The Bonsai Culture Group-Malta is this weekend holding its 26th Annual Bonsai Exhibition.

The Bonsai Culture Group is Malta’s only bonsai club. Primarily the club seeks to inform the public about the art of bonsai and, secondly, it trains its members on the basic and advanced techniques of bonsai making.

Bonsai (‘tray gardening’ in Japanese) is the art of growing trees and plants, kept small by being grown in a pot and by the use of skilled pruning, formed to create an aesthetic shape and the illusion of age, although many bonsai trees are quite old and simply show their age in miniature form.

The modern-day art of bonsai originated in China over 2,000 years ago. It was brought to Japan by imperial embassies to Tang China (in the seventh to ninth centuries).

In the Muromachi period, penjing (tray landscape) developed in various directions in Japan. Just like a Japanese garden, it came to assume the concept of “wabi-sabi”, a world view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. At the time, only chosen people high up in the hierarchy could enjoy this kind of art. In the Edo period, it became possible for many daimyos (lords), samurai, merchants, townsmen and others to enjoy penjing and shows began to be popular.

It is said that the art came to be called ‘bonsai’ during this time.

This year’s Annual Malta Bonsai Exhibition is being held at the House of Representatives, Valletta, from tomorrow until Sunday and is open for viewing from 9am till 5pm. Entrance is free. For more information visit www.bonsaimalta.org/resources/bonsaibasics.html

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