Bonsai exhibition

At the end of May my family and I visited an exhibition of bonsai in Merklín. Merklín is just a small town with about a thousand inhabitants but it started tradition of bonsai exhibitions in 2004 and still keeps it alive. Every year it invites fans of bonsai and Japanese culture generally to the local castle in the yard of which the exhibition takes place.

This was the third time of our visiting and as I am no expert in this field, I could see just “the same” beautiful and interesting plants I had seen before yet I enjoyed the atmosphere of the event.

In front of the castle, there were big tents where you could buy bonsai trees and equipment used for growing them, where you could ask a piece of advice from those who manage the skill of training the little trees, and where you could also buy other plants to grow such as those cacti below. I am not sure about any connection with Japanese culture in this regard but the other plants added to the exhibition.

The castle suits the exhibition well, I like the combination… So refreshing.

This year I tried not only to capture the exhibition but also its visitors. Many of them were taking photos using all kind of cameras, others were just watching and enjoying the event.

There were several programs in the park in front of the castle and in the castle itself. You could participate in a calligraphy lesson or in a workshop on bonsai training, you could exercise or watch a demonstration of the art of shooting with a longbow.

Have you ever tried to create origami? Once we bought a little book with details of how to create some origami figures and as easy as it looked, it wasn’t easy at all. I admire the art of origami, one wouldn’t believe what wonderful things can be created just by folding paper in the right places and with the right angles. The birds below may be simple but their flock made my day!