Plant-Dyed Greenhouse Sunsails

with kêmi atelier

Plant-dyed sunsails for the Greenhouse: kêmi atelier bringing their coloring garden to Floating University. Photo (c) Lorene Blanche (2023)

Participative spatial creation with kêmi atelier and Floating eV members

The entrance structure of Floating ~~University~~ is an open air greenhouse constructed from scaffolding, facing the rainwater retention basin of Tempelhofer Feld and oriented south. This summer, the south-facing side will be equipped with sails to protect the plants from strong sunlight and wind. By providing shade during midday, the soil will stay moist longer, reducing the need for watering.

In Spring 2023, the Floating Gardens were invited by the Floating seasonal opening programme The Sowing Days (part of the Floating project Nature Culture Strategies: Layers of Commoning). Floating Gardens invited kêmi atelier to plant some of their coloring garden flowers and co-create giant plant-dyed fabrics as greenhouse sunsails. Only explicitly organic materials were used in the process.    

During a participatory workshop with the Floating e.V. members, we plant-dyed seven large linen fabrics together, using a variety of flowers, seeds, berries, and leafs collected from urban spaces as well as food leftovers of the local gastronomy, gathered by kêmi atelier. kêmi atelier then sew the fabrics into individual sails and installed them together with the Floating Gardens community.

kêmi atelier is a textile art studio consisting of an experimental laboratory for reviving the almost forgotten art and style of extracting color from plants. It is a design studio of hand-dyed and environmental friendly clothes. We also offer a workshop program to pass on wisdom and knowledge about food appreciation, as well as the secrets of natural textile dyeing with leaves, flowers, shells and seeds.  (description taken from kêmi atelier website)

Plant-dye workshop with kêmi atelier and Floating e.V. members. Photo (c) Lorene Blanche (2023)

Plant-dye workshop with kêmi atelier and Floating e.V. members. Photo (c) kêmi atelier (2023)

Plant-dye workshop with kêmi atelier and Floating e.V. members. Photo (c) Lorene Blanche (2023)

The plant-dyed sun sail installation was an original idea of Lorene Blanche who commissioned kêmi atelier (Daniela and Valentina Nadwornicek) with its realisation.

The linen sheets were dyed during a workshop led by kêmi Atelier, together with members of the Floating e.V. association.

Many thanks to the team The Sowing Days for the invitation to contribute. The Sowing Days are part of the Floating project Nature Culture Strategies: Layers of Commoning. Curated by members of the association Floating e.V. (Garance Maurer, Jade Dreyfuss, Jeanne Astrup-Devaux, Jöran Mandik, Teresa Huppertz).

Project coordination and text: Lorene Blanche