Later this month, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) will highlight the beauty of imperfection, with an exhibit focused on the Japanese art of repairing shattered ceramics with lacquer and gold.
The centuries-old practice, called Kintsugi, translates to "joining with gold" and relates to wabi-sabi – a Japanese worldview focused on the acceptance of the imperfect.
Called Beauty of Mending: Kintsugi and Beyond, the exhibit, running Nov. 30 to May 25, will boast the work of Kyoto-born artist Naoko Fukumaru, who began repairing broken objects with her great-grandfather who owned an antique auction house in Japan.
"Fukumaru applies this traditional skill with innovation, transforming discarded broken pieces into radiant new forms," said the AGGV in a news release. "The repair process becomes an act of healing, where scars are transformed into symbols of strength and beauty."
Selected works from the AGGV's collection, including paintings with broken ink and ceramics with natural crackle patterns, will complement Fukumaru's ceramics.
“Brokenness is not the end, but an opportunity for transformation," the exhibition's curator Heng Wu said in the same news release. "Through the art of Kintsugi, we explore how things – and perhaps even ourselves – can become more beautiful ... having been broken.”
For more information about this and other AGGV exhibits, visit: aggv.ca.
