The Art of Kintsugi

ThomasAI
Ved at reparere ødelagt keramik er det muligt at give det nyt liv til keramikken, der bliver endnu mere raffineret takket være dets “ar”. Den japanske kunst af kintsugi lærer at brudte genstande ikke er noget at smide væk, men at vise med stolthed. Når en skål, tekande eller dyrebar vase falder og bryder ind i tusind stykker, smider vi dem vredt og fortryllende. Men der er et alternativ, en japansk praksis, der fremhæver og forbedrer pauserne og dermed tilføjer værdi til det ødelagte objekt.
Det hedder kintsugi (金 継 ぎ) eller kintsukuroi (金 繕 い), bogstaveligt gyldigt (“kin”) og reparation (“tsugi”). Denne traditionelle japanske kunst bruger et ædelmetal – pulveriseret guld eller sølv støvet på en speciel lak, der binder guldet til keramikken. Teknikken består i at forbinde fragmenter og give dem et nyt, mere raffineret aspekt. Hvert repareret stykke er unikt på grund af den tilfældighed, hvormed keramik knuses og de uregelmæssige mønstre dannes, der forøges ved brug af metaller.

Arene bliver hvad de skal udstille

Med denne teknik er det muligt at skabe sande og altid forskellige kunstværker, hver med sin egen historie og skønhed takket være de unikke revner, der dannes, når objektet går i stykker, som om de var sår, der efterlader forskellige mærker på hver enkelt af os.

The kintsugi technique may have been invented around the fifteenth century, when Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate after breaking his favourite cup of tea sent it to China to get it repaired. Unfortunately, at that time the objects were repaired with unsightly and impractical metal ligatures. It seemed that the cup was unrepairable but its owner decided to try to have some Japanese craftsmen repair it. They were surprised at the shogun’s steadfastness, so they decided to transform the cup into a jewel by filling its cracks with lacquered resin and powdered gold. The legend seems plausible because the invention of kintsugi is set in a very fruitful era for art in Japan. Under Yoshimasa’s rule the city saw the development of the Higashiyama bunka cultural movement that was heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism and started the tea ceremony (also called Sado or the Way of Tea) and ikebana (also Kado, way of flowers) traditions, the Noh theatre, the Chinese style of painting with ink.

Even today, it may take up to a month to repair the largest and most refined pieces of ceramics with the kintsugi technique, given the different steps and the drying time required.

How many beautiful messages the kintsugi technique conveys

The kintsugi technique suggests many things. We shouldn’t throw away broken objects. When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean that it is no more useful. Its breakages can become valuable. We should try to repair things because sometimes in doing so we obtain more valuable objects. This is the essence of resilience. Each of us should look for a way to cope with traumatic events in a positive way, learn from negative experiences, take the best from them and convince ourselves that exactly these experiences make each person unique, precious.