Indigo Mushroom dye Workshops, courtesy of Constellation Collective
Craft Futures Fund
2020
This project will integrate the artisan skills of constellation members that explore the process of raw materials of the soil into an experience of resilience, skill-creation, and remembering for black community. Due to COVID, we seek to offer educational and experiential programming in the online realm and in-person (distanced) in outdoor spaces and farms that support black liberation. We will explore fiber, hides, dyes, and woodworking through hands-on processing and cultural context of each craft.
Selected works
“Hands-On Craft with Community” Left: group photo after harvesting trip to Gil Tract Farms, pre-covid. Right: @wehealinghere preparing for an online sewing workshop on zoom during summer 2020, courtesy of Constellation Collective.
“Instrument Crafting” Left : Stretching Goat Hide over Gourd: On this day, we explored the history of using goat hide, and incorporating the hide into ancestral crafts. Right: Constructing the dowel stick of the banjo with walnut wood, courtesy of Constellation Collective.
Indigo Mushroom dye Workshops, courtesy of Constellation Collective
“Indigo, Mushroom Dye Workshops” Left: Pisolithus dye with young children up in the mountains in Marin, fiber used to create banners for land reverence. Right: exploring weed and eucalyptus dyes, and the west African traditions of indigo at Oakland Sol, led by Constellation Collective member, Grace and Ave, courtesy of Constellation Collective.
“Completed Banjo by Constellation Participant,” 2020 Banjo Making workshop at the Caning Shop in Berkeley. Shot at Sol Collective with Gourds grown and seeded by Constellation, honoring African diasporic musical tradition, courtesy of Constellation Collective.
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