DABF25 Curator’s Opening Talk | Flock
04 December 2025, 5-6pm
Join Dublin Art Book Fair’s Guest Curator Dr. Selina Guinness as she introduces this year’s theme, Flock.
Indigo Insights: A Natural Dye Workshop using Traditional Shibori Techniques
30 October 2021, 2pm
Join textile artist Cliona McLoughlin for a shibori dyeing workshop, a technique used in collaboration with Sarah Pierce, in Pierce’s artwork Shelter Bread & Freedom included in the current exhibition Wayward Eye.
Shibori, meaning to ring or press, is an ancient Japanese technique used to dye fabric by hand. In this workshop a variety of methods such as Kumo “cloud” binds and Itajime “clamp” folds will be applied to remnant cotton fabric and then dyed using natural indigo.
While the binds and folds used are typically repetitive in nature, the beauty of shibori lies in the nuances and irregularities that appear once the fabric has been removed from the dye bath. It is in the undoing of the wraps and restrictions that the perfectly imperfect patterns are revealed.
Indigo Insights has been designed for those with a beginner’s interest in natural dyeing or a general curiosity for traditional hand craft methods.
Cliona McLoughlin is a recent textile design graduate, specialising in printed textile design. With a passion for sustainability and a background in science, extensive sampling and experimental print techniques lie at the heart of her work.