Page 25 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2016Q1

Finding places are mostly in the West, for example the Top left; Three BCI Awards were
desert in Southern California such as Mohave Desert, presented to outstanding
Death Valley and in Northern California, for exam- viewing stones on occasion of
ple the Trinity Alps, Trinity River, Eel River, Cedar the closing ceremony. Here is
the winner of the first prize.
River, Clear Creek. Other places for finding stones are Top right; Laibin stone with
Sierra Nevada, Murphy, Colorado, Utah, Washington, deep furrows and animated
Oregon, Alaska but also Pennsylvania or Maryland surface from Guangxi province
in the East. In the deserts of South California stones on a modern rectangular
are shaped by wind and sand similar to the Fengli wood stand.
stones of Gobi desert. Tom showed a lot of photos of Middle left; Second BCI Award
stone specimens, feature in his book, Viewing Stones winner.
of North America–A Contemporary Perspective, that Bottom left; A mushroom on a
lavish wooden stand.
illustrated his explanations.
Michal Šebo gave a talk about Viewing stones in
Europe on Friday afternoon. He pointed out that
stone appreciation is quite young in Europe and not so
popular as bonsai. The European Suiseki Association
(ESA) was established in May 1992 and has since
then presented yearly exhibitions, mostly with the
European Bonsai Association (EBA), each year in dif-
ferent country where European, Japanese and Chinese
stones are shown. The last EBA/ESA convention and
exhibition was held in Vilnius, Lithuania. At present,
ESA has about 80 members, individuals and clubs.
Other regional and national Suiseki associations
were established after 1992: in 1993, the German
Suiseki Society as first national Suiseki organiza-
tion in Europe (about 100 members today); in 1997,
Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki (AIAS) in
Italy (www.aias-suiseki.it); in 1998, Spanish Suiseki
Association (today about 50 members, www.bon-
saimania.com); in 2000, an organization in the
Netherlands and Slovakia (SAS; 15 members); in
2006, in Czech Republic (30 members); and in 2010,
in Austria. The late Willi Benz was a pioneer of stone

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