Join us for an online conversation event with two groups from Indonesia, whose collaborative partnership intersects environmental activism and natural dyeing, through mangrove: Trees4Trees and Sodiqin.

Trees4Trees is a non-profit foundation that focuses on renewing the environment and empowering local communities through planting trees and education. Sodiqin is a batik artist and a natural dyer based in Kampung Laut, who also leads the Mekar Canting Batik Group, a collective composed mostly of women. They will talk about their practices, centring the recent collaboration with each other involving mangrove conservation and batik making using mangrove dye in Kampung Laut village in the Cilacap Regency of the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia.

Sunday 17 May 2026
11:00-12:15 (UK Time), 17:00-18:15 (Jakarta / Western Indonesian Time)
Free, all welcome
Book your place via Eventbrite page here

Trees4Trees is a non-profit foundation that focuses on renewing the environment and empowering local communities across Indonesia through planting trees, education, and related activities. Sodiqin is a batik artist and a natural dyer based in Kampung Laut, who also leads the Mekar Canting Batik Group, a collective composed mostly of women.

Mangroves produce oxygen, absorb CO2, prevent coastal erosion, and provide essential nurseries for fish. Since 2022, Trees4Trees with their partners and supporters has been planting over 190,000 mangroves in Kampung Laut to restore areas degraded by deforestation. Kampung Laut, meaning “ocean village” in the Indonesian language, is home to the largest mangrove ecosystem in Central Java, surrounded by over 8,000 hectares of coastal trees and wetlands.

In 2015, with two neighbors, Sodiqin started to experiment with natural-dyeing techniques and materials to make batik textile, using locally available plants – first Ketapang leaves and Jengkol tree bark, then fallen Rhizopora mangrove fruits scattered on the roads. As well as the traditional and more efficient stamping technique, Sodiqin and his group work on hand-drawn technique to make batik, using a tool called a canting. Their works distinctively feature fish, crabs, shells, shrimp, mangrove fruits, underwater scenes, reflecting the landscape that shapes Kampung Laut: mangroves and fisheries.

Trees4Trees’ programme of replanting mangrove in Kampung Laut in Cilacap not only significantly helps the environment but also the livelihoods of broader communities and artisanal skills and cultural heritage like batik-making.

Free online event. All welcome. There will be a Q&A with audience members.

Translation support: Gladhys Elliona Syahutari.

Image courtesy of Trees4Trees.

About EcoCreative Cluster:
Established in 2020, EcoCreative Cluster has been focusing on natural dyes, pigments and the use of natural materials in creative practices. Grounded in the creation and ongoing cultivation of a community dye garden at The Rockfield Centre in Oban, it provides workshops and learning opportunities for the local community, led by textile artist Deborah Gray and invited tutors. The project also has an international network weaving dimension led by curator Naoko Mabon, including collaborations and online conversation series with practitioners across the world.

We are so happy and humbled to note that – Trees4Trees will be allocating their fee for this event to plant 50-60 trees in their working area under the EcoCreative Cluster name. An e-certificate and a World Identification Number (WIN) to track trees on trees4trees.org will be issued. Thank you so much!