BIue is the eolour

his time Iast year I had the oppomDity to vi:it
sonthemHungary near the Slovakan border. It
i :: ::rl snugbetseenthe glassy\ralersof the
D'-$e ro the e,ast,and farmlrnd pldted with com,
lxinoR6 and vinesto the west-The photogmphei and
I .im\'€d on a Snnday.lt \|?s noon and i. the vilages we
J.o\ e rbroueh not a soul was aboui, the shutlersof the
Gemanic-stylebungalo{'sweredown. That it was quiet
r! a Sundaywas t sn+nsi4; the aiea is Catholic, ed
Dddat, h a tjme when faniiies tadrnonaly gather
iogetherfor feastsof soups.noodls, goulash,cabbagehaf paicelsof rice,and sq]res of applestrudel.On this
lanicular day.howevq it was d€sert€dfor anotherreaitr il was lhe iast weeked of July and everyorc was
.ehbrating an ildigo festival in ihe villag€
ri NaeFyered.
Given lhe declineof the industry acros Empe, jt is
.DcouraCtngthat there is a lestival to celebratethe dye
- n a - e c m l m e D{ b o u s ei l . A c o t u i n gl o r b eh j . o d n
Olro Doaonlo., lhe aL,'or of I\,Igo D p'rt :h
lhe @utry had 409reeistereddye-housesdd
,ry@sa,:y.
L 323apprenties nakhg te@r,er (or blue-dyedfabric)
at lhe indutry\ peak in the 1890s.With Russiano@u
pation after the Secord World Wa! flax famers were
forced lo grow food, and bright or embelishedclothes
were forbidden. As a rcsdt linen-spinningard dyeing
dwindled. Today there arc ody nine l]u a@ss the
countf ushg tmditiol1almelhodi to tm liftn, flat and
cotton this specialshad€of blue One of then is fron
Na$lyerdd. hencethe festival.
The village is on the top of a small forestedhil1, and
as we walked up we co!1d hear ihe straiDsof a fiddle
ir the air. Beyond the prirffoFcolourcd church, witb
rr, sreepbelllower aod sraEyardjammedwirh ona e
gilded nauioleums and h@dstodes,a stagehad bsn
erected.Aboui a dozenstallswde dotted about, selling
loc"l dafts: caDdlesmade from beeswa! homemade
knited and hatrdsesnragdons,black loit€iy. jewenery,
la€ hats, sooden toys and teracotta windchimes.On
the stagethe real slars of the festtualwereenidrainirg
the 300 or so spectatorswho had driven from as far as
Gemany. Autria and Slovakiaio seerhem: troupesof
dancersin elaboraleregional cosnmes atrd a band of
two violinists, a celist dd a drunber
A hundred yeas ago most of the spectatorsin this
crowdsou'd ha\e beend'e-ed e.rFl) in blue o
eolour
is
the
BIue
stil worknginthetraditonalway
Thereareony ninearlisansin Hungary
goodsdyedthe dlstnctivelndgo blue,LisaGrainger
:. Droduce
wth them
-: . '-.cf them,as wel as a Brtishretalerwhoisworking
- :=. iher craftalve,Photographs
by LukeWhite
dye-mast€rexamin€scotionc oth beingcolou€dwith natura
r'<H ,r:3 Skouty6k th rd-generation
lses ihe ancienttoolsor histradehbove): sharp
: : . : _ . :real q€ndiathq SkorL,ty6k
presses
lo dry
designed
laslsandhand_operaied
to carv€nficately
:::: _:"d eds.alpels
.: .-l _orrhedistinctive
b ueiabriclhatonc€clolhedmostof Hungary
:
:CBAPH
MAGAZINE
F.
:i:l--'
..: :r.naLcostune.Todavonll, a handfLrlal rhe
r:::r r sp.rt dn rndrgogarment.Sincelhe fati of
:: l::iin Wall in 1989,and rhccountryt bse:::::: ldni$ion lnro ihe Eurclean Urion,
_t.rt is becomirginorcasingl_v
\\t$en Men
:: .n.e nonld hav. beendlc misreri apfren: ::: ln* rlorii in t|e Dearbl Nokia factoq.:
' -rn bn,vchea!lastemiDport.
andreenager
ri: \rnercan-sryieciothes.Ir is d rrend rhat
:::'. \'rh. dre village! third,generation
dte
r::ii:::. \'onld liLe!o halt. and he enjoysshoving
! rii a.oundhls dyesorks durirg ttrefesrlval
"lt doesn't rnatler if it's
rrtrouse.eat€lr. Pul come
indigo on and il lakee orr
a whole new life'
:.: :: -e. hly d. s (aboveJ erh bitons
above riEhtiand .dgo corhed yolnljsters
_::3diiona
:r':-.
dances{risht) ieaure no.e
. ::
::
:r.A!t. (second right)
-:. :!e. tn.tiqo
tabrj.
It is only thanksro rhe fact rhat dlers s,ch as
Aulh can now brry chcmicallybasedhot dre9
!,hich colour cofton iMingle irDeision .nd
don't fadcor rl]l (narnraljrdigoi dorrt.rthj ro
rnakerabledorhs.
napkini atrd h.adj.ants. rhar
t h . . l r t s u * n e sa i a l l ,h . s a l d
A b . u r m h o u r a n d i h i t t s d r i l e e a s ro f
Nag-1nyirld.in Bacsalmns,
aDorherhaDddye.,
JtiDosSkorutllk. told a sihilar storvoliDdigot
dechie but rvith a iulpy endiDg.Unlil he nei
an Englishwoman.luald Lombere.ilho ceme
to Hungaryin 2002to sourceold linensfor hel
tertiles businessBeyond France.tr$ busir.si
rclied on a few lassinA tourhts. Today abori
hdlt his burinessis dyeing otd liDcls for he.
Allhough she sellsprjna.ily crean linens,shr
so lov€d the deep..icli lndigo btues rh:,i
Skontyek was ablero obrain lsing tadiriona:
elhodsrhat the_rhavenow becomea stapl. oa
At his workshop, Skorutyak was keer ro der
onstralehoir nodnnghaschangedsi.celts er::i
gmndfathcfstartcddyeingin 1879.In the prili
room of the rorksho! adjoining lns hou:.
j-
r*.IFI
F
Et
,?T
l.'
vashedand pressedfabric was laid oui on padled wood€ntablesand, usins woodenbl@ks
iimilar to thoseusedin batik, but with rheir pa!,
ems madeof carvedmeral and pins, a d]'e-resis!
ml palie ws block-printed by hdd on ro rhe
'abric,
coating the sectionsthat will remain white.
fte fabric was then dipped into ttEe-metre welh
)f indigo a seny-yelloir liqBid that tums blne
)n oxidatiotr - between four and 12 times to
)blai, the right hne Then it was washedin acid
nixtues ro take the resist ofi, dried on wood€a
acks and, onceagain, put thrcugh manglesand
on to rollers to iron it out and ro ir up. Ail of jt
by Skoru$dk, and all by hand. Althoush tbe
machineryhe xsed looked like somsrhingour
of a Russianmuseum- nraoglesthar resembled
ancientprinling prclss, 'irons'jftai wereacrually
enofrons wooden boxes of rccks on |ollefs
that flattetr out the fabric lhe prcdrcts that
came o of his worklhop looked fantaslicall)'
fresl and contemporary
For Lonberg, sheis pleasedto be ableio suppori iwo tradiiional skill basesthrough lhis
aftalgement. 'I Eally fel for the women who
spentweks makirg lhis old linen by hand'
sayswith sone passion. And I like 1nefacr
I can frd it here, in Hmsary, fron the gi!
who sell it door to door, ard ther d!. ir
doesr t natler if ii's t€a-stainedor now,ea
Put someindigo on and it taks on a phole
life \rtat Jnnos does is such an ana?ing
and aDythingI can do to keepit going I sil
Nagrryarid\ In.ligo-DyeikcFest^'alruB
Juh' 27-29 (U 285-641867; berokdf@ce.a u
A or Adh, Nagnrdfid (00 3669 371l1:
Idos Skorqdk, Bdcsalu,i6(0A 36 7931I :.
TEIEGfiAPi
UT]I:
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