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Following Margaret White’s previous presentation on indigo textiles, enthusiastic TAASA members gathered around the table to show and discuss their favourite indigo treasures, both old and new, from different Asian countries, as well as a couple from Africa and the Pacific. Some pieces members had designed or made themselves using indigo cloth, others had been collected on members’ many travels, or passed down by family members.
Among the pieces shown – an old batik cloth with a garuda motif from Indonesia, a woven shoulder cloth from West Timor, a modern knotted scarf using torn silk waste from India, and a rare late 19th or early 20th century Miao panelled skirt, as well as an exquisitely embroidered Miao festival jacket and matching pleated skirt, all from Guizhou, China. Then a Japanese child’s winter Kasuri design padded kimono, a contemporary Lao silk scarf with a readapted traditional design from Carol Cassidy’s workshop in Vientiane and also a calendered indigo embroidered piece from one of the minority groups of Vietnam.
The versatility of indigo was certainly demonstrated! It can be dyed in various shades, the thread woven on different looms and many traditional and contemporary designs created, and the cloth calendered, pleated, stitched and embroidered.
