The entire September 2010 issue of CALLIOPE, a world history magazine for kids, is devoted to indigo—a dye that has been a global catalyst for trade, art, technology and belief systems since prehistoric times. Synthetic indigo predominates today, but artists and artisans are reviving the production of natural indigo, an exacting (and smelly) process that has nevertheless seen a resurgence in haute couture.
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| | | Teaching artist Linda LaBelle leading a dyeing workshop; CALLIOPE
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Created in partnership with the Silk Road Project, the indigo CALLIOPE issue delves into the origin of blue jeans, the indigo production process in Nigeria's dyeing pits, historical accounts of trade and rebellions on indigo plantations, an Indian creation myth that involves the indigo plant, and the unique chemistry of the indigo molecule. Contributors include indigo expert Jenny Balfour-Paul, East Asian art historian Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis and Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dudley Herschbach. Order CALLIOPE
Order the "Indigo: A Color That Links the World" issue of CALLIOPE through Cobblestone Publications. Or browse additional Educational Resources here on our website.
The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) is currently partnering with the Silk Road Project to produce a teacher's guide for this issue.
Students and teachers in the Project's Silk Road Connect program study indigo
through a lens of stories told by objects. Looking deeply into indigo reveals connections to science, arts, history, social studies and mathematics. This cross-disciplinary potential—along with the immediate connection students have to indigo through their everyday blue jeans—was the genesis of the Silk Road Connect program for Artistic Director Yo-Yo Ma.
Silk Road Connect is in its second pilot year in sixth-grade classrooms in four New York City public schools. In partnership with the New York City Department of Education and cultural institutions across the city, the program aims to spark a lifelong passion for learning in students.
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