Join-in seminar for adults "Hennarot and cheese yellow" in Witzenhausen

Analogous to the KinderUni, but for grown-ups: You'll find out how the red gets into the gummy bears and what makes the curry sausage yellow, dye fabrics, make paint, get creative.

Would you like to work together with others, learn new things and exchange ideas about an exciting topic? Perhaps we have found the right framework for this with this hands-on seminar. Our idea is to learn from and with each other and to get active. A colorful program is waiting for you!

For thousands of years, people have been embellishing their bodies, clothing, food and homes with colors. Until the 19th century, people all over the world used "natural" dyes made from animal, vegetable or mineral raw materials. Today, synthetic dyes are widespread, with all their ecological and cultural consequences. In this seminar we will look at dye plants from all over the world, both local ones and those from other regions of the world. But what is color, what does it do in the plant and which plant color is suitable for which purpose?

In the seminar, we bridge the gap between empirical knowledge and ecology, art and cultural history. The focus is on practical work, stories and small experiments. In the breaks there will be suitable colorful delicacies and time to exchange with each other about own experiences and knowledge.

Saturday afternoon begins with a foray into the history of plant dyes from different cultures. On a journey to the equator we will meet known and unknown plants: Which plant colors curry sausage yellow, what does Blue Monday have to do with jeans, and what is the purpose of red bell pepper in chicken feed? Small experiments explain color phenomena of our everyday life, e.g. the difference between red cabbage and blue cabbage. Freshly strengthened, we will then prepare the dye baths and fabrics for our own dyed textiles.

On Sunday morning the focus is on practical and creative activities. We dye our prepared fabrics with plants and learn about some local dye plants and their practical use. After colorful and literary snacks we want to become artistically active. Colors made from plants invite you to try out, mix and design greeting cards or small works of art. In between, there will be time for theoretical excursions into color symbolism and exchanges about cultural similarities and differences.

A cooperation project of the tropical greenhouse of the University of Kassel with Bildung trifft Entwicklung, Göttingen, Bildungszentrum WeltGarten Witzenhausen and Bündnis für Familie of the city of Witzenhausen.

Saturday, September 16 from 2 to 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 17 from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
With the alternative practitioner and agricultural engineer Ines Fehrmann, 05542-72812
Target group:  Adults, max. 15 persons
Costs: 90€ incl. coffee breaks and material
Registration please until September 10.

Registration and information
Tropical Greenhouse University of Kassel
Steinstraße 19, 37213 Witzenhausen
Tel.: 05542-981231 Email: tropengewaechshaus[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
Homepage: www.tropengewaechshaus.de