MoM’s Kintsugi of Regeneration

Kintsugi and the Art of Transformation

See the gold-traced cracks on ceramics? They’re everywhere now. Not just decoration, but a profound statement. This isn’t just repair. It’s kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer and powdered gold.

MoM’s lens

Kintsugi embraces an object’s history, every flaw. It reveals damage, never hides it. For MoM, this ethos extends beyond aesthetics, serving as a lens for examining fundamental systems, starting with our broken food system.

The Cracks We See

We all see the cracks daily. Wasted food, families without. Crops discarded for ‘wonky’ shape, not nourishment. A system prioritising speed over sustenance. This disconnect makes us forget. Yet food is culture, it’s care and it’s connection. It’s meant to nourish. Kintsugi tells us to embrace these breaks – to mend them with gold. Our food system can be whole again. But only if we remember its true purpose.

MoM’s Approach

Imperfect fruit? Still food. Surplus? Still vital. From community fridges to innovative fermentation labs, the solutions are here. Golden. Visible. Local. It’s not just about waste – it’s about valuing food’s essence and restoring it to what it should be.  Just like in our broken food system, we don’t hide these mistakes – we learn from them to build together something better and fairer for everyone.  This is pragmatic resourcefulness in action. As social regenerative movement, we connect food, health and community by transforming neglected urban spaces. This is our kintsugi approach: mending, regenerating.

Kintsugi offers a vital lesson. Our broken systems, much like pottery, can transform and be resilient through a radically altered lens.