Frozen Gestures: Sogetsu Ikebana Exhibition by Paola Belfiore

Platforms is pleased to present Frozen Gestures, a solo Sogetsu Ikebana exhibition by Italian artist Paola Belfiore, on view from June 13 to June 27, 2026, at Platforms, Gulshan 2, Dhaka, between 11 AM and 8 PM.

Often understood simply as the art of flower arrangement, ikebana is, at its essence, a practice of balance, tension, suspension, and movement. In Frozen Gestures, Paola Belfiore expands this tradition beyond flowers, transforming familiar Bangladeshi materials, textiles, fruits, vegetables, and everyday objects into dynamic sculptural compositions that exist between stillness and motion.

Drawing inspiration from Bangladesh’s rich cultural heritage and material traditions, Belfiore creates works that reinterpret ikebana through local forms and textures. Folded saris flow like rivers, gamchas stretch into spatial lines, and organic materials become vessels of rhythm and energy. Through these arrangements, ordinary objects are elevated into poetic expressions of movement, fragility, and balance.

The exhibition unfolds as a journey through shifting scales and atmospheres. Suspended installations evoke gestures frozen in mid-air, while immersive textile environments transform the gallery into landscapes of colour, texture, and memory. Moving from sky-like formations to forest-inspired environments and intimate studies of fruits and domestic objects, the works reveal ikebana as a living dialogue between nature, culture, and space.

Featuring twenty artworks, the exhibition highlights Belfiore’s engagement with Bangladeshi traditions, crafts, and everyday life. Exhibited works include Gamcha Clouds, Jamdani in My Mind, Rebirth, The Dive, Dancing Crowd, Feeling Patriotic, Contrasting Colours Morimono, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rickshaw Vibes, The Bold and the Beautiful, Tarango Knots, and Smoky.

As noted by Rayana Hossain, Founder of Platforms:

"Rather than preserving nature in static beauty, these works preserve motion itself. They hold the precise moment before unravelling—a choreography of gravity, softness, resistance, and suspension. Somewhere between sculpture, textile, performance, and ritual, the exhibition becomes an exploration of the living form held in tension."

The exhibition was curated by Sultan M Mineuddin, Head of Operations at Platforms, whose collaboration with the artist helped facilitate the exhibition’s engagement with Bangladeshi culture, traditions, and everyday materials through the lens of contemporary Sogetsu Ikebana practice.

Through Frozen Gestures, Paola Belfiore invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries of ikebana and discover how everyday materials can embody movement, memory, and transformation.