Purple rediscovered
Two films on the rediscovery of one of the oldest colours in the world.
Purple of the Mixtecs
Purple is considered the most precious dye in the world. It is obtained from sea snails and was for centuries reserved for the rich and powerful. For our film we were able to accompany indigenous dyers on the Pacific coast of Mexico who have preserved the millennia-old tradition of purple dyeing to this day. Only a small group of Mixtecs holds the permit to work with the strictly protected purple snail ‘Purpura pansa’.
The dyeing is done at low tide, for only then can the snails be reached on the rocks. The dyers gently loosen them from the stones, provoke them carefully and collect the colour-giving secretion without killing the animals. The purple snails actually produce the mucus suited for dyeing to protect themselves against attackers. The film shows how the colour appears on the wool as if magic were at work. Without any aids, the at first almost colourless secretion transforms in the light: first green, then blue and finally into that deep red-violet for which purple is famous.
Purpurissum
Inge Boesken Kanold has spent almost her whole life engaging with purple. She would not accept that no one knew any longer how to make a pigment for painting from purple snails. Written records were rare and proved not to be reproducible in practice. When the German artist moved to the south of France, she discovered purple snails at the markets. There they are considered a delicacy.
It took a long time before she could set up a vat for purple dyeing. It took even longer before she could produce a pigment for painting. Every snail reacts differently; there is no such thing as the one purple snail. At first she set the snails directly onto the canvas and let the colour-giving secretion run out. Today she paints with her pigment ‘Purpurissum’, named after the ancient term in Pliny. The unique footage from Inge Boesken Kanold's studio records the rediscovery of an almost lost knowledge and helps to ensure that this knowledge is not lost again.
Both films are available in German and English. Professional DCP or Blu-ray can be hired for public screenings. The DVD can be ordered right here on this site, and each film can also be rented and streamed straight away.
More information on the external project site.