Families Reading Together Kick-Off Event,
The Cultural Significance of AKIRA, and
Shibori Indigo at
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
November workshops, classes, and demonstrations:
Saturday, November 2
Families Reading Together Kick-Off Event
In partnership with the Palm Beach County Library System
Time: 10am – 1pm
Cost: FREE with paid museum admission. Children presenting a valid library card from any Palm Beach County library will receive free admission along with one accompanying adult.
Reading with your family is an important bonding experience. Children and their families are encouraged to celebrate Families Reading Together this year at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. For this year’s theme come dressed as your favorite book or comic character.
Give the gift of a Morikami Membership! For this one day only renewals and new members can get an extra month on their annual membership! Special is only available in-person, does not apply to online membership sales.
Schedule of Free Activities:
- Great Book Giveaway (Sakai Room)
- Family Fun Activity
- Kamishibai Storytelling in the Theater (20 mins.)
- 11:00am – Magic Tea Kettle
- 11:30am – The Goblin, the Water Imp, and the Thunder God
- 12:00pm – The Peach Boy, Momotaro
- 12:30pm – Kon and Pon
- Palm Beach County Bookmobile (front entrance)
Saturday, November 2
Tea Ceremony (W)
Time: 1pm – 3pm
Cost: $60 Advance Registration Required
The workshop teaches the basics of sadō – The Way of Tea – necessary to understand the aesthetics of sadō and to fully enjoy the tea ceremony itself. Participants become familiar with how to be a guest, how to make a bowl of tea, and serve it.
Sundays, November 3, 10, 17, 24, December 8
The Art of Bonsai (C)
Time: Beginners – 12:30pm – 3:30pm
Intermediate – 9am – 12pm
Cost: $100 (Morikami Members $90) Advance Registration Required
Bonsai means “a tree in a tray.” The art of bonsai creates the illusion of age and maturity of a tree
which has developed and sustained the effects of nature for many years. Students of bonsai learn to artfully trim and train a tree in a container.
Tuesdays, November 5, 12, 19
Ikebana Flower Arrangement – Ikenobo School
Time: Beginners – 11am – 1pm
Intermediate – 1:15pm – 3:15pm*
Cost: $90 (Morikami Members $80) Advance Registration Required
*Intermediate courses are for students with prior experience or have taken at least three sessions of Ikebana classes.
Flower arranging, ikebana, is a traditional Japanese art form spanning centuries. Ikebana has various different schools of study, each with unique philosophies and aesthetics. Dating back to the 15th century, the Ikenobo School is the oldest and most traditional. Students in this course learn the basic principles and style of Ikenobo, creating fresh flower arrangements each week to take home and enjoy.
Wednesdays, November 6, 13, 20
Ikebana Flower Arrangement: Sogetsu School
Time: Beginners – 10:30am –12:30pm
Intermediate – 1:30pm – 3:30pm*
Cost: $67.50 (Morikami Members $60) Advance Registration Required
Flower arranging, ikebana, is a traditional Japanese art form spanning centuries. Ikebana has various different schools of study, each with unique philosophies and aesthetics. The Sogetsu School is a contemporary school which focuses on the creativity and individuality of ikebana. The idea is that ikebana can be done by anyone, anywhere, with almost anything. Students will learn the basics of Sogetsu and create pieces each week to take home and enjoy. *Intermediate courses are for students with prior experience.
Saturday, November 9
Shibori Indigo – Tenugui
Time: 10am – 3pm
Cost: $75 Advance Registration Required
The use of indigo dye, or aizome, has a long and cherished history in Japan. The deep blue colors for which Japanese textiles are celebrated come from the leaves of the tade ai, a plant introduced to Japan from China in the sixth century. Shibori is a Japanese technique of manual resist dyeing used to make patterns on fabrics. Learn various shibori techniques and create a tenugui clothtowel for your home or personal use.
Saturday, November 9
Film Screening: AKIRA
Time: 11am
(124 mins., 1988, Rated R, Sci-fi, Anime) (In Japanese, subtitled in English)
Cost: $5
In the year of 2019, thirty one years after World War III, Tokyo has been rebuilt into Neo-Tokyo a modern metropolis. A secret military project endangers New-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.
Saturday, November 9
The Cultural Significance of AKIRA – Talk by Curators Stefan Riekeles and Hiroko Myokam
Time: 1:30 pm
Cost: FREE (with paid museum admission)
Join the curators of the exhibition AKIRA: The Architecture of Neo-Tokyo for an introduction to the production process of Japanese animation in general and to the details of the classic ground-breaking animated film AKIRA’s genesis. Hiroko Myokam will highlight the archiving situation of these important artifacts of a historic milestone in animation history in today’s industry. Stefan Riekeles will elaborate on the specific cultural value of AKIRA’s background artwork which continues to inspire artists and an audience alike to this day.
Hailing from Stuttgart, Germany, Stefan Riekeles is a graduate of Humboldt University, Berlin and the Technical University, Berlin. He is an animation historian and exhibition curator of several internationally touring exhibitions of original anime background art, most notably Proto Anime Cut (Berlin, Dortmund, Barcelona, Madrid, Tallinn, Basel, 2011-2013), Anime Architecture (Berlin, London, Sydney, Delray Beach, 2016-2019), AKIRA – The Architecture of Neo Tokyo (Berlin, Delray Beach, 2022 & 2024) and Cityscapes in Anime Background Art (Kanazawa, 2023). He founded Riekeles Gallery in 2021. His most recent publication is Anime Architecture – Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities (Thames & Hudson, 2020).
Hiroko Myokam is from Ishikawa, Japan and a graduate of the University of Tsukuba, School of Art and Design, the Academy of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) and completed an MA in Media Art Histories at the University of Danube. After working as a curator at the SKIPCITY Museum of the Moving Image (2004-2007) and the NTT InterCommunication Center (2007-2009), she was a visiting researcher at the Inter Media Art Institute Düsseldorf, Germany (2013-2018). In 2018, she co-founded the Eizo Workshop with Noriyuki Kimura. She is currently a curatorial researcher of SIAF Lab, a director of the Toshio Iwai Archive & Research, and a part-time lecturer at the Kanazawa College of Art and Kyoto Seika University.
Sundays, November 10, 17
Sado: Tea Ceremony
Time: Beginners – 10:15am -12:15pm*
Intermediate – 1pm-3pm
Cost: $60 (Morikami Members $55) Advance Registration Required
Expand upon your knowledge of Japanese tea ceremony in this hands-on class. Perform traditional Japanese tea ceremony, with its ever-evolving seasonal subtleties, in the authentic Seishin-an Tea House under the guidance of instructor Yoshiko Hardick. The tea ceremony changes from month to month and from season to season. Intermediate course requires approval by the instructor before registering. *Sunday Beginner’s II Class Prerequisite – You must have already taken a Thursday beginner’s I class session or a workshop to attend Sunday classes.
Thursdays, November 14, 21
Sado: Tea Ceremony
Time: Beginners – 10:15am -12:15pm
Intermediate – 1pm-3pm
Cost: $60 (Morikami Members $55) Advance Registration Required
Expand upon your knowledge of Japanese tea ceremony in this hands-on class. Perform traditional Japanese tea ceremony, with its ever-evolving seasonal subtleties, in the authentic Seishin-an Tea House under the guidance of instructor Yoshiko Hardick. The tea ceremony changes from month to month and from season to season. Intermediate course requires approval by the instructor before registering.
Saturday, November 16
Sado: The Way of Tea
Time: 12pm, 1:30pm or 3pm
Cost: $5 with paid museum admission.
Observe Japanese sadō, an ever-changing demonstration rich in seasonal subtleties. Your involvement in the true spirit of sadō — harmony (wa), reverence (kei), purity (sei), tranquility (jaku) — along with a sip of matcha green tea and a sweet will help you bring a calm perspective into your busy life.
Saturday, November 16
Introduction to the Art of Kintsugi
Time: 10:00am – 12:30pm
Cost: $70 Advance Registration Required
Kintsugi an inspired version of the traditional Japanese art form of mending broken pottery with gold powder.
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is located at 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach. For more information, call (561) 495-0233 or visit morikami.org.