ORIENTAL PRINTING COURSES - PLANGI AND TRITIK* 

18 and 25 April

ORIENTAL PRINTING COURSES - PLANGI AND TRITIK*

Coordinator: Leonor Veiga

Duration: 4 hours

Timetable: Saturday from 10.30 to 12.30

Target audience: Adults

No. of participants: Min. 15

Price: € 30.00 (includes material specifically for this technique)

* A second course may be run between 9 and 16 May

PRIOR BOOKING REQUIRED

The designs resulting from the shibori and tritik techniques are obtained from the principle of colour obtainable resistance. This represents an ancestral form of depicting motifs via the application of an external material, knots or cotton thread, respectively. The result derives from the dye only being absorbed in the exposed sections. Through this means, an endless array of effects can be achieved and when through mixing the two techniques, the possibilities are still further multiplied.

The plangi and tritik techniques are fairly experimental given that there is always a factor of surprise in the finished work. Even when there is a program, a defined intention, there are facets to these processes that are never completely controllable. This is particularly true as regards how the colour penetrates into the cloth: where it is previously dampened, it absorbs more dye as is the case when the material is finer or when it is not too tightly tied. A lot of experience is necessary until the behaviour of all the materials involved can be fully grasped.

1st SESSION – PLANGI OR SHIBORI – THE TYING TECHNIQUE

Plangi consists of a method of tying knots into a piece of cloth or rolling the cloth up so as to ensure that sections are unable to absorb the dye.

The cloth is folded and rolled as regularly as possible before being tied and bound firmly in the areas where the ink is not to penetrate. Within such bundles, there may be placed objects such as round pebbles, marbles, shells…

It is then dyed, wringed out before again being folded and tied and given another coat of dye. The piece is then wrung out with all the ties being undone before being rinsed in water before being left to dry.

In this technique, we fold and roll the cloth with the assistance of external materials. These may be selected from raffia, rope, thick thread with each resulting in different results. The elastics are the fastest and most effective means of applying great pressure to the cloth. The greater the pressure, the whiter it gets. Where we do not want a uniform colour for the cloth, only part of it might be submerged with the other section then dyed in another colour.

2nd SESSION – TRITIK, THE PLEATED TECHNIQUE

Tritik is a technique very similar to that of plangi with the difference that this uses thread as a means of causing resistance in the cloth being dyed. The tighter and more closely pleated the thread, the greater the effect. Indeed, through this method, it is possible to trace out motifs even if it is more commonly associated with geometric patterns and the creation of colourless “islands”.

This technique may be repeated after the first dying process even if the effects previously created have to be protected before proceeding with the second dying stage.

Each participant produces their own compositions that are then delineated in thread and later drawn back. After the tightening, the material is then dyed in the chosen colour. The final phase comes with the cutting of the thread and encountering the result achieved.