roee ben yehuda’s kawatsugi salvages fragmented ceramics with leather interventions

reimagining ancient japanese arts of kintsugi and kawatsugi

After receiving broken ceramics from Japan in the mail, Roee Ben Yehuda found himself exploring new ways to give the remnants a second life without discarding them. The ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which involves repairing the seams of broken pottery with lacquer and gold, came to mind almost immediately. Drawing on its intricate aesthetics and complexities, Ben Yehuda opted for an approach infused with his expertise as a leatherworker to explore the intersection of leather and ceramics. ‘I thought about how leather techniques could be used to create new expressions of the traditional craft,’ he says. Kawatsugi is the outcome of this thought.

roee ben yehuda revives fragmented ceramics with leather

The essence of both Kawatsugi 革継ぎ — translating to ‘leather repair’ in Japanese — and Kintsugi form the basis of Roee Ben Yehuda’s expression. The designer utilizes leather as a medium to reimagine Japanese craftsmanship in novel gestures to salvage fragmented pottery. Each piece is transformed with leather interventions, their supple textures mending the cracks and imperfections of the broken pieces as a contemporary nod to the traditional crafts to imbue the ceramic pieces with a newfound vitality.

project info:

name: Kawatsugi
designer: Roee Ben Yehuda

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