Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival

Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival

Free and Open to the Public

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 1:30-3:30pm

Free Ikebana (flower arranging), Weaving Workshop and Traditional Japanese Dance Performance
Ikebana workshop, (left) weaving workshop(right). PAC’s Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival returns to Pelham Art Center on Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 1:30- 3:30pm! Join us as we celebrate our fifth annual Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Matsuri) with hands-on workshops and activities in the traditional arts of Japan as part of our Folk Arts Series. Free and open to the public.

Artist Shoko Iwata of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana will lead a traditional Japanese floral design workshop and weaving artist Yukako Satone of Loop of the Loom will instruct participants on how to weave a cherry blossom on a SAORI loom, a contemporary Japanese hand-weaving method. Participants will be able to take home their celebratory cherry blossom arrangements and woven flowers. In addition, a traditional Japanese dance workshop will be held in our main gallery from 2:30PM and 3:30PM, run by Helen Moss of IchiFuji-kai Dance Association in Forest Hills, Queens.

In keeping with the spirit of the day, visitors can contribute to a community “wish tree,” by writing messages of hope and adding them to our collection. PAC will then mail the wishes to a central repository of wishes from around the world, becoming part of a greater project organized by Yoko Ono. For more information visit http://imaginepeacetower.com/yoko-onos-wish-trees

About Cherry Blossom Season

Japan does not have an official flower, but sakura, or the cherry blossom, is most certainly its unofficial one. Its delicate beauty has captivated the Japanese for centuries and has long been a primary motif in Japanese art for both its aesthetic quality and its symbolism. The blossom of the cherry tree signifies the arrival of spring and is celebrated as a herald of hope and a bright future. Its small, pale petals are also associated with purity. But the flower’s delicate quality lends it a decidedly melancholy air, as well. After the cherry tree’s buds open, it’s just few short days before the blooms have vanished entirely — the lovely petals all shed in a spectacular pink flurry. The blossom’s ephemeral beauty has become a poignant symbol of impermanence in Japanese visual culture.