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（人类与植物的相互作用）作为土著和地方生态知识、文化和实践的宝库的兴趣重新燃起。在与皇家植物园，基尤和皇家霍洛威，伦敦大学的合作中，这个博士使用人种学的方法来记录和可视化体现实践-隐性知识和技能-嵌入在印度孟加拉的天然靛蓝染料的种植和生产中。由于靛蓝的历史，受到殖民剥削的污染，许多西孟加拉农民拒绝种植它。现在，与SUTRA合作，一个孟加拉的民间社会组织，致力于恢复有关种植和生产天然靛蓝染料的长期失去的知识，这个博士学位扩展了体现实践的奖学金。以往的学术研究都是描述基尤的天然染料收藏的历史和遗产，而本项目关注的是在天然靛蓝生产过程中所蕴含的技能方面较少被研究的方面。将靛蓝染料生产作为技能和实践的知识库以及可再生和低碳材料的收入来源进行记录是实地工作的一部分。第二条是与SUTRA和染色社区合作，共同设计该项目。申请人之前在参与式观察和视觉方法方面的丰富经验，如照片语音和拍摄，将用于捕捉靛蓝从收获到染缸的整个过程，并进行深入访谈。产出，除了同行评议的文章，包括通过与学术界以外的受众沟通来推进基尤的推广。孟加拉和基尤的视觉故事和染色讲习班将把当代和历史资源--实地工作期间制作的电影和照片--与基尤目录中新数字化的档案材料结合起来，与公众互动。

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.