Block Print Berlin
—An Original Māya Experience
Atelier Māya is a textile and colour research studio in Berlin working in block printing, resist and natural colour.
Our block printing workshops in Berlin are built on long-term field research and traditional textile knowledge. Participants work with hand-carved blocks, studio-mixed eco-friendly inks, natural dyes, earth pigments, indigo and natural fibres.
Print and resist are treated here as contemporary design disciplines shaped by rhythm, repetition, colour and process. Sessions are process-led rather than outcome-led, with room to experiment, to work within constraints, and to listen to the material.
Slow Practice at Atelier Māya
Alongside the public workshops, a small number of places each year are given to practitioners working on their own projects. Research Intensives are one-to-one programmes built around your practice and the questions you arrive with, from a single day to two weeks. Private Atelier Sessions are focused one-to-one work on block printing and resist, shaped by what you are making. Atelier Days are self-directed studio days for practitioners who have already worked here, on request and subject to studio availability.
All three atelier research experiences go deeper into block printing, resist, indigo and natural colour than a workshop allows, at a pace that leaves room for testing and for mistakes.
Our longer atelier research intensives begin with a consultation, at the atelier or online, where we look at what you are working on and decide together what the right shape is. The consultation fee is credited in full against a booked intensive.
Current Atelier Experiences
A hands-on introduction to block printing and resist practice at Atelier Māya in Berlin.
Work with hand-carved wood blocks, molten wax, indigo vats, and natural fibre textiles while exploring rhythm, repetition, layering, and surface.
The session introduces block printing, wax resist and indigo through a research-led studio approach, with space to experiment before developing a finished textile piece.
This experience is open for one-to-one instruction or small studio groups. Each participant works at their own print table.
During the colder months, we encourage two-day bookings for this experience. Textiles take longer to dry, and the extended format gives us more time and space to work on larger-scale textile pieces of 1 to 2 m.
We are now taking private bookings for November and December.
Our seasonal block print and slow craft sessions
Block Print Berlin: Introduction to Block Printing
Berlin's original block printing workshop, developed and hosted by Atelier Māya. An introduction to hand block printing through Print Thinking, heritage craft research and eco-conscious studio practice. Participants work with hand-carved wooden blocks, studio-mixed inks and natural fibre textiles.
For beginners and for anyone wanting a research-led way into block printing.
New dates for public workshops in autumn.
Block Print Berlin: Print & Repeat
Atelier Māya's advanced workshop, focused on rhythm, repetition and pattern as a design practice. The session builds on the fundamentals, turning simple motifs into layered repeat patterns using hand-carved blocks, found tools and studio-mixed inks.
Bring your own natural fibre textiles to reuse, or work with the organic fabrics provided. Natural fibres only, no synthetics.
New dates for public workshops in autumn.
Atelier Days: Slow Practice
Self-directed studio days for practitioners who have already completed a masterclass or intensive here. Time to return to processes from your programme, develop samples, test ideas and work through material, colour or print questions at your own pace.
These sessions are not taught.
On request, subject to studio availability.
Our block print and slow craft masterclasses:
Research Intensives
One-to-one or small-group atelier sessions focused on block printing, textile research, natural colour and material exploration. Built around Māya's Print Thinking framework, combining guided studio practice with experimentation across colour, pattern, surface and process.
Current areas of exploration include:
– Block Printing & Print Thinking
– Natural Colour & Botanical Dyes
– Wax Resist on Cloth
– Indigo & Layered Surface Design
– Repeat Pattern Development
– Textile Sampling & Material Exploration
– Slow Stitch & Surface Composition
Private one- and two-week Artist Research Intensives are available for deeper work.
Interested in a Research Intensive? Get in touch for priority access, design (at) ateliermaya.eu
Image credit: Dorothy M. Larcher, Small Feather (1933).
Block Print & Sashiko: Māya x Keiko
Two heritage techniques in one carefully paced session: hand block printing with eco-friendly inks, and Japanese sashiko embroidery. You print on natural fabrics using hand-carved blocks, then build on that surface through stitch.
The focus is pattern-making, surface design, layering and composition, and how print and stitch work together in a single piece. Suits beginners and experienced makers alike.
Available as a one-to-one or private group booking. Get in touch for more information, design (at) ateliermaya.eu
Private one-to-one sessions in the print studio, for artists, designers and makers working with block printing and resist. Each session is shaped around your own interests, material questions or ongoing project.
Not a group workshop. Quiet, focused and process-led, with guidance following the direction of the work.
In the colder months we encourage two-day bookings. Textiles take longer to dry, and the extended format leaves room for larger-scale work and a slower rhythm.
Interested in a private Block Print & Resist session? Get in touch at design (at) ateliermaya.eu
We practice cultural storytelling through textiles. Sessions range from introductory block printing to advanced print, resist, indigo and natural colour, combining traditional textile knowledge with contemporary material exploration.
For artists, designers, makers and curious practitioners who want a deeper relationship with pattern, colour, surface and craft.
A growing collection of over 200 hand-carved wooden printing blocks, sourced through our travels and used across workshops, research and studio practice.
We work with trusted suppliers connected to block-carving communities in Jaipur, Bagru and Ahmedabad, so that each block carries both material and cultural integrity.
The collection is carefully maintained. After every printing session blocks are cleaned and treated with natural wood-care products, including jojoba oil, to preserve them.
Alongside the collected archive, we are developing our own block designs for use across different print methods, textile experiments and studio projects.
What you will learn in our block printing and colour explorations
– The history and contemporary relevance of woodblock printing
– Building patterns through rhythm, repetition and hand-carved blocks
– Printing on organic cotton, natural fibres and Khadi paper
– Working with eco-friendly inks, natural dyes and responsible colour systems
– An introduction to indigo, earth pigments and layered surface processes
– How to develop a personal visual language through Print Thinking
– How to rework garments and textiles through print and surface intervention
How we work and what you will work with
– Immersive, studio-based workshops in Berlin
– All materials provided for each session
– A curated collection of hand-carved wooden printing blocks
– Eco-friendly textile inks, natural dyes, earth pigments and indigo
– In-house colour systems developed for different workshop formats
– A full set of studio tools and printing equipment
– Cotton and natural-fibre test surfaces, including our FLOW test print cloths
– A selection of print surfaces from our Craft Your Art Collection
– Additional textile surfaces depending on the session and available time
Surfaces are carefully tested: organic cotton, naturally dyed fabrics and reusable materials, including tote bags, fabric panels, garments and repurposed textiles.
What you will take home from your block printing workshop
What you will take home
– A finished hand-printed textile
– FLOW test-print cloths documenting your process
– Practical knowledge of block printing, natural colour and responsible colour systems
– Greater confidence to continue developing your own print and textile practice
– A deeper understanding of material-led and sustainable textile processes
The atelier experience at Atelier Māya
– Small groups with personalised guidance
– A dedicated block printing and textile research studio in Berlin
– Access to textile samples, pattern studies and reference materials
– Tea, coffee and a calm, focused studio environment
Māya Block Print Berlin Vox Pop: What past attendees say
Voices from the studio and field notes
Over 350 participants have worked in the atelier since November 2024.
During each session, participants write in the studio worksheets. Those notes have come from architects, psychologists, artists, designers, teachers and people printing for the very first time. Over 350 of them are now collected, and they shape how the programmes develop.
Most arrive wanting to learn block printing. Most leave talking about time, calm and permission.
Beginners write about the pacing and the guidance, and about being surprised by how much can be done with a single block. Artists and designers write about the research behind the work, the depth of the material, and the freedom to test without needing a finished result. What comes back most often is the small-group format, the calm of the studio, and the sense that mistakes were the interesting part.
Each session brings together print, colour, material and individual ways of seeing. What begins as a technical exercise often turns into something more personal.
Whether you are beginning with block printing or coming back with a research question, the studio gives you time to work carefully and to listen to the material.
This is what we mean by Print Thinking and Material Intelligence.
Lizane Louw
Founder and Creative Director, Māya
Māya workshops take place in #OfflineMode.
Enquiries: design (at) ateliermaya.eu
Instagram: @ateliermaya.eu
More about Lizane: Lizane Louw — Visual Researcher, Journalist, Designer
