Yto Barrada, Isa Rodrigues, Anne Varichon, Dominique Cardon, Silvia Zublena

Piante tintorie. La natura dei colori

STUDY DAYS
14 June 2025
FAR - Villa Sucota

Opening a new project dedicated to the cultivation, harvesting and use of dyeing plants and taking place in the park of Villa Sucota, the study day will host a series of talks presenting natural dyeing techniques from different perspectives. The diverse world of dyeing plants will be explored in respect of its ecological, social, artistic and community values, encouraging the rediscovery of traditional practices and investigating their potential.

Lecturers: Anne Varichon (historian and anthropologist of colour); Dominique Cardon (historian and anthropologist expert in natural dyes); Yto Barrada (artist); Isa Rodrigues (artist); Silvia Zublena (agronomist and head of the Botanical Garden of Pisa).

Programme:

h10
We are the heirs of a history of colour of which nuanciers are the actors and witnesses
Anne Varichon

Resonating with the large collection of sample books preserved in the Fondazione Antonio Ratti, the talk will focus on colour sampling. The theme, to which Anne Varichon dedicated her doctoral thesis and some fifteen years of research, will be complemented by the presentation of anthropological data, as the history of colour sampling and the histories of the uses, actors and thought on colour are closely linked.

The lecture will be held in French with simultaneous translation into Italian via headphones

h11
Culture of colour: the dyers' books. A precious heritage and a source of inspiration for the present
Dominique Cardon

With the emergence of a society increasingly aware of the environmental challenges facing the planet and of a new ‘green economy’, natural dyes, used by cultures all over the world since prehistoric times, are arousing new interest thanks to their chromatic richness, the biological benefits present in most of them and their potential applications in various industrial sectors, especially textiles. Dominique Cardon, a historian and archaeologist specialising in textile techniques and natural dyes, will take stock of the precious knowledge transmitted by the 17th century Languedoc dyers' books accompanied by samples of dyed fabrics. Experimental archaeology and colometrics will complement the analyses of dyes to demonstrate the relevance of the dyeing regulations of the time of Louis XIV and Colbert.

The lecture will be held in French with simultaneous translation into Italian via headphones

h12:30
Light lunch

h14
The Mothership
Yto Barrada e Isa Rodriguez

The Mothership is a non-profit art project created in Tangier by Yto Barrada to provide space and time for research and artistic exploration on natural dyes. The project aims to be an eco-campus to cultivate dyeing plants and create natural dyes, giving importance to indigenous traditions and creating space for experimental collective practices through residencies and workshops.
The presentation will discuss how direct contact with dyeing materials can serve as a platform to reconnect with the natural world, encourage intergenerational co-learning and stimulate critical reflection on the sustainability, accessibility and cultural and material specificities of natural dyes.
A large part of the presentation will be devoted to the educational projects that have arisen in the context of The Mothership from its foundation to the present day.

The presentation will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Italian via headphones

h15
Botanical sources for dyeing: the case study of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti
Silvia Zublena

An agronomist by training, Silvia Zublena will talk about her experience in the world of natural dyes, her two degree theses, the travels and projects that
have brought her to Como. Her desire for the Foundazione merges with her passion for plants, their cultivation, the continuous search for seeds, cuttings and spaces suitable for dyeing species. Observation of the plants in the Villa Sucota park led her to make a study of what could be the raw materials for dyeing in the present (spontaneous collection) and in the future (cultivation). Projects such as this can be an inspiration to individuals or associations to promote a sustainable approach to the world of colours.

The study day will be live streamed on the Foundation's YouTube channel.
Simultaneous translation will only be available on site.

The day will end with a walk in the park to discover the dyeing plants.

Attendance is free of charge with compulsory booking.

For info and bookings write to: info@fondazioneratti.org

Anne Varichon is an anthropologist specialising in colour with reference to its role within cultural identities, materials, knowledge, processes, uses and thinking. She is the author, among others, of the publication Couleurs, pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples (2005, Éditions du Seuil, translated into English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean). She participates in numerous research projects and scientific publications, especially by the CNRS - Centre National de Recherche Scientifique. Her latest work Nuanciers. Éloge du subtil (2023, Éditions du Seuil) was published by Princeton University Press in 2024 under the title Colour Charts.

Dominique Cardon is a historian, archaeologist and expert in the history of textile techniques and natural dyes, Director of Research Emerita at the CNRS - Centre National de Recherche Scientifique. She received the Silver Medal of the CNRS in 2011. The author of works on natural dyes such as Natural Dyes - Sources, Tradition, Technology and Science (2007, Archetype Books) and Le Monde des Teintures naturelles (2014, Belin), she is currently working on "colour notebooks" to share the knowledge of dyers of the past with today's designers and colourists and to integrate a new focus on natural dyes with an interest in the reconstruction of a green and ethical supply chain. She received the UNESCO Thinking and Building Peace Medal for scientific leadership of world congresses on natural dyes in India, South Korea, France, Madagascar and China, and the Turner Medal from the Colour Group of the United Kingdom for her work on colour. She was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2015 and a Knight of the Order of Arts, Letters and Culture in Madagascar in 2017.

Yto Barrada studied history and political science at the Sorbonne and photography in New York. Her work — including photography, film, sculpture, prints and installations, — began by exploring the peculiar situation of her hometown Tangier. Engaging with the performativity of archival practices and public interventions, Barradaʼs installations reinterpret social relationships, uncover subaltern histories, and reveal the prevalence of fiction in institutionalized narratives. In 2006, Barrada founded the artist-run Cinémathèque de Tanger, North Africa’s first cinema cultural center. Her work has been exhibited at Tate Modern (London), MoMA (New York), The Renaissance Society (Chicago), Witte de With (Rotterdam), Haus der Kunst (Munich), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Whitechapel Gallery (London), and the 2007 and 2011 Venice Biennale. She was the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year for 2011, after which her exhibit RIFFS toured widely. Barrada is also the founding director of Cinémathèque de Tanger. A comprehensive monograph was published by JRP Ringier in 2013. She is a recipient of the 2013-2014 Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography (Peabody Museum at Harvard University) and was awarded the 2015 Abraaj Prize and with fourth edition of the Merz Prize.

Isa Rodrigues is a textile artist and educator based in Brooklyn, New York, and Lagos, Portugal. She’s interested in the innovation potential of traditional techniques and materials, sustainable processes, and education as a means for community-building and preserving material culture. She’s a founding team member of the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, where she was Co-Executive Director and founded the project Sewing Seeds, creating and activating natural dye gardens in public spaces. She continues her research of natural dyes as co-lead for the Pratt Institute’s Natural Dye Garden and as a collaborator and consultant for The Mothership residency in Tangier, Morocco. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design and the Cooper Hewitt Museum. She holds a Masters in Textile Conservation from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and teaches textile materiality and design at Rhode Island School of Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Pratt Institute.

Silvia Zublena, born in Turin, moved to Pisa to attend the Faculty of Herbal Techniques where she graduated with a thesis on dyeing plants. For her Master's degree, she chose the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences where dyeing plants were again her thesis topic, again with Professor Luciana G. Angelini. She then began a personal journey to get closer and closer to the world of natural colour by travelling to France, Belgium and India. On her return to Tuscany, she began working at the Botanical Garden and Museum of the University of Pisa where she set up a collection of dyeing plants. From 2018 to 2021, she dedicated herself to a project to recover Tuscan wool with Il fuso recuperato ETS by whom, on an artisanal level, she retraced the wool processing chain through natural dyeing. Every year, she proposes a walk to recognise wild dyeing plants with the Association 1.618.

Fondazione Antonio Ratti

Yto Barrada, Isa Rodrigues, Anne Varichon, Dominique Cardon, Silvia Zublena

Piante tintorie. La natura dei colori

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