Really interesting radio programme – 30 minutes well spent…
What can we learn from a broken teapot?
According to legend, when a 15th century shogun smashed his treasured pottery, Japanese artists repaired it with gold.
Kintsugi, as the practice is known, gives new life to damaged goods by celebrating their frailty and history.
Samira Ahmed considers how we might live a kintsugi life, finding value in the ‘cracks’ – whether it’s the scars showing how we have lived, finding new purpose through loss, or learning to love ourselves despite our flaws.
With readings from The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura, Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake, and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam – and music from Michio Miyagi, the Rolling Stones and Elizabethan composer, John Dowland.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Jo Fidgen
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
The girl in the bubble 