The International Quilt Museum at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (IQM) announces “An Evening of Boro: Talks by Yoshiko Wada and Sandra Dudley” on April 24.

From 4:30 to 7 p.m., join the IQM for a reception of the exhibition “Boro: The Hidden and the Visible in Japanese Mended Textiles,” followed by a lecture from Dr. Sandra Dudley and a guided tour of the exhibition with guest curator Dr. Yoshiko Wada.

“For the past two months, we’ve seen IQM audiences resonate with our ‘Boro’ exhibition for not only its stunning beauty, but also an appreciation for the processes and histories that formed these textiles — the practical act of use and reuse over generations. This event is an exciting opportunity for people to dig deeper into what these mended textiles mean to us and to the people who made them,” said Marin Hanson, the IQM’s curator of international collections. “We are extremely grateful to Dr. Wada and Dr. Dudley for joining us for this special evening.”

“Boro: The Hidden and the Visible in Japanese Mended Textiles” opened in the IQM’s West Gallery in February and will be on display through June 20. The exhibition features nearly 30 objects representing “boro” — a Japanese concept associated with the cycle of using an object or textile and mending it, repeatedly. In rural communities across Japan, mainly before World War II, boro was a way of life with everyday textiles being constantly repaired with scraps of cloth and running stitches. Over seasons and years, reused indigo-dyed fabrics would be layered upon each other, creating uneven and mottled surfaces appreciated today for their history and beauty.

Dudley’s lecture is set to begin at 5:15 p.m. Wada’s gallery tour will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a livestream available for those who register at go.unl.edu/virtual.

This event is free, but in-person attendees are encouraged to RSVP at go.unl.edu/boro.

Refreshments will be provided during the reception.

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ABOUT YOSHIKO WADA: Yoshiko Wada is an internationally recognized fiber artist, curator, teacher and author. She is the founder and president of the World Shibori Network Foundation — an organization that strives to celebrate and preserve Japanese shibori and other heritage textile techniques from around the globe.

ABOUT SANDRA DUDLEY: Sandra Dudley is Professor of Museum Anthropology at the University of Leicester, UK. She previously worked for over ten years at the Pitt Rivers Museum and completed her doctorate in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include the displacements of, and sensory and emotional engagements with, various forms of material culture. Her most recent book, “Displaced Things in Museums and Beyond: Loss, Liminality and Hopeful Encounters,” was published in 2021.