blue gold

“The flesh is strong, my spirit's stronger” – Indigo Girls

On my desk today were two chunks of solid indigo dye.

The dye was recently on display in the Weaving Heritage exhibit at the Burke Museum as an example of organic material used to dye textiles. The exhibit featured masterpieces from the museum’s permanent collection, giving visitors a rare opportunity to view incredible textiles from  Indonesia, Micronesia, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, China, Tibet, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Native American tribes (Salish, Tlingit, Haida, Navajo and Hopi).

Indigo is one of the oldest dyes used for coloring textiles and has been used since the time of ancient civilizations around the world.  I’ve been pondering the notion that people thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Greece, and across Europe, Asia and Africa used similar materials to produce deep vivid blues.  These blue chunks are a reminder of a centuries-ago past, when indigo was a vital part of international commerce and cultural heritage. Long before synthetic dyes were created to color our blue jeans, indigo chunks like these impacted the entire known world and were an incredibly valuable commodity – a true luxury item known as ‘blue gold.’

Over the last few months, this indigo was enjoyed from behind Plexiglas by thousands of visitors to the museum, and enjoyed by 20 or so looky-loos who stopped by my office today to check them out with an unobstructed view.  I’ve certainly enjoyed having these fragile blue nuggets around and thinking about their legacy, but now my job is to pack them safely for travel.  I added a little ethafoam and acid-free tissue for support, stabilized them with cotton twill tape, packed inside a polypropylene bag within a padded shipping box, and voila! – they are ready for their next adventure.  Bon voyage, indigo!