Earth Colours Workshop

A 6-day residential workshop exploring Indonesia’s natural dye traditions - limited to 10 people.

Sunday 11 March - Friday 16 March 2018 (11-15 March non-residential)

For four millennia the textile arts of Indonesia have articulated an intimate and harmonious relationship with the earth. Through the plant-sourced dyes and the symbolic potency of the colours created, the archipelago’s indigenous peoples have literally wrapped themselves in their stories of this relationship. After fifteen years of field research and studio practice, the Threads of Life’s staff dyers are offering a 5-day workshop exploring the making, meaning and application of these colours through the practices of batik, yarn and swatch dyeing, and arasi. Hosted at the Threads of Life Natural Dye Studio on the grounds of the Umajati Retreat in Ubud, Bali, the program offers both residential and non-residential options.

The workshop will be held at the Threads of Life Dye Studio and Bebali Dye Garden at the Umajati Retreat

This workshop offers 3 days of studio time, exploring the traditional art of batik and the indigenous dyes of the Indonesian archipelago. Designed as both an introduction for beginners or an extended practice for established practitioners, the workshop will build towards a personal creative batik and natural dye project on the third day. It will start with a day of hands-on work creating shades of colour with indigenous natural dyes harvested from the dye garden, before the second day focusses on developing batik skills through a series of simple exercises using canting (wax pen), cap (stamp) and brush; these two days establish the foundation for the third day of personal creative exploration.

Participants will:

• prepare and dye cotton swatches using Indonesia’s traditional natural dyes, principally blue from Indigofera tinctoria, brown from Ceriops tagal, and red from Morinda citrifolia

• learn batik using canting (wax pen), cap (stamp), and brush with natural dyes

• create a personal cotton or silk scarf batik project (materials provided)

   

Jean, William, Komang, Wayan, and Made are the workshop leaders

Workshop Leaders

The workshop is hosted by Threads of Life founders, Jean Howe and William Ingram. Threads of Life’s staff dyers Komang Sujata, Wayan Sukadana and Made Maduarta, bring a combined 35 years of experience to the teaching of this workshop. Focusing on traditions that have degraded and are being recovered, they document local dye recipes and processes in the field, and test them in the studio before taking suggested refinements back to the communities. In the dye garden, they establish cultivation and harvesting methods to address plant resource scarcity being faced by traditional dyers. In the studio, they lead half-day up to weeklong workshops, both for indigenous weavers and international students. Their approach to natural dyeing seeks plant-sourced dyes by plant-sourced processes and avoids synthetic additives or mordants. 

Residential accommodations at the Umajati Retreat 

Workshop Schedule

Sunday

Check-in at Umajati Retreat for residential guests | Arrive in Ubud for non-residential guests

Shuttle to Umajati Retreat for non-residential guests | Group introductions and retreat program overview | Group dinner at Umajati | Shuttle to Ubud for non-residential guests

Monday

Breakfast for residential guests | Shuttle to workshop for non-residential guests

Introduction to natural dyes and workshop program | Indigo dye vat preparation 

Lunch | Dyeing for colour gradation with indigo and tannins

Shuttle to Ubud for non-residential guests | Residential guests free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via complimentary shuttle 

Tuesday

Breakfast for residential guests | Shuttle to workshop for non-residential guests

Introduction to batik and batik sample making using canting (wax pen) and brush work | Dyeing samples with indigo and tannin

Lunch | Continued batik sample making adding cap (stamp) work | Dyeing samples with indigo and tannin | Wax removal

Shuttle to Ubud for non-residential guests | Residential guests free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via complimentary shuttle 

Wednesday

Breakfast for residential guests | Shuttle to workshop for non-residential guests

Personal natural dye batik project

Lunch | Personal natural dye batik project (continued)

Shuttle to Ubud for non-residential guests | Residential guests free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via complimentary shuttle 

Thursday

Breakfast for residential guests | Shuttle to workshop for non-residential guests

Personal natural dye batik project (continued)

Lunch | Personal natural dye batik project (completed)

Shuttle to Ubud for non-residential guests | Residential guests free for dinner at Umajati Retreat or in Ubud via complimentary shuttle 

Friday

Breakfast for residential guests | Check-out and departure.   

TERMS & CONDITIONS

INCLUDED FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS:

4 days of workshop program; arrival and departure airport transfers; 4 lunches, 1 dinners; scheduled local transportation. 

INCLUDED FOR RESIDENTIAL PARTICIPANTS:

5 nights of twin-share accommodations, 5 breakfasts.

Note: twin share rooms may be made up with a king size bed for couples; single room supplements available on request; shared accommodations for a participant’s partner available on request.

INCLUDED FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL PARTICIPANTS:

Morning and afternoon shuttle transfers between accommodations in central Ubud and the workshop venue are included in the workshop. The shuttle route will be along Raya Ubud Road (bit.ly/raya-ubud-road), Hanoman Road (bit.ly/hanoman-road), Monkey Forest Road (bit.ly/monkey-forest-road), and Suweta Road (bit.ly/suweta-road) and participants will be notified before the workshop what time and where their morning pick-up will be.

GROUP SIZE

Maximum group size is 10 participants. Minimum group size is 2 participants.

ROOM SHARING (residential option only)

Accommodations at Umajati Retreat are based on twin share. Unless another attendee Is specified as a room mate, a participant will be allocated a room mate of the same gender from among the residential workshop participants. The organisers will attempt to match room mates, but take no responsibility for any social problems that may occur as a result of such allocations.

PAYMENT 

Payment will be made through PayPal via an automatic link in the booking website. You do not need to have a PayPal account to make a payment; PayPal will simply be used to process your credit card payment.

PAYMENT PROBLEMS

If you do not have a credit card or if the link between the booking website and PayPal fails, payment can be made directly: 

(1) Complete the registration process as far as you can then contact tour@threadsoflife.com and tell us you were unable to complete your registration; we will then put your place on hold so that it does not get rebooked

(2a) Make payment through your PayPal account to accounting@threadsoflife.com

(2b) Or make payment by bank transfer to: Account name — PT Ersania; Account number — 2-195-091015; Bank Name — Maybank Indonesia; SWIFT code — IBBK IDJA; Bank Branch — Ubud; Branch Address — Jalan Raya Ubud, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia.

PARTICIPANT CANCELLATION AND REFUNDS

Cancellation requests must be made by email to tours@threadsoflife.com. The date of cancellation is the date on which the written cancellation is received in Bali. No refund will be made for failure to attend or if you voluntarily leave the workshop for any reason after it has begun. No refunds will be given for any accommodation, transport, sightseeing, meals or services not used during the workshop. Cancellation may be made at any time and refunds will be reversed directly from PayPal to your PayPal account or credit card with the following conditions:

• A 100% refund will be made within 7 days of booking to allow participants to arrange air tickets and time off from work. 

• From 8 days after booking, and if there are still more than 91 days until the workshop, a 90% refund will be made for cancellation.

• From 90 days before the workshop up to 31 days before the workshop, a 50% refund will be made.

• Within 30 days of the workshop, no refund will be made.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel insurance is required for all participants. Travel insurance should, at minimum, provide coverage against trip cancellation, travel interruption, personal accident, personal liability, medical expenses, and emergency evacuation. (An emergency air medical evacuation to Singapore can cost upwards of USD 30,000.) Medical care facilities in Indonesia are significantly different from the West and medical evacuation is extremely expensive. 

MOUNT AGUNG

In the event that an eruption of Mount Agung on Bali disrupts travel to or from Bali for the workshop, or makes hosting of the workshop impractical or unsafe, the organizers will cancel the workshop. Under such circumstances, participants will claim refunds for the workshop fees from their travel insurance. If a participant's travel insurance has an exclusion on claims caused by the eruption of Mount Agung, Threads of Life will make a full refund of workshop fees upon receipt of a copy of the certificate of insurance including this exclusion; however, in such circumstances the organizers cannot be responsible for any participants’ airfares or non-resident participants’ accommodations.

WORKSHOP CANCELLATION BY ORGANIZERS

If the workshop is cancelled by the organizers, there will be a 100% refund of participants’ workshop payments within 28 days of the cancellation; however, we cannot be responsible for refunds of participants’ airfares or non-residential accommodation costs. 

FORCE MAJEURE

We cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our contractual obligations is prevented or affected by reason of circumstances amounting to “force majeure”. Circumstances amounting to “force majeure” include any event which Threads of Life and workshop leader(s) could not even with all due care, foresee or forestall such as (by way of example and not by way of limitation) acts of God, terrorist activities, insurrection, explosion, flood, tempest, forceful wind, fire or accident, war or threat of war declared or undeclared, sabotage, civil disturbance, labor strikes, requisition, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, and unforeseen circumstances.