Promoting world peace through floral beauty

The World Flower Council (WFC) held their International Summit from 1st to 4th September 2016 at the Norfolk Hotel Nairobi, Kenya. The event was organized in collaboration with the Kenya Flower Council themed Kenya: Fascinating Flowers, Fauna and Friends. This was the first time the summit was held on African soil.

WFC is a global association of floral professionals, comprised of: Wholesalers, retailers, floral designers, growers, educators and flower lovers. Their membership comes from 30+ countries. They hold the International Summit annually in different countries hosted by either a WFC chapter or a major flower industry organization. This year they were hosted by one of their members, Mrs. Susan Mureithi of Suera Flowers.

Some of the WFC goals are to promote world peace by sharing the beauty of flowers, exchange design techniques and ideas, learn about the latest care and handling techniques, promote student exchange programs and also meet people from other countries who may be new sources for product and supplies.

The event incorporated workshops where different floral designs were showcased. Over 100 international delegates attended the summit representing 16 countries which included; the Netherlands, Australia, United States, Malaysia, Pakistan, Antigua, Saint Kitts, Canada, Philippines, Thailand, China, South Korea, Japan, Kenya, Singapore.

Tim Farell AIFD, AAF, PFCI, an accomplished floral designer, known throughout the United States for his creations of beautiful floral compositions did demonstrations on exploring the principle of rhythm in floral design and “May the force be with you”.. Exploring tension in design.

Tim’s work has been showcased in the Philadelphia Flower Show as a featured designer in the gallery of AIFD, as a guest speaker for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and as a judge for the competitive classes for several years. Tim also designed and produced the stage arrangements for the 2001 Presidential Inauguration Ball in Washington, DC. And has been recently assisting White House staff if floral décor for special events beginning in 2014. In 2016 Tim’s talents were put to use designing flowers for the US papal visit of Pope Francis in Washington DC and Philadelphia PA.

Designers from all the countries present did a presentation to represent their respective countries. Anson Low from Singapore also did his training during one of the workshop on contemporary design. Kenya Floral Arrangement Club showcased their demonstrations themed dreaming of Africa

Swing Safari “the embodiment of the big 5+ animal found in Kenya took the stage. This was a fantastic way of demonstrating how flowers can be used in deferent aspects of design. This was done by a Native Kenyan Artist and Fashion Designer, Vaishali Morjaria.

To close the demonstrations was the floral Olympics where delegates competed in floral Arrangements. The top three were awarded during the cocktail.

All the flowers used during the summit were graciously donated by Kariki Group, Africalla, PJ Flowers, Imani Flowers, Livewire, Groove Ltd, Wilmar, Oserian and Redlands Roses. The summit was also sponsored by AirFrance KLM Martinair cargo and Smithers Oasis.

Besides workshops and demonstrations the delegates also visited Mzurrie Flowers – Winchester farm hosted by Raphael Murungi. They were taken through the process of production of flowers. They were fascinated by the way Kenya has embraced technology in their business of growing flowers.

Next was David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage at Karen which adopts elephants and takes care of them. The delegates from Philippines adopted one of the Elephant called Rapha.

Finally the summit climaxed with a Cocktail and Dinner at the Norfolk Hotel. Present was the acting Chief Executive of Kenya Tourism Board Mrs. Jacinta Nzioka and Kenya Tourism Federation Chairperson Ms. Lucy Karume. The next WFC summit will be held next year in China.

source: kenyaflowercouncil.org