Ikebana
Workshops on Ikebana,
the Japanese art of flower arrangement
05.07.2026: Movement
Movement is the foundation of life. In the universe, nothing is ever still, and learning how to work with moving elements – how to shape and balance them – is a skill that can help us better understand the flow of our own lives.
In this outdoor workshop, we will work with materials that hold and respond to movement. Surrounded by birdsong and the beautiful mature trees of the Albuquerque Foundation, we will create compositions in the open air, where nature itself becomes part of the experience. The elements will be arranged so that they remain stable while responding to the movement of the wind.
This will be a practice of balance and finding a point of stability. Through a selection of materials that embody movement and react to it, we will explore how Ikebana can connect us with our own feelings and cultivate a sense of calm through hands-on engagement with natural materials.
Past sessions:
In this workshop, participants explore a rare combination of structured form and symbolic narrative. Each participant will create a signature work: an ikebana that carries a specific meaning and reflects the current season on a personal level.
May is the moment when spring reaches its peak; nature is fully open and preparing for the transition to the next season. Through the work, you try to create an expression of spring.
Tamara will introduce the fundamentals of this 500-year-old art and share professional techniques from Japanese ikebana schools. You will learn the practical skills needed to handle materials and translate these ancient principles into your own practice.
Tamara will suggest several symbolic elements traditionally associated with spring in Japan, and connect them with local Portuguese nature as well as your own identity.
This composition will serve as a bridge connecting abundance with minimalism. The focus will be on clean lines and the deep meaning of every element used, as we strive to create pared-back yet profound works.
Contemporary ikebana is open and experimental. It brings together very different materials – sometimes natural, sometimes unexpected – and invites us to recognise beauty in contrast, tension and play.
In this workshop, we will explore how living and non-living materials can coexist within a single composition. Fresh plants, dried wood and even artificial elements will interact, challenge one another and create new meanings.
This is a space to play, explore and take risks: to look at materials in a different way and allow each arrangement to evolve naturally. I will guide the process, but there is no single “correct” outcome.
General Information
Schedule: 05.07.2026, 11:00–13:00
Language: English
Age: 12+ (kids under 14 must be accompanied by an adult)
Capacity: 12 attendees
45€
*The activity is subject to a minimum number of registered participants. In the event of cancellation, participants will be notified in advance and the registration fee will be refunded.
About Tamara Frangoni
Tamara Frangoni is a Master of Ikebana from the Sogetsu School (Japan) and a European set designer. She has been practicing Ikebana since 2016. Drawing on her floral experience, Tamara has created floral works and set designs for brands and fashion magazines, including Vogue, Elle, L’Officiel, GQ, and others.
Her mission is to help people see beauty in ordinary things and notice it in everyday life through deep contact with themselves and genuine presence in reality:
“My work is to place a mirror called ‘Ikebana’ in front of a person to awaken the five senses and connect the mind with the present moment.”
