The programme proposed three approaches to lacquer: repairing a ceramic object, making a small wearable piece, and developing a bowl. Read together, these subjects suggest a broad way of learning a material. Lacquer is encountered through joining, surface and form, rather than through a finished object alone.

Three ways of approaching a material

The first module was presented as kintsugi repair, using lacquer in the repair of ceramic fractures and a metallic finish to draw attention to the join. In the programme, repair became an opportunity to look closely at the existing object: its shape, the location of a break and the relationship between old surface and new intervention.

The jewellery module proposed working with combinations of wood, shell, fabric and lacquer. Its smaller scale offered another point of attention. A piece intended to be worn must be considered from several directions, with its edges and surface becoming part of the experience.
The bowl module introduced a sequence of constructing, coating, sanding and finishing. It connected a shaped form with the repeated work of developing a surface.
These descriptions record what the programme proposed; they do not document what individual participants completed.

Historical programme details

Advertised dates: 29 November–4 December 2025 (six days).
Venue listed: Taiwu Gallery, 254 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058803.
Advertised capacity: six places.
Advertised fee: SGD 2,800, including materials and tea.
These are historical programme details, not present availability or pricing. The published information alone does not establish attendance or completed works.

Time as part of the subject

A short programme can introduce a method and make its stages visible. It should not be confused with the time needed to master a craft. At Taiwu, the useful connection is between patient attention and the choices that a material asks a maker to make. The repair image makes that attention tangible: gloved hands hold separate parts of a ceramic vessel close to the join. Before there is a finished surface to admire, there is an object to examine and a relationship between parts to understand.

Reading the archive today

We retain this page because it records a direction in the gallery’s exploration of craft: porcelain and lacquer considered through care, making and the life of objects.

For the current gallery location and visitor information, use our Visit page below. Any future workshop will need its own current dates and confirmed details.