Yan curates
Colouring Our Past
昔日衣色
My interest in ancient Greek culture stems from my studies in fashion design, where I first encountered it. It informed my research for this project with Multaka, which uses a painting from the Laing Art Gallery as a starting point. This painting is ‘Woman with Lilies’ by Thomas Armstrong.
我對古希臘文化的興趣源於我在修讀時裝設計的經歷，當時我第一次接觸到這個文化。這段經歷啟發了我在Multaka的研究，而這次研究以Laing美術館的一幅畫作為起點。這幅畫是托馬斯·阿姆斯特朗的《持百合花的女子》。
Did the ancient Greeks only wear white clothes?
Ancient Greek culture has had enduring contributions to European art, architecture, and language. We often see white marble statuettes of men and women from that era, leading us to wonder: Did the ancient Greeks only wear white?
‘Woman with Lilies’ and a few other paintings in Laing Art Gallery’s collection challenge this notion of monochromatic ancient Greek fashion, as they depict vibrantly coloured fabrics, revealing a richer and more varied use of colour in the ancient Greek attire.
古希臘文化對歐洲藝術、建築和語言的貢獻至今依然深遠。我們經常看到那個時代的白色大理石男女雕像，這讓我們不禁想問：古希臘人是不是只穿白色的衣服？
然而，托馬斯·阿姆斯特朗的《持百合花的女子》以及數幅Laing美術館館藏中的畫作則挑戰了這種認為古希臘服飾只有單色的觀念。這些畫中描繪了色彩鮮豔的織物，展現了古希臘服飾中更加豐富和多樣的色彩運用。
How did the ancient Greeks dye their textiles?
The ancient Greeks used a variety of plant and animal dyes to create coloured textiles. For example, they derived red dye from the Kermes beetle and purple from seashell creatures. Plants like madder and woad produced yellow, while walnut hulls and oak galls provided brown and black. These natural dyeing materials were far more eco-friendly than those used today, which I believe is better for the environment as it reduces harm to the earth.
古希臘人使用各種植物和動物染料來製作彩色紡織品。譬如，他們從胭脂蟲中提取紅色染料，從貝類生物中提取紫色染料。像茜草和菘藍這些植物則產生黃色，而胡桃殼和橡木癭則提供了棕色和黑色。我認為這些天然染料比現代使用的染料更環保，對我們來說更好，因為它減少了對地球的破壞。
Cochineal Dye Making
Natural dye cold water experiment
Cochineal is dye made from the dried female cochineal beetle. These were the steps we followed:
- Grind the cochineal down into a fine powder.
- Add water.
- Stir in cotton material.
- Now experiment with different mordants.
A mordant is something added to fix the dye to the material and can change its colour.
We experimented with baking soda, sodium lactate (used in soap) and vinegar.
自然染料冷水實驗
胭脂蟲紅染料是由乾燥的雌性胭脂蟲製成的。步驟如下：
- 將胭脂蟲研磨成細粉。
- 加入水。
- 將棉布放入其中攪拌。
- 現在，嘗試使用不同的媒染劑進行實驗。
- 媒染劑是用來固定染料在材料上的物質，並且可以改變染料的顏色。
我們實驗了小蘇打、乳酸鈉（用於肥皂）和醋。