ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
Ikebana is a Japanese art that dates back to over 600 years ago. People compose flowers and plants into living, breathing sculptures, paying special attention to asymmetry, space and line. NPR's Margaux Bauerlein reports on how one organization is trying to keep this ancient art alive.
(CROSSTALK)
MARGAUX BAUERLEIN, BYLINE: In a small classroom at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., about a dozen kids are sitting at tables with bamboo vases and tulips in front of them.
(CROSSTALK)
MOTOKO SHIMIZU: And before we get started, very important safety rule. So can you do chicken dance? Because we use scissors, so enough room so you can handle safely the scissors.
BAUERLEIN: Motoko Shimizu is hosting an ikebana demonstration for kids, like Muriel Mwesigwa (ph). She's 7 years old.
MURIEL MWESIGWA: I decided to put some blue on the front that resembles the sea. And one of the yellow tulips - I wanted that to be there so I can represent the sun during the sunset when the sea turtles lay their eggs.
BAUERLEIN: And Patricia Mwesigwa (ph) is Muriel's mom.
PATRICIA MWESIGWA: Just watching her play with the different elements is - and just explore is really beautiful.
BAUERLEIN: Ikebana means, make flowers come alive. There are hundreds of different schools of ikebana, each with their own design philosophy. Kyoko Peterson is another local instructor. She says anyone can make ikebana.
KYOKO PETERSON: Doesn't mean you be - you have - Japanese has to do it. Anybody can just enjoy it, you know? Everybody likes a flower, right? So that's the idea.
BAUERLEIN: Ikebana became popular in the United States after World War II, thanks in part to Ikebana International, which is hosting this demonstration.
(SOUNDBITE OF SCISSORS SNIPPING FLOWERS)
BAUERLEIN: Diana Cull is the D.C. Chapter historian.
(SOUNDBITE OF SCISSORS SNIPPING FLOWERS)
BAUERLEIN: She's cutting bright red carnations and weaving them through interlocking black-and-white zip ties.
(SOUNDBITE OF ZIP TIE TIGHTENING)
BAUERLEIN: Her arrangement looks like it belongs in a modern art museum.
DIANA CULL: Ikebana is not something that you just take up for a few weeks. It really is a lifelong pursuit, and you make lifelong friends while you are doing it.
BAUERLEIN: Ikebana International is 70 years old. A woman named Ellen Gordon Allen founded the organization after she learned ikebana while living in Japan. Her husband, a U.S. Army general, was stationed there. Sam Kauffmann is Allen's grandson.
SAM KAUFFMANN: She said, I see no reason why ikebana cannot become a veritable garden of flowers surrounding the whole world, with beauty combining all this together in a real and lasting friendship.
(CROSSTALK)
BAUERLEIN: Back at the National Arboretum, that feeling is alive amongst the students. Riko Fatakuchi (ph) and Maa Takamatsu (ph) are best friends.
RIKO FATAKUCHI: My favorite thing is where all the flowers - you can do whatever you want with them.
MAA TAKAMATSU: I like ikebana because I mostly like flowers.
BAUERLEIN: Instructor Motoko Shimizu is happy to be teaching them and the other kids.
SHIMIZU: It's like seeding the next generation of ikebana artists.
BAUERLEIN: Margaux Bauerlein, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRIAN ENO'S "SILVER MORNING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.