In October 2016, Sr Annick Jambou in community at the rue d’Arras, Paris, took part in an exhibition of “Ikebana” at Vincennes (94). We give you some echoes of this event and of the practice of this thousand year old Japanese floral art.

For many years now, Sr Annick has been part of The Voice of the Flowers (www.la-voix-des-fleurs.fr), an association that offers beginners’ and advanced classes in the art of Ikebana. This Japanese word is made up of “IKERU” which means to bring to life and “BANA”, the flowers. Under the tuition of her teacher Nicole Dineur, Annick has become an accomplished practitioner of this art, and has already taken part in the biannual exhibitions of the association. On this occasion, she presented three compositions … Tornado … Rebirth … Past – Present … These creations invited us to contemplate the beauty of the flowers to which Annick had given a new life.

renaissance

At the same time, she brought to life the concepts at the heart of the particular modern and contemporary Sogetsu school of Ikebana that she practices. Displays of asymmetry, empty space and harmony between the

tornado

container and the elements used sent us back to the oriental concept that man and nature are one and cannot be separated.

Far from being simple compositions of flowers and vegetation, Ikebana expresses through its creations the emotions and feelings of the artist. For a European the practice of Ikebana demands a penetration in depth of an alien culture. It is also an art where spirituality is very present, where one has to regard and accept nature as it is. A rather different approach for Annick than when she is diligently attacking the “weeds” in the community garden in the heart of Paris.

For our artist the classes are moments of concentration and sharing, but also of meditation and a means of self-development. For the sisters who then have the privilege of living with the works that she “recomposes” in the community, they are an invitation to better understand our existence and to question ourselves on our own relationship with nature.