Cross-cultural sensitivity?

THERE is a Japanese aesthetic called wabi-sabi. It’s not easy to define. It’s a quality found in the contemplation of imperfection and in the impermanence of things; in the admiration of things modest and humble. Thus the weathering of a timbered surface with the passing of the seasons and the years becomes a part of the overall beauty of a Japanese garden.

I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but all those little bamboo fountains in the Japanese Garden at Hobart’s Royal Botanical Gardens have been replaced with good Aussie steel pipe.

Beaded welds have been added to imitate the natural joints of bamboo and then they’ve been cunningly painted in institutional cream gloss so that they look almost like the real thing. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Saves replacing the bamboo every 10 years and all you have to do to stop them rusting is give them a lick of paint every now and again.

Can’t wait for them to tear out all those tacky, lashed together, bamboo railings with solid steel. The next move of course, is to convince the RBG board to replace all those untidy flowers and trees with plastic replicas. Maybe they could keep the everlasting daisies.

Yep … it takes a Tasmanian to show those Orientals a thing or two about gardening, eh?

Rob Walls
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