That of kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art that symbolizes an important philosophy of life. In fact, it consists infix broken objects, especially plates and bowls, using gold to solder the cracks and fill the cracks. Translated, it means knowing how to best repair the fractures and mistakes of life, even if they are dramatic and painful events, knowing how to treasure them and making every experience precious.
Everything that is broken or split acquires beauty thanks to this technique, now widespread and well known all over the world and which is slowly “occupying” even our Instagram feed. Between the passion for Scandinavian aesthetics and the obsession with Northern European brands, this is creeping up new trend which characterizes the profiles of design influencers, enthusiasts but also brands.
Photo | We Are Nomads
Kintsugi, an art in the name of sustainability
This traditional technique, which has its roots in 1400, is also very current in 2021, where the recycling and reuse of everything is fundamental as well as an act of awareness and eco-sustainability.
Against perfection and waste the kintsugi is the answer of contemporary design enthusiasts, who are looking for more and more particular and unique accessories and details to make their home more and more like themselves. This explains the success of this new trend, the result of a very complicated, laborious and precise process, which however gives a new symbolic life to all that is cracked or ruined.
For example, there are brands that offer collections of objects made (or inspired) in this technique: We Are Nomads, which as its philosophy has the fusion of styles from all over the world, has a selection of “defective” cups and plates, all in shades of green and sea water, perfect colors to blend with gold. Instead, the collection has never been like now Seletti dedicated to kintsugi, it is really cool and perfect for the tables of the most attentive to the latest trends.
Photo | Seletti
And if instead you want to try your hand at this artBoth because you don’t want to eliminate broken ceramics and because you are passionate about the latest trends, online is possible buy complete kits and manuals that explain how. If, on the other hand, you want to deepen its history, the latest book, or rather, table book, is published Kintsugi: The Poetic Mend of the writer, critic and ceramist Bonnie Kemske, who analyzed the fascinating evolution of the kintsugi to date.
