Dyeing to become whole: Indigo dyeing as embodied practice for a more sustainable future

近年来，随着全球加速寻找有助于更可持续地管理资源和生态系统的可再生产品，人们对民族植物学(人类与植物的互动)作为土著和当地生态知识、文化和做法的宝库的兴趣重新焕发生机。这位博士与英国皇家植物园和伦敦大学的皇家霍洛威大学合作，使用人种学的方法记录和可视化嵌入在印度孟加拉天然蓝色染料种植和生产中的具体实践--默示的知识和技能。由于蓝色的历史，被殖民剥削玷污，许多西孟加拉邦的农民拒绝种植它。现在，这位博士与总部设在孟加拉的民间社会组织Sutra合作，致力于恢复关于天然靛蓝染料种植和生产的长期失传的知识，这一博士学位扩大了对体验实践的学术研究。以前的学术研究描述了基尤大学天然染料收藏的历史和遗产，这个项目侧重于天然靛蓝生产中较少被研究的技能方面。将蓝色染料生产记录为技能和实践的储存库以及可再生和低碳材料的收入来源是实地工作的一部分。第二个线索是与经文和染发界的合作，共同设计这个项目。申请人以前在参与式观察和视觉方法方面的丰富经验，如照片、声音和拍摄，将被用来捕捉从收获到染缸的整个过程并进行深入采访。除了同行评议的文章外，输出还包括通过与学术界以外的观众交流来促进Kew的外展。孟加拉和Kew的视觉讲故事和染色工作坊将把当代和历史来源--实地工作中制作的胶片和照片与Kew目录中新数字化的档案材料结合起来，与公众接触。

Interest in ethnobotany (human interactions with plants) as a storehouse of indigenous and local ecological knowledge, culture and practices has been reinvigorated in recent years, as the global search accelerates for renewable products that contribute to more sustainable management of resources and ecosystems. In partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Royal Holloway, London University, this PhD uses an ethnographic approach to document and visualise embodied practice - the tacit knowledge and skills - embedded in the cultivation and production of natural indigo dye in Bengal, India.Due to indigo's history, tainted by colonial exploitation, many West Bengal farmers have refused to cultivate it. Now, working with SUTRA, a Bengal-based civil society organisation working to revive long lost knowledge about cultivation and production of natural indigo dye, this PhD extends scholarship on embodied practice. Where previous scholarship describes the history and legacy of Kew's natural dye collection, this project focuses on the less investigated aspects of the skills embedded in production of natural indigo.Documenting indigo dye production as a repository of skills and practices as well as a source of income for renewable and low carbon materials is one strand of the field work. A second strand is the collaboration with SUTRA and dyeing communities to co-design the project. The applicant's previous and extensive experience in participatory observation and visual methodologies, such as photo voice and filming, will be used to capture the whole process of indigo from harvest to dye vat and to conduct in-depth interviews.Outputs, beyond peer reviewed articles, include advancing Kew's outreach by communicating with audiences outside academia. Visual storytelling and dyeing workshops in Bengal and Kew will weave together contemporary and historical sources - film and photos produced during field work with newly digitised archival materials from Kew's catalogues to engage with the public.