The history of Indigo, the world’s oldest and best-loved dye, will be the topic of a free lecture at the University on 2 November.
Dr Jenny Balfour-Paul will share her studies on this ancient dye and take the audience on a journey through time, following the dye from its early origins right through to the modern world today.
Her recent projects include involvement in an exciting education initiative launched by cellist YoYo Ma’s Silk Road Project in New York City, in revivals of natural dyes worldwide and in research on dyes recovered from the shipwrecks of Spanish galleons.
Dr Balfour-Paul is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. She is also a partner in ‘Silk Road Connect project’- a not-for-profit arts and educational organisation; and was consultant for the American documentary Blue Alchemy: Stories of Indigo. She has been publishing, lecturing, exhibiting and broadcasting on indigo and related subjects for over twenty years and British Museum Press is re-issuing her Indigo: Egyptian Mummies to Blue Jeans in 2011. Her forthcoming book, Come Back Yesterday: My Journeys with Thomas, relates to her adventures with a Victorian traveller.
The lecture is part of the University’s General University Lecture Programme (GULP). Others in the series include:
- 9 November- Professor Jon Stallworthy and Dr Jane Potter discuss their new Penguin Classics selection- Three Great War Poets: Ivor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg & Wilfred Owen, focusing on the lives and work of Gurney and Owen.
- 16 November- The South West’s National Garden Trusts. Miss Margaret Clark, a National Trust volunteer speaker since 1988, will be provide an in depth explanation of what the South West has to offer.
The lectures take place on the main University campus at Claverton Down in 8 West, Room 1.1 and start at 5.15pm. Free parking is available in the West Car Park after 5pm.