ÈLÚ Community Dye Bath, Led by Oluwakemi Oritsejafor, Founder of SOLA 

Join us this summer for a series of art workshops exploring indigo as a natural dye, a traditional substance of Nigerian textile making, and a tool for giving pre-loved, worn textiles new life with natural dyes. Learn how indigo dye can be used to lengthen the lifespan of your textiles. 

Materials included in this workshop is indigo dye vat and ½ yard of cotton squares for participants to practice with. Participants are welcome to bring their own garments or fabrics* such as medium to light-colored cotton and silk items to overdye, a method in which you dye with a darker pigment to cover stains, add a new color or refresh.

*Items that cannot go in the dye bath: polyester, leather, fur, spandex (lycra), nylon, sheer (gauzy) fabrics, lace, wool, undergarments, and some upholstery fabrics.

This workshop is in collaboration with SOLA Market, Photodom, and Chiemek Offor.

Supplies Used: Cotton, Linen, and Rayon textiles, indigo dye, resist-making tools like rubber bands, wooden balls, clips, and folding methods. Folks will be provided with gloves and tongs to protect their skin from chemical irritation and indigo staining. 

Artist Bio: Kemi Oritsejafor is a Brooklyn-based American-Nigerian-Liberian artist, activist, community leader, educator, and entrepreneur. Kemi’s work has been at The New Museum, Global Shapers NYC, Black Girl Environmentalist, and Obodo Nigeria, a human rights center focused on LGBTQ+ rights in Nigeria and across the Black Diaspora. Kemi’s creative skills developed from being taught initially by their mother, grandmothers, and aunts as survival skills on how to live well and communally. Kemi’s foundations are rooted in being raised in a first-generation, immigrant West African community in the Black American South.