The workrooms at Nila are dedicated to the crafts of hand-spinning, printing and natural dyeing. The workrooms can accommodate small groups for workshops and are at the core of our approach towards sharing traditional knowledge through hands-on learning.
Visitors are welcome to spend time in the workrooms, to learn about the crafts and create experimental samples of their own.
CHARKHA ROOM
The Charkha Room is a celebration of the crafts of hand-spinning and weaving. The room is set up with samples of Bardoli and peti charkhas and a table loom that is often used by our team to create samples with collaborating weavers and visitors.
The Charkha Room also carries a simple display tracing the journey of organic kala cotton from its natural plant state to hand-spun yarn and finally, handwoven cotton textile
PRINT ROOM
The Print Room is set up for small scale workshops on a range of hand-printing techniques like wax printing, block printing and Dabu printing – a craft that holds a special place for artisan communities in Bagru.
Our Print Room has a variety of hand-made wooden and
metal blocks designed by Nila and natural pigments
for experiments with hand-printing in all
its creative forms.
DYE LAB
The Dye Lab is dedicated to our research on natural dyes. The workroom carries a simple display of natural ingredients used in the dyeing process and a dedicated display for the full indigo story, from seed to dye, for visitors to enjoy.
The space is split across the dye room and the wet room, set up for small scale experiments with dyeing and washing. The Dye Lab also has live tamarind vat, carefully tended to and used for indigo dyeing sessions.
