King Houndekpinkou: connecting cultures through ceramics

In a world that often seems rife with division, ceramicist King Houndekpinkou is on a mission to demonstrate what diverse cultures have in common. Since discovering a link between the ceramic traditions of Japan and the spirituality of his Beninese heritage, he has striven to connect these and other cultures through the lens of ceramics.

His route into the craft wasn’t a straightforward one. Born in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil, the Franco-Beninese Houndekpinkou initially pursued a career in corporate communications. However, a childhood interest in Japanese pop culture – including manga and anime video games – gave him a passion for Japan which propelled him to visit the country for the first time in 2012. There, he was introduced to pottery. “I was really soul-searching at that point, and questioning what I wanted to do,” he says. “I wanted to use my creativity to do something closer to my heart. So when I returned from that trip, this word kept haunting me: pottery, pottery, pottery.”

He started taking ceramics evening classes in Paris, and his teacher, who was Japanese, introduced him to some potters from the ancient Japanese pottery province of Bizen. They became friends and Houndekpinkou returned to Japan to visit them in what was to prove a pivotal trip. “I was able to see how they worked with the clay and the fire, and I felt there was something interesting in terms of their spirituality and the way they respect the clay and the elements,” he says. “[There was] something very ceremonial about it. It was similar to what Benin does in terms of spirituality and animism and voodoo.”

The discovery of this connection between his own Beninese heritage and Japan’s ceramic traditions spoke to him deeply. “That thing that I was looking for, that thing that was close to my heart and my creativity: this was it.”

Back in Paris, he left his job to focus on ceramics full time, returning to Bizen each year to train with potters of the Keramos group and particularly Toshiaki Shibuta, who became a mentor.

Since 2016 he has solidified the cultural link between Benin and Japan with his Terres Jumelles project, which aims to connect local potters in the two countries and highlight the unifying nature of the craft. “I go to the other country and mix the local clay and make works. It puts me in a position of documenting and learning while creating. I’m less a maker and more an observer, trying to be a messenger and a link between the potters.”

This approach may have started with ceramics, but it’s become a philosophy for his life. “Ceramics became my lens through which I see life,” he says. “It also leads me to discover new things that are outside of ceramics. I was able to discover the culture of Native Americans, was able to go to Santa Fe and see this same animistic culture.”

His own work expresses a deep respect for the ceramic traditions he has learned, yet is very contemporary in style and technique. He explores the creative possibilities of the vessel form – which he considers a universal and timeless canvas – through creative use of glazes, shapes, colours and firing techniques. His curious, busy brain is constantly researching, and he allows himself to follow his intuition towards new discoveries, just as he’s always done. “Everything started with curiosity and video games,” he says. “If you dig deeper in life, you can always discover new things.”

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