Talking to the Vat and Bacterial Stories: Indigo Dyeing Workshop with Lau Kaker
New Perspectives on Ancient Practices
Humans have used indigo to dye textiles for thousands of years, extracting pigment from certain plants. Most of the indigo dye in use today is synthetic — the relatively small supply of indigo-containing plants, as well as the labor required to process them into dye, is far outstripped by the world’s demand for blue jeans. Not to mention that natural dyeing processes can yield inconsistent results based on innumerable factors, from temperature to time to sheer chance.
Lau visited Shouai Samurai and dyed some textiles. (photo credit: Lau Kaker)
BioClub Tokyo, in collaboration with the Finnish Bioart Institute, will be hosting Finland-based Belgian artist Lau Kaker for the 2024 Tokyo Art & Science Research Residency. Using BioClub’s Shibuya laboratory, Lau will be spending November cultivating an indigo dye vat. Lau is interested in exploring the unpredictability of natural dyes in conversation with their vat and the microbes that facilitate the indigo dyeing process.
Japan in particular has a rich history of indigo dyeing and a unique fermentation process for making and maintaining vats of indigo dye that relies on bacteria, which is why Lau chose BioClub for their residency. Throughout their time in Japan, Lau will tour various indigo dyeing studios, shops, and producers to understand the traditional Japanese process and gain new insights for their own practice. These weeks of exploration will culminate in a dyeing workshop on November 23rd.
Getting personal with the vat
Lau’s practice and this workshop will lean into the instability and unpredictability of indigo dyeing, with a focus on the microbiome that blooms and changes inside a vat throughout the fermentation process. A small group will be able to join Lau in discussing ways of being and communicating with the vat through language and gestures.
In this workshop, Lau Kaker will share their research from the residency and invite participants to reflect on their communication with the indigo vat and its bacteria. Participants will be asked to talk and write to the vat, listening to it and deepening their relationship with the organisms that make dyeing possible. Afterward, the group will make small textile samples; participants are encouraged to bring their own small (up to 25cm²) organic textiles to dye, but this is not required.
Sound and images will be recorded by both Lau and event staff, and may be used in future publications. Participants are asked for their understanding and cooperation with being recorded.
Register
Register on Peatix. Attendance is limited to 8 people, so sign up now!
About Lau
Lau Kaker (they/them) is an artist and curator from Belgium based in Helsinki, Finland. They have worked with and are an active member of the Bioart Society and Maa-Tila in Helsinki. They have a BA from ERG Brussels focusing on Fine Arts and Anthropology, did an exchange at Uniarts Helsinki, and are finishing their MA in Curating and Art, with a Textile minor at Aalto University Helsinki. They are working with intersections between anthropology, interspecies relationships, queer theories and artistic practices. Lau’s research is collaboration based and rooted in Finland, investigating foraging and craft practices as different forms of correspondences with more-than-humans. During previous encounters, Lau has been growing knowledge beyond the boundaries of species, exploring connections with bacterias, sheep, fungi, plants, landscapes and waters. In this ongoing research, they wish to further research the concepts of domestication, place-making and belonging, weaving a wider understanding of communication between humans and the Land.
This event is part the the Finnish Art & Science Residency, organised by the Finnish Institute in Japan, The Finnish BioArt Society and BioClub Tokyo.
