Kintsugi Workshops

REGISTER FOR A KINTSUGI WORKSHOP: $65
(includes discounted admission to the festival!)

This workshop requires a special registration fee that includes discounted admission to the Festival.
Each workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Pre-registration is required.

Kintsugi Workshop

Join artist Kurt Caddy for a hands-on workshop, learning the “art of transformation”. Kintsugi 金継ぎ, meaning ‘golden repair’, is the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with powdered gold or other metal.

Each participant will be given a tea bowl to repair. Kurt will guide the participants through the process of Kintsugi repair and they will take their repaired bowl home as a valued keepsake.

Artist Kurt Caddy

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Kurt Caddy is an artist who believes that art is generative and transformative. He believes that one of the roles of an artist is to help (or force) the viewer to ‘see the unseen’. For him, art springs from a deeper place within his mind and heart and overflows in abstract paintings and sculptures.

Kurt is also a kintsugi artist. Kintsugi is the 15th Century art of mending tea bowls with gold. He believes that art can help portray the idea of a redeemed beauty and transformation is indeed possible. He calls this the “art of transformation”.

Kurt had the very fortunate opportunity to study with Makoto Fujimura, a contemporary nihonga artist and author. Makoto Fujimura developed a technique for kintsugi that is quicker and simpler than the traditional method, yet shares the same philosophy, beauty, and symbolism of repairing what is broken and the metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections. Kurt learned this procedure from Makoto and will be offering this unique workshop at the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival on October 5, 2024.

In addition to Makoto Fujimura, Kurt has been influenced by artists such as Grace Boden, Mark Rothko, and Kandinsky. He is also heavily influenced by Japanese and native American cultures. He has exhibited work in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York.