Flower Round
Artistic research, pedagogical method, collaboration, initiated in 2023.
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Flower Round is an experimental pedagogical method for sharing techniques and aesthetic impulses between artists who work with botanical materials. Seeking to evolve his skills working with flowers, Nemer initiated a series of collaborative experiments, composing arrangements in dialogue with floral artists whom he admires.
The working title of the method references a marginal practice in Ikebana culture called mawari-bana, “round-flower”, in which participants take turns adding flowers to an arrangement. Flower Round is however not limited to this sequential, call-and-response mode of creation, rather, appropriate modes of dialogue and collaboration are determined together with the artists who participate. The emphasis is on sharing techniques, methods, impulses, ideas, and beliefs in a horizontal mode of mutual mentorship. So far, Nemer has created arrangements in dialogue with Paris-based Ikebana artist Hiroyuki Morita, floral-textile scenographer Romain Pischedda, Stockholm-based mood stylist Magnus Carlsson, and Lyon-based gardener and artist Mica Gi. New techniques for handling, arranging, affixing, stabilising, and modifying botanical materials were shared, and experiments outside of each participant’s personal aesthetics were approached.The method was also used for Botanical Intimacies, a masterclass at KASK & Conservatorium, Ghent, in which seven students co-created a large scale botanical sculpture with Nemer using cuttings from the city’s botanical gardens.
The working title of the method references a marginal practice in Ikebana culture called mawari-bana, “round-flower”, in which participants take turns adding flowers to an arrangement. Flower Round is however not limited to this sequential, call-and-response mode of creation, rather, appropriate modes of dialogue and collaboration are determined together with the artists who participate. The emphasis is on sharing techniques, methods, impulses, ideas, and beliefs in a horizontal mode of mutual mentorship. So far, Nemer has created arrangements in dialogue with Paris-based Ikebana artist Hiroyuki Morita, floral-textile scenographer Romain Pischedda, Stockholm-based mood stylist Magnus Carlsson, and Lyon-based gardener and artist Mica Gi. New techniques for handling, arranging, affixing, stabilising, and modifying botanical materials were shared, and experiments outside of each participant’s personal aesthetics were approached.The method was also used for Botanical Intimacies, a masterclass at KASK & Conservatorium, Ghent, in which seven students co-created a large scale botanical sculpture with Nemer using cuttings from the city’s botanical gardens.
