bonsai_audge

I don't think that I have been to enough bonsai exhibitions to be forming any strong opinions, but I do have a few thoughts to the local bonsai society's annual show.

The Ottawa Bonsai Society's exhibition takes place at the Japanese Embassy downtown. Pro: quite a very nice setting, very appropriate for the subject. Con: terrible parking. Of course, there's enough parking to handle a relatively large crowd, if all the cars have 3-4 people in them. But I find that people come in small groups of 1-2, thus clogging the parking lot quickly. Highly unpleasant.

For publicity, I think that I find out about the exhibits in the newspaper, in the Entertainment section (along with the comics). A good thing is that it's posted alongside all the other weekend events, so anyone looking for something to occupy an afternoon may find out about. But it seems that very little other than that and a small fold-up sign that says "Bonsai Exhibit" is being done to publicize the show.

I don't think that I've ever seen a demo being held at the Ottawa Bonsai exhibit, the entire space is taken up by trees on display. I would definitely think that a demo would be interesting to have, although I don't know if there would be enough attendance to make it worthwhile.

As pointed out by Bart, a demo showing a relatively simple initial styling would attract many people to the show, simply because, for many people, the concept of bonsai seems to be shrouded in mystery. How do they "become" bonsai? Are there certain plants that are bonsai? A demo like that mentioned above would help establish a basic understanding, and would encourage people to learn more about it and then come back next year.

-Audric