Robert Macnair, chief executive of Bonsai Middle East, works on a ghaf tree bonsai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Robert Macnair, chief executive of Bonsai Middle East, works on a ghaf tree bonsai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Robert Macnair, chief executive of Bonsai Middle East, works on a ghaf tree bonsai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Robert Macnair, chief executive of Bonsai Middle East, works on a ghaf tree bonsai. Antonie Robertson / The National

Miniature trees are big business


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  • Arabic

The question “who would buy them?” almost turned Robert Macnair off starting a business from his hobby of growing bonsai trees.

But he was determined. A year later he is recognised as the UAE’s foremost expert and is preparing the region’s first exhibition on the ancient Japanese art in November.

Originally from Edinburgh, Mr Macnair took up bonsai between 1986 and 1987, when recovering from a leg fracture.

Then aged 30, he came across a bonsai seed kit that his wife was preparing to send to his mother as a birthday gift.

“I had seen bonsais before and I was always quite fascinated, so I kept it,” he said. “My mother never received the little kit.”

He followed the instructions and about six weeks later, something that looked “like a blade of grass” came out of the little pot.

A few years later he spent £280 (Dh1,614) on his first bonsai – a Chinese juniper. The tree died.

“I killed it,” Mr Macnair said. “A lot of people have. You don’t know what you are doing.

“At that time there was no help. I couldn’t WhatsApp anyone or email. I learnt by reading books on it and through experience.”

By 1991, Mr Macnair’s skills had improved to the degree that he was able to sell bonsais at a market in Bordeaux, France.

The former property executive’s most memorable customer at that time was a man in a cream open-top Rolls-Royce, who pulled up in front of his stand early one morning as he was working on an arrangement of trees.

The man was insisted on buying the display after being told it was not for sale. Eventually a price of 2,000 French francs was reached and the arrangement found a home in a countryside chateau.

The trees require precise care, with just the right amount of water and sunlight. The type of pot used to grow them and the growing medium are also important.

Mr Macnair’s company, Bonsai Middle East, has a diverse group of customers. Some take the bus from as far as Al Qusais to reach his Jumeirah nursery, where he has almost 400 trees.

Others send in personal assistants to direct him to corporate offices and royal palaces.

An increasing number of people are also attending his classes on how to make bonsai and kokedama, a traditional Japanese form in which moss is tied around the roots of a plant.

Like any tree, bonsai can be grown from seed but Mr Macnair prefers tree-hunting expeditions from naturally-occurring dwarfed trees, which the Japanese called yamadori.

The process occurs when the shoots of very young trees are repeatedly grazed by animals over many years. This is also how the ancient art originated.

People living in rural China would harvest such trees, sometimes with great effort, and sell them to royalty and professionals. From China, bonsai travelled to Japan, where many style rules were introduced and are followed to this day.

When buying a tree, people should make inquiries about its age because real bonsai are at least 10 years old, Mr Macnair said.

The attraction for him comes from the ability to change an average-looking tree into something more beautiful. He often does just that, offering to replace friends’ trees with already-finished bonsai.

“They call it living sculpture and it is a sculpture that never finishes,” Mr Macnair said. “It is not frustrating, it is a pleasure every time to work on them.”

The exhibition will display bonsai trees and feature tutorials on styling them. Mr Macnair is working out the details after securing the exhibition’s first major sponsor.

vtodorova@thenational.ae

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Five hymns the crowds can join in

Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday

Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir

Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium

‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song

‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar

‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion

‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope

The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’

There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia

The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ

They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening 

Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”

RESULTS

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Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
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Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
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Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
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Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
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Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
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Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
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Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
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Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
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Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari