The XV A.I.A.S. National Congress
by Mrs. Daniela Schifano
Bondeno di Gonzaga, 29-30 September 2012
93 stones on display : in Italy it is impossible to see so many suiseki exhibited simultaneously ! For lovers of this art it is a unique opportunity to see the members’ stones among which we publish a selection of the most significant ones.
This edition has been organized by the Bonsai Club of Gonzaga. It took place in the heart of the earthquake zone in Emilia Romagna and was dedicated to the memory of Mr. Willi Benz, who died last year, one of the international experts who several times was called as a judge and a lecturer in the A.I.A.S. Congress.
His wife Mrs. Gudrun Benz was a Judge of the Congress. By her presence she wants to keep alive the memory but above all the teachings of her husband. In fact, we had the pleasure of attending a conference of hers just a week ago at the Crespi Show.
Since this year the categories have been enhanced with a new entry, the category "Pattern Stones", natural stones without a significant shape but with a pattern on the surface which is classifiable in the already known Japanese categories (a landscape, an animal, a human figure , objects in the sky, flowers like the famous chrysanthemum stones, plants, meteorological phenomena such as rain or snow). Till last year these stones could be exhibited only in 'Biseki' category but some confusion came about because worked stones like biseki were exposed together with natural stones.
Mrs.Laura Monni was my travelling companion in this experience. I thank her for the company and for the enthusiasm with which she lives, as a good bonsai lover, the world of stones. This was also the opportunity to meet personally another great woman, Mrs. Laura Redini, president of the Bonsai Club of Gonzaga, who wanted, despite the great difficulties of the moment, to organize the exhibition as if nothing had happened, as if there were no fenced areas in danger, as if people had not other problems on their mind. The aim was just to bring normality to emergency and with normality we lived the Congress: breaks, lunches, gala dinner, the meeting in line with the cover photo: bicycles, symbol of ever cycling people and in the background people watching the church severely damaged by the earthquake.
Also in this exhibition Italiansuiseki said "Here I am!". In addition to my stones, in fact, the friend and A.I.A.S. member Mr. Felice Colombari competed in the exposure of a beautiful waterfall stone.
The only judge Mrs. Gudrun Benz awarded the AIAS Trophy and three awards in each category while Mr. Angelo Attinà awarded the prize I.B.S., and Mr. Marino Nikpal the prize U.B.I..
The large number of exposed stones compels us to make a selection on these pages. On the official A.I.A.S. website you can see the full report of the event and of the stones in competition. Some of these suiseki have already been exhibited in other shows. Therefore we have already seen them, in some cases the owners have changed some details in the mounting. The display order is not meant to be a "ranking list" but it's completely random. We let visitors show their own personal preferences!
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"Landscape Stones" Category |
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The most beautiful suiseki on display, in my opinion, the stone that we all would like to find. Sergio thinks he can further improve the exposure of this mountain with a different table and leaving it a bit of time to grow old, but proportions and balance are admirable. In fact, we wonder why it did not have any recognition. |
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A remarkable stone, both for size and for the impact of undoubted spectacular effect. This suiseki won the A.I.A.S. Trophy 2012, consisting of a cup which is given for a year to the winner whose name is engraved on the pedestal. In addition, this stone will represent the A.I.A.S. in the next ESA Congress 2013. |
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A stone that struck me not so much for its maybe a little massive proportions, but especially for the colour differences on its surface, which makes it fascinating. This very large suiseki was awarded the first prize in the category 'Landscape Stones'. |
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| First public appearance for this beautiful waterfall by Felice. The surface of the stone, marked by water and time, should age a little more, but the size and the presence of the vein of calcite only on the front make it a waterfall stone of remarkable quality. From the top to the right there is also a deep groove that joins the lower waterfall making us imagine that the water flowed here, before it found another way. | |||||||||
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A quiet plateau, as the poetic name suggests, or a quiet atmosphere, highlighted by the presence of bronze Tenkei depicting a pagoda. This stone which was found in a river has good proportions but the forces that shaped it did not soften sharpness and surface enough. |
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After two years we see my "pancake stone" again. Our readers know its story, both origin and public displays. Never exposed at the A.I.A.S. Congress, I ventured on this occasion in a new display, in which I added a scroll of the English artist Mr. Paul Goff, who created both the painting on shikishi and the support of silk. I also added a Tenkei made by the Dutch artist Mr. Henk Fresen, a beautiful cormorant resting on a wreck, a classic image in Japanese iconography. |
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I add an episode which is perhaps not very important but meaningful because a congress is also made of meetings, of friendship and exchange of ideas. The Spanish friend Mr. Jesus Quintas focused on my exhibits and gave me a small table on which the raft with cormorants lay, finding unsuitable the support in ceramics that I had chosen. In my opinion the raft was not to be seen as a boat at sea but rather as a wreck abandoned on a beach. For this reason I had chosen a ceramic slice of beige colour. According to Jesus it was too bright and showy also for the presence of the moon, and thinking that I did not have a jiita wood (ah, the language problem!) he gave me this little support of his, shaped in accordance with the shape of the raft. It does not matter if I agreed or not, my exhibit was enriched by the spirit of collaboration and generosity of Jesus whom I thank from these pages. |
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| A very special palombino stone for a set of landscape characteristics: the cliffs rising steep reveal a wide plateau from which a mountain range rises, enriched with a waterfall coming down until it touches the daiza! What else do you want ... from a stone? (Thanks to Mr. Carlo Laghi for the photo). |
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"Object Stones" Category |
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We have recently seen this suiseki exhibited at Crespi Suiseki Cup 2012. It is rightly buying up awards. Awarded the Excellence Award BCI in Milan, but even before in the ESA Congress 2011, on this occasion it won the Second Prize in the category 'Object Stones'. Look at it carefully also in the version proposed by the magnifying glass and have fun looking for the image of the lamp magician, as the sharp imagination of A.I.A.S. member and friend Mr.Carlo Vanni, for wich soon I'll do a whole photo service, suggested to me !In short, it is a stone that gives many suggestions, as well as a silky intriguing surface. |
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A female figure in royal gait: the owner presents it as Kannon, in Chinese Guanshiyin, "The one who hears the cries of the world" , therefore the goddess of mercy. A very well made daiza which accompanies an irregular base of stone. This suiseki was awarded with the third prize in the category 'Object Stones". |
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| A lion? A dragon? Undoubtedly an animal of remarkable expressive power and First Prize in the category "Object Stones". This material coming from Bergamo was represented at the exhibition by about ten stones at least in order to show a kind of extension of the research limiting no longer to the classic palombino. | |||||||||
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"Pattern Stones" Category |
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| Already presented last year in Florence, where it won the "Memorial Paola Gramigni" Award, this pattern stone has been presented in many exhibitions, winning manifold awards, not least this year the prize "Italiansuiseki." On this occasion, it is ranked first in the category "Pattern Stones". | |||||||||
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A figure of wise old man (or a fisherman), which was much admired and won two awards: the Second Prize in the category "Pattern Stones" and the I.B.S. plate, assigned by the judge Mr.Angelo Attinà. It is a river stone from Vietnam and the material is gneiss, "a metamorphic rock composed of quartz, feldspar and mica. The gneiss minerals are formed by the same minerals as granite, but compared to these, their crystals are oriented and arranged in beds forming sometimes alternately light and dark bands, some consisting of quartz and feldspar, others of biotite: in this case a zoned weaving. "The most often put question was :" Will it be natural?". The magnifying glass says it will. The use of acids to hide traces of a possible alteration would change the light colour. Of course sceptical and mistrustful people will always exist but if Nature had fun creating stones looking like perfect mountains, then she may also have literally drawn this wise old man with a long beard and a bun. |
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| Third Prize in the category "Pattern Stones": this Spanish stone, which had a wonderful sister on display, has the colours of twilight by which its poetic name is inspired. Coming from the beaches of Valencia it is the first time I have seen a Rainbow Stone, superb quality in its pattern and considerable size. | |||||||||
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A beautiful pattern stone from China, where both the pattern of the falling leaves and the colour recall the autumn. A very nice daiza, made in Italy, and the Japanese table. Lorenzo accompanied the stone with a calligraphy and as it is his, however correct, habit, provided the English and Italian translation: |
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| A new AIAS member, a new material: from Sicily Mr. Mimmo Abate proposed three different materials, including this pattern stone with a funny poetic name. | |||||||||
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Shelves |
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| For this exhibit, which was awarded the Third Prize in the "Shelves" Category, I will give honour to the stone which is probably worth the prize by itself, a quite balanced distant mountain. | |||||||||
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Canonically set at the highest level of the table, down on the left there is an object stone in the shape of a tree and on the right there is an object stone in the shape of a hut or group of huts.
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| In this exhibit, which was awarded the Second Prize in the "Shelves" Category, I recognized a very beautiful pattern stone which was exposed “alone” in Florence last year and which I propose in a well enlarged picture: | |||||||||
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Analyzing the multiple, at the top there is this beautiful pattern stone in which you can recognize a flight of birds on the wing, due to the concept of the autumn migration, at the second level a mountain stone and a waterfall stone, at the lowest level a hut stone and a human figure. The accent plant was placed outside.
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| An exhibition around a small pattern stone of Chinese origin, positioned at the top, with the drawing of a moon. The multiple is completed by a pool stone reflecting the moon, a hut-shaped object stone and a small plant of horsetail, suitable for lake environment. | |||||||||
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Out of the multiple, I placed a bronze Tenkei kindly lent for the occasion by my friend Mr. Lorenzo Sonzini, a water buffalo with a farmer on its back.
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| "Biseki Stones" Category | |||||||||
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| A biseki? The stone seemed natural but the owner confirmed that he had pointed out the very hard horizontal lines, working on the surface of the stone of a softer material. The stone was awarded the Second Prize in the category "Biseki." | |||||||||
