A Little Bit About ISEND and Natural Dyes

I had a notion that I'd post every day from the ISEND conference, but the combination of jet lag and sometimes limited internet connectivity--along with, well, being in France and wanting to be out on the lovely streets and in the cafes--spelled failure for that. So I'm sitting here today ready to write, but realizing that I left all my conference materials at my office yesterday, and that I should probably write my posts for the Textile Society of America, which gave me a grant to attend the conference, the Surface Design Association blog, and a couple of other promised pieces before I post too many details or photographs here. So for now, I'll just say a little.

It was a wonderful conference, and it was so cool that a few people recognized me as the "Slow Cloth lady." I met some textilian friends who were inspiring and delightful, including:

Alison Yule

Jane Deane

Maggie Tchir

Aviva Leigh

Nicole Rode, a textile conservator from the British Museum

Sasha Duerr of Permacouture, whom I'd corresponded with but never met;

...and more.

In brief, the natural dye community is an impressive global group of people who are searching for the next steps to keep natural dyeing alive, to find new ways to work with dye plants, share information, and keep natural dyeing viable as art, craft, and industry. Many are working with indigenous communities; others are working as solo artists and entrepreneurs; still others are focused on the science and chemistry of dye plants. While anything like a formalized global trade organization is still to come, there is so much passion, interest, and creativity in dye plants, whether for textiles, food, or cosmetics, that I have no doubt that almost anything is possible.

There are existing models, full of both successes and challenges, where things that once seemed anachronistic have been transformed into a contemporary movement and even to mainstream acceptance; the organic foods movement comes to mind. So it'll be fascinating to see where this can go, as long as the many diverse constituents can aim for consensus and sustainable growth.

More on ISEND to come.

Dye plants and fabrics above are from the exhibition stand of Coleurs de Plantes, a company in France that's developing and standardizing natural dyes for industry.

After leaving La Rochelle, I had two glorious days in Paris. If you'd like to see some of my pictures, they're on my Flickr page. I'll write more about Paris shortly.

 

Comments

[Lainie]

Jane, I agree. I feel that ISEND strongly needed a well-researched presentation that clearly compared the environmental footprint of natural dyes, synthetic dyes as they are commonly used, and low-impact synthetic dyes in a non-polluting closed system. That kind of research and clarity is going to be absolutely necessary going forward.

[Jane Deane]

This is so important! Natural does not equate with safe, but many of us are using totally safe 'ingredients' - alum mordant is the same alum as used in medicine (for relief of constipation amongst other things, so be careful what you do with it!, low energy - time instead of heat, so slow dyeing, and the damage that is being done to the earth by exporting our manufacture of dyes to China, India etc., because they are producing dyes that are too expensive for us to clean up, is monstrous. I recently challenged the UK textile person for the Soil Association and he admitted that environmentally friendly synthetic dyes are so designated because of how the END USER deals with the waste - their manufacture in Asia does not bear too much scrutiny.

Research it for yourselves, folks!

[kathleen De Simone]

when years ago I moved to Vermont, I joined the Audubon Society to help learn how to identify trees, wild plants,mosses etc.. it was so wonderful...that and my Peterson's guides!!! had a wonderful time gathering materials for natural dyes ---what a color chart nature gives us!!!!

[Lainie]

Meg, I definitely think there are no black and white answers here. There are sourcing and land use issues with natural dye plants that have to be resolved if it's going to happen at any wider scale, and possibly water issues -- it's not fully clear to me that natural dyes are automatically better than low-impact synthetic dyes used in a closed system where water is recycled and no toxins leach into air or groundwater. But I don't know enough about it yet to attempt any conclusions.

That said, it's a tradition and a knowledge base that I absolutely want to see preserved and protected and modernized in appropriate ways. And the palette is beautiful. It's not always what our contemporary eyes are trained to appreciate, but it's beautiful.

As we've discussed, I think you have a pretty darn good eco footprint, and the beauty of what you make adds so much to the world.

[glennis]

i have those same notions sometimes. glad you were able to attend and look forward to hearing more~

[Meg in Nelson]

This is an interesting issue. Since I don't do my own dye much, but I would like to be kind to the planet, I have been looking for some natural-dyed cottons and wools, but nothing so far I can afford, and some I've seen were so pale they weren't my style. But with more emphasis on safety and sustainability, and meetings like this, it would be wonderful if more will be made available at an affordable price. (Yes, I know, Elaine, I use commercially-grown, commercially/chemical-dyed cottons... Groan....)