national geographic Archives - Botanical Colors

Video From Live FEEDBACK FRIDAY: Around the World in 80 Fabrics

Our last FEEDBACK FRIDAY was with National Geographic Explorers Tierney Thys (a marine conservationist), Carroll Dunham (a medical anthropologist), and Lesli Robertson (a textile educator/consultant) for “Around the World in 80 Fabrics.” The three shared their discoveries of fabrics from nature through their project, Around the World in 80 Fabrics – from natural dyes used in Bhutanses textiles, to clay-dyed barkcloth of Uganda, and cutting edge dyes and fabrics from algae. Watch the video of the entire presentation here. See Carroll’s video recording of her presentation that wouldn’t load (darnit!) last Friday HERE: Project: Web, www.atw80fabrics.org IG, @atw80fabrics Newsletter signup, … Read more

Amazonian Biodiversity Protects Health & Livelihoods With Natural Dyes

National Geographic writes: “Striding along an overgrown path in the woods, Micaela Fachín stops beside an ishpingo tree (Amburana cearensis), strokes the bark and squints up the tall, straight trunk. ‘I planted this years ago,’ she says. ‘I won’t see it grow to maturity, but it will be here for my children or their children.’ Her grove of banana trees — for family consumption and for sale — is not far away, and there are some papaya trees here and there. But all around are forest species that have particular and, in some cases, peculiar uses. Some sprouted naturally, while … Read more