GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary have announced that artist, author, and speaker Makoto Fujimura is the recipient of the 2023 Kuyper Prize.
Fujimura is the first visual artist to receive the prize. For his work, Fujimura uses the art of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery, and to make it whole again. However, the goal is to create an even more beautiful restoration of wholeness instead of just returning the pottery to its original state.
Fujimura is also the founder of the International Arts Movement and the Fujimura Institute.
“Receiving the Kuyper Prize is quite an unexpected honor,” said Fujimura. “I hope this recognition will lead to a renewed connection between the artist and the church towards Culture Care and the development of robust Theology of Making.”
As part of the Kuyper Prize, Fujimura will receive a $10,000 monetary prize, which he plans to donate to IAM Culture Care and Embers International for their collective “Kintsugi-Peace Making” work.
The Kuyper Prize has been awarded annually since 1998. It is awarded each year to a scholar or community leader whose outstanding contribution to their chosen sphere reflects the ideas and values characteristic of Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper’s Neo-Calvinist vision of religious engagement. This includes religious engagement in matters of social, political, and cultural significance in one or more of the “spheres” of society.
“It is with great excitement that we award Makoto Fujimura this distinct honor,” said Calvin University President Wiebe Boer. “It is clear that his work is heavily inspired by Kuyperian theology and through Fujimura’s work his diverse global audiences are drawn to reflect upon deeper truths about human brokenness and restoration which were central to Kuyper’s theology and politics.”
“As Christ followers, we are called to the work of renewal,” said Calvin Theological Seminary President Jul Medenblik. “What Fujimura is doing through his work is reminding us of the Kuyperian perspective that ‘The final outcome of the future… is not the merely spiritual existence of saved souls, but the restoration of the entire cosmos, when God will be all in all in the renewed heaven on the renewed Earth.’”
Fujimura will be awarded the Kuyper Prize during the Kuyper Conference. The conference will be held May 9-11 at Redeemer University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
