Kintsugi - the art of the broken
I hope everyone has had a peaceful and beautiful Christmas time. To prolong the spirit of Christmas, this week I am writing about something entirely different than usual... it's an event that took place a couple of months ago.
Some of you know that this business is not the only thing I do; I spend several days a week running the finances of a wonderful non-profit in East London that supports people with brain injury. Brain injury is a very common issue - in fact everyone of you probably know someone who has had to struggle with this very difficult issue. Some people recover, but many people who acquire a brain injury have to deal with the consequences for the rest of their lives. It can change someone's character, or their mobility or speech or ability to deal with everyday life. As our health systems are focused on recovery, there often isn't any way to help people with these long term consequences.
Enter Headway East London, a place that provides a community to people through activities and friendship and medical help. There is a lot of art, music, poetry - and a beautiful meal is cooked each day that I am lucky enough to be able to eat for lunch. There is incredible friendship and joy, often in circumstances that are tragic and difficult. When on his first visit, my husband once said: "If this is how the world would be run, we wouldn't have all these problems, we'd come together and solve them".
In October we organised a conference for health professionals and government officials, to educate them on this very widespread issue that is not discussed anywhere. It was entirely designed and presented by the people with brain injury themselves and it was a great success. During the planning phase I heard someone mention the idea of doing a Kintsugi workshop, and this is where I pitched in....
In my stockroom, I always have a box in the corner that I collect all broken pieces in. Although I don't usually break things (knock wood!!), I often receive broken things, or have items that are too badly cracked or worn to sell. And given with how much care these items were made, I can't bring myself to throw them out, so they go into the box. And that box was growing and growing.
At the conference, I brought my big box of broken items, and a lot of fun was had - and 70 people now have their very own antique item at home!
Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese tradition of mending what is broken, but doing it in a way that doesn't hide the repair, but makes it beautiful in itself. Instead of disguising breakage, we can see it as part of the history of the object. It is a wonderful metaphor for the fact that what we tend to discard because it's broken, has its own dignity, and it is up to us to discover that. This is why it was such a perfect metaphor for the conference at Headway: this is a community fo people who were considered "broken" by society and had very few options to live the rest of their lives in a meaningful way, yet found all this creativity and friendship. Every day, new artists are born, sweetness if found, hidden talents are developed. Many people hadn't known in their previous lives that they were a talented artist, a very funny poet or an amazing cook. At Headway, we find out and celebrate whatever it is that comes out of people.
So enjoy the images - it was one of the happiest days of my life to see all these broken items come back to life, and to tell people about the history of each item ("What... you mean this plate belonged to a French King...??") and see people be so creative. I wish I had taken a picture of the finished figure that was put back together with its head not on top, but under its arm, and a big shell for a head!
Check out this fantastic charity... there is a beautiful movie below, and if you want to make a small donation you can do it here.... and if you realise you've forgotten a Christmas gift for someone, why not give to Headway in their name? It's the best gift you can make! And as the person who manages all the money, I can tell you that this organisation is a well-regarded UK Charity, and I personally see to that the money will be used fantastically well.
CHRISTMAS SALE
The Christmas Sale is still on! You can find lots of dessert services at 20% or 30% discount... some have been snapped up already, so if you want to own a wonderful set of tableware, head to the shop now!
Happy New Year everyone, and consider what's broken as beautiful! 💔❤️🩹
🎄 CHRISTMAS SALE 🎄
Comments