Until January 10, 2016, take advantage of the exhibition « Indigo, clothing and textiles of the world ». A real world tour to meet craftsmen and discover the blue textiles. Indigo is a vegetable pigment known for over 4000 years and used all over the world … And yet, it remains very mysterious! Unlike other colors that require boiling water and mordants to impregnate the textile fibers, blue dyeing is done in warm or cold water with an invisible and insoluble pigment.
And it is only in contact with the oxygen of the air that reveals all the intensity of its color. Evoking both hundreds of « plants to blue » and a common knowledge to all dyers, indigo is also called indigotine, indican, añil, nila, xiquile, gara … as many terms used throughout the world . Weaving, decorating, embroidering, printing, calendering, ikater … all over the world, artisans use raw materials and similar techniques.
They thus share the know-how of an intangible heritage of humanity. Thanks to a choice of clothes and textiles dyed with indigo, it is a journey in the textile traditions of the world which is proposed, with as a guide the experience and the eye of the stylist Catherine Legrand. Whether humble, daily, working or celebrating, these textiles are invitations to embark on a universal road, a journey whose blue dominance appears as a bond that unites men.
Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 5 pm, Sundays from 2 pm to 7 pm.
© Ville de Clermont Ferrand
