Françoise Delavy

• Painting conservation-restoration, pigments, dyeing material
• Territory
• Indigenous communities​​​

Color production in indigenous Colombian communities: a reflection of identity and partnership with the territory.

The aim of this research project is to record and document the ancestral techniques still used in the extraction and manufacture of pigments and dyes by several indigenous communities in Colombia. This approach complements current knowledge on the subject. In order to understand these techniques and their significance, the historical, social and cultural context related to this theme are investigated, as the symbolism of the materials and their roles within the communities. Through the study of these materials, the nature of the bond that unites communities to their territory  is questioned: can we say that pigments and dyes are part of the visible aspects that materialize the bonds of partnership and co-creation with a territory? Does each community living in a specific ecosystem materialize, through colors and pigments, its own language? The investigation of the technical and symbolic data of materials is participatory. In collaboration with the communities, the manufacturing processes and symbolic data are documented by the creation of videos, interviews and didactic written supports, enabling the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Continuity in the use of techniques is studied through historical bibliographical sources dealing with the nature of materials in conjunction with archaeological knowledge associating cave paintings. This project is part of several ongoing processes: in particular, it resonates with a broad-based movement within regional and national indigenous organizations, aimed at reactivating millennia-old knowledge. To this end, it is important for them to forge collaborations with the academic and university worlds.

Scherrer NC, Zumbuehl S, Delavy F, Fritsch A, Kuehnen R., Synthetic organic pigments of the 20th and 21st century relevant to artist's paints: Raman spectra reference collection. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2009 Aug;73(3):505-24. doi: 10.1016/j.saa.2008.11.029. Epub 2008 Dec 3. PMID: 19136293.

Delavy, F., Braunschweiger Grün: une recherche sur l'histoire et la nature du vert de Braunschweig. Diplomarbeit der Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB, Fachbereich Konservierung und Restaurierung, Spécialisation Tableaux/Sculptures, September 2005. HKB, 2005. Print.

In Process : One article have been accepted with the oral participation at the ENCoRE PhD Colloquium / Valencia Universidad Politécnica (Spain), November 1th - 4th,2024. Publication coming in Conservar Património Peer Review: Colour production in indigenous Colombian communities: a reflection of identity and a partnership with the territory

Worshop organisation

SINTA 23.09.2024 - Public lecture Arturo Escobar Against Terricide, designs for pluriversal transition 24.09.2024 – Worshop Polycrisis and Civilizational Transitions

Colloquium:

Oral Presentation on the 4^th Ulrich Schiessel Ph.D. Collouquium, University Politécnica de Valéncia (Spain), November 19^th-20^th, 2024