Water Hyacinth

Year: 2024
Project Type: Professional, Made in Earth Collective
Team: Shruthi Ramakrishna (Partner), Jeremie Gaudin (Partner), Agnimitra Bachi (Partner), Kune Yatheesh, Rosna Saji, Nikhita Ramdas
Location: Alleppey, Kerala
Exhibition: Milan Design Week


In Kerala, another invasive species is destroying the native ecosystem. This time, its choking the aquatic life in the back waters and canals that flow throughout the state. Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range. Introduced in India in 1896 with its beautiful purple and pink flowers, it is one of the most gregarious aquatics weeds of Kerala. In an effort to reduce the hazardous effect this species has, there are many initiatives being employed by local government bodies to attempt to clean the waterways, both manually and through chemical treatments.

Once dried, the stalks of the Hyacinth form strong fibres which organisations such as Gaya, an NGO of women artisans based in Kerala, have capitalized on. They employ women from local villages to weave handicrafts such as baskets and bags from the stalks of the Hyacinth. It is this group of women that showed us how to use the harvested plant.

With the most commonly adapted use of the Hyacinth being handicrafts such as baskets, bags and small toys, we wanted to develop a new way to express the material. We attempted twisting the stalks, reinforcing them with wire, trying out different weaves and braids. The journey took us down a path of exploring porous fabrics, how they were waved and made and how individual elements
interlocked to form a sturdy and robust whole.

The final piece came together as a chain mail ornament complete with its own head piece. The rings of the hyacinth were prepared by first soaking the stalks in water treated with boric acid ( to prevent microbial growth) and twisting each stalk of the plant around a PVC pipe of diameters
ranging from half an inch to an inch. These rings were then cut from the pipe and laid out in a 5 ring pattern to form the chain mail. Once arranged, each ring was glued to finalize the chain mail fabric.