Going Green Starting With Blue: Revitalizing Indigo Natural Dye
We have many dreams for Zuahaza and its impact in our community and in the world. We’re working hard toward preservation of culture and long-term economic stability for artisan communities and families.
Part of our mission is to revitalize and preserve ancestral knowledge of Colombian weaving, natural dye, and handicraft. We are doing what we can to actively participate in efforts that support the education and sustainability of the revitalization.
Our First Natural Dye Training
Orders play a significant role in making our impact possible. Last year’s orders supported us in paying for 3 artisans to attend a local natural dye workshop where we learned how to work with existing natural resources. Training such as this is important for us because it helps our team learn the chemistry behind what we are already doing when natural dyeing back at our workshop, and how we can improve our colors and explore new possibilities.
Through understanding, artisans can troubleshoot problems, minimize waste, and have better success when making their own colors back at our workshop. All of this contributes to a more self sustaining process, not only for business, but for people, planet, and culture.
Revitalizing Local Indigo Production
With the introduction of chemical dyes, production of local indigo became a lost tradition in Colombia. Zuahaza wants to be part of bringing back this cultural knowledge and more sustainable way of making textiles.
We are partnering with organizations in the region to grow and produce local indigo. Most recently we worked with a local natural reserve to harvest indigo and learn about the process to obtain indigo powder.
It is is a lengthy and complex process, and we are still in the beginning stages of making our very own indigo powder for Zuahaza.
Where we are heading
This year we hope that we can invite regional natural dye experts and educators to our workshop to spend time with the whole team, and teach us different ways that we can better use our space and access available resources to do more with natural dye.
Revitalizing and learning these methods cultivate skill building, team development, and a sense of connection to our roots. These opportunities are so inspiring for our team, and we hope that one day our larger global community can visit to see it in action!
We are incredibly grateful to have you on this journey with us. If there are different ways you wish to continue to support Zuahaza and our work, we’d love to hear your ideas.