Artisan preserves root dyeing tradition with 500 natural colors

KAYSERİ

Şükran Kara has spent years experimenting with different fabrics, yarns, plants and boiling times, producing more than 500 shades of color.

40-year-old artisan from the central province of Kayseri’s Sarız district is working to preserve the traditional art of natural root dyeing she learned from her grandmother as a child by documenting hundreds of recipes and color samples for future generations.

Şükran Kara, who was introduced to root dyeing at the age of 6 or 7 at her family home in the rural Tekneli neighborhood, has spent years experimenting with different fabrics, yarns, plants and boiling times, producing more than 500 shades of color.

Kara has compiled recipes and color catalogs to ensure that traditional dyeing techniques, which are increasingly practiced by fewer people, are not forgotten.

Kara told state-run Anadolu Agency that she has been professionally involved in kilims, weaving and root dyeing for 15 years.

Describing the process as labor-intensive, Kara said wool is sheared in season, washed in a river and dried before being beaten with thin sticks. The wool is then spun into yarn using a spindle before being naturally dyed with plants collected from nature.

Kara said interest in root dyeing has increased over the past two years, which she described as encouraging.

She also works as a master instructor at maturation institutes and has conducted her own research on natural dyeing.

“I have a book titled ‘From Root to Color’ that I wrote on this subject. I also prepare fabric color charts and recipes. I am creating these recipes so that this root dyeing culture will not be forgotten and can be transferred to future generations,” she said.

“Not many people practice this art anymore. I am doing my best to introduce it to more young people and future generations. Interest in root dyeing has increased over the past two years.

“People from across Türkiye and even abroad contact me and ask for recipes. I have prepared root dyeing recipes for the maturation institutes in Adana and Kayseri. Friends from Paris have also contacted me, and I have taken part in some of their projects.”

Kara said she obtains brown from walnuts, yellow from barberry roots, green from nettles and beige from acorns.

“I see this as my own culture and essence. I believe every person has a color of their own and finds that color at the dyeing pot. I recommend that all young people try it because it is an art and craft that requires effort and patience and tells the story of a person’s roots and past,” she said.

Kara said she created her catalog through trial and error by experimenting with plants collected from nature.

“I prepared my color chart with visuals and recipes showing which colors different fabrics and types of yarn produce and how they turn out. I have more than 500 recipes,” she said.