Kintsugi

Kintsugi is a video-dance work based on an autobiographical story. In 2003, MIGNONE and PANEPUCCIA had a road accident, the serious consequences of which drastically changed their lives. In order to create this dance-for-camera piece, MIGNONE used the crutches that had accompanied her for years. Kintsugi, the Japanese technique of mending broken ceramics with goldfilled resin, is used as a poetic metaphor for physical and emotional healing processes. This technique has its roots in the belief that the object is more valuable and beautiful with its history revealed. A girl faces her journey of healing through the search for a new balance. Her tears turn into golden resin that repairs her scars. The absorption and transformation of trauma leads to the development of new possibilities. They decided to shoot the initial scenes near the head of the Mignone River and the final ones in a sunflower field near its mouth.

This is a collaboration between a dancer and a visual artist/composer. The dancer MIGNONE became disabled in a traffic accident, affecting what she could do as a dancer. The traditional Japanese restoration technique of kintsugi appears in the work as a symbolic motif, celebrating the beauty in both the new elegance following the repair, and in its history. The work applies the analogy of kintsugi to her conflicts and struggle. From physical deficitand despair to rebirth: This hope to move on towards another phase is superimposed on the various contexts of the viewers, giving us hope as well. The unending intensity, the methodology presenting foreign motifs through diverse video techniques, and the quality all reveal a fusion of technology and expression, body and spirit – a truly standout work. The projection of private pain adds reality to the work beyond superficial expression, raising it to the level of the universal. (HIGASHIIZUMI Ichiro)