Tag Archives: blue

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

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.

Left, block print of turmeric with indigo over-dye. Right, madder "chicken tracks" with indigo over-dye. Yardage.

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

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.

Artisan from Ahmedabad folds shawls inset with mirrors embroidered to silk.

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

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.

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

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

Most of India’s indigo is cultivated in Tamil Nadu, in the south

Wood carved stamps used for block printing at Nature Bazaar

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.

Tribal jewelry maker from Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayan foothills of India.

Example of ornate silver earrings inlaid with garnets and embellished with pearls.

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

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

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

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

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.

Natural Dyes and Indigo Blue Easter Eggs

I’ve never seen dyed Easter eggs here in Oaxaca, but perhaps someone could correct me if I just haven’t noticed them. Yet, here we are in the world of natural dyes. My personal favorite is indigo blue. So, when this post from Improvised Life came to my inbox this morning, I felt compelled to share it.

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs Made Simple

This segues into the world of natural dyes here in Oaxaca, where a kilogram of indigo from the coast costs over $100 USD. In the spirit of indigo blue, I’d like to share these photos with you of indigo blue dyed textiles taken during recent Natural Dye Textiles and Weaving Study Tour programs.

 

Thanks to Juana Gutierrez, Galeria Fe y Lola, Alfredo Hernandez Orozco, Bii Dauu Cooperative, Elsa Sanchez Diaz, Arturo Hernandez and Porfirio Gutierrez for their talent to keep the world of natural dyes alive here.

Oaxaca Organic Indigo Blue Dye — Añil or Teñido de Reserva

Indigo blue color is derived from an organic botanical plant that grows on the coast of Oaxaca in the village of Santiago Niltepec near Tehuantepec on the Isthmus.  Do you hear the añil in the name?  It takes 200 kilograms of plant material to end up with 1 kilogram of the hardened rock of blue that has dried from the fermented paste.  It’s what Levi Strauss used to make the original blue jeans during the California Gold Rush and even today, a bit of natural organic product is used to “stimulate” the chemical color of blue that was developed in 1904 during the Industrial Revolution.

 

Eric Chavez Santiago, the Museo Textil de Oaxaca‘s director of education, keeps a stock pot of indigo going in his dye kitchen almost constantly.  Eric says it can be refreshed with fructose crystalline.  He recently took a workshop from French dye master Michel Garcia who uses mango skins to activate the dye chemistry.

During a three-hour indigo dye workshop at the museum that I took from Eric, I learned that indigo has been in use for thousands of years in Egypt, Africa and India.  It was used by the Mayans, Incas and Zapotecs of Oaxaca!  It is grown in South Carolina, U.S.A. and most of the world’s production comes from San Salvador.  A small production, boutique crop, only 100 kg of añil is produced each year in Oaxaca state, but the market is growing as more local people are using natural dyes in their woven textiles.  They only produce the indigo in Niltepec.  They don’t dye fabric with it there.

 

It is tricky dyeing with indigo.  Añil oxydizes in water and becomes yellow green.  It is very important to gently immerse what you want to dye into the dye bath so the indigo is not disturbed by movement.  No stirring allowed!  When the cotton or silk  or wool is removed from the dye bath, the fabric color is yellow green and changes to blue as soon as it meets the air.  Multiple dippings are required to get a deep, intense blue and the indigo must not be “tired,” according to Eric.

During today’s workshop, we create shibori and tritik designs on the white cotton cloth we bring to dye.  We have not actually created the dye bath — it is already prepared for us!  Eric Chavez Santiago offers this indigo dye workshop once or twice each month at the textile museum.  Check the museum’s calendar for exact dates.  The cost is 50 pesos and you bring your own fabric to dye.  Very fun.

See my next post for more about Oaxacan indigo.