Jerusalem Botanical Gardens Award and Conference 2011

Hi All!

These are exciting times in the world of Israeli bonsai. As practitioners of our particular art, we are used to nurturing gradual change over time. However, as the old saying goes, change tends to happen very very slowly, and then all of a sudden.

This is particularly true of the bonsai scene here in Israel, which in the past couple of years has been experiencing nothing short of a revolution! The level of the trees being grown here has skyrocketed, and a new generation of artists is leading the transition from the 'old', traditional-style bonsai, to modern bonsai. A visitor coming to Israel today would be absolutely awestruck by the year-on-year difference.

In order to celebrate this unique achievement, promote further progress, and showcase local artists to both the general public here in Israel and to bonsai enthusiasts abroad, I, together with the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, started a new initiative - the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens Award and Conference.
The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens have been a huge supporter of Israeli bonsai in the past couple of years, and the new initiative follows on a two-year tradition of hosting an annual bonsai exhibition.

This year, 13 of the best trees in Israel were selected to compete for the JBG Award which comes with both bragging rights and a cash prize. We were also extremely lucky to be joined by Enrico Savini and Tommaso Triossi from Progetto Futuro in Italy, who judged the trees and conducted a demo.
Seriously - if you have never had the privilege of seeing a Progetto Futuro demonstration, that's what you should be asking for for your birthday/Christmas/Kwanzaa/anniversary/etc. Enrico delivers the goods every time!

Of the 13 trees, this forum's own Moshe Emergui took the grand prize with a stunning olive. Amihay Yeheziyahu took fan favorite with a powerful Ficus microcarpa. Amihay was also awarded a special Progetto Futuro award for technical excellence for his work on the ficus.

All in all, it was a great show, and a great start for a new tradition that I hope will drive excellence in Israeli bonsai, and provide a friendly competitive atmosphere for Israeli artists to showcase their work both locally and internationally.
Join us next year for what looks to be an even greater success!

Moshe Emergui's winning olive. Trust me - this picture does not do it justice!
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Amihay Yehezkiyahu's powerful ficus.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Moshe Emergui's mammoth elaeagnus.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Eldad Orenstein's pistacia.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Olive by the late Moshe Carmi. From the collection of Yaron Gal.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Moshe Emergui's pitango.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Moshe Emergui's juniper, which some of you may remember won first place in the KOB styling contest.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Shmulik Obsfeld's pistacia.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Haim Fraid's bauhinia.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Yaron Gal's elm.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Amihay Yehezkiyahu's myrtus. Again - picture seriously doesn't do it justice, and more on this tree below.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)



Vicky Simon's juniper. Better picture to follow.
(picture courtesy of Amihay Yehezkiyahu)



Mauro Rathaus' impressive lantana.
(picture courtesy of Haim Fraid)

I'll post a link to pics from a professional shoot that we did for all the trees in the exhibition once I'm done resizing and uploading them.

In the meantime, here are some more pics from the day's events (again, all pics are courtesy of Haim Fraid unless stated otherwise) -

The field-grown juniper for the demo, in the traditional 'before' style.


Hmmm...what to do? Is that a hint of worry I detect on Enrico (right)?


Enrico explains his cunning plan for the tree, and sets his faithful minions to work : )


Ever the trusting type, Enrico takes a quick look to make sure that the work is carried out as required.


Just one more small adjustment.....


And what you have is one happy owner (Yaron Gal)! BTW - what you see on the table is affectionately called 'bonsai residue'.


With the demo over, it was time for a quick pop back into the display hall (picture courtesy of Amihay Yehezkiyahu)


And then back in for the awards ceremony. Here we have one happy Moshe, winner of the 2011 Jerusalem Botanical Gardens Award, alongside Oren Ben Yossef, CEO, Gardens, Enrico, and yours truly.


Followed by Amihay, fan favorite, seen here receiving Enrico's special award for technical work on a bonsai.


And these are just the 'official' pics. You should see how much fun everyone had in the 'behind-the-scene' footage
If anyone's planning some time off next June, we'd love to see you here!
In the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think!

Congratulations on a very successful bonsai show. The trees all look very impressive.
Jerry

thanks for sharing...always interesting to not miss out on show that you can't get to.

Thanks for sharing the pics. Congratulations for the show. Keep up the good work for at the end it pays up.

Cosmos