THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER
When we make mistakes, show our imperfections, or wind up feeling broken in some way, we have to patch ourselves back together. The Japanese art of kintsugi is the art of creating “precious scars” or “golden repair” by filling cracks in pottery with precious metals such as liquid gold or silver.
Kintsugi is said to have begun hundreds of years ago when a Japanese military commander broke his favorite tea bowl and sent it to be repaired. When it returned, it had been patched together unattractively with metal staples. Seeing the well-loved but sloppily-mended bowl inspired Japanese craftsmen to develop kintsugi as a better, more beautiful way to fix something broken.
The breaks in kintsugi pottery are considered to be part of the object’s history, and are displayed with pride. An imperfection isn’t the end. It’s a chance for a “golden repair”!
Cover design by Vivien R. Zhu
