Boro is a method of hand-sewn, repeated repairs that use sashiko – a running stitch, ideally the size of a grain of rice – to beautifully preserve and recycle fabric.'

The textiles in Boro – Timeworn Textiles of Japan are drawn from the substantial collection of New Zealand artist Pip Steel. The exhibition features a variety of boro methods and a range of different textiles, from futon covers and oshi-e, 19th century silk dolls, to momohiki, garments worn by farmers and workers, noragi, work jackets and maekake, work aprons, to tabi, Japanese socks and tebukuro, mittens. There are also examples of furoshiki, traditional wrapping, zokins (or zoukins), dusting cloths, mitsuami, traditional braided rope, komebukuro, rice bags, sake straining bags, iwai-bandori and stunning fabric sample books called shima-cho.