By Martina Matijević —Croatia

The Paintku Project

H aikuists have long been inspired by paintings, yet there is no formal framework for approaching this practice without confusing it with related poetic forms such as haiga or photo-haiku. To address this gap, the author started The Paintku Project on her Bluesky account, from which some of the Paintku serve as examples supporting newly established guidelines for this emerging genre.

As the name suggests, a Paintku is a noun combining painting with the suffix -ku, signaling the fusion of this visual art and haiku. However, defining it simply as “a haiku inspired by a painting” is too vague. A Paintku should be understood as a haiku inspired by a painting in its entirety, or by one or more of its motifs, compositional elements, or other constituent features. Through engagement with these elements, a Paintku seeks to capture the essence of the painting’s primary theme, one or more subthemes, a prevailing emotional atmosphere, or another distinct and meaningful aspect of the artwork.

For example, the first painting addressed in the project was Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech (1943), which inspired the Paintku:

in neighbors’ gaze
the depth
of his speech

The fundamental rule for writing a successful Paintku is that it must not merely describe the painting. Instead, it should contribute new insight through careful engagement with the work. This insight may illuminate an emotional absence:

spring gust –
the absence of
mother’s cry

(A Paintku about Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, 1937.)

A Paintku must function as a standalone poem, distinct from the painting itself and clearly separable from haibun, photo-haiku, or ekphrastic description.

A second guiding principle is stylistic correspondence: the language and approach of a Paintku should, when possible, resonate with the aesthetic qualities of the painting. Minimalist works may invite spare, restrained language, while a Cubist painting may justify fragmentation or syntactic tension. For instance, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876), with its fleeting, light-filled Impressionist style, inspired the Paintku:

the laughter
of dancing couples
twilight long

Here, the soft sounds and rhythm of the haiku echo the painting’s lively, ephemeral atmosphere.

Ultimately, The Paintku Project seeks to establish basic guidelines for this new poetic form, foster a community of poets interested in combining visual art with haiku, and create a unique dialogue around paintings. By engaging deeply with artworks in poetic form, participants can notice subtleties, themes, and emotional nuances that might otherwise be overlooked, enriching both their understanding of art and their own poetic practice.