Artisan preserves root dyeing tradition with 500 natural colors

Artisan preserves root dyeing tradition with 500 natural colors

KAYSERİ

Şükran Kara has spent years experimenting with different fabrics, yarns, plants and boiling times, producing more than 500 shades of color.

40-year-old artisan from the central province of Kayseri’s Sarız district is working to preserve the traditional art of natural root dyeing she learned from her grandmother as a child by documenting hundreds of recipes and color samples for future generations.

Şükran Kara, who was introduced to root dyeing at the age of 6 or 7 at her family home in the rural Tekneli neighborhood, has spent years experimenting with different fabrics, yarns, plants and boiling times, producing more than 500 shades of color.