A popular form of
Hungarian folk art, blue-dye (kekfestes), or resist indigo dyed fabric, is also a very specialized
craft with only a handful of workshops still in operation. Blue-dyeing
was originally brought to Hungary by German immigrants who came to
resettle the southwestern parts of the country after the Ottoman occupation ended. Today this fabric
is popular for use in clothing and for quilting and other
crafts.
One
of the blue-dye workshops still in operation in Hungary is run by the
family of Master Artisan Janos Sardi in Nagynyarad, a village in
southwestern Hungary. Located near the city of Pecs, Nagynyarad is
one of many villages in the area that still
has a distinctive German character. It is only the older residents who
speak the Schwabian dialect of German as a native language, but German is commonly
spoken as a second language by people of all ages and
close cultural ties are maintained with Germany.
The
blue-dye workshop, which is attached to Mr. Sardi's family home,
consists of several small spaces, each serving a different function in
the process. First the cotton or linen fabric is washed and
prepared for dyeing. Then, depending on the type of item to be
made, the resist is applied to the cloth with either a machine with
large rollers, or with handmade printing blocks such as those pictured
above. Many of the blocks in the workshop are antiques collected
over the years; others were made by the family for specific
commissions. Mr. Sardi told us that the printing machine was made over 100 years ago, and
there are only three in operation in Hungary today. After the
resist is applied, the cloth is placed in the dye vats
until the piece obtains the desired color.
There is also a small shop on the premises, where
customers and visiting tourists can by cloth by the meter, or
block-printed items like tablecloths and aprons that have a border
print. There is a 
blue dye festival in Nagynyarad
every summer, which showcases
the work of Hungarian blue-dyers and also
the work done by craftspeople using blue-dyed fabric. As patchwork
quilting becomes more popular in Hungary, blue-dye fabric is a natural
way to add a Hungarian touch to an imported craft.
Blue dye workshops:
Blue-dye festival: Takes
place in Nagynyarad, Hungary every year on the last Saturday and Sunday
of July. Visit Nagynyarad's homepage at http://www.nagynyarad.hu for
information about the town in Hungarian.
