Local
Color
Amsterdam
2023
Project Overview
Local Color is a creative research initiative that reimagines the city as a learning environment and source of local biochromes. By tapping into urban green spaces and their potential for cultivating natural dyes - from plant-based to bacterial sources - the project explores how cities can enable sustainable, community-driven practices in color production.
Through collaborative exploration, Local Color asks: What if the green areas around us were not only decorative, but productive and regenerative too? The project activates these spaces through citizen engagement, hands-on experimentation, and knowledge sharing around natural dyeing. By making the process visible and participatory, Local Color fosters a new kind of relationship between people, plants, and place.
Natural Dyes
•
Urban Gardening
•
Biochromes
•
Community Engagement
•
CollaborativeDesign
•
Natural Dyes • Urban Gardening • Biochromes • Community Engagement • CollaborativeDesign •
Tie-dye workshop at Buurtcamping, Marineterrein, Amsterdam | 2023
My role
-
Stakeholder Mapping & Community Activation
We connected local dyers, textile brands, and gardening initiatives through meet-ups and shared sessions - activating value chains and fostering cross-disciplinary exchange. I also mapped local dye plants, noting their cycles, care needs, and the colors they produce.
-
Urban Indigo Cultivation
I helped care for the dye garden at Marineterrein and dedicated my home garden to cultivating Japanese Indigo. This full-cycle experience, from seed to pigment, deepened my personal connection to the plant and its vibrant blue dye.
-
Workshop Design & Facilitation
I co-led a hands-on workshop on dyeing with fresh indigo leaves, bringing together a growing community of gardeners, artists, and dye enthusiasts. I also facilitated a natural dye workshop at the Buurtcamping Marineterrein with support from TextileLab interns.
Materials developed to support Local Color’s workshops and community connections
Through the act of growing, caring for, and dyeing with Japanese Indigo, I began to see the garden not just as a resource, but as a collaborator - inviting a shift toward more-than-human, earth-centered design
Marigold and Coreopsis harvest with Mathilde and Cecilia
Marineterrein Dye Garden | June 2023
Special Mentions & Credits
Photos by Beatriz Sandini
Special thanks to the Local Color team - Cecilia Raspanti, Ista Boszhard, Isabel Berentzen, Maarten Smith, Melina Pölderl, Amke Jap Tjoen San and Mathilde Zanchetta Kock - for their dedication and collaboration
More information available at localcolor.amsterdam