The Innovation of Indigo

For 50 years, starting in the late 1740s, indigo was a crucial commodity, second only to rice. At one time, the extracted pigment, dried and shaped into circular cakes, was so prized that it was sometimes called blue gold, and used as currency. While Charleston’s popular history primarily focuses on the planting class in cultivating the cash crop, there is much more to learn about the community that had the knowledge and skill to create such an innovation from this special seed. With growth and expansion into Johns Island where more history has been uncovered, and the growing interest in alternatives to petroleum-based dyes, indigo is having a resurgence.

Portuguese records dating to 1342, before the establishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, detail West Africa’s textile production, fabric dyeing and cloth trade. Hundreds of years later, when people from that region were enslaved and moved from their homeland to the United States, they carried with them the knowledge of indigo cultivation. Inspired by an article in Smithsonian Magazine, “The Blue that Enchanted the World,” we are honored to invite several experts and members of generational families who continue the tradition of indigo for a special discussion about its true origins. Virginia Theerman, Curator of Historic Textiles for the Charleston Museum, will host a conversation with Arianne King Comer, indigo and community arts advocate, with Andrea Feeser, Professor of Art History, on how the innovation of the indigo crop is being revived by artisans and farmers, with a modern take on its forgotten history.

About Arianne King Comer

Arianne King Comer, a BFA graduate of Howard University, has been an Artist in Residence in the state of South Carolina since 1995. She is a textile artist creating her work in paintings, wearable art, installation art, environmental art, home decor, as well as social justice. In 1992, Arianne received the UN/USIS grant to study under the renowned Batik artist Nike Olyani Davis in Oshogbo Nigeria, where her passion for indigo manifested. She was given the Yoruba name of Osun Ronke. She was the owner of Ibile Indigo House on St Helena House ’98-04. In 2004, Arianne traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, as a guest artist sponsored by her daughter, a designer/stylist, Nicole King Burroughs. Arianne created one-of-a-kind jean for Mavi Jeans .In 2007, she had the opportunity to join The Charleston Rhizome Collective to conduct a textile workshop in batik and indigo at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. 2006-7, Arianne was artist in Residence for the North Charleston Cultural Affairs Office. In 1999, she was featured in the PBS documentary, “Messengers of the Spirit,” and in 2003 was featured in an Indigo Art segment on HGTV’s “Country Style,” which is still in syndication. She is an active member of Alternate ROOTS, Charleston Rhizome and a designer for Seeking Indigo. Her work is in several traveling exhibitions nationally as well as statewide In 2012, Arianne had two solo exhibitions: “My Spirit Speaks” at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama and “Voices from the Water” at Dalton Gallery in Rock Hill, SC. In 2013, Arianne was featured in the Charleston Magazine’s “Giving Back to the Community” segment in the May issue. In the fall, Charleston’s MOJA Festival honored for her with an award for her service as an artist. She is currently working on workshops planned in Port Antonio, Jamaica and a joint exhibition scheduled this fall at Charleston’s Waterfront Gallery. Arianne is an art consultant, indigo and community arts advocate, lecturer, teacher, and textile artist.

About Andrea Feeser

Andrea Feeser, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History, Theory, and Criticism at Clemson University, studies histories of place and community with respect to intertwined cultures and environments. Her 2006 book with Gaye Chan, Waikiki: A History of Forgetting and Remembering, examines how colonialism and tourism has compromised Waikiki. Feeser’s The Materiality of Color: The Production, Circulation, and Application of Dye and Pigments, 1400 – 1800, co-edited with Maureen Goggin and Beth Fowkes Tobin, documents use of fabricated colors in the early modern world. Her 2013 book Red, White, and Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life shows how colonial indigo culture still colors land use and race relations in South Carolina. Her 2021 book Jimmie Durham, Europe, and the Art of Relations examines the recent work of artist Jimmie Durham, who investigates how historical and cultural interactions among varied people and places shape aesthetic and social experiences. Feeser has presented her work at academic conferences sponsored by the College Art Association, The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, The Group for Early American Cultural Studies, and The Textile Society of America.

About the Moderator

Virginia Theerman, Curator of Historic Textiles at the Charleston Museum, holds a Bachelor of Science Dual Degree in Art History and Design & Merchandising, as well as a Master of Arts from Fashion Institute of Technology in Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, and Museum Practice. With prior experience at the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, she joined The Charleston Museum in April of 2020. Theerman cares for a collection of approximately 10,000 costume and textile objects, and her work encompasses the realms of traditional curatorship, as well as exhibition design and public programming. Her recent research subjects include 18th-century silver gorgets, and 19th children’s wear.