“SHADES OF BLUE” CONVERSATIONS, with William Ingram from “The Threads of Life Bali”, Indigo community dyeing and paste supply in Bali – 10th October – 2pm GMT

SHADES OF BLUE, The many lives of Indigo

“Shades of Blue” is an event curated by textile artist Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw in Scotland with an exhibition about Indigo, plant, pigment and processes, a range of workshops and a program of online talks by masterdyers about Indigo processes sharing know how and recipes

In this online conversation William Ingram from “The Threads of Life Bali” will talk with Elisabeth about the mission of “The Threads of Life” in supporting a community of around 1000 weavers/dyers in the Indonesian Islands.

The Talk will be online live using ZOOM on the 10th of October at 2pm GMT. It will be recorded for replay and shared with registered participants.

After a presentation William will take questions.

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William Ingram is co-founder of Threads of Life, a Bali-based social enterprise that has worked with over 1000 traditional weavers in 50 communities on 12 Indonesian islands since 1997. As co-director of the Bebali Foundation since 2002 he has led the organization’s work with these same communities to support sustainable use of natural dyes and other non-timber forest products. Through his research and facilitation work he balances scientific rigor and traditional ecological knowledge both to empower indigenous people and educate those from his own Western culture. Born in the UK, he has lived most of his life in Indonesia. He is studying for a Master’s degree in Ecology, Spirituality and Religion and is author of “A Little Bit One O’clock: Living with a Balinese family”.

Threads of Life is a social enterprise based in Bali, Indonesia. Through retail galleries and an online store, Threads of Life markets heirloom-quality textiles and baskets made by weavers across Indonesia with local materials and natural dyes. Working directly with these weavers in a way that is environmentally responsible, promotes cultural integrity, and empowers women, Threads of Life offers economic opportunity and organizational support that encourages weavers to form independent producer groups and to manage their resources sustainably. Central to this support has been twenty years of field research documenting, testing, and teaching the archipelago’s natural dye traditions. The Bebali Foundation is Threads of Life’s non-profit arm and works in the same communities helping weavers build upon the economic, ecological and cultural opportunities the enterprise creates. Together, the Bebali Foundation and Threads of Life work with over 1,000 weavers in 40 weavers groups on 12 islands across the Indonesian archipelago.

When Threads of Life was established to resell natural dyed indigenous textiles, we had to become natural dyers and dye plant farmers to ensure the quality and integrity of what we purchased. This led to the estabishment of a research dye studio that developed into the production and teaching studio we have today in Bali, to the collection of a 300-species dye plant herbarium in collaboration with the Royal Botanical Gardnes at Kew, and to the growing of both our dye plant garden and our research nursery. In the indigo corner of our studio we maintain up to six 650-liter indigo vats that are supplied by outgrowers we have established across over 70 hectares of land in Java, Bali and Flores.

One of the Bebali Foundation’s ongoing projects is to facilitate an inter-community supply of indigo paste to traditional natural-dye weavers across southeastern Indonesia so that they can continue their dye work after they have used their locally grown Indigofera tinctoria, extending their prodution season and improving their incomes. We are doing this by establishing Strobilanthes cusia production and paste processing among farmers in central Flores, facilitating the establishment of trade to weavers on nearby islands, and showing these weavers how the indigo paste fits into their traditional process.