The Daboya Indigo Collection

 

In a special collaboration between Objects x Humans and Pico, our collection of organic cotton underwear has been hand-dyed by the talented artisans of the Daboya community in northern Ghana. Inspired by their centuries-old trade and artisanal techniques, these pieces showcase the enduring craftsmanship of the region.

Krystle Amoo, the founder of Objects X Humans, has been working closely with the dyers throughout the entire process. Below, she shares her knowledge of each step of the process alongside her beautiful photos.

 
 

Originally the salt capital of Ghana, Daboya is a small town in the North situated on Lake Volta. It's where canoes are used to cross to the other side and indigo grows wild in abundance during raining season.

 
 
 
 

Deep in the middle of the old town, you will find the indigo community - a place where a 400-year-old tradition still thrives today.

Each dye pit belongs to a family, where the technique is passed down to the next generation. The main purpose of sharing this process is to create the fugu. A cotton spun yarn, dyed with indigo, that is woven into wearable art.

In recent years the community have been looking to use this knowledge to provide profitable ways of working whilst offering distinct alternatives to the commercially prevalent synthetic powders.

 

The Pico x Daboya collaboration was special, the team first found it fascinating to piece dye undergarments. It was new to them but also so rewarding.

The process began a few weeks before the Pico pieces arrived in Daboya.Tijani and his brothers ride around on their bikes picking indigo. For every stem pulled, they release the small seed pods to replace what has been taken.



 

The paste is sectioned into balls …

They carry it back to their patch and begin to pound the leaves in a wooden mortar until it forms a paste.

… and left to ferment for a day or two.

 

Then in a ceremonial process, everyone involved takes handfuls of the indigo leaf paste and says a prayer that the process will go well and that nothing will go wrong. This ritual is repeated three times and makes the whole process a spiritual act.

The pit is then prepared and filled to the top with water from Lake Volta and ash soda (made locally from a plant) added as a mordant to help hold the colour.

The pit is then closed, and the heat from the sun acts as a catalyst in fermenting the leaves even further. The pit is stirred once a day for 4-5 days before being it is ready for dying.

Once the pit is ready they used elastic to tie each piece of underwear. Using a winding technique to create the ring tie-dye designs.

They then take the pieces to the lake to wash and hang out to dry for 5-6 hours.

They told me it is washed mostly by the women of the community and dried on the stones nearby.

They then softly soak the underwear in sea water before dipping it into the pit. They use nylon string to make sure the garment doesn't sink to the bottom. The first dip is longer than the rest. Then there was an additional 5 times to get that rich blue.


Once finished in Accra we soaked in vinegar to lock in the dye and also remove the smell of the fermented leaves. This is done twice.

Thank you to all the team and other key members of the community:

Tijani Muhammad Mudasir

Baidulahi Abdul Aziz

Soale Abdul muamim

Sulemana Mahfouz.

Ibrahim

Aunty Christy

 

Objects x Humans is a studio in Ghana, founded by Krystle Amoo, which is reimagining the production process within fashion. With a slower approach, their aim is to bring intention and purpose to everyday objects. They stand as an ode to artisanship, a collective of creative humans that collaborate with other humans. You can follow them on instagram @objectxhumans

 
research, allproject-pico