Sustainability Sunday

IFAM puts focus on eco-friendly artists

The International Folk Art Market this year is highlighting artists who specialize in eco-friendly practices during the market’s inaugural Sustainability Sunday.

The celebration on the last day of this year’s market includes workshops about selected artists’ use of natural, responsible and replenishable materials and processes, as well as a tour of 22 booths where vendors have made sustainability an integral part of their practices. A map to the booths will be available for visitors.

“We see our community taking this very seriously,” said IFAM creative director Keith Recker. “It’s actually become a part of folk expression. Folk art translates daily life into an artistic expression. So, when people are linked to their natural resources, it becomes a part of the final work. When people are confronting their environmental reality, it becomes a part of their final work.”

The 22 selected artists either use natural, replenishable or recycled materials, or have incorporated responsible processing of their work, including practices of monitoring waste or discarded materials.

Among the featured vendors is

India’s Adiv Pure Nature, which recycles petals from flower offerings left at Hindu temples in Mumbai — the petals otherwise pile up in local water bodies — to make dyes for textiles. The head of the company, Rupa Trivedi, will be helping kids design fabric squares with a marigold petal dye at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Artist Gasali Adeyemo of Nigeria will be leading a noon workshop helping kids dye used T-shirts with indigo using traditional Batik techniques. The textile designer is known for using indigo, a natural dye from a native plant. Participating youngsters, who are asked to bring old T-shirts from home, will be able to make new fashion out of things considered disposable.

“Indigo has this magic way of covering up all stains, all flaws, imperfections,” Recker said. “It’s a great way to refresh a garment so it has a whole second life.”

The artist workshops are limited to 30 people and are first come, first served. Kids ages 8 and up can participate.

From 1-3 p.m. in the museum atrium, people of all ages can make milagros out of tin foil.

The booth tour, which will be led by Recker, is from 9-10 a.m. starting under the IFAM marquee. The tour is limited to 20 people.

COURTESY OF JULIE HALL Adiv Pure Nature, a Mumbai-based textile company, recycles petals from temple flower offerings to make dyes for its products. Adiv is one of the artist groups featured in the International Folk Art Market’s first Sustainability Sunday celebration.