{"id":9404,"date":"2022-01-23T09:54:59","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T09:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/indigo-so-much-more-than-just-a-colour"},"modified":"2022-01-23T10:13:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T10:13:06","slug":"indigo-so-much-more-than-just-a-colour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/indigo-so-much-more-than-just-a-colour","title":{"rendered":"Indigo, so much more than just a colour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>The leaves are known for their antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. They can be consumed as an infusion or applied directly to a gaping wound,\u201d he says. Ecological disaster Fofana is extremely knowledgeable about this raw plant material.<\/p>\n

The Malian artist and textile designer \u2013 who has exhibited his work in France, Mali and Japan \u2013 has dedicated his life to preserving these natural dyeing methods.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday in Mali, you won\u2019t see a single craftsman who works with indigo in an organic way, without cheating or using chemicals,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an ecological and health disaster. Indigo is an overused word!\u201d<\/p>\n

This colour, which often features on the pages of interior decorating and fashion magazines, is said to date back to ancient Egypt. \u201cThis dye is used to decorate mummies\u2019 coffins,\u201d says the craftsman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is proof that indigo has endured.<\/p>\n

But what we mostly see today is synthetic dye,\u201d says the craftsman, who is campaigning for a label of quality and excellence that will be used to differentiate real colours from fake ones.<\/p>\n

Seven to 12 shades of blue It takes seven to 10 years to master the art of creating natural indigo, which is based on a biochemical technique. \u201cIt is a bacterial vat dye, meaning that the indigo leaves ferment and form a breeding ground for living organisms [to] evolve in[to] an alkaline liquid,\u201d says the specialist.<\/p>\n

The method relies on air oxidation \u2013 the dyed fabric is then dried in the sun \u2013 and produces seven to 12 shades of blue. The dye is mostly applied to imported cotton, much to the dismay of Fofana, who prefers to grow organic cotton locally.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, the textile is then woven from narrow strips onto horizontal looms that originate from the Sahelian zone, using the finimugu method (\u2018soft cloth\u2019 in Bambara).<\/p>\n

Africa Insigh Anti-UV function Indigo has appealed to various cultural groups in West Africa, including the Soninke \u2013 one of the first peoples to use it on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cLegend has it that the Tuareg are its ambassadors, but the blue men of the desert never practised this technique. Simply put, they wore indigo ch\u00e8ches because this colour has an anti-UV function, it protects them from the sun,\u201d says Fofana.<\/p>\n

This textile tradition is representative of the Dogon country, which has an old adage that says \u201ca man who does not wear clothes is a man without words,\u201d says Koudiedji Sylla, creator of the indigo clothing brand Sarakule.<\/p>\n

Archaeological textiles have been found in the Bandiagara caves, some of which date from the 11th and 12th centuries. \u201cOn textiles such as these, one can observe patterns that have been created with indigo.<\/p>\n

They are made from dyes that are as fresh as if they [were] made yesterday,\u201d says Fofana. A symbol of protection Indigo fabrics feature a rich collection of designs, which are mostly obtained using the knotting technique.<\/p>\n

Today, these patterns seem to have a strictly decorative function. \u201cYou can observe cowries on some fabrics,\u201d says Sylla. \u201cThe technique of reserving by tying makes it possible to obtain shapes reminiscent of root pods or braids,\u201d says Fofana.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the colour blue has a very special symbolism attached to it. In African tradition, this colour is a symbol of protection. \u201cNewborns are often wrapped in an indigo cloth, a celestial colour that links the human and the divine.<\/p>\n

But this fabric also has a political dimension, as indigo was one of the commodities that made slave traders wealthy, along with cotton and tobacco. The history of indigo has a dark side, since it contributed to the deportation of Africans during the slave trade,\u201d says the activist.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. The leaves are known for their antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. They can be consumed as an infusion or applied directly to a gaping wound,\u201d he says. Ecological disaster Fofana is extremely knowledgeable about this raw plant material. The Malian artist and textile designer \u2013 who has exhibited his work in France, Mali […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":9403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[233,245,1637,241],"class_list":["post-9404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-colour","tag-mauritius"],"yoast_head":"\nIndigo, so much more than just a colour - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The leaves are known for their antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. 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