This year’s theme at Matsuri is Sho Chiku Bai. Santa Fe JIN has commissioned SBT to create a piece in celebration of the 10th Matsuri. The Japanese cultural festival will again take place at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Follow this link for more info on the JIN page. http://www.santafejin.org/Matsuri/Matsuri2014.aspx
These three elements, pine, bamboo, and plum, when grouped together in
the Asian arts, are commonly known as the “three friends of winter” as
they all survive and even flourish in the cold weather and hardship of
the winter season. The actual term “three friends of winter” is believed
to be first mentioned in a Chinese poem of the thirteenth century.
During the Heian Period, the time of Tales of Genji (794-1192 ACE) this
concept began to appear in Japan. In the Japanese arts, sho, chiku, and
bai are found depicted in scrolls, screens, and imari porcelain, as well
as in literature. By the Edo Period, the time of the Shoguns (1603-1868
ACE), the symbols came to be used for celebrations.
