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Next Convention

16 – 19 May 2025, Canberra ACT

Welcome to the 37th AABC Bonsai National Convention, proudly hosted by the Bonsai Society of Canberra. Future Directions is another chance to catch-up with one another.

The Convention venue is the Canberra Rex Hotel, Canberra City, ACT.

International Demonstrators are:

  • Michael Hagedorn, from USA,
  • Jennifer Price, from USA.

Australian Demonstrators are:

  • Jarryd Bailey, from TAS,
  • Sam Thompson, from ACT,
  • Marcela Ferreira, from VIC.

For all Convention information please visit: https://canberrabonsai.club/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=139:2025-aabc-bonsai-convention-3&catid=85&Itemid=2374

Past Conventions

NATIONAL SEMINARS (1987 – 2004) & CONVENTIONS (2005- Present)

YEARDATELOCATIONTHEMEDETAILS
1987Sydney, NSW1st Australian National Bonsai SeminarMax Candy (NSW: grow your trees thicker, quicker); John Marsh (NSW: group planting on slab ); Jeff Ackland (VIC: grafting to repair or rebuild a bonsai); Lindsay Bebb (QLD: rock planting).
1988Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)2nd ANBSJan Laussohn and Tony Bebb (QLD: miniature bonsai); Dorothy Koreshoff (NSW: raft sinuous); Jack Tripovich (VIC: growing and improving bonsai); Lindsay Bebb (QLD: saikei)
1989Melbourne, VIC3rd ANBSTed Poynton (VIC: 101 techniques of bonsai); Jack Tripovich (VIC: bending techniques for large trunks); Lee Wilson (NSW: juniper literati); Jeff Ackland (VIC: tray landscape penjing); Ron Anderson (NSW: pot selection).
1990Adelaide, SA (SA Bonsai Society Inc)4th ANBSJeff Ackland (VIC: grafting techniques); Janet Sabey (SA: olives); Lee Wilson (NSW: rock settings); Mick Ryan and Errol Mizon (SA: pines); Jan Laussohn (QLD: mame); Dorothy Koreshoff (NSW: surprise topic).
1991Canberra, ACT (Weston Creek Bonsai Group Inc)5th ANBSMick Balzary (ACT: Japanese black pine); John Marsh (NSW: group setting); Joe Micaleff (ACT: styling large Japanese black pine); Lindsay Bebb (QLD: multiple rock planting).
1992Penrith, NSW (Nepean Bonsai Society Inc)6th ANBSJohn Marsh (NSW: driftwood style trees); David Terry (NSW: handmade clay pots); Glenis Bebb (QLD: group planting of Japanese junipers); Val Allan (NSW: penjing styles in China); Lee Wilson (NSW: literati style); Steve Colangelo (VIC: pines).
1993Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)7th ANBSJan Laussohn (QLD: shohin bonsai); Lee Wilson (NSW: penjing); John Marsh (NSW: windswept); Lindsay and Glenis Bebb (QLD: re-designing and refining); Ted Poynton (VIC: secrets and techniques); Robert Langholm (NZ: bonsai in New Zealand); The American National Bonsai Collection.
1994Melbourne, VIC8th ANBSSteve Colangelo (VIC: white pine); Richard Salvado (VIC: windswept); Brian Sampson (VIC: Australian penjing); Mark Brace (VIC: carving); Lee Wilson (NSW: forest landscape); Jeff Ackland (VIC: rock penjing in trays); Georgina Kretschmar (NSW: individual trees).
1995Sydney, NSWNo ANBSBCI Convention in lieu
1996Darwin, NT9th ANBSJohn Marsh (NSW: cascade with a twist); Chris Nathanael (NT: grafting); Graeme Herridge (NT: nebari); Brian Sampson (VIC: landscape); Sani Arshad (NT: tropical bonsai); Lee Wilson (NSW: mystery tour); Janet Sabey (SA: olives); Round Robin of various artists using local materials (without notice).
1997Coffs Harbour, NSW (Tokonoma Bonsai Society Inc)10th ANBSTony Lea (NSW: the art of contrast); Dorothy Koreshoff (NSW: growing and designing of Australian natives); Chris Smedley (ACT: grouping of trident maples); Mick Balzary (ACT: Cedrus deodara 'Aurea'); Graeme Herridge (NT: fertilisers); Lindsay Bebb QLD, John Marsh and Lee Wilson NSW: joint critique); Glenis Bebb (QLD: creating the impression of age in bonsai).
1998Adelaide, SA (SA Bonsai Society Inc)11th ANBSBob Smith and James Johnson (SA: group planting of olives); John Marsh (NSW: using driftwood); Janet Sabey (SA: ash trees); Lee Wilson (NSW: beside the sea); Marie Petersen (SA: mallee roots in relation to bonsai); Keith Walter (SA: from foam to stone); Glenis Bebb (QLD: bonsai design); Lindsay Bebb QLD, John Marsh and Lee Wilson(NSW: joint critique.
1999May 15 - 16Wagga Wagga, NSW (Wagga Wagga Bonsai Society Inc)12th ANBSRichard Newland (NSW: local native bonsai, Callitris); Val Allan (NSW: cascades); Jim Webb (ACT: traditional Chinese penjing); Brian Sampson (VIC: carving and forming in bonsai); Bob McFarland (Charlie Carp products, present: useful use of pest marine animals in bonsai); John Egan (NSW: photographing your bonsai); Fran Greal (NSW: ceramics in bonsai).
2000May 19 - 22Sydney, NSW (Bonsai Society of Australia Inc)13th ANBS “Sydney 2000 Spectacular”Hu Yunhua (China: origins of penjing & contemporary penjing); Nick Lenz (USA: nature in the European tradition & nature as pure form); Richard Kong (NSW: suiseki, a brief history); Dorothy Koreshoff (NSW: condensing time); John Marsh and Val Allan (NSW: ancient, traditional and contemporary ways of displaying bonsai).
2001May 18 - 20Fremantle, WA (Bonsai Society of WA Inc)14th ANBS “Welcome to the West”Sze-Ern ‘Ernie’ Kuo (USA: creating a bonsai from an Australian native tree & critique on some display trees; & the current state of bonsai around the world); Jan Burrows (NZ: directions in bonsai design); Kym James (NSW: creating a saikei landscape setting); Shane Boyce (WA: 4 part saikei); Arthur Robinson (WA: the use of artistic principles in general design in relation to bonsai); Nigel Atkinson (WA: the benefits of creating your own stones).
2002May 25 - 27Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)15th ANBS4 Simultaneous Demonstrations, “Shaping a Juniper” – Glenis Bebb, Ian Lawson, Ian Glew, John Forrest & Tony Bebb (QLD); Chase Rosade (USA: create driftwood style bonsai & create bonsai using trunk splitting); Chiu-Chang Chiang (Taiwan: Ficus approach grafting & Ficus in-arch grafting); Lindsay Bebb (QLD: rock planting); I.C. Su (Taiwan: overview of bonsai in Taiwan).
2003May 30 - June 2Melbourne, VIC (Waverley Garden Club - Bonsai Group)16th ANBS “Balancing Harmony & Change”Roy Nagatoshi (USA: reduction of a large black pine growing on its side to an upright tree shaped from one branch; creation of bonsai juniper with shari and jin); Paul Sweeney (VIC: planting trees upon shaped cork and growing trident maples together through plywood bases to obtain thick trunks); Juergen Zaar (Germany: new wiring techniques and structure of foliage pads for conifers & reduction of mugo pine with carving techniques to obtain jins and bending trunks using raffia); Janet Sabey (SA: messing about with mallee roots & saikei and false trunks); Brian Sampson (VIC: from classic to contemporary – use of slate, rocks and Australian native trees to form saikei plantings); Leo Koelewyn (VIC: interesting facts about junipers, including mite control and grafting).
2004April 2 - 5Canberra, ACT (Canberra Bonsai Society Inc)17th ANBS “A Capital Bonsai Experience”Roger Hnatiuk (ACT: Australian native material – sticky wattle); Walter Pall (Gemany: styling hawthorn from a dig & carving and bending a black pine); Louis Nel (South Africa: bonsai with an African flavour & Australian native in African style); Grant Bowie (NSW: heavy bending techniques); Mick Balzary (NSW: Japanese red pine as literati).
2005Aug 19 - 22Sydney, NSW (Bonsai Society of Sydney Inc)18th ANBC “Experience Kimura’s Magic”Masahiko Kimura (Japan: various restylings including Cedrus deodara, African olive, red pine and carving an olive); Megumi Bennett (NSW: figs, their history, propagation and identification); Ron Sebbons (NSW: 50 years of Bonsai in Australia); Dennis McDermot (NSW: Australian natives).
2006May 26 - 29Gold Coast, QLD (Gold Coast Tweed Bonsai Club Inc)19th ANBC "Bonsai By the Beach"Robert Stevens (Indonesia: demo & workshops); Budi Sulistyo (Indonesia: demo & workshops); Lindsay Bebb (QLD: demo); Carole Waller (QLD: demo); Roger Lunt (QLD: demo).
2007May 18 - 21Melbourne, VIC (Bonsai Northwest Inc)20th ANBC Bonsai with Style"Michael Persiano (USA: demo, work), Marco Invernizzi (Italy: demo & workshops); Arthur Robinson (WA: demo), Brian Sampson (VIC: demo).
2008May 16 - 19Adelaide, SA (SA Bonsai Society Inc)21st ANBS "Simply Bonsai"Trevor Morrison, Brian Osborn and Andrew Ward with their chosen assistants doing group plantings; Tony Bebb (QLD: Styling a Juniper, Olive, critique), Mick Balzary (NSW Pines, critique), Janet Sabey (SA: Jade); Lindsay Bebb, QLD, Lee Wilson and John Marsh NSW: creating three settings that became one.
2009May 22 - 25Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)22nd ANBC "Shine on Bonsai"William N. Valavanis (USA), Tony Bebb (QLD), Ian Lawson (QLD), Chris Di Nola (NSW), Brenda Parker (NSW), Glenis Bebb, Ian Glew, Peter McCloskey, Bruce Sullivan, Mark Harris, Lindsay Bebb (QLD)
2010May 14 - 17Sydney, NSW (Illawarra Bonsai Society Inc)23rd ANBC "A Bonsai Celebration"Salvatore Liporace (Italy), Grant Bowie (ACT), Jamie Milner, Janet Selby, Brian Wasson, Chris DiNola and Clinton Nesci, aka The Italian Stallions (NSW).
2011May 20 - 23Fremantle, WA (Bonsai Society of WA Inc)24th ANBC "Come Together"Min Hsuan Lo (Taiwan), Megumi Bennett (NSW), Bonseki master Yasuko Aoki (Japan)
2012May 18 - 21Melbourne (Bonsai Northwest Inc)25th ANBC "Be Inspired"Boon Manakitivipart (USA); Don DeLuca (NSW), Glennis Bebb (QLD), and Bonsai Northwest members
2013May 17 - 20Canberra ACT (Canberra Bonsai Society Inc)26th ANBC "The Australian Journey"Ryan Neil (USA); Averil Stanley (QLD), Andrew Ward (SA), Roger Hnatiuk, and Leigh Taafe (ACT)
2014Aug 21 - 24Gold Coast QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)27th ANBC "Sunrise on Australian Bonsai" In conjunction with BCIZhao Qingquan (China), Shinichi Nakajima (Japan), Chen Wenjuan (China), Budi Sulistyo (Indonesia), Nikunj and Jyoti Parekh (India), Tony Bebb (QLD), Chris Di Nola (NSW), Joe Morgan-Payler (VIC), Frank Mihalic (USA, jewelry workshop), Dr. Tom Elias (USA, suiseki critique)
2015May 15 - 18Adelaide, SA (SA Bonsai Society Inc)28th ANBC "Bonsai - A Growing Art"Koji Hiramatsu (Japan), Tony Bebb (QLD), Joe Morgan-Payler (VIC)
2016May 20 - 23Hobart, TAS (Bonsai Society of Southern Tasmania Inc)29th ANBC "Southern Bonsai Island Style"Robert Steven (Indonesia); Grant Bowie (ACT), Quentin Valentine (VIC), Chris Xepapas & Will Fletcher (TAS)
2017May 19 - 22Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)30th ANBC “Art - by Nature”Marc Noelanders (Belgium); Steve Cullum, Andrew Sellman, Glenn Smith, Albert Garcia, Mark Harris, Glenis Bebb, Lindsay Bebb and Tony Bebb (QLD)
2018July 20 - 23Melbourne, VIC (Bonsai Northwest Inc)31st ANBC "Bonsai Exposed"Bjorn Bjorholm (USA); Joe Morgan-Payler, Hanh Tran, & Michael Simonetto (VIC)
2019May 17 - 20Melbourne, VIC (Victorian Native Bonsai Society Inc)32nd ANBC "Australian Natives Breaking Through The Bonsai Ceiling"Ryan Neil (USA); Hugh Grant (NSW), Roger Hnatiuk (ACT), Quentin Valentine (VIC)
2020May 15 - 18Sydney, NSW (Illawarra Bonsai Society Inc)33rd ANBC “ A Golden Celebration”Juan Andrade (Costa Rica); Mitsuo Matsuda (Japan) ; Andrew Edge, Andrew Sellman (QLD), Khan Linh, Allan Harding, Janet Selby (NSW). Cancelled due to Covid-19.
2021Oct 18 - 20Perth, WA (Bonsai Society of WA Inc)34th ANBC In conjunction with WBFF 9th WBCPostponed to October 2022 and is being held as a Virtual on line event.
2022Oct 8 - 16Perth, WA (Bonsai Society of WA Inc)34th ANBC In conjunction with the WBFF 9th WBC “Doornjil Yoordaniny -  Coming Together - Moving Forward”
2023May 18 - 21Perth, WA (Bonsai Society of WA Inc)35th ANBC
2024May 17 - 20Brisbane, QLD (Bonsai Society of Queensland Inc)36th ANBC
2025TBACanberra, ACT (Canberra Bonsai Society Inc)37th ANBC
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