So, you are coming to Oaxaca for Day of the Dead!
Here is a chance to get beyond the sugar skulls and cemeteries, the masks and parades, and go deeper into the natural dye traditions of our wonderful region without leaving the city of Oaxaca.
Put your hands into the indigo dye bath. Watch them turn blue: A Day of the Dead Badge of Distinction. (OK, you can wash it off with soap and water, if you want.)
Blue hands, mark of distinction!
Natural dyes have been used by indigenous people of Oaxaca to color wool, cotton and silk for centuries. It thrives today among a small group of local artisans dedicated to preserving cultural history.
Blue Hands Special:
2-Day Day of the Dead Natural Dye Workshop
Sunday and Monday, October 28-29, 2017 OR
Friday and Saturday, November 3-4, 2017
10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
$250* per person, 4 participants maximum each session
*Bring a friend, get a discount, pay $225 for each
We are based in a Centro Historico neighborhood within walking distance (about six city blocks) from Oaxaca’s Zocalo — downtown plaza.
Plant materials and cochineal for making dyes, wool dye sampler
The hands-on workshop includes 10 hours of instruction to learn about Oaxaca´s natural dye traditions, materials and techniques used in the Central Valley of Oaxaca.
Natural dye sampler, another version
The workshop focuses on understanding how the chemistry of natural dyes act on the protein fibers (we use wool), and how this can be reproduced in your home or studio using local materials.
Pomegranate, great dye source
The workshop includes cochineal, indigo, pomegranate, marigolds, and brazilwood to create 16 different colors. Participant will receive recipes and put together a sampler of each natural dye color created on hand-spun 100% churro sheep wool.
Overdyeing wild marigold with indigo
Topics:
Sourcing local materials
Discussing Oaxaca natural dye traditions
Understanding fibers and how they react to dye
Mordanting, and how it works
Extracting color — sampling for intensity
Preparing the natural indigo vat
Dyeing and over-dyeing to get color range
Limited availability: 4 participants for each workshop
To register, contact: Norma Schafer, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC
We will send you an invoice to pre-pay with PayPal. When we receive funds, we will confirm your registration and send you instructor contact information, and a map.
Natural dyes on cotton
The workshop includes instruction, all materials, recipes and the sampler. It does not include beverages, snacks or lunch. We suggest you bring your own if you get thirsty or hungry.
Blue hands in the dye bath
About the Dye Studio
We hold the dye workshops on the rooftop terrace of a home located in the City of Oaxaca, only 10 minutes walking from the main square of the capital. The studio was founded by two artisans, wife and husband, who are committed to preserving natural dye traditions. The wife is a native of Oaxaca City. The husband is a fourth generation member of a family of weavers and dyers in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Both are bilingual, speaking Spanish and English.
Acid and base chemistry for color changes in cochineal
For the last 12 years, the couple has focused on natural dyeing processes and traditions. Their experience includes researching local indigo and cochineal, collaborating with local and international dyers, experimenting with recipes and testing fastness of the colors on both protein (wool, silk) and cellulose fibers (cotton, linen, hemp).
Both have taught dye workshops in universities, cultural centers and museums in Mexico, the United States and Europe. Currently, the studio provides the service of dyeing fibers for local artisan weavers and teaching workshops.
Washing, mordanting the wool
Wild marigold skein, and cochineal with indigo over-dye
India Journal: Top Artisans at Nature Bazaar
Nature Bazaar is an effort by the Delhi Department of Tourism to bring the best artisans from throughout India to the city for permanent exhibition. Or, let me say, the space is permanent and the artisans rotate. So, it’s more of a pop-up and the artisans change about every six weeks. This group goes until November 30, 2016.
Indigo-dyed organic cotton block print from Rajasthan
I returned on my own so I could leisurely browse the textile collection, speak with the makers, and go through the stacks of cloth in search of indigo blue, red madder, turmeric root dyed yellow cloth. I didn’t want to miss anything. This extended to a three-hour meander to uncover as much as possible.
Block print yardage, turmeric w/ indigo over-dye (L). Madder w/indigo over-dye (R).
My textile artists friends tell me that the Nature Bazaar cooperative is the best source for India arts in Delhi. Funds from the purchases go directly to the artisans who participate.
Waiting patiently for customers, Nature Bazaar
My friend Lee Schwartz, who just returned from a 10-day tour of Rajasthan, claims she saw nothing of the quality on the tour that she encountered at the National Crafts Museum in Delhi. After a visit there, today, I still rank Nature Bazaar as the top shopping spot in Delhi, with second place going to FabIndia.
Ahmedabad artisan folds shawls inset with mirrors embroidered to silk/wool blend.
As with Oaxaca, it’s important to know where to source. I’ve decided to focus this India visit on textiles and not on typical sightseeing and monuments (though tomorrow we leave for Agra and the Taj Mahal).
Fine miniature paintings with gold leaf, an art form
There is so much here that zeroing in on what is important to me helps conserve energy. It’s impossible to get to more than two or three places in a day because of the intense traffic, horn-honking and dust. It just wears you out!
Indigo dyed patchwork quilt, with dresses, blouses on table.
At Nature Bazaar, I met Margaret Zinyu, who has a degree from the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. She planned to go into fashion design but decided to return to her native Nagaland, in northeast India on the Myanmar border, to work with local weavers using cotton dyed with indigo. She is just starting her company Woven Threads and this bazaar was the premiere of her products.
Margaret Zinyu of Woven Threads, Nagaland, India
India is at the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road. The people here are a multicultural blend of Asians and Europeans, Hindus and Muslims. There is as much diversity here as I see in Mexico. The people from the Himalaya foothills, part of India, bring their kite flying traditions to the crafts of the country, for example. These are for sale at the Nature Bazaar, too.
Most of India’s indigo is cultivated in Tamil Nadu, in the south
Wood carved stamps used for block printing at Nature Bazaar
There are also several stalls with hand-wrought silver jewelry from the Himalayas and Afghanistan. Many of the designs looked North African, like those I had seen in Morocco and southern Spain.
Tribal jewelry maker from Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayan foothills of India.
Example of ornate silver earrings inlaid with garnets and embellished with pearls.
There is no cochineal here, of course. This is a humid country and the insect is only found in hot, dry climates like Mexico where the nopal cactus thrives. So madder, the red dye that is more the color of red earth than intense carminic red, is what is found here. However, indigo is king in India and the British capitalized on its export starting in the early 17th century. Today, it is only cultivated in Tamil Nadu in the south of the country.
India’s indigo from Tamil Nadu, in the south
Walking the streets and riding the Metro, I see women of all ages wearing saris and the shalwar kameez pantsuit with tunic top and harem-style pants dyed with indigo blue. Women’s clothing of India is beautiful, lightweight and easy to wear.
India’s sari, block print with gold and indigo
Mexican indigo is extracted from the native plant Indigofera suffruticosa, known as añil, found in the tropics of the Americas. Native indigo from India is Indigofera tinctoria, known as true indigo, and is found in Asia and Africa. The plant and leaf structures are different, but the process to produce the color is the same.
Handmade palm brooms
The most intense blue comes by dipping the cloth at least several times in the indigo dye bath.
Papier mache toys and mobiles at Nature Bazaar
My goal on this trip is to bring back examples of of cloth dyed with indigo, using a variety of weaving, tie-dye and printing techniques.
14 Comments
Posted in Cultural Commentary, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving
Tagged blue, cloth, crafts, India, indigo, Mexico, natural dye, natural dyes, Nature Bazaar, New Delhi, organic cotton, shopping, textiles, weaving