Boro/Kintsugi

A few years ago, I mended an existing ragged prayer rug using gold linen thread to address the topic of Islamophobia. (Blog article qv: https://joannesoroka.co.uk/how-to-make-a-tapestry-about-islamophobia/) The idea was to highlight the mending process, not to hide it, in the same way that those who practice kintsugi with ceramics make the joins obvious and beautiful by employing gold to emphasise the cracks.

Then I was thinking about another Japanese practice, boro – the type of mending the poorest people used to patch their clothing. Shameful to those who had nothing better to wear, these garments are now sought after by collectors for their beauty.

I thought about putting these concepts together since they are both about mending and to take them a step further so that they become about healing.

In Tokugawa Period Japan (1603-1867), sumptuary laws forbade commoners from wearing any colour other than blue, brown or grey. I decided these would be the appropriate colours for the tapestry on the topic, adding in the gold of kintsugi.

I started off by making a miniature tapestry, c14 x 8 cm, to try out the ideas. I combined patches in the allowed colours with a grid of gold metallic thread to suggest kintsugi, also interweaving the grid with the blue, brown and grey. I included stripes and a suggestion of stitching as well, to allude to boro.

Kintsugi was available only to the wealthy, while boro was practised by the lowly, both versions of mending. There is no attempt to conceal the repairs, and they in themselves are beautiful. Just as visible darning has become a fashionable way to restore clothes, I have used this type of approach to celebrate the process of mending.

Everyone needs to be healed from time to time. In times of grief and loss we need support and comfort, to help us feel whole again. Fabric may be darned, patched, or stitched to repair it and give it new life, in the same way that humans can be healed with words or stronger, possibly medical, interventions.

Now I am working on a larger piece, partly made with 18 individual patches each 25 x 19 cm. More on the topic once I have finished the bigger piece.