Join us Saturday, October 6th for this incredible Bloedel Reserve Lecture Series event with Victoria Scarlett, Director, Center for Sacred Art, Seattle.

You’ll learn about Wabi, sabi, the beauty of empty space, asymmetry, transience, tranquility, and other Japanese ideas of beauty through a slide presentation showing how traditional arts and culture incorporate these concepts. You’ll see beautiful images of the setting of the Japanese Tea Ceremony—from rustic garde spaces to the interior of the Tea Hut. Every element of the guest’s experience—from garden gates, paths, and waiting station, to the tea house’s interior and ceramics—is carefully designed to enhance contemplation and connection to nature.

We’ll discuss the design of Japanese Dry Landscape Gardens and the elements that compose them (stones, gravel, moss). Throughout the presentation, we’ll note the influence of Chinese culture (including Taoism and Buddhism) on Japanese culture. These influences, combined with a love of nature as expressed in Shintoism, help illuminate the Japanese sense of beauty.

Following the slide talk, you will have the opportunity to contemplate the beautiful Bloedel Japanese Garden and reflect on the concepts presented as metaphors for personal experience. The program will conclude with a simple anonymous sharing of reflections with the group.

SOLD OUT!
If you would like to add your name to the waiting list, please contact Brittany Barnes at bb*****@bl************.org

Join us for this immersion in beauty and meaning!