This exciting and informative exhibition was housed in two different museums. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery had the largest part of the exhibition, including a DVD showing how the indigo is produced, alongside many examples of dyeing from all around the world including contemporary Japanese art work. Hove contains more down to earth elements of the exhibition including workwear as well as the use of indigo within ceremonial and healing contexts. Right: Ikat Funeral Cloth from Indonesia |
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The contemporary element of the Hove exhibition is represented by British artists. Indigo has always been seen as slightly mystical because of the way the dye oxidises and completely changes colour once it emerges from the dye vat. The change from yellow-green to the range of deep blues which we associate with indigo has often been described as alchemy. It is this oxidisation which means that most of the patterning on cloth is produced by putting some kind of resist on the fabric before it is immersed in the dye creating white patterning on blue cloth. Fascinating examples of different resists ranged from minute stitches embroidered (but not gathered) in extremely intricate patterns on cloth from Africa, through particularly beautiful finely worked wax resist designs from China and Java, to traditional tied or gathered resists on cloth or thread before it is woven (ikat cloth). An especially fine example of this gathered resist form (shibori) is a piece of contemporary work in the Hove Museum, made by Jane Callender where the tied patterns create a huge snowflake or mandala type of design called Kaleidoscope (see right for the full piece with a detail below). |
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This is not to say that there are no examples of non resist methods. The British developed a way of printing with indigo in its undissolved form in a method known as China Blue. This produced very fine positive blue patterning on white cloth and was suggestive of the blue and white china so popular in the 18th Century. There was also an example of a bark cloth from the Solomon Isles where the indigo leaves were chewed up, spat out and then rubbed on to the cloth. The number of countries that use indigo in their cloth production is huge as indigo exists in many different plant forms all over the world. The British have indigo plants in the form of woad and alongside countries where indigo cloth production is familiar, there were examples of clothing from Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As well as the historical and cultural examples of indigo cloth there were some extremely fine and interesting pieces of contemporary work. I stood mesmerised in front of a piece entitled 'Guardian' by Davila & Portillo from Venezuela. It was intricately woven in soft blues and browns, combining different weights of indigo dyed threads with others dyed with cochineal and eucalyptus. The Japanese artist Hiroyuki Shindo had created a very large installation of floaty indigo dyed hangings with temari style spheres in different sizes on the floor in between the hangings. The installation, entitled Shindigo Space, filled the space of the last gallery (in Brighton Museum) and was both beautiful and very calming. Lucy Goffin and Jenny Balfour Paul collaborate and commission finely woven fabrics from India which they then dye in yet another method of indigo dyeing known as aqualeaf method combining rainwater and fresh Japanese indigo leaves from Jenny's garden to produce the most wonderful and delicate aquamarine colour. One of the most interesting aspects of this exhibition is the juxtaposition of the fine detailed work of different cultures to produce the most wonderful, intricate patterns and designs, alongside the very practical applications for indigo in the production of denim, used in both fashionable jeans wear as well as very functional prison and workwear from around the world. There were also many elements of interesting information, from the fresh dyed indigo bandages wrapping newborn babies as an antiseptic protection for the belly button, to the fact that in some countries the waste materials from indigo production are used as fertiliser as they are rich in nitrogen. It was well worth reading all the bits of info spread around both sites. The high quality of the pieces in this exhibition, both traditional and contemporary, makes this a major national exhibition that Brighton and Hove have been lucky to host, along with Manchester and Plymouth earlier in the year. Christine Chester |
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