Kintsugi is Japanese and means „to mend with gold“ or „to repair“. It describes a traditional method for repairing pottery. Cracked or broken porcelain is glued with the help of Urushi, a special lacquer that has been interspersed with the finest powdered gold or other metals such as silver or platinum. What results from this is so beautiful that words can hardly do it justice. Kintsugi is based upon the aesthetic principle of Wabi Sabi from the 16th Century, which put its emphasis on simplicity and appreciation of imperfection. Kintsugi doesn’t repair a fault, but accentuates it with a touch of gold, turns it into the star and makes valuable what seemed worthless before. What an idea, what an image – especially in times of arbitrarily repetitive production processes and product cycles that don’t last longer than a few seconds. Rumour has it that some middle and upper class Japanese actually even broke dishes on purpose in order to grant them this golden beautification. The sisters Gieke and Lotte von Humade from Holland have revived this century-old technique and given it a modern twist. The ‚New kintsugi Repair Kit‘ is made up of a two-component adhesive, gold powder, a brush, gloves and wooden spatulas. Handling is child’s play. With the help of small plastic nozzle, you squeeze out a tiny amount of glue and mix it with an even tinier amount of gold dust. This mass is generously painted on one side of the broken favourite mug, then the parts are pressed together. Leave it to set for a few minutes and then brush some more gold dust onto the created gold vein. Rinse and presto. The set costs about 30 Euro and lasts forever. Enjoy making the imperfect perfect. Long live your porcelain!
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NEW KINTSUGI REPAIR KIT | For example at Amazing Crocodile, Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße 49, 10178 Berlin | humade.nl | Facebook
