Transformation Room

Objects live lives too.

They are not fixed, though we often think of them that way. They crack, fade, break, mend, and sometimes begin again. A squeaky chair becomes part of the household soundtrack. A shirt becomes a cleaning rag. A chipped mug glued back together holds more than tea; it holds the story of its survival.

In Japan, the art of kintsugi repairs broken pottery with gold, making the cracks part of the beauty. This practice embodies a wider idea: that breakage is not the end, but a transformation. Philosopher and craftsman Richard Sennett described repair as a quiet form of resilience, a way of affirming that endurance can be as valuable as perfection.

When things break
Cracks that turn endurance into quiet beauty.

Second lives
Objects reborn with new purpose and story.

Objects of change
Tangible markers of the moments life shifted.

Curator’s Lens for Organisations

Change leaves traces.
Even when it is no longer visible.

In organisations, transformation often lives on through:

  • processes shaped by earlier disruption

  • informal workarounds that became permanent

  • habits formed during urgency or crisis

  • resilience learned through necessity rather than design

These marks are not failures. They are records of how the organisation learned to endure.

Curatology helps organisations recognise what has been shaped by past change so they can decide what still serves them and what no longer does.

What has your organisation learned to live with?