Flowering NOW is the brainchild of superstar florists (and longtime TDF pals) Melanie Stapleton of Cecilia Fox and Katie Marx of Butterland.
The two friends have been considering a joint creative project for years, but when embarking on this event, soon realised that it was ‘bigger than just the two of us!’ Flowering NOW draws together a ridiculously delightful line-up of Melbourne based florists, united by their love of nature, and imaginative approaches to floral arts.
In addition to being a sensory overload of tactility, scent and visual delight, the Flowering NOW showcase seeks to create a collective and community-driven environment, which is about ‘sharing our work and our love of flowers and nature with the wider public.’ The exhibition creates a space for local florists to experiment with original ideas beyond a commercial brief, and explore their unique practices. ‘We see this as a chance to share amongst one another and a viewing public our different signature styles, to emphasise our capacity to forage, build, gather and grow flowers in a way that belies traditional understandings of floristry.’
The exhibition presents floristry as an avant-garde art form. You won’t find any still-life-like vases of flowers here – instead, floral scenes are realised as large-scale sculptural installations. Melanie and Katie ‘wanted to create an immersive and contemporary flower environment’ which is wildly abundant, and shows off the distinctive talents of the independent florists involved.
Historically, floristry is associated with festivities, celebration or memorial – marking an event, or time of transformation. Flowering NOW champions the flourishing contemporary floristry talent on offer in Melbourne, and Melanie and Katie are already planning an even bigger event for 2019. Flower power ahead!
Flowering NOW
April 27-29th
Friday 5-8pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm
Collingwood Arts Precinct
35 Johnston Street, Collingwood, Victoria
Entry to this ephemeral exhibition is by gold coin donation, with proceeds going to Australian charity Global Gardens of Peace.
