In Search of Lost Colour:
The Story of Natural Dyes
90 minutes, DVD
Introductory Price: $21.95 cdn

Modern synthetic dyes can colour almost any material in a vast range of hues. So powerful and far reaching is this technology that it comes as a surprise to learn that only 150 years ago absolutely everything was dyed naturally.

In this, our third feature-length documentary, we look at an astonishing range of dye techniques - from the caracol purpura snail in Mexico to the lac insects of laos, from jackfruit root to the most famous root of all: madder. The resurgence of naural dyes and our contemporary ideas of colour will be explored in a historical context and in relation to the rise of a global colour industry.