On Fractures and Misunderstandings: the Aesthetics of Kintsugi and its Reception in the West #1011831

This excerpt is part of the volume Visual Narratives, Aesthetics and Decoloniality: Imagery and the Construction of the ‘Other’. Vol. 1 – Decolonial Aesthetics, Ontologies and Epistemologies, edited by Tomás Cajueiro and Estevão Bosco, published by Ventura Edizioni.



Japanese culture, like other Eastern cultures, is characterized by a highly developed aesthetic sensibility that is consistently expressed across all its artistic productions. This sensibility and artistic expression drew considerable curiosity in the West during the XIX century, perceived as something innovative and unfamiliar.
Numerous examples of Japanese arts that quickly captured Western attention can be found from the nineteenth century onward, particularly during the movement known as Japonisme. Notable instances of such influences include the Japanese woodblock print (ukiyo-e) and its impact on XIX century painting, the inspiration of haiku poetry for the English Imagists, and, in more recent times, Takashi Murakami’s contributions to pop aesthetics and culture.