Exhibition: 金継ぎ (Kintsugi) Memory of a Moment
“In this exhibition, artists of different disciplines - poetry, pottery, weaving, gardening, paper, urushi, drawing - who had all in some way shown an interest or affinity for kintsugi, were asked to contribute a work from their own practice that may sit well in Denchu House. We started with the idea that kintsugi is an art form that has the potential to capture a memory of a moment within a form, and asked them to go from there - either revisiting works they had already made, mending something, or making something anew.
本展覧会はアーティストが独自の視点から金継ぎを捉えることによって、金継ぎの新たな視点を描き出します。–例えば金継ぎは壊れたものを修繕するだけでなく、金継ぎによって器に染み付いた記憶を未来に引き継ぐことも考えられます。アーティストの表現領域は、焼物や漆を始めとして、詩、織り、ガーデニング、紙、ドローイングにまで及びます。これらの表現を会場となる旧平櫛田中邸の空間を活かして展示します。
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We had ourselves a kintsugi Christmas, here in Tokyo.
Our exhibition Kintsugi - Memory of a Moment installed on Christmas Eve and opened on Christmas morning, and the experience of settling in at Denchu Hirakushi House and Atelier for those few, crisp winter days made it a special one.
Of course, exhibition planning in 2020 wasn’t simple, and our plans went through many iterations - but for all the postponements and canceled events (so long, kintsugi tea ceremony, we could’ve been so good together, mastercraftsman demos, and DON’T. EVEN. opening night parties) - we ended up with something rather lovely; lucking out with calm sunny days, windows opened wide, a steady stream of socially distanced visitors, and a collection of works relating to and inspired by the craft and thinking behind kintsugi, from some of our favorite artists.
Our idea of what would constitute a successful exhibition shifted from standards like visitor numbers and popping reviews to gentler ideals, like making the experience feel worthwhile to those who came and perhaps even more so, for the artists who so wholeheartedly joined an exhibition that stood every chance of being canceled the morning of.
So, thank you, everyone - artists and organizers from the Kintsugi Collective, working with you all was what ultimately made the experience most worthwhile for me - especially my dear partner producing the show, and extraordinary artist in lacquer and clay; Shogo Nunoshita.
Thank you to the I Love You Project for your generous support, and to the conservators who care so sensitively for the house, ensuring it is both preserved for future generations, and enjoyed by the current ones.
You can read our artists’ bios, and see some more writing from the guide on the exhibition website - one day I’ll go on to list them all properly and explain a bit more - and show how the exhibition guide printed on washi folded into a book cover for later use.
But for now, these are some photos of the exhibition in the sort of order that you would have experienced them exploring the space, intermingled with pictures of the house and the light, because that was the sort of blurry feeling things had, and that currently, is my memory of the moment - which I may (or may not) gently unravel as time passes…
Luckily, we also have Video Bento’s footage as a reminder - thank you Adam!