Frascati, 7th - 9th June 2013

"When I was asked to judge also the suiseki, I thought that there would be showy stones, maybe only two or three. So great was my surprise by the number and the quality being all the stones of high standard, equal to that of a Japanese show". The words I literally refer were uttered by Mr. Toshiro Ogawa, the Japanese guest that this year was the sensei of the XV Exhibition "City of Frascati".
Therefore a teacher who was invited by Bonsai Club Castelli Romani to pass on his bonsai knowledge, who was the special guest and the only judge of the event, which saw 31 bonsai and 11 suiseki on exhibit. Due to the absence of Mrs. Luciana Queirolo who has been our welcome guest for two consecutive years but this year was engaged in another concomitant event, the suiseki made use of the contribution of Mr. Ogawa who luckily has a deep knowledge of this art, too. The show which as always was housed in the halls of the town council of Frascati, had a very strong didactic connotation: for the bonsai the demonstrations on the terrace over the square of Frascati were the main aggregation moment.

Cutting  ...		... planning, drawing, studying ...		... ... working hard

While inside the halls the exhibition proceeded on the tracks of the established schedule, outside the nice weather allowed us to work continuously for two days, under the guidance of Mr. Ogawa and thanks to the translation work offered by Mrs. Sawa Nakamura. Somehow our guest was able to view the bonsai on display in order to judge and award prizes, while on Sunday a long-awaited event, that of the series of the comments, took place. Mr. Ogawa carefully examined every Tokonoma, recommending a better front, a more suitable pot, a more harmonious display for bonsai.

For suiseki curiosity was the utmost: what would a Japanese man say about our stones? Well, the premise  I mentioned at the beginning of my report positively surprised us. Mr. Ogawa added that: "... all the stones on display are very beautiful, it was hard to choose just one, and I selected the suiseki to be rewarded both for the stone and for the display. " Words that I want to emphasize as they underline a very important aspect for me which is unacknowledged in Italy, that of the importance of the display. Then Mr. Ogawa defined for each stone first the category, according to the Japanese classification with the original terms that we know very well by now; he avoided criticism, rather gave us suggestions for a better display,  reproducing in his comments the remarks that you typically hear in Italy: tables which sometimes are heavy or massive, too large scroll or with a wrong direction, accent plants which are not suitable for size.

Personally, I was curious to understand his opinion about the use of the Kakejiku which sometimes is not approved by some schools of thought. Well, from his comments it did not come out that it is not permitted, nor that it is compulsory, as a matter of fact. Overcoming the speech of 'rules', I believe there remains this teaching to be treasured: the display is as important as the suiseki; it allows us to communicate a mood, an atmosphere. The use of the accompanying elements must remain a free choice of the exhibitor who should follow his own sincere mood.

Returning to the awards, the Bonsai Club Castelli Romani, an AIAS member, required the sponsorship and consequently the AIAS placed a Plaque of Merit at disposal. I had the honour to be delegated, as a member of the Executive Council, for the awarding of the prize. I opted for a waterfall stone of Ligurian origin, presented by Mr. Paco Donato. Also Italiansuiseki provided its Plaque. Mr. Felice Colombari, consulted via the web, and I chose the suiseki presented by Napoli Bonsai Club, also to emphasize the importance of cooperation among club members. Another major award was provided by Napoli Bonsai Club: its president, Mr. Carlo Scafuri, assigned it to an interesting figure stone of Ligurian origin, presented by Mr. Umberto Ziniti.

The exhibition of bonsai and suiseki has been accompanied for some years from personal exhibitions by Shodo Bokushin School and Ikebana Sogetsu School of Rome, with which a  well-experienced partnership was born: they enriched our halls with calligraphy and ikebana works and gave life to demonstrations that always thrill the audience.