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42 / Photo Feature

A completely shattered bowl being restored back to its original form with its cracks painted in gold.

student of his as an example. The student used crystal to fill gaps between a with their own elements. He reckons
broken wine cellar instead of simply colouring the crack with gold or silver, the way out is to spend more time trac-
challenging the traditional boundary of Kintsugi. ing back to where they grow up from
Wong also draws differences between the philosophy behind Chinese and and dig out the essence of what belong
Japanese repairing. While Chinese repair things aiming at recovering func- to them.
tionality, Kintsugi advocates the aesthetic of wabi-sabi（侘寂）, which high- “I want to create Kintsugi of Hong
lights the appreciation of imperfection and recreation from the broken. Em- Kong,” he says. He believes Kintsugi in
bracing the flaws in order to survive, especially during natural disasters, has Hong Kong can bring a sense of peace
become one of the key elements manifested in this art form. to individuals as they can stay focused
when mending broken objects for a
few hours without any distraction.
Amid troubled times like this, it [Kintsugi] “Amid troubled times like this,
should evoke calmness from within and lead us it [Kintsugi] should evoke calmness
from within and lead us to have faith
to have faith in the chance of rebirth, in the chance of rebirth,” he adds.
It may seem unrealistic to talk
about Kintsugi in Hong Kong right
now, as protests continue. But Wong
“After the March 11 tsunami tragedy in 2011, people collected broken frag- sees it in a different way. To him, Kint-
ments from the sea and returned them to their owners after mending them sugi is a line that joins the past and
as they think it is a way to bring hope to victims by reminding them there is future together. Through Kintsugi, a
always a way to heal their wounds,” he explains. broken past is repaired and metamor-
Wong thinks Hong Kong should develop her own Kintsugi with a special phoses into a new form of future.
character. “Hong Kong is Hong Kong. You have to be aware of your unique
characteristics and be yourself,” he says. He also realises that some Hong Kong
Kintsugi artists copy the Japanese style directly without infusing the work Edited by Scarlet Shiu