I was chosen by the Bioart Society and the Finnish Cultural Institute in Japan for a month-long art & science research residency at the BioClub in Tokyo. The following text reflect my research during the Tokyo Art & Science Research Residency in November 2024.
During the residency, I worked with interspecies communication between humans and indigo bacterias. The research revolved around the indigo colour tradition in different regions of Japan and how its processes (e.g., foraging, growing, fermenting and dyeing) connect people to their Land. During field work, I was interested in the stories about indigo, how people talk to the vat and finding a way to communicate with it while creating it. These exchanges with the living organisms inside the indigo vat and indigo experts deeply touched upon questions of interspecies communication and belonging to a place through craft, gestures and stories. This research is about attempts to talk to the vat, telling stories of makers working with indigo, their craft and relationship to the Land.
What is an Indigo Vat?
Indigo colour originates from the leaves of different species of indigo plants which are specific to certain regions of the world. Indigo blue was traditionally the first blue found in nature and one of the oldest natural dyes still practiced today.
“Indigotic deep-blue dye has been produced from various plants such as the cruciferous woad in Europe, papilionaceous Indian indigo in India and the Acanthaceae plant (Ryukyuan indigo) in Okinawa, Japan (Toyama et al., 1978; Clark et al., 1993; Schmidt, 1997). Traditionally, indigo blue dye has been produced by fermentation in Japan from a polygonaceous Japanese indigo plant. A two-step woad plant processing for indigo dyeing, first by aerobic microbial activity (couched) and then by successive indigo reduction to produce leuco-indigo (reduced indigo) in a woad vat, was performed in mediaeval Europe. The bacterial oxidation and successive reduction of indigo in the plant for dyeing have also been performed in Japan.”
– Bacterial community characterization and dynamics of indigo fermentation by Kenichi Aino, Takashi Narihiro, Kimiko Minamida, Yoichi Kamagata, Kazuaki Yoshimune & Isao Yumoto (2010).
In this research, I specifically focused on Japanese indigo vat dyeing. Vat dyeing differs from traditional plant and natural dyes as it undergoes fermentation. The colour is not extracted through boiling or pounding but through chemical reaction (reduction done by bacteria). Indigo pigment is usually not soluble in water, therefore the vat creates an environment where the pigment can dissolve and dye materials (yarns, textiles, wood, etc).
The process of creating a vat starts from the Indigo plants which are growing during Spring in Japan. In the late Summer, the leaves are harvested and dried. In the Autumn, the dried leaves are mixed with water and undergo an oxidative fermentation. That decomposition creates sukumo which is specific to the environment where it was grown and determines the colour of the dye.
To create a vat, the sukumo is combined with wood ash water and is left to ferment. The environment of the vat is alkaline, making it possible for specific microorganisms to live and help the indigo reduction. It takes about one week to create a vat and the first days are essential: the pH and temperature have to be kept stable (pH 11 and 30-40 degrees). A vat is a living community, and its craft depends on the plant, climate, sukumo and traditions.
When the vat is ready for dyeing, it gives a specific smell, a silver film is visible on the surface and bubbles (indigo flower) appear in the middle. The surface layer is essential to separate the liquid form from the outside oxygen and environment.
On the left: Gina Goosby dyeing and singing to the vat / On the right: Stirring the indigo vat. Photos by Lau Kaker.
The tradition of Indigo dyeing in Japana Aizome
The oldest indigo piece was found from the 10th century originating in Japan, its craft has been kept and held by the hands of indigo masters throughout Japan.
To dye, one dips the material below the surface of the vat while being careful to not disturb the bottom (higher bacterial activity). When the sample is taken out of the vat, it reacts with oxygen and progressively turns blue. The dipping can be repeated to achieve darker colours depending on the fibers. Cotton is mainly dyed with indigo but other natural fibres can be dyed too like linen, hemp, silk, wool and man-made fibres. There exist many traditional Japanese techniques to make patterns, one of the most known is shibori.
From its creation to dyeing with it, the indigo vat lives with the makers. It is kept warm inside or close to their homes. While dying with it, it continues to need care and adjustment. A vat can be used for dyeing from one month, 3 months, up to a few years before the colour gradually decreases to a pale blue. It is a long history of cohabitation that dyers share with the vat, sharing a home with it for years.
Indigo and the Land
During the residency, I was focusing on the collaborations and interspecies relationships that make the Indigo dye possible. When I met with the indigo expert Cozo Cazama he said: Working and learning about indigo was a way for me to connect with my Land, history and my people.
Indigo vat dye and specifically sukumo is not used in all regions in Japan. In the southern parts of Japan and Okinawa the leaves are harvested and used directly for dyeing or to create an indigo paste. The warm climate makes it possible to grow and dye with indigo all year around. The north and centre of Japan use sukumo and ferment the dye. Sukumo originates from Tokushima. The colder climate up north makes it harder to dye with indigo and keep the temperature of the vat stable. Sukumo was first created because it allowed the leaves to ferment after the Summer and keep them until starting the vat. By doing so people would be able to dye all year around.
“In Japan, a method for composting indigo-containing plants has been developed in Tokushima Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan (34◦ 04′ N, 134◦ 31′ E). The production of sukumo, the composted Japanese indigo plant, was developed not only for the preservation and transportation of indigo dye but also for enrichment of the indigo dye in the plant. In addition, the remaining microorganisms serve as inocula for the culture in next fermentation step, and the microorganisms present in sukumo can survive for at least 5 years.”
– Microbial Communities Associated With Indigo Fermentation That Thrive in Anaerobic Alkaline Environments by Keiichi Aino, Kikue Hirota, Takahiro Okamoto, Zhihao Tu, Hidetoshi Matsuyama and Isao Yumoto (2018).
When diving into those different techniques, I realised that indigo dyeing has its roots in the specifics of the climate and the Land. The vat has multiple ingredients and their combination differs depending on the region. Indigo dyeing is integrated in the Land coming from local ingredients and going back into the environment. It is created from the soil, indigo plants, and local wood ash. The circle is completed as the indigo vat and the water used for dyeing can safely be released back into the local environment. The bacteria present in the vat also help in nurturing the soil and grow more indigo plants.
Focusing on the indigo tradition in Japan led me to the heart of the relationship between people and the Land. Many dyeing artists started working with indigo vats because of their care and interest for the environment. They keep the tradition alive, reinvent it, to sustain a relationship to the Land and beautiful blue colour. Alongside being an exchange with the local Land and seasons in Japan, indigo dyers also communicate and take care of the vat. They depend on the communities of microorganisms and bacteria making the fermentation and indigo colour possible. They listen to the vat and communicate with non-humans. They come to know with experience which sukumo to use, how to combine different vats, and how to save the bacteria in the vat. Their bodies memorise something about the smell, textures and reactions of the indigo vat. During my research, I have heard of indigo masters not using measuring tools to take care of the vat. Some of them would talk, sing and play music to their indigo vat. They would live inside their homes, have names and specific personalities. The dyers depend on the bacteria for their craft and the bacteria depend on them for building their homes.
To learn and meet those microorganisms, I created an indigo vat at BioClub Tokyo. Are there ways to communicate with bacteria inside the vat?
Sample from the middle layer of the indigo vat showing the blue colour appearing. Photo by Lau Kaker.
Indigo Vat Bacteria – what would indigo bacteria tell us?
The vat is a living and active organism composed of communities of microbes and bacteria. It exists because of collaborations between more-than-humans and humans. Current research on the subject shows that many microorganisms live inside the indigo vat taking part in the indigo reduction. It is still a mystery how they grow from the sukumo and collaborate, and more research is needed on their ways of being inside the vat.
“Indigo reduction is initiated by spontaneously occurring microbes that probably originate from the sukumo.”
– Microbial Communities Associated With Indigo Fermentation That Thrive in Anaerobic Alkaline Environments by Keiichi Aino, Kikue Hirota, Takahiro Okamoto, Zhihao Tu, Hidetoshi Matsuyama and Isao Yumoto (2018).
During the residency, I wanted to spend time understanding how they are being together inside the vat. Reading those different sources and research done in Japan, China and Korea, I realised that they had a similar methodology. They are isolated to be analysed, their environment is changed and they die outside of their home (laboratory, an agar plate).
Coming from a background in art, I had a different approach. I wanted to be with them and look at them as they grow in their home environment. I took some samples mostly from the stirring stick. I didn't want to isolate them but rather observe how they collaborate. I took care of the vat and visited it daily. Trying to communicate with them, I was hoping to find different results and questions.
“In doing this, I am encouraging you to move beyond just thinking reflexively about the role of objects in your research methods to ask you to critically engage with the possibilities of thinking about things you encounter in your substantive fields of research as methodological possibilities.”
– Material Methods by Sophie Woodward (2020)
During my time with them and talking to indigo experts, I learned many stories about them. When you create an indigo vat you are not entering in contact with one organism or one species of bacteria but many of them. During the first night after creating the vat, four generations of bacteria live, die and transform. The indigo vat is a complex community of those microorganisms that lives in very alkaline (pH 10-12), warm (30-80) and anaerobic (deprived from free oxygen) homes. They eat fermented indigo leaves and wheat bran.
The origin of indigo colour brings us to a potential collaboration between the indigo plant and microorganisms present in the leaves and sukumo. The collaboration between the microbes and the indigo plant is something I would like to research further in Japan.
Thank you
I want to thank all the amazing people I met during this research. Thank you, Bioart Society, BioClub Tokyo and the Finnish institute in Japan for making this research and residency possible. Thank you to the indigo masters Cozo Cazama, Masayasu Wakabayashi and Ayaki Shinada for sharing knowledge and trusting me. Thank you to members of BioClub – Tim Krach, Dominique Vassie, Ananda Gabo. Thank you Gina Goosby for your warm support at BioClub, Tsuyoshi Yagi for introducing me to textile makers in Fujiyoshida and Shohei Asami for sharing your knowledge and moments looking at the bacterias in the laboratory. Thank you to my peers, Nagisa Mizuno, Vytautas Bikauskas, Anna Mathot and Eetu Vekki for being a source of inspiration.