Morinda Red Dye Knowledge
Since 2006, Bebali Foundation has documented traditional red dye practices, replicating and testing these in the Threads of Life dye studio, and bringing results back to weavers in the field, improving the value of their products.
Indonesia’s traditional red dye is made from the root bark of the Morinda citrifolia tree, which is combined with aluminium-bearing Symplocos cochinchinensis leaf and applied to yarn prepared through a complex multi-month process of applying and drying a saponified vegetable oil. Across Indonesia, many aspects of this practice have been forgotten or abandoned, reducing intensity and reliability of color.
Where Morinda trees take a decade to become harvestable and wild populations around weaving communities are over-exploited, Bebali Foundation researches and teaches best practices for cultivation while sharing sustainable harvest methods.
Workshops & Festivals
Since 2005, using participatory research methods and acknowledging weavers as experts in their traditions, Bebali Foundation staff have used their cultural, botanical and technical knowledge to facilitate transmission of skills between generations.
Focusing on a technical skill or agricultural technique related to dye plants and dye processes, small scale workshops held in partner communities combine traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and scientific understanding to find best solutions for weavers’ challenges.
This model was replicated in 2009 and 2010 with Alola Foundation and Timor Aid, bringing together weavers from across the Indonesia-Timor Leste border to share knowledge and revitalize traditions.
In 2005 and 2006, two festivals held for 100 weavers from 30 villages across Indonesia identified issues weavers needed help addressing. The mandate received and the network established are still the basis of Bebali Foundation’s work.