KARACHI: The installation ceremony of Ikebana International Karachi Chapter 204 at a local hotel here on Saturday was more than just a live large scale floral arrangement, it was also an Ikebana arrangements exhibition and a handing over ceremony from the old administration to the new. Outgoing president Salma Aziz was handing over charge to new president Tarannum Afroze.

But the highlight of the day was the three live demonstrations from the president of the Floral Art Society of Pakistan Shaimah Saeed with assistance from Farah Jafri.

The yellow, pink and orange flowers and green foliage of the huge central arrangement and the two smaller ones on each side of the stage stood out against a jet black backdrop just like the embroidered daffodils stood out on Shaimah’s black dress.

The first arrangement was freestyle on a structure of bamboo and a dried up skeleton of a banana plant. The most flowers used in the arrangement, other than the pink roses and carnations, looked like sunflowers but they were orange. “See, anything is possible in Pakistan, even orange sunflowers,” said Shaimah, before admitting that she was only joking. “I wanted orange flowers for this arrangement but since it is not easy to get imported flowers these days, my friend Farah here spray painted the sunflowers orange,” she laughed.

Live large scale floral arrangement demos held as floral society gets new president

Collecting things such as old tree barks, dried branches, old vines, wood pieces and whatever looked interesting to her for many many years, Shaimah can come up with all kinds of frames or skeletons to work out as the base of her Ikebana arrangements. This was apparent from her next arrangement, the huge central piece with lots of different leaves and big sunflowers. The huge vase she had gotten made from waste pieces of wood from a carpenter. More wood, in the form of an old dead tree branch served as the frame for the arrangement put together with Zamia Palm leaves she had found by the roadside, along with the leaves of the ZZ Plant, black and green Anthurium and Sansevieria.

The third and final arrangement was a continental style, according to Shaimah. “Such a style has plenty of open spaces between the leaves and flowers, enough for butterflies to flutter around,” she explained.

Finally, having finished the arrangements, she shared that she has never consulted books or pictures to create her Ikebana designs. “And I can never repeat a design,” she smiled.

Earlier, while appreciating the commitment of the members of the Ikebana Chapter to the floral art, Consul General of Japan Hattori Masaru, the chief guest on the occasion, said that Ikebana is a quiet relationship of the human soul with nature. “It is a gentle art that brings together people from different backgrounds and cultures through their creativity, something which has continued through generations.”

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2025