During the first two weeks of July, I had the great fortune of doing a residency at Textilné Centrum in Košice, Slovakia, thanks to a Craftwork4All grant co-organized by Espronceda Bcn and Creative Industry Košice.

The main purpose of the project was to learn the modrotlač technique—a craft on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage that uses resist printing and indigo dye. It is traditional in countries such as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, and Austria.

In the studio, I developed a series of motifs inspired by traditional Fajalauza ceramics from Granada and carried out each stage of the process, from carving wooden printing blocks to applying the resist paste and dyeing the fabric with indigo. The result is a series of five multipurpose cotton and linen handkerchiefs featuring stylized birds, organic shapes, and pomegranate leaves and fruits.