Page 9 - BSAM 2018 Q1

Demonstrations at Xizhou Park
By Sujata Bhat, India
Bonsai demonstrations by twenty- ve world re- nowned bonsai artists were conducted at three separate venues. Eighteen of these were held
at the main venue, Xizhou Park, which also hosted the Hwa-Fong Bonsai Exhibition. ree to four dem- onstrations were held at a time on a huge stage set up next to the main bonsai exhibition. BCI Director Mr. Min-Hsuan Lo coordinated the demonstrations with such precision and meticulous planning that the events went o smoothly and successfully. e start- ing material provided to the demonstrators was of exceptionally high quality.
On the rst day, the 4th of November, right a er the grand opening ceremony, three Taiwanese bon- sai artists presented their demos at Xizhou Park. Mr. Chung Hong Lee worked on a beautiful Juniper with a contorted trunk-line sporting a lot of deadwood. He also displayed a beautifully drawn sketch of what his future tree would look like. Mr. Jian Liang Chen demonstrated on a tall Juniper while Mr. Zi-Jing Yan created a rugged seascape with Juniper trees which also included a large dri wood, stones and sand.
e morning session on 5th November saw three simultaneous demonstrations by international art- ists. Mr. Takashi Sakurai, a young artist from Japan worked on a Juniper, tilting it at an angle to create a semi-cascade. Alongside Mr. Sakurai was the well- known Spanish Bonsai expert Mr. David Benavente who is known for his aesthetic styling of trees. Mr. Benavente worked on a Juniperus chinensis, skillfully pruning, wiring and placing branches of the juniper which ultimately acquired a very feminine natural look with a slender, curvy trunk and long jins. Mr. Bill Valavanis from U.S.A. worked on great Japanese Black Pine. A er some needle plucking, thinning and wiring the nal bonsai turned out really good.
e a ernoon session had four demonstrators on stage. ere was Prof. Vic Ceballos, a BCI Director from the Philippines. He had a very challenging, ma- ture, root-over-rock Premna microphylla to work with that had numerous crisscrossing branches. e tree
Top left and right; Three to four demonstrations were held
at a time on a huge stage set up next to the main bonsai exhibition.
Right column, top to bottom;
Mr. Chung Hong Lee worked on a beautiful Juniper with a contorted trunk-line sporting a lot of deadwood. He also displayed a beautifully drawn sketch of what his future tree would look like.
Mr. Jian-Liang Chen (left) demonstrated on a tall Juniper. BCI Director Mr. Min-Hsuan Lo (right) coordinated the many demonstrations with precision.
Zi-Jing Yan created a rugged seascape with Juniper trees which also included a large driftwood, stones and sand.
turned out really well a er some intense pruning and wiring. Mr. José Luis Rodriguez from Puerto Rico had a beautiful cascading bougainvillea to work on and created an excellent nal tree. Mr. Václav Novák from the Czech Republic worked on a Juniper and created an excellent piece of Bonsai. Mr. Budi Sulistyo, a BCI Director from Indonesia, is well-known for his
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