THE TROPHY 2020 BELGIUM-One of the most prestigious international bonsai shows in Europe
One of the most prestigious international bonsai shows in Europe
By Gudrun Benz · April 1, 2020
Published in: BCI Bonsai & Stone Appreciation Magazine 2020 Q2
As in the past several years, the famous BAB (Bonsai Association Belgium) The Trophy 2020 was held at the congress center of Limburghal in Genk, Belgium. The city of Genk is situated in the Belgium province Limburg, which is close to the northern German border. It was known for coal mines at the beginning of the 20th century. But in the second half of the 20th century, the coal mines closed down, and a new industry developed with the Ford Motor Company.
This year’s The Trophy 2020 took place on 29 February–1 March, an unusually late date for this event, which is generally held a month earlier. Luckily the event was scheduled just before the rigorous restrictions imposed on people in most European countries to control the coronavirus when all gatherings and events were canceled. This year’s Trophy, with 5,000 visitors, was another success with a higher number of visitors than the previous edition.
Since the 10th anniversary of the event in 2009, a catalog was published each year featuring the bonsai and suiseki exhibition, the bonsai demonstrations, and the social program. Since the first convention, Willy Evenepoel was the photographer of the exhibits and Marc Debeule of the bonsai demonstrations. They were joined by Jörg Derlien in the last few years because it wasn’t possible to professionally photograph all entries the day before the opening when the exhibition was set up. Two years ago, an exhibition of bonsai pots was added. Each year a unique trophy is created by an artist. This year’s trophies for the winners were handmade by the Belgium artist/blacksmith Roger Swings. Prizes for the best bonsai, suiseki, and bonsai pots are much sought after. The winners of the bonsai prizes are selected by a jury composed of the demonstrators present. They receive a list with different categories: bonsai (over 35 cm h), kifu (21–35 cm h), and shohin (less than 21 cm h). Besides the winning trees, there are second and third prizes for each category, called Nominations. At the time of judging, the bonsai are labeled with the name of the owner and the country of origin. Still, BAB is convinced that the judges have enough professionalism to disregard this. BAB doesn’t have any influence in this judging process and receives the final scores from the jury. Bonsai from the museum Alcobendas, Madrid, and shohin from the private collection of Alexander Escudero were exhibited out of the competition.
There were 131 bonsai, 23 suiseki, and 80 exclusive pots from Japan, China, and Europe in the exhibition. Alex Ruud organized the bonsai pot exhibition, and Holger Göbel, Germany, took care of the suiseki exhibition. There was only one nomination for the best bonsai pot and one nomination for suiseki. The Nomination award for bonsai pots went to Guido Pozzoli, Italy—a round bowl with a crystalline glaze made by Terre en Vadrouille. The nomination for suiseki was presented to Daniela Schifano, Italy, for a kibune-ishi (43 x 19.5 x 15 cm) from Japan called “Spring Mountain.” This year’s bonsai demonstrators were Minoru Akiyama from Japan, Ryan Neil from the USA, Mauro Stemberger from Italy, Tony Tickle from the United Kingdom, and Alexandre Escudero from France. Luigi Maggioni from Italy gave a lecture on shohin.
Another attraction of The Trophy is the significant number of traders from all countries of Europe, 120 at this event. They offered everything related to bonsai: bonsai, suiseki, books, magazines, accent plants, accessories (tempai), scrolls, tools, bonsai pots. I was amazed at how many ceramists and traders selling bonsai pots offered mostly beautiful, sometimes antique pots of all sizes. Visitors who are looking for their needs come mainly on Saturday when the choice is still high.
Lastly, the team of the BAB deserves respect for the organization and setting up the exhibition facilities. The active members of the organization can be very proud of their achievement for organizing such a big event, which once more was a big success. The Trophy 2021 will be held on 20–21 February 2021 at the same place as this year.
