Free Ikebana Workshop for Seniors
Would you like to join the Ikebana Research Workshop at a special price - FREE*? We would like to invite 30 participants to our workshop .
*Please note, $25 deposit will be refunded to credit card after the workshop. However, the extra $0.50 ticket fee that is collected by Trybooking cannot be refunded.
Date/ Time: 1pm - 3pm on Thursday 4 July
Place: 136 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North, Vic, 3104 (North Balwyn Baptist Church)
Purpose: The workshop aims to explore the lived experience of seniors being introduced to practising ikebana for the first time.
Research Participation: Participants are required to fill out questionnaires before and after the workshop, provide feedback during brief interviews, and allow researchers to observe their engagement levels. Our questionnaires include the Toronto Mindfulness Scale.
Eligibility: Participants must be over 60 years old and have no previous formal training in Ikebana.
Workshop Details: Participants will create Ikebana arrangements under the guidance of an Ikebana teacher. They will be provided with materials, tools, and instructions to create their arrangements.
Post-Workshop: Participants get to take home their Ikebana arrangements. Participants will be contacted by phone for a brief interview about their workshop experience.
Photos of the arrangements will be displayed at the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival.
Confidentiality: Participants' responses will be kept confidential, and their names will not be mentioned in the study. Information collected will be stored securely.
Have fun with flowers and help us improve our instructions!
Enquiry: wa.ikebana@gmail.com
Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival
Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival is an innovative international cultural Festival promoting ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival’s mission is to increase community understanding, enjoyment, and participation in ikebana, an ancient and highly-respected cultural activity originating in Japan, by promoting the benefits of ikebana such as;
• learning an enjoyable art form for anyone to practice or view
• an increased sense of creativity and wellbeing
• health benefits like a meditative practice and/or therapeutic activity
• a subtle way to change attitudes - to live harmoniously with nature rather than regard it just as a resource
• a way to have a positive influence on others and on the earth.
Our teams’ primary goal in 2024 is to raise awareness at the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival and in the community of the many beneficial therapeutic effects on wellbeing for people of all ages provided by the practice of the Japanese art of ikebana.
Who are Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival committee members involved in the workshops?
The Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival committee is led by CEO Shoso Shimbo PhD and colleagues Angeline “Shoan” Lo, and Susan “Shoka” Healey and Karen “Shokiku” Thode. The committee members involved in conducting the workshops are all qualified Ikebana teachers of various levels of experience and professional backgrounds.
Where will the Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival be held in 2024?
The Wa Melbourne Ikebana Festival will be held at the Abbottsford Convent. The Abbotsford Convent is in 1 St Heliers St. Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river and parklands to its south and housing to its west.
