Victoria - Bonsai in Vietnamese Tet Festival 2009

[daiviet_nguyen]

This year, the first day Vietnamese New Year (Tet) was on 26 January 2009. Usually
the Tet Festival is held on the weekend that follows the new year day. I think they
could not book the venue at the usual time. So the Festival took place on the weekend
of 07/Feb/20009 and 08/Feb/2009. The venue is Sandown Racecourse.

I took these photo on 07/Feb/2009 -- it was 43 degree when I went out.

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Photo 1 -- Crab Apples

This group of crab apples was created by Mr. Hanh Nguyen from nursery stock, he runs
his nursery at home in the west of Melbourne. The pot is Korean. It had been sitting
in the shelf for quite a few months. I did want to buy it. But it cost a lot.


Photo 2 -- Trident Maples

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 3 -- Spruce (Picea Glauca 'Albertiana Conica'??)

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 4 Some kind of junipers

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 5 -- Black pine

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 6 -- Chinese elm (cork bark??)

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 7 -- Liquidambar styraciflua

This groun is sitting on a marble slate. I think it takes a lot of effort just to
keep it alive. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 8 -- Bamboos

The white and blue things are ceramic panda bears. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 9 -- Trident maples

I think the decorative pebbles are make the composition looks unnatural and trying.
I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 10 -- Japanese maples

I think the pot is too strong. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 11 -- Crab apple

I like this one a lot. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 12 -- Some kind of junipers

I think the stones are Chinese ying stones. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 13 -- I do not know the name of the tree.

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 14 -- Some kind of bouganvillia

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 15 -- Brazilian lantana (I am not 100% certain)

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 16 -- Trident maples

I think this group is also created by Mr. Hanh Nguyen.


Photo 17 -- Crab apple

How could we not love this tree? I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 18 -- Japanese maple

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 19 -- Chinese elm

I am not sure why it is so dark. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 20 -- I do not know what the tree is

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 21 -- Some kind of paracantha

Three horses are resting in the shade of the tree. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 22 -- Some kind of ivy

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 23 -- Crab apple

Another cute apple. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 24 -- Various kind of figs

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 25 -- Trident maples

Again I think this group is created by Mr. Hanh Nguyen.


Photo 26 -- Port Jackson fig

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 27 -- Different types of trees

The red flower is pomegranate. I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 28 -- Black pine.

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 29 -- Pomegranate

I do not know who the owner is.


Photo 30 -- A kind of cedar

This tree styled by Mr. Gia Cuong (his given names.) I asked him why this pot, he said
he wanted this style, but did not have a suitable one at the repotting time. He knew it
is not suitable, but could not wait.


Photo 31 -- A kind of cedar

Mr. Gia Cuong bought this tree from somebody. He did some restyling a few years back.
The pot is the same story as the previous one.


Photo 32 -- Chinese elm

Mr. Gia Cuong created this scenery. The trees are Chinese elm. The mountain is 100%
artificial -- he made it from cement.


Photo 33 -- Different varieties of cotoneasters

Mr. Gia Cuong created this scenery. The rock is Australian, and is one-whole, he carved
it into this shape. I do not think my photo does justice to this rock, I have failed to
capture the naturalness of the mountain he is so successfully depicting.


Photo 34 -- American Eastern white pine

This tree belongs to Mr. Phong The Nguyen -- the current president of the Victorian
Vietnamese community. I think it is safe to say that people fail to pay attention to
this tree.


Photo 35 a -- Japanese maple

Created by Mr. Phong The Nguyen. Notice how little soil there is in the pot? I think
the roots live in only about 1/5 the area of the pot. It requires a lot of attention
I guess.


Photo 35 b

The other side of the above tree.

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As side notes, important to the Festival, at least to the organisers, is the Ancestral
Altar where people pay tribute to the "ancestors" in general; but also the fallen soldiers
who died defending the sovereignty of the country.

Right in front of the Altar, to the left is the flag of the Republic of South Vietnam,
to right is the flag of the Commonwealth of Australia.

On the right wall is the tribute to the South Vietnamese soilders who died fighting the
Communists.

On the left wall is the tribute the Diggers who died in the Vietnam War -- this is the
tribute in traditional Vietnamese manner:

[gocny]

thanks for sharing viet....

they look great! i like that cute apple tree....

[Hector Johnson]

I'd give money for the Japanese Maple and the triple trunk Black Pine. They're reasonable trees that could do with a bit of pruning and care but are basically sound trees.
The rest of them are in varying need of styling; a fair bit of work or thought, based on what I can see in the photos. I'm guessing the artists are self-taught or beginners, for the most part.

[PeterW]

Thanks for sharing Daivet. You must have a sore trigger finger after taking all those pictures! Its great to see the multi cultural side of our country and great to see your people not forgetting where they came from. Well done and thanks for your time mate.
Regards
Peter

[anttal63]

its great to see viet thanks for sharing. victoria has a large community of vietnamese who are into bonsai. quiet a few over at bonsai north west inc. great bunch of fellas! tell ya what though they love the trees that fruit aye?

[Jon Chown]

Good to see you posting Viet, thanks for taking the time to start this thread (it takes a lot of time to post that many photos).

We have missed you - the New Year celebrations must have lasted longer than we expected.

Jon

[Asus101]

Photo 13 looks like a Jasmin, it has that sort of foliage and flowers. I like the styling, the long exposed roots and I like the size of the mudman next to it. If it is a jasmin (even if I am wrong, its a creeper of some sort) it makes sense as creepers don't grow into large tree's. I think the over all let down is that there is a lack of stand to lift the pot up. It seems to be one thing Australia doesnt like doing much when displaying bonsai and penjing.

[anttal63]

yes it is common asus that displays in australia are often not complete as has been debated in another time at another place. again the most important thing is that the trees are getting out, creating awareness and hopefully people will learn to take a little extra care in presentation, in the future. O ohhhhhhhhhhh i can feel pup breathing down my neck

[phong nguyen]

Hi Dai Nguyen,
Thank you for posting the bosai exhibition at the Vietnamese Community Festival 2009 at the Sandown Racecourse and Entertaiment Centre in Springvale, Victoria. The exhition is part of the fixture of the Festival every year of the Viet community. I would like to solve the mistery of unkown owner of most of the trees for you. I am the owner of them. There were 3 main persons contributed bonsai for display in 2009: Mr Hanh Nguyen, Mr Gia Cuong and me Nguyen The Phong. The other two were real professionals, I was not and it really showed, didn't it?
There will be a Vietnamese Bonsai Club in Victoria established this month (August 2010) based at the Vietnamese Ancestral Temple in Sunshine North. Hope you can join in.
Thanks agaìn for your interest and visit at our Community's Tet Festival.

[LLK]

That's a really special posting, Viet, thank you. It is interesting to see what the Vietnamese bonsai artists are producing in this country. In 2000, the AABC Seminar in Sydney had a beautiful Vietnamese section in the show, which impressed me very much. I also like to look at the Vietnamese bonsai exhibitions on the Internet, which show some fabulous trees and landscapes (Ho Nan Boi ? Pardon the misspelling). It's nice to know that there will be a Vietnamese bonsai club in Victoria, I wish it good luck! By the way, one of the most outstanding artists in the Canberra Bonsai Society is Vietnamese and was schooled in his home country. One of his trees is in the National Collection.

Regarding the American Easteern White Pine, nr 14: I agree that it just doesn't catch the eye. I've got one myself, not very different
in structure, and though I really like it, it lacks 'presence' when you put it in a show. They probably need to be really big before they attract attention.

Lisa

[kvan64]

Thanks Da^'t Vie^.t for sharing. I think the tree in photo 20 is a flowering pomegranate.
As to the stands, I think it would make the PRESENTATION look nicer (if the stand is suitable for the composition/tree). They do help complement but would not necessarily make the tree look better. In some instances, stands draw away the attention to the trees. Just like in car shows. I've seen some oldies and nice cars on weird and non-matching sets of mag. wheels and this irritates me a lot.
Just my two cents.
DK

[anttal63]

Hi Dai Nguyen,
Thank you for posting the bosai exhibition at the Vietnamese Community Festival 2009 at the Sandown Racecourse and Entertaiment Centre in Springvale, Victoria. The exhition is part of the fixture of the Festival every year of the Viet community. I would like to solve the mistery of unkown owner of most of the trees for you. I am the owner of them. There were 3 main persons contributed bonsai for display in 2009: Mr Hanh Nguyen, Mr Gia Cuong and me Nguyen The Phong. The other two were real professionals, I was not and it really showed, didn't it?
There will be a Vietnamese Bonsai Club in Victoria established this month (August 2010) based at the Vietnamese Ancestral Temple in Sunshine North. Hope you can join in.
Thanks agaìn for your interest and visit at our Community's Tet Festival.

Phong that is great news!!! Can anyone join or is it just for the vietnamese community???