Don’t miss world-renowned Ikebana master Tetsunori Kawana’s transformation of the Mint Museum Randolph lawn. Starting July 26 through August 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the public is invited to watch internationally acclaimed bamboo artist and Ikebana master Kawana create “Passages: Green Wall” on the lawn of Mint Museum Randolph as part of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design’s “Project Ten Ten Ten.”  This free event is one truly not to be missed.

For this project, Kawana and community volunteers will create “Passages: Green Wall,” a 20 by 20 by 82 foot passageway. Constructed of straight and split Madake bamboo, the installation will provide a passage for visitors to travel through. The artist hopes visitors will leave the installation with a sense of well being and connectedness to the natural cycle of life.

Kawana’s creations are beyond the traditional idea of Ikebana, which, put simply, is the art of Japanese flower arrangement, creating organic and formal structures with special regard shown to balance, harmony and form. His large-scale Ikebana installations are in response and connected to nature’s environment, using natural materials — often bamboo — in unexpected ways. Like all great artists, Kawana pushes boundaries and transcends the rules of Ikebana, creating his own unique brand.

Ikebana traditionally has been taught as a domestic art through the centuries of Japanese culture. To call it “flower arranging” is almost misleading, as it is so much more. Like many of the Japanese arts, Ikebana is about appreciation for the entire plant in every stage of its life, and its core is a spiritual philosophy having to do with inner life, or “energy,” of the plants.

Kawana says life and beauty are transitory and, therefore, his Ikebana installations are also “for that time and place only.” Like the amazing artist Andy Goldsworthy, Kawana’s work is meant to be experienced when it is created. The natural materials will eventually decay, leaving only our memories and the photos or film in which the piece was documented.

What is “Project Ten Ten Ten?” In conjunction with the October 2010 grand opening of the Mint Museum Uptown, the Mint Museum of Craft + Design launched “Project Ten Ten Ten.” When completed, the Museum will have commissioned 10 of the world’s most innovative craft artists to create works especially for the new facility.

One cannot fully appreciate the impact of Kawana’s work without experiencing it firsthand. What an incredible way to share a small part of Japan’s culture with your friends and family.

(Please note that The Mint Museum is no longer accepting volunteers.) Mint Museum Randolph 704-337-2000 2730 Randolph Road, Charlotte, N.C., 28207   Plenty of free parking. From July 26 through August 12, Tetsunori Kawana will build ‘Passages: Green Wall’ on the Mint Museum Randolph lawn as a part of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design’s “Project Ten Ten Ten.”