#101 EspritBonsaiInternational - 11An azalea wins the public vote
On the EBA side, although the trees were finely
crafted, some spots remained empty: “The short-
age of trees from the EBA is a big disappoint-
ment,” Jean-Marc Pouillon remarked, regretfully.
“Some countries haven’t played along. Of the 59
trees, 12 of them are French. ... Some clubs hav-
en’t exhibited the trees that were supposed to be
here.” Out of the EBA’s 19 member countries, only
12 nations were represented. This is a recurring
state of affairs at EBA conventions, where the par-
ticipating trees are usually all from neighbouring
countries to the host nation, and seldom from all
member countries.
This time the EBA gave five Merit Awards to
the best bonsai in the exhibition – two of which
were to the French bonsaists Stanislas Hoarau and
Alexandre Wemaëre, both for Scots pines – and
one prize for a suiseki.
Standing out among the stones exhibited by
the European Suiseki Association and the Asso-
ciation Française des Amateurs de Suiseki was
the very beautiful round stone belonging to An-
dré Duval, which won prizes from both the ESA
and the EBA.
Prize attributed by the public: azalea by Pierre-Yves Le Lidec. Height: 68 cm (27 in.).Another FFB “Outstanding Tree”: Acer palmatum,
Éric Gauthier. Height: 65 cm (26 in.).
A Fédération Française de Bonsaï (FFB) “Outstanding Tree”:
Pinus sylvestris, Olivier Barreau. Height: 94 cm (37 in.).