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Mend the golden cracks of your heart, do Kintsugi

Connectivity and Wellbeing


Author: COP

Introduction

Cracked pot restored with golden Kintsugi. Photo by Motoki Tonn via Unsplash.
Cracked pot restored with golden Kintsugi. Photo by Motoki Tonn via Unsplash.

Traditionally, crafts have been used for promoting mental wellbeing, even before the arts and social prescribing schemes being on the political agendas, lately. Around the late 19th century, crafts, including pottery, were used in occupational therapy settings to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. Nowadays, participants on prescription workshops of pottery experience reduction of stress and anxiety, as this activity can significantly distance people from negative thoughts, widen social skills and interactions, boost confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment. Over the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns put under the spotlight the Do It Yourself (DIY) projects at home. Engaging in DIY activities has a number of similar benefits, such as helping to cope with uncertainty, worry, and grief, building resilience against depression, disconnecting from the online world, experiencing satisfaction and pride with one's own work.  All of us have ceramic items at home that are broken and cracked. Kintsugi, the Japanese technique seems to be an increasingly popular pottery practice for both mend pottery and mental health. 

What’s the activity?

Person mending a clay piece. Photo by cottonbro via Pexels.
Person mending a clay piece. Photo by cottonbro via Pexels.

Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese ceramic repair technique, beautifully highlighting the cracks of a piece, turning it even more endearing (with gold) and resistant due to this joining practice. Likewise, this technique can be applied to the piece of art who all of us are. Somehow, all of us ended up being broken and with scars several times along our individual path. It takes the kindest and softest courage to proudly acknowledge, conceal the damages and celebrate them. The essence of Kintsugi. 

Ryoko Mutasono, the director of Lives London Limited, a company working to promote Japanese craft and design in the United Kingdom and Europe conveyed “We’re narrating the moment of breakage. It’s about accepting and celebrating it. Kintsugi acknowledges how we can live through fragile moments and yet still focus on the beauty which forms through them”.

This is an activity that requires time, patience, openness and some self-awareness or willingness to gain some. It’s about identifying lightly and with care your emotions or feelings at the moment you are at, especially those troublesome, learn to apply the Kintsugi technique to any broken ceramic piece at home and to you and showcase the final result of the mended piece of art.

As Celine Santini said, author of the book “Kintsugi: Finding Strength in Imperfection”: “Look deep inside of your heart, because it’s full of those golden cracks, where the light, the grace, the humility comes in. We are not perfect, yet we are kintsugi.”

What am I going to do?

This activity may be used as both individual or as collective experience. Either way, instructions are provided.

For personal purposes:

1. Take 5 minutes and check-in on your mental and emotional state. Be honest with yourself. How are you feeling? What has been taking most of your headspace lately?

     If you find yourself having some difficulties identifying your emotions and feelings, have a look at the Blob Tree in the Resources section and choose the person that best represents you at this moment. Is there any figure drawing that you can relate to?

     If you need extra help to explore what you are feeling, consider articulating what you feel, making use of the feelings list available in the Resources section, elaborating a bit. Journal that in a notebook.

2. Pick a broken clay object you have at home that has sentimental value to you, select an emotion, feeling or situation of yours to work on too and be intentional about it. 

3. You’re about to learn the history of Kintsugi technique. Check the video “Kintsugi history”. 

4. Check the BBC article on Kintsugi art, on the Resources, to learn about it. Don’t miss out the BBC’s reel with testimony of a Japanese restorer, on the page of the article. 

5. You’ll be joining the pieces together of your selected object through Kintsugi The step-by-step two videos provided are explaining non-traditional Kintsugi, as the original Kintsugi uses lacquer from the sap of a Japanese tree to put the pieces together. Watch them both and select one approach that you would like to follow. The process used in the first video is shorter and the latter one is more detailed and precise. It depends on the time and resources you want to put into this activity.

6. Make a list of the utensils and materials to restore your piece and prepare your workstation. 

7. Turn on a playlist of your preference, prepare your workspace and the ambience for that purpose and enjoy the process. At the end of each working period (in case it takes several days to mend the piece) journal about one or two statements on how you're feeling, what you have been gaining awareness on. If journaling is new to you and you’re overthinking about a problem, consider reading the steps and prompts on the document “Tips on Journaling” in the Resources section. Be aware that there’s no right or wrong is a personal experience and you can adapt it as you feel more convenient and according to your likes.

8. Take pride in the final outcome. To show how special this mended pottery piece of yours is, you may want to stamp a symbol or capital letter that represents your DIY and personal/emotional accomplishment at the bottom or in the back of your piece. For that purpose, learn how to make a stamp out of cork, by watching the video on the Resources.

     Tip: before carving the cork, boil it for 10 minutes, so this job is easier. When the stamp is done, use some ceramic or glass ink and sign your work!

9. Display the mended piece in a central or special place for you or gift it to someone you love. 

10. Finally, just for fun, take the quiz to find out which art work in the Tate Museum matches your mood ? (only available in EN). 

To apply with groups:

Please note that this activity requires a trustworthy environment, where all members feel safe, respected and confident with each other. It may require you to be sensible, open and vulnerable.

1. Identify a collective pain in your community or group (e.g., may it be a past event which you are aware of that all members of the group have experienced or are experiencing, such as loss of a friendship, a pet, etc.). You can tell by the informal conversations, or slight anxiety or mourning cues you may read from people. Please bear in mind that this activity has no healing purposes and doesn’t substitute any therapy or professional accompaniment. Choose a topic somewhat light and that anyone can relate to.

2. Organise an ice-breaking activity. If you run out of ideas, pick one from the list in the Links on the Resources section.

3. Deliver a printed Blob Tree to each person and then, ask each individual to share their feelings over that situation, making use of the selected character from the tree. They can use the feelings list too to convey their ideas better. 

4. You may want to pin them all on a board/wall with a tree background (optional), once each person finishes sharing.

5. Next step possibilities:

Option A)  - Get a clay garden pot and ask someone to break it into large pieces. Hand out to each person a piece of the broken pot;

                  - Each person should get a piece of the pot to write their name on;

                  - They can decorate and customise their piece, as much as they can, using stamps, stickers, inks, etc.. To learn how to make customised stamps, please check the YouTube video on how to make stamps at home using cork, under the Resources tab; 

                   Tip: before carving the cork, boil it for 10 minutes, so this job is easier. When the stamp is done, use some ceramic or glass ink and sign your work!

Option B) - Prior to this activity, ask participants to bring a broken, cracked or chipped ceramic item that reminds them of a past event or has a sentimental/metaphorical connection with the painful experience. At the session, ask them to break them into pieces, if it’s not broken yet.

Option C) - Bring as many clay garden pots as necessary. Hand out one to each person and ask them to break them into pieces.

6. Display the video “Kintsugi history” for the group. 

7. Read with the group the BBC article on Kintsugi art, on the Resources, to learn about it. Don’t miss out the BBC’s reel with testimony of a Japanese restorer, on the page of the article. Assign a small time slot for comments.

8. Each participant will be joining the pieces together of their selected object or pot through Kintsugi. If you have selected Option A) on step 4, all together work to put the pot back together using the Kintsugi method. The remaining two options (B and C) are done individually. 

    The step-by-step two videos provided are explaining non-traditional Kintsugi, as the original Kintsugi uses lacquer from the sap of a Japanese tree to put the pieces together. Watch them both and select one approach that you would like to follow. The process used in the first video is shorter and the latter one is more detailed and precise. It depends on the time and resources you want to put into this activity.

9. Make a list of the utensils and materials to restore your piece and prepare the room accordingly.

10. Turn on a playlist of your preference, prepare the workspace and the ambience for that purpose and enjoy the process. Provide support to each participant. You may also distribute snacks and beverages. 

11. At the end of each working period (in case it takes several days to mend the piece) ask participants to select the character that matches their temper and stick it on the board/wall so they can track their progress. Discuss with the group about each personal experience.

12. Plant a tree in the pot(s) as a hopeful sign and analogy of the undertaken process. It may also play a remembrance role. Debrief about it once again. All together reflect on the meaning of this rebuilding and mending process and on each individuals’ perceptions. 

13. When the piece(s) are finished, save some time to debrief with the group how this activity relates to loss or any other feeling or experience you have addressed and its process. 

14. Take a moment to take pride in the final outcome. To show how special this mended pottery piece of yours is, you may want to stamp a symbol or capital letter that represents your DIY and personal/emotional accomplishment at the bottom, in case you have decided for the option B and C.

Tip: before carving the cork, boil it for 10 minutes, so this job is easier. When the stamp is done, use some ceramic or glass ink and sign your work!

15. Display the collective mended piece in a central or special place for all members in case you have opted for option A.

16. Plant a tree inside the mended vase. 

17. Take care and nurture the planted trees.

18. Finally, just for fun, take the quiz to find out which art work in the Tate Museum matches your mood? (only available in EN). 

What will I learn?

Knowledge Acquired:

  • The importance of crafts for mental wellbeing;
  • Benefits of kintsugi and addressing feelings;

Skills Acquired:

  • How to repair broken pottery using Kintsugi;
  • Strategies to be mindful of own feelings and emotions;
  • Facilitate a group activity combining arts and crafts and mental wellbeing;
  • Accuracy;
  • Awareness (of yourself and others);
  • Emotional Intelligence.

Attitude Acquired:

  • Openness to self-care;
  • Self honesty and reliability;
  • Self-awareness and willingness to grow.

 

What will I take home?

By completing this quest, you’ll get introduced to a special art and craft from a technical and broad holistic perspective: Kintsugi. You’ll understand its benefits for wellbeing at individual and collective levels and gain access to precise guidelines to carry the activity out in the comfort of your home or with a group of people in a community setting.

This quest will encourage you to find an activity designed to be soothing and peaceful; to find joy about discovering the beauty in the imperfections of a cracked object and the subject (yourself); with care, to find serenity about augmenting personal awareness about ones’ scars; enjoying the process of reframing one’s scars and planting new seeds for the time to come. You’ll feel more connected with yourself and with others if you apply the group activity.

Ultimately, this activity will help you go green, by adopting mindful and sustainable practices. You’ll be giving a new life to an old object with a silver lining: planting a tree (suggestion for the group activity). 

Resources

Click each section below to see all resources available.

 

Frontline Worker Toolkit

Aims and Objectives:

  • Understand crafting and Do IT Yourself movement as levers for connectivity and wellbeing;
  • Pass on knowledge on how to undertake and facilitate experiential activities for groups, capable of unlocking mental and emotional wellbeing.

Top tips:

s Frontline Worker, you may find here some resources and to explore more about the connection between crafts and emotional and mental wellbeing; the benefits of DIY projects and some prompts to help guide the kintsugi activities. 

1) For more information about the benefits of crafting, please see the article “4 Reasons why crafting is good for your mental health”. 

2) Likewise, you can find similar benefits on DYIng. To quickly grasp the potentials of this movement, read the article “Benefits of dyi activities on your mental health”. 

3) To help you guide someone to deliver the activity to a group of individuals, some prompts were prepared according to the steps of the section “What am I going to do?”. These prompts serve as general guidelines, but the more spontaneous the facilitator is, the better. Some prompts could be skipped or adapted. Do not forget to customise the whole activity according to the features of the group. This could be adapted to children, as well. For that purpose, may be used the activity “Pot Heart Building”, which served as inspiration to this one.

 “What am I going to do?” delivering prompts

  Step 3

              On step 3, after each person has shared their feelings through the Blob Tree, hear the individual's histories and experiences. They may be asked some extra exploratory questions:

              - How did it occur?

              - What’s the story behind?

 Step 4

             On step 4 “What am I going to do?”, place each person’s Blob Tree on a wall or board. Individual progress over the sessions can be visually checked.

Step 5

            On the step 5, it may be asked:

            - What does breaking the vase mean/meant to each of you? (If that was the option chosen). 

Before the step 6

            Before step 6, it may be asked:

            - Do you know kintsugi? Do you have any knowledge about it? 

Between steps 7 and 8

            Between steps 7 and 8, it may be raised the question:

             - If you could make an analogy with yourself, would you say you were/are broken, cracked or chipped? It could be investigated with the group endless emotional meanings for the cracked, broken and chipped ceramics. The creation of an open environment with prompts is advisable, the facilitator (cultural mediator) may start with one’s examples first, to place meaning and make sense of the world and the experiences. 

Step 11

           If this task takes several days to complete, at the end of each session, the facilitator could ask:

           - Do you want to share how you feel now?

Step 16

          On this step the facilitator could discuss the meaning of planting a tree inside the vase. E.g., this action may symbolise the human ability to reframe experiences, especially difficult ones and start new beginnings. 

          To wrap up the activity, it may be assessed the activity with the group and heard their feelings towards it.

4 Reasons why crafting is good for your mental health
https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/stories/4-reasons-craft-good-your-mental-health

Benefits of dyi activities on your mental health
https://www.calmsage.com/benefits-of-diy-activities-on-your-mental-health/

Pot Heart Building (number 14 on the webpage)
https://www.scarymommy.com/grief-activities-for-kids

 

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