BONSAI FOCUS - English 2018-6 | Page 3

EDITORIAL Bonsai Focus 5 Who we are Publisher Bonsai Europe Publications Houtrustweg 96, 2566 GJ The Hague The Netherlands Europe: Tel.: [phone] Office hours: 9am - 5pm (CET) USA: Tel.:[phone] Office hours: 9am - 5pm (East Coast) E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.bonsaifocus.com Chief Editor: Farrand Bloch [email protected] Editorial staff: English edition: Ann Scutcher French edition: Patrick Bosc, Mat- thieu Mavridis German edition: Jörg Derlien Dutch edition: Hein-Dik Barentsen Italian edition: Erika Lakin Spanish edition: Ana Ricart Advertising & Marketing: René Rooswinkel [email protected] Subscriptions & Administration: Marja Heijmink [email protected] Issn UK: 1874 - 6853 Issn US: 1876 - 6137 Price: € 12.95 © Copyright 2018 A new direction The topic of how we look at our bonsai, how we put them on display and what we want to evoke or express has burrowed its way into the bonsai community. There are lots of things going on, much discussion, lectures and alternative shows, how to present bonsai differently. Like the sessions at the Pacific Bonsai Museum, the so-called LAB, that is the initiative of Aarin Packard, tries to find answers by asking what is bonsai and where does it stand in western society. Experiments and out of the box thinking should work just like a therapy bringing new awareness of what bonsai is and the direction it should go. Giving a new direction to bonsai is just exactly what Bjorn Bjorholm did when confronted with an ‘old bonsai friend’, a juniper, the first styling of which was done by him in Japan. It was a bit out of shape so Bjorn not only brought it back to its old glory, but gave it a new look, too. More discussion on where and how to use the elements in display is covered in the article by Austin Reich, who is a very talented woodworker from Oregon, USA. Something as simple as a jita can up- (or down) lift your display. He shows us how. Something a little more traditional, is the bonsai exhibition at the Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto, where once the Samurai ruled. It's bonsai in an historical perspective. Samurai did practice ikebana and some even did bonsai to get in touch with their inner selves, as we would say today. The Nijo-jo Castle must be seen in Kyoto, where many tourists visit. Bonsai clings on to its popularity and so many more new encounters with this fine art are made. Just what we need. Enjoy the read Bonsai Europe, world rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Bonsai Focus has a co-operation with Kinbon magazine, Kyoto, Japan Translations: Peter Warren Farrand Bloch Chief editor