Bonsai Culture Group
The Bonsai Cultre Group is Malta's only Bonsai club. Primarily the club seeks to inform the general public about the art of bonsai and secondly trains its members on the basic and advanced techniques of bonsai training. The club organises meetings regularly on Thursdays between 18:30 hrs and 19:30 during which lectures and workshops are held. Members are encouraged to bring their bonsai trees with them and with the help of the experienced members are helped to shape and enhance their tree. The club also organises several exhibitions and activities. The main exhibition of the club is held anually around June.
But what is a Bonsai Tree after all?
Bonsai ("tray gardening", in Japanese) is the art of growing trees and plants, kept small by being grown in a pot and by the use of skilled pruning, formed to create an aesthetic shape and the illusion of age, although many bonsai trees are quite old and simply show their age in miniature form. The Chinese art of penjing is very similar to and is the precursor of the Japanese art of bonsai.
Sketches of trees grown in pots, apparently used for decorative purposes, occur in Egyptian tombs, dated over 4,000 years old. Subsequently, caravans were known to transport trees in containers of various kinds throughout Asia. The trees were sources of chemicals used medicinally by healers in the caravans and places visited along the way.
The modern-day art of bonsai originates from China over two thousand years ago, where it has been called penzai and written in the same Hanzi that gave rise to the Kanji above. It was brought to Japan by imperial embassies to Tang China (the 7th - 9th century). In the Kamakura period, penjing that recalled customs from the Heian period came to be drawn in some picture scrolls and documents. In the Muromachi period, penjing has developed into various directions in Japan. Just like a Japanese garden, it came to assume the artistry of "Wabi-sabi" to be essence. However, the bonsai was still the enjoyment of people of the chosen hierarchy in the period. In the Edo period, it became possible to enjoy the bonsai for many daimyos, samurais, merchants, townsmen, and others. The show of the bonsai was often held. In addition, the bonsai pot became popular by each daimyo's employing the pottery master who belonged exclusively to the bonsai pot. It is said that it came to be called "Bonsai" this time. Indeed a lot of bonsais were drawn in many an "Ukiyo-e".
The art is still practiced in China
today, often under the name of penjing. As the Chinese art is intended
for outdoor display, the plants tend to be somewhat larger than seen
in Japanese bonsai.
Read more about bonsai basics by clicking
here
History
Mr. Joe Casha and Mr. Carmel Busuttil co-founders of the Bonsai Culture Group, first met at Tal-Handaq Junior Lyceum for boys in 1984. When Mr. Casha asked Mr. Busuttil if he could help him set up a Bonsai Club in Malta... Click here to read more
Bonsai Culture Group - The Club
The club is made up of over 80 members
and is led by the Committee headed by Mr.
Paul DeBono as president and Dr. Alfred Grech as the General Secretary.
Bonsai Culture Group is an association with a published statute. Membership
is on an annual basis and members are asked to pay an annual fee of
Lm 7 (€16.31) for a single person and Lm 10 (€ 23.29) for
a couple. If you are interested in joining the association,
come to one of our meetings every thursday
at 18:30 hrs at the Ministry of Education in Floriana where we meet
for lectures and workshops about bonsai.
Directions to get to Ministry of Education in Floriana:
Going toards Valletta you take a left at the war
memorial, drive up and pass by the Phoenicia Hotel. Take the first turning
on your left and enter the first building on your left. Should you need
further directions call Claude Sciberras on 79470847
