with Threads of Life: Traditional dye practice and indigenous textiles 

Overview of The Colors of Bali and Indonesia

Our group will be led by Kathy Hattori and Cara Piazza of Botanical Colors, and Jean Howe and William Ingram of Threads of Life. Our studio instructors include talented Indonesian textile teachers from Threads of Life and affiliated artisans, who have worked with Jean and William for many years.

This tour provides an opportunity to meet and learn from Indonesian artists and indigenous communities with insight and connections that will endure long after our visit is over.

Studio time includes instruction in batik using traditional stamps and drawing tools, clamped, wrapped and stitch resist with indigo, and a traditional weaving demonstration and opportunity to meet a master weaver. There will be ample time to work on personal projects during studio sessions.

Working where dye plants are grown at scale, this tour offers a unique opportunity to work with large volumes of indigo-bearing plants and dye in large indigo vats.

About Threads of Life

At Threads of Life you encounter the highest expressions of Indonesia’s living textile and basketry heritage. Threads of Life represents the work of 1200 natural dyers and weavers from 12 islands across the archipelago. Behind the scenes, they have forty staff working directly with the indigenous communities they serve. In the field, Threads of Life works to document and sustain endangered natural dye traditions. In the dye studio they research traditional recipes and teach classes and workshops to share this wisdom with the world. Threads of Life’s textiles and baskets express traditional aesthetics and embody meanings associated with an ancestral worldview that they convey to their customers. By aligning with indigenous culture in its fieldwork and business, Threads of Life alleviates rural poverty, assists weavers to form independent producer groups, and facilitates their sustainable management of natural resources. The Threads of Life Dye Studio and Garden Central to Threads of Life’s community support has been 25 years of field research documenting, testing, and teaching the archipelago’s natural dye traditions. Our field teaching method is to bring master dyers and young makers together and then facilitate the transmission of knowledge between generations within a tradition. Our research studio has expanded over time to become a production studio, using traditional recipes to dye cloth for the homewares we sell in our store and gallery. And our teaching work now includes the offering of half-day to week-long workshops to an international audience. Pivotal to Threads of Life’s field work has been the development of a 250-species dye plant herbarium of plants used by partner communities and the establishment of a dye plant botanical garden and nursery, both of which are adjacent to and create an enchanting setting for time spent in the dye studio. 

Itinerary Overview

After the arrival day, there will be 2 days of gentle introduction to Ubud village and our environs.  We will view the textiles at Threads of Life and get an introduction to the variety of textiles. Participants may take an Indonesian cooking course, visit a museum or relax by the pool. A light schedule will introduce the cultures of Indonesia and our host organization, Threads of Life. Our 6 days at the Threads of Life dye studio will explore the main traditional dye processes of the Indonesian archipelago. There will be unique opportunities to participate in the processing of a Strobilanthes cusia harvest into indigo pigment and paste, and the setting and use of 600-liter indigo vats, to experience the complex oil- and metallic-mordant treatments needed to get the traditional red from Morinda citrifolia roots, to use Ceriops tagal extract for the brown color of Central Java’s batiks, and to explore the archipelago’s mud dye practices. As some of the colors take several days or even months to prepare, practice with the stages of work with these dyes will be spread over the initial days of our studio time. Alongside this will be the opportunity to learn batik and develop personal creative projects. For our last 3 days, we will tour the textile villages of east Bali. We will see weft ikat, songket supplementary weft cloth and ritual textiles in Sidemen; we will explore the cultural and technical complexity of Tenganan’s double ikat geringsing; and we will visit the makers of discontinuous weft rangrang in Seraya.

TOUR PARTICIPATION, PRICING AND PAYMENT OPTIONS

PARTICIPATION

Participation in the tour requires that you fill out Traveler Information, download, sign and upload the Tour Contract, and pay either in full or over time according to the following payment schedule. Once we receive your Traveler Information, signed Tour Contract and payment, you will be booked on the tour. We have a limited number of participants and will fill this tour on a first-come basis.

PRICING AND PAYMENT OPTIONS

Option 1: Pay in full – Total tour cost is $6995 USD and due at time of booking. This price includes a $1750 non-refundable deposit. Please note that payment is due at time of invoicing and payment instructions will accompany the invoice.

Option 2: Pay over time

Total tour cost is $7250 USD.

$1750 non-refundable deposit, due at time of booking

$3500 due on or before December 15, 2024

$2000 due on or before January 15, 2025

Invoicing

If you are paying over time, Botanical Colors will invoice you at least 10 days in advance of your payment due date. If you miss a payment, Botanical Colors reserves the right to remove you from the tour.

Included in the Tour Price

• 13 days in Bali
• 1 arrival day
• 2 days light program with Ubud village and cultural activities
• 6 days in the Threads of Life dye studio
• 3 days in east Bali visiting weaving communities
• 1 departure day
• 12 nights’ accommodation, single room
• All scheduled programs
• Dye materials and cotton fabric for personal creative projects at the Threads of Life studio.
• Hotel breakfasts
• 8 lunches
• 4 dinners
• Transportation for scheduled events
• Airport pick-ups on arrival in Bali. Let us know your arrival flight details and a driver will meet you outside the terminal and take you to the group hotel.
• Airport transfers from the hotel to the airport upon departure, or a transfer of up to an equivalent value if you are extending your stay in Bali. 

Not included in the Tour Price

• Airfare
• Passport and visa costs
• Alcohol,
• Meals not listed,
• Luggage charges,
• Tips or gratuities
• Insurance of any kind.
• Laundry, incidentals
• Companion pricing

Additional days travel before or after our tour (please let us know if we can help make arrangements)

Ready to book your trip?

Please email [email protected] and indicate which payment option you would prefer. We will then send you our tour contract, waiver and an invoice. Please note, to secure your spot you must complete all three items.