Denim Gold
How the Kam People of China Preserved Indigo Dyeing
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An extraordinary black-blue cloth, an enduring dye vat, and the women who keep a complex textile tradition alive.
Kam artisans in Dimen Village produce a highly prized indigo-dyed cloth whose deep blue-black surface changes in the light. The craft combines weaving, repeated dyeing, and specialized finishing.
Marie Anna Lee and her students apprentice with the artisans to learn how the indigo vat is prepared and maintained. When the researchers try to recreate the process at home, they discover how much depends on experience that cannot be captured by a recipe alone.
Through the artisans’ demonstrations, the documentary explores the value of intergenerational craft knowledge and the challenges of keeping the practice alive.
“Women in remote Dimen Village reveal an ancient unwritten indigo-dyeing tradition.”
Inside the indigo vat
Cloth woven on traditional looms is dyed with indigo, overdyed, and treated to achieve its distinctive dark sheen and durability.
One of the documentary’s central discoveries is the practice of reusing liquid from a spent vat to start a new one—a detail that makes the process difficult to reproduce without instruction from the artisans.
Scenes from the film and field research
Select a photograph to view it on the dedicated image gallery page.
Dimen, a Kam village
Dimen is located in the mountains of Guizhou Province, southwestern China. The documentary is part of a long-term project documenting cultural knowledge and artisan practice through collaborative learning with the community.
Marie Anna Lee
Marie Anna Lee is an artist, designer, filmmaker, and professor at the University of the Pacific. Her research with Kam artisans in Dimen began in 2007 and combines community-based design with documentation and cultural preservation.
Director: Marie Anna Lee
Explore the documentary trilogy
Contact
For questions about the film, screenings, educational use, or the Kam Heritage Project, please contact filmmaker Marie Anna Lee.