News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Seeking Rare Dyes in a Kabul Bazaar

In downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, a bazaar still sells the rare natural ingredients used in the millennial art of natural vegetable dyeing.

Nathan Santamaria travels through the catacomb-like spaces of the market -- and all of its chaos -- with carpet expert Chris Alexander. He's on a mission to seek out the dye merchants and the roots, seeds and minerals necessary to fill out his color palette.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Nathan Santamaria