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The
Royal Society for Fine Arts will hold an official opening ceremony of
the National Gallery Complex in Jabal Weibdeh very soon
. The
complex, a haven for art activities in
Jordan
,
consists of three areas, namely, a main gallery, an annex building and
a Japanese garden which adds an artistic attraction to the Complex
with its famous and distinctive style.
The
idea to establish a Japanese garden was initiated in 2002 by Her Royal
Highness Princess Wijdan Ali, President of the Royal Society for Fine
Arts. Since then, collaboration work between
Japan
and
Jordan
started
and a JICA volunteer, Mr. Masamichi Ozaki, who works for the Petra
Region Authority as a landscape designer, volunteered to design the
garden and supervise its construction.
“The
Japanese garden, a symbol of friendship between
Japan
and
Jordan
, is an
artistic work to express the beauty of nature in a small area”, Mr.
Ozaki said. “In this point of view, I arranged Jordanian rocks and
trees in the garden in order to exhibit the nature of
Jordan
in a
different way. I put a water flow in the center of the garden and
placed a stone bridge, which was brought from
Japan
”, Mr.
Ozaki added.
The
garden has very authentic style and almost only Jordanian materials
were used in its construction. A
few exceptions to the materials are the stone bridge and the lantern
which were donated by the Japan-Jordan Association in
Japan
and
shipped for free from
Japan
to
Aqaba by the Nippon Jordan Fertilizer Company, the first and biggest
joint venture company between
Japan
and
Jordan
.
The
reason why the Japanese garden was chosen to be part of the National
Gallery Complex is its uniqueness from an artistic point of view and
its consumption of less water.
Both the governmental and private sectors along with the Royal Society
for Fine Arts and the Greater Amman Municipality provided full support
to the establishment of the Japanese garden.
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