Kintsugi: healing the past to build the future
Kintsugi is the art of mending broken ceramics with gold to give them a new lease of life. Can you imagine being able to do the same with the planet?
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This story could begin with something smashing against the ground. A collision. Imagine you are trying to change the water in a vase, it slips from your hands and falls, smashing against the kitchen tiles.
It all happens in a fraction of a second, and what a moment ago was an intact piece of pottery in our hands becomes just fragments of its former self. We no longer have a vase, just the remains of an object that will never again hold flowers, useless pieces that are destined to end up in the bin.
But, what if we could give it a second lease of life? This is exactly what kintsugi is all about. It is a practice based on reconstruction that repairs cracks in ceramics with varnish or resin dusted with gold.
The philosophy behind this Japanese art is that nothing breaks beyond repair and it believes that repairs are part of the history of an object, so it is important to show them, not hide them. The visible golden scars transform the aesthetic essence of the object, evoking the toll that time takes on physical objects, the fluctuating nature of identity and the value of imperfection.
To give you an idea of the beauty of kintsugi scars, we'd like to share the following video with you.
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Damaged doesn't mean broken forever — we can rebuild it. This technique has become a powerful metaphor for the importance of showing strength in the face of adversity.
And what greater adversity is humanity currently facing, but the health, economic and climate crisis? At ACCIONA we see kintsugi as representing the sustainable recovery that heals the wounds of the planet.
How? By committing to renewable energies, investing in resilience, supporting the growth of society as a whole…
Some objects that have been repaired with the traditional kintsugi method have become more valued than before they were broken. Can you imagine how the scars of our planet would look?
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The current crisis must not distract us from the fight against climate change. By radically transforming the economy, by investing in the future, we can address all of the problems that are currently threatening humanity.
The measures we take in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will shape the present and future of our planet. A Green Recovery is needed if we are to overcome the current economic and climate crisis.
This is the only path to being able to fulfil the philosophy of kintsugi: rebuilding the planet and making it even more valuable (and sustainable).
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Rebuilding the planet and making it even more valuable (and sustainable)
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Your opinion is very important to us
Do you think the wounds of the planet can be healed?
It is true that we have a lot of work ahead of us, but at ACCIONA we are certain that we can overcome the challenges the planet is currently facing. -
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