News Update -  28 September 2008

The Official Opening of the NBPCA.

On a lovely sunny spring morning hundreds of people from all over Australia gathered together in Australia's capital city, Canberra, to witness the official opening of the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia (NBPCA).

Many of the trees on display had travelled thousands of kilometres across the breadth of Australia and had also travelled many decades in time, some being nearly sixty years in training as bonsai. Some of the invited guests had travelled similar distances and times to witness the opening of the Collection.

The speeches were made in a marquee some two hundred metres away from the bonsai and then the focus moved to the site of the Collection.  There, the Interim Curator, Mr Grant Bowie, struck a brass gong to call guests attention and the new NBPCA bonsai pavilion was officially opened with a simultaneous ribbon cutting ceremony performed by the Chief Minister of the ACT, Mr Jon Stanhope and the chairman of the Bonsai Management Committee, Dr Roger Hnatiuk. The twin cutting of the ribbon was to symbolise the cooperation between the Act Government and the bonsai community of Australia in making this collection possible.

  Dr Roger Hnatiuk and Mr John Stanhope officially open the collection

Dr Hnatiuk conducted Mr Jon Stanhope through the bright red entrance gate to be the first official guest of the Collection and then the rest of the gathered bonsai community filed through to view the Collection. For the next hour and a half the Collection was full of the excited, specialist, bonsai audience and many pictures were taken of both the bonsai and the guests.

     Bonsai enthusiasts enjoying the exhibition after the opening.

The temporary site (for the next three to five years) for the NBPCA is in a purpose built, architect designed pavilion in Commonwealth Park and the park is also the site for Floriade, the annual spring floral festival in Canberra. Floriade was in full swing and we were right in the middle of it both geographically and time wise, so by mid day the rope barriers were removed and the general public were allowed in to see the Collection as well.

Some of Australia's National Bonsai Artists who have trees in the NBPCA

           Mel Imbesi

          Sue and Derek Oakley

              Megumi Bennett    

During the 23 days that the NBPCA was open during Floriade we had 38,770 visitors pass through the collection, many of them local Canberrans. All of the comments on the Collection, both verbal and written in the visitors book, were very complimentary of the bonsai, the display facility and the combined effort of the ACT Government and the bonsai community to establish the NBPCA.

The guides of the Collection, resplendent in their red coats, answered lots of questions in general and many specific questions on visitor's favourite trees on display. Each of the bonsai on display seemed to be someone's favourite and it showed how balanced the Collection is in terms of deciduous, evergreen, conifer and native. The mix of styles, including the forests, were also very popular.

We are now open 7 days a week  (see Home page for times and exceptions)