Writer Alex Szerlip came with us on the 2019 Oaxaca Coast textile tour to investigate and write about the purple snail dye that is on the verge of extinction. While she already knew so much in advance, we took her to the source: the Mixtec village of Pinotepa de Don Luis to meet the few remaining dyers who hunt the snails and color native cotton and silk.
The article she wrote, Vintage Tech: Tyrian Purple, was just published. I hope you click the link to read it.
Caracol purpura is also called tixinda in the Mixtec native language. Mexican Dreamweavers Cooperative, a not-for-profit organization started by immigration attorney Patrice Perillie, helps support the tixinda dyers and weavers. Patrice has started a GoFundMe effort to help with expenses to get the cooperative to the famed Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in July 2019. Groups are juried for acceptance and competition is stiff.
Help Mexican Dreamweavers raise $4,000 USD to attend the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. Can you help? Contact Patrice Perillie. Mexican Dreamweavers is a USA non-profit, so your gift is tax-deductible.
Says Patrice Perillie about Vintage Tech: Tyrian Purple …
This is the most enjoyable and enlightening article on tixinda I have ever read. Thank you for mentioning our work from the bottom of my purple heart…. I will personally read it to Habacuc and Rafael when I see them this weekend! They will be thrilled!
Habacuc and his son Rafael are just a few of the dyers remaining who make the journey and climb the treacherous rocks of Huatulco to harvest the purple snail. Their technique preserves snail life and habitat.
What I appreciate about this article is it’s first person narrative, sensitivity and understanding of the work of indigenous people on Oaxaca’s Costa Chica. With environmental and aesthetic perception, Alex Szerlip conveys the cultural and historic importance that purple dye has to the Mixtecs on Oaxaca’s Pacific Coast.
Of course, the color purple has been regaled by emperors and kings for centuries, rare and beautiful. Now, nearly extinct around the world, Oaxaca is one of the last bastions for preservation and hope, thanks to applied anthropologist Marta Turok Wallace. This post is a tribute to her and the people of Oaxaca who are dedicated to sustaining this living tradition.
Note: Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour, January 18-27, 2020, is almost sold-out. We have two spaces open. Don’t hesitate if you have been thinking about this! We visit the Dreamweavers Cooperative in Pinotepa de Don Luis as part of this adventure. Special thanks to cultural anthropologist Denise Lechner who guides us into remote villages to meet the makers.
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.
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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