Human Flower Project

Thursday, May 18, 2006

World Flower Council: ‘You May Say I’m a Dreamer’

Top florists from fifteen countries gather in Ottawa this weekend to perform, kibbutz and float their boats.

In aboriginal costumes, with tropical flowers

World Flower Council Summit 2005, Jakarta

Photo: Dean White

“Globalism” has come to mean exploiting the lowest-paid workers in the world. So what about “Internationalism”? There has to be some term for cultural broad-mindedness or, to be simple about it, curiosity. Its tenets might be, “The world is vast. Nobody has all the answers. Let’s get up off our duffs and look around, why don’t we!”

Such is the spirit of the World Flower Council. The group was founded in 1983 by Juzaburo Sekiye in Gifu, Japan. “Sekiye had a dream of furthering the cause of world peace through sharing a love and knowledge of flowers…‘making a flower the symbol of peace and culture without regard to country boundaries.’”

The world may not be at peace, but Sekiya’s dream continues to unfold. Current WFC president Dean White tells us that the organization now has members in 29 countries, florists who share designs and names of good suppliers and, more importantly, who want to know how their livelihood can serve a higher purpose. The group has delivered flowers at times and places of international tragedy—“the bombing in Bali, the breaking of the wall in Berlin, the tsunami in Indonesia.”  These are people who also clearly know how to kick up their heels.

Demonstration by Caroline Loo of Malaysia

World Flower Council 2005 Summit, Jakarta, Indonesia

Photo: Dean White

This weekend, the World Flower Council’s summit takes place in Ottawa, coinciding with that city’s tulip festival. Dean says that a highlight of the summit—of special interest to the general public—will be Friday’s demonstrations “Northern Lights” and “Dream Catchers” with 30 of the world’s top floral designers. And Sunday, the florists will be busy by 6:00 am decorating boats to cruise along the Rideau Canal that afternoon. Here’s a complete schedule of events.

Dean kindly sent us a trove of photographs from last year’s summit in Jakarta, of fashion shows, design demonstrations, garden tours. This looks like a complete joyride for anyone interested in flowers and “internationalism.”

Thank you, Peter Plumley, for informing us about this fascinating group. And to the members of the World Flower Council, “Keep Dreaming.”