Loading…
2025 Poster Session
Posters will be on display in the AIC Exhibit Hall on Thursday, May 29, and Friday, May 30. Poster authors will be at their poster for a Q&A session on Friday, May 30, at 3:30pm.


Banner photo by Lane Pelovsky, Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis 
Friday May 30, 2025 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Kintsugi is a traditional and longstanding Japanese method of object repair. Dating back to around the fifteenth century, it is effectively a form of conservation that visibly accentuates and enhances the damage an item has sustained to create a new, equally engaging object. This moves away from concepts of invisible repair and perfection that dominate the conservation and repair methods of the global north. It is a way of allowing objects to live, change and adapt to time and circumstances whilst still functioning effectively. The result is a repaired object that is a new thing of beauty. The concept has parallels to the human journey through life, and provides a good philosophy for fulfilling a personal reconciliation to change and difficult situations, emerging in a different, but by no means worse, physical shape and space.This short paper will highlight the development and delivery of a community wellbeing project at The Museum of English Rural Life, Reading, and Norwich Museums, UK, which emphasised the potential of conservation and hand crafts as a route to improved mental health. Working with community partners, participants in the two Kintsugi Conservation programmes took a book of their choice that not only had some personal meaning but had also seen some life: it was imperfect in some way and possibly no longer functioning effectively as a bound object. Using practical conservation methods and a wide and eclectic material choice, the groups worked together to develop not only an understanding of book structures and methods of repair but had a space to express themselves and share their life experiences in a supportive, safe and inclusive environment. The journeys were as important as the destinations, and the results proved to be reflective, impressive and moving.The presentation will end with a discussion of the potential for conservation to perform a sensory role in outreach and engagement, dissolving barriers to understanding and access and helping to provide a visitor experience that has the capacity to reach all audiences equitably.
Friday May 30, 2025 3:30pm - 4:00pm PDT
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis 229 W 43RD St New York, NY 10036 USA

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Share Modal

Share this link via

Or copy link