Pip Steele and Boro
‘A farmer wears only one jacket throughout his entire life with his wife repairing over and over. and then his son will wear that for his entire life as well’ Atsushi Futatsuya
You shouldn’t throw away any piece of cloth big enough to wrap three soybeans’ The Boro of old Japan
Boro (ぼろ) – a method of mending, strengthening and patching fabric using a running stitch called sashiko to hold everything together, traditionally used by rural Japanese to preserve and recycle clothing, bedding and other textiles which were often hand dyed with indigo. It was associated with the values of sustainability and "mottainai" (regret over waste).
Pip talked about the boro of old Japan, its origins and use, how it fell out of favour and has now become fashionable again. She brought along a wide range of wonderful textiles including clothing, indigo dyed fabric and a quilt showcasing sashiko patterns stitched on the blocks. One of the slides had the saying ‘you shouldn’t throw away any piece of cloth big enough to wrap three soybeans’ which shows just how precious cloth was.
Pip didn’t realise she was starting a collection at first. Once she did she became more intentional about her collecting, and has now amassed almost everything she wants. She’ll be ending her active collecting soon and may celebrate with her first trip to Japan.
We had a wonderful show and tell as well, and we debuted our new display poles. These pack away into a neat bundle and can easily be put up and down.
