera, Silvia Orsi and Andrea Schenone. The latter has also presented a solo exhibi- tion of his suiseki collection, surely one of the leading and most interesting in Italy. Another solo exhibition was staged by Tanaka Shozo which Arcobonsai want- ed to pay tribute as he had set up, with Carlo Oddone, the first exhibition of bonsai in Arco in 1985.
The conference began with the commemoration of Charles Oddone, who died early this year. He was Honorary President of Arcobonsai, founder and in- spirer of the Club and the Congress. To remember
Top inset and above; Sandro Segneri receives the BCI Excellence Award for his Pinus mugo from BCI Director Massimo Bandera
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Inset; Massimo receives the Carlo Oddone Certificate.
Bottom; Massi- mo Bandera’s Tokonoma Display in the Arcobonsai exhibit.