Beauty comes in small packages
Weathered looking trunks with numberless branches and twigs. The banyan tree stands straight on moss-covered earth. Next to it is a tomal tree, and then a pakur, dumur, kamini, hijol, sheora and what not. It seems that enigma and beauty of these trees have become more intense in their miniature versions. When it comes to bonsai, beauty does seem to come in small forms.
Bangladesh Bonsai Society has been organising annual bonsai exhibitions since 1999. Their 10th annual exhibition of the "living art form" started on October 16 at the WVA auditorium. Rasheda K. Choudhury, adviser to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, inaugurated the event. Masayuki Inoue, the Japanese Ambassador, was the special guest.
The guests and visitors were delighted to see so many species of rare local trees like ghurni bichi, jilapi (as they are known in the northern parts of our country), dhutum and others along with some flower trees like rangan, gandhoraj, krishnochhura and many others. Not all bonsais exhibited here are as old as they appear; some have been developed carefully from an old tree.
"From collecting to development to shaping, a bonsai demands a lot of patience, passion and care. Without an unbound love for this living art, no one can become a true bonsai artist," said S.M. Tawhid of Bangladesh Bonsai Society.
A banyan tree with branches arranged to look like the Arabic word "Allah" generated much interest. Anisur Rahman is the creator of this bonsai. "The desired form can be achieved through wiring, grafting and cutting the twigs according to the shape -- a time consuming process," said Sarwar Murshed, general secretary of Rajshahi Bonsai Society and member of Bangladesh Bansai Society.
An initiative by some enthusiastic bonsai lovers, Bangladesh Bonsai society is now working tirelessly to promote the art in our country. The organisation regularly arranges training programme and workshops. At the exhibition, the prices of bonsais ranged from Tk 600 to 6,00,000.
Though Bonsai is increasingly becoming popular in our country, there is an accusation claiming that the process of "dwarfing" a tree is in essence, a torture. Denying the allegation, S.M. Tawhid said, "People tend to think that the trees are made to suffer from lack of nurture and nutrition, but if it were the case, the tree would definitely die. People don't think twice when involved in deforestation in the name of urbanisation. Our endeavour on the other hand, is to preserve the varieties of rare local trees, which are often on the verge of decline, in miniature forms."
Adviser Rasheda K. Choudhury assured every support to establish a permanent gallery for the regular activities and exhibitions by the society. The exhibition ended yesterday.
Comments