Two-Minute-Tuesday: Kintsugi Art
TMT #6
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” - Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet
A few years ago, my wife introduced me to the ancient Japanese practice of kintsugi (金継ぎ), which translates literally as:
kin = golden
tsugi = repair
The theory has it that kintsugi originated in the fifteenth century when a Japanese shogun’s (hereditary military dictator) favourite tea bowl broke, and he demanded that his craftsmen find a way to repair it. The bowl was repaired by filling the cracks with lacquer mixed with gold, making the bowl more beautiful and valuable than before. And so, the splendid art form called kintsugi was born.
Kintsugi does not aim to disguise an object’s history of brokenness. It celebrates the beauty of imperfection and survival. I’m sure there are benefits to be gained from extending this wisdom to our own lives.
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Thanks for reading. See you for a coffee on Friday.