Specialist Béatrice Jacotot introduces participants to the concept of wabi-sabi and the ancestral Japanese technique dating back to the 16th century, Kintsugi or "gold patching", which allows a broken object to be restored using a plant-based lacquer.

At the end of the training, the trainee will have assimilated:

Theoretical knowledge of the concept of wabi-sabi
The history and traditional technique of kintsugi and the practice of lacquer.
Learning the different stages of making kintsugi: gluing, filling, application of different lacquers and metallic finishing powders
Knowledge of the siccativation conditions of urushi lacquer

Kintsugi is a Japanese technique that dates back to the 16th century. Kintsugi literally means "gold patching". From a practical point of view, it involves restoring a broken object using a vegetable lacquer (urushi in Japanese), enhanced with gold powder. The gold is applied to the gaps, breaks and cracks, creating a delicate gold network.

The main advantage of the kintsugi technique is its resistance to humidity and heat, as well as the non-toxicity of the materials used in its creation, which makes objects repaired with gold lacquer usable in tableware and teaware.

This is the technique that you will learn during the three-day training. However, this three-day training does not take into account the hardening time of the lacquer between each step (about a week). During this course you will work on four different pieces to complete the four stages of the work (gluing; cleaning the glue and filling; sanding and 1st coat of lacquer; 2nd coat of lacquer and gold powder or silver powder).

The objects prepared for each stage will be provided. This is an introductory course, so we will not use real gold powder, but mica powders, with a similar appearance (non-food). For a food-safe result, a black or red lacquer finish is possible, or even silver powder.

Béatrice Jacotot

After a master's degree in ceramic conservation-restoration and training in Japan with a master lacquerer, Béatrice Jacotot created her company Cérakin in Paris dedicated to restoration and kintsugi. This traditional Japanese technique is part of the enhancement of the object and its history, offering it the possibility of prolonging its existence while giving it a new aesthetic. Béatrice Jacotot has been practicing kintsugi since 2016 for tea and ceramic lovers, and also works in collaboration with ceramists to create original and unique pieces. She began teaching the Japanese kintsugi technique in 2020.

• Training primarily practical
• Historical and theoretical introductory phase on kintsugi and its origins, followed by a presentation of the training process
• For each stage of the work, demonstrations will be carried out by the trainer, followed by immediate practical application by the participants
• The work will be carried out on several ceramics

Educational resources and supports

• Work in a ceramic workshop
• Small tools, materials and ceramics (provided)
• Books on wabi-sabi and urushi lacquer; examples of pieces restored with kintsugi (in consultation)
• A summary document of the stages of kintsugi will be distributed, but note-taking is still recommended
• Individual and collective experiments supported by technical and theoretical supervision
• Exchanges, interactions between participants based on sharing and mutual assistance in production

• Applied theory: theoretical contribution illustrated by a demonstration, individual exercises
• Individual and collective monitoring
• Design of a personal project: learning is born from experimentation and needs
• Collective restitution: experience report at the end of the internship
• Sign-in sheet per half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa