Kintsugi, a book from Anoma and Romesh
View(s):In the finely wrought Japanese restoration technique of Kintsugi, where broken porcelain is mended with gold lacquer, the flaws are highlighted rather than concealed. It’s a concept that appealed to the artist Anoma Wijewardene whose work has always responded to the world around her.
Her brush with Kintsugi began ten years ago and it so happened that she asked her longtime friend, the author Romesh Gunasekera if he would write a paragraph on these works. He took her by surprise with what Anoma calls ‘a fascinating collection’ of poems, which led her to think in terms of a book. Inspired by the paintings and poetry, Oscar-nominated musician Sharon Smith wrote music to the work, thus making it a rare collaboration across three continents: Anoma in Colombo, Romesh in London and Sharon in Los Angeles.
Anoma Wijewardene and Romesh Gunasekera autographing books at the launch. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Anoma’s Kintsugi installation is now on permanent display at Cinnamon Life.
The book is an extension of that installation, exploring the idea that the quest for harmony can transcend the boundaries that divide us in an increasingly broken, dystopian world.
On Monday, February 17, both Anoma and Romesh were present at the launch of the book, in the mellow spaces of Celestine, at Cinnamon Life. A short video offered a glimpse of not just the art but of the music, and the poems read by Romesh. In the Q&A by Savitri Rodrigo, they expanded on their thought processes, with Anoma outlining how her journey took her to the Venice Biennale in 2019 in the immediate aftermath of the Easter Sunday carnage at home and then how the works found a new iteration at Cinnamon Life and Romesh on how the poems came into being, also noting the challenge of bringing three different art forms together.
Kintsugi, the book – will be available at bookshops soon.
A section of the audience
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