About 2 weeks ago a friend and I took a 500 mile trip each way to go from Woodstock IL to Lincoln, NE in 2 days :-) to see this special exhibit at the International Quilt Museum. I had seen information about it earlier this spring and watched some of the videos and interviews with Yoshiko Wada about creating the exhibit and wanted very much to actually SEE the pieces. It was well worth it.
In addition , I made arrangements with Jamie Swartz, Exhibitions Director to bring some of my own boro collection to show them and also for them to show my friend and I our art quilts that are in their permanent collection.
Both parts of the visit were wonderful. Being able to look at both the fronts and backs of many boro pieces and to read about their history and purpose and creation was a remarkable opportunity. A couple of my favorite pieces ere the birthing boro - much thicker and more textured. A lovely detail about them is that after a birth the child is wrapped in a garment from one of his ancestors (usually grandparent) to anchor him to his ancestry. The exhibit ends soon but a catalog will be coming out later in the year.
We met early the next morning to have a behind the scenes tour of various areas of the museum - how intake of art is done, how it is stored, how it is cared for on a regular basis. There are over 8000 pieces in their collection and all pieces are refolded on a regular basis to keep creases and wear to a minimum. Many volunteers help with that process. We got to go into the storage area and see our work. Both of our art quilts were in a very large (at least an 8 x 8 foot) equivalent of a flat file that is temperature controlled and secure. The large sliding "drawers" held a variety of quilts. Because mine was flat it was on the bottom with 2 or 3 other pieces that had more dimension laid on top with tissue between. It was nice to be reacquainted with work I have not see since the early 2000's! As we looked around the shelves that held hundreds of other pieces in archival boxes we saw many names we recognized.
Below are some pictures from our adventure!
Betty Busby vessel in protective cover
https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/exhibition/boro-hidden-and-visible-japanese-mended-textiles
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