Zeugfärberei

Traditional blue printing was produced in Gutau until the middle of the 20th century, as can still be seen in the dyeing museum. Directly opposite is the old school, where we are on the trail of the secrets of this craft.
The Zeugfärberei is an experimental workshop for dyeing and printing in Gutau in the Mühlviertel. A playground for developments, an initiative to reactivate blue printing in Gutau, a community project centred around textile design, the opening up of many new and old possibilities ...

Zeugfärberei is a project of the Alte Schule Gutau cultural association. We are a small, open group of people who deal with the topics of dyeing and printing and usually take an experimental approach. We run an improvised but fully functional workshop.
The market town of Gutau has kindly made the premises available to us - as part of Otelo Gutau.
There are two indigo vats in the fabric dyeing workshop, and we also have the option of dyeing with natural or reactive dyes. We mainly use the printing table for screen printing because we only have a few hand printing models. We print with traditional cardboard (the reserve paste for indigo dyeing) or with textile dyes on fabrics and finished pieces.

The focus of Zeugfärberei is not on production, but on doing things together and passing on the experience gained: we offer interested individuals and groups blueprinting, shibori and screen printing workshops and also organise an open experimental workshop on the last Sunday of every month, where everyone can try out what interests them and what is possible in our workshop.

The province of Upper Austria has been awarding the "Upper Austrian Folk Culture Prizes" since 1994 with the support of Raiffeisen Upper Austria. Activities that characterise and enrich folk cultural life in Upper Austria are honoured.

The decision was made by a jury of experts from 34 submitted projects and initiatives:

The Upper Austrian Folk Culture Prize worth 7,400 euros. Folk Culture Prize 2020, endowed with 7,400 euros, goes to Zeugfärberei Gutau. The jury particularly emphasised their "exemplary combination of passing on and reinterpreting old craftsmanship by involving young people with an artistic background".