Atelier Māya – Berlin’s Sustainable Block Printing & Natural Dye Atelier

Enter the Atelier:
A space for colour, material, and textile research. Workshops in block printing and natural dye. A slow, material-led reset for individuals and creative teams.

‍Workshops
Design-led small group sessions in block printing and natural dye.
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Group Experiences
Hosted studio experiences for teams seeking a slower, more focused way to reconnect through material and process.
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Natural dye explorations with Rooibos tea in Atelier Māya, Berlin.

Natūra Botanica
A study of colour and material through textiles.
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Atelier Māya is a block printing atelier and textile research studio in Berlin.

The studio explores print, colour, and material through block printing, wax resist, and responsible colour systems. Atelier Māya operates as a contemporary print lab, where participants work independently at dedicated print tables. Work takes place through structured, process-led studio sessions.

The work builds on field research by founder Lizane Louw with master craftsmen and continues through ongoing studio practice in Berlin.

The Māya Experience: Story Driven Design

Māya explores heritage, craft, and sustainability through research-led studio practice. Each print reflects process, material, and variation, connecting making with meaning.

‍The Māya Journey 
Research, practice and our print thinking philosophy
- Read the Journey

NATŪRA Natural Narratives, Bagru is a limited-edition capsule collection shaped by the raw beauty of natural colours and the raw authenticity of handcrafted textiles. Available at the Maya Block Print Berlin Experience.

‍The Curated Cupboard
A collection of printed textiles and studio pieces
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‍Field Notes
Observations, studies, and print explorations
– Read Field Notes

Cultural storytelling through sustainable textiles.

About Māya

We work with handcrafted textiles that tell a story of sustainability.

Māya operates as a contemporary print lab, where block printing is used to explore pattern, repetition, and material through process-led studio practice.

At Māya, we honour the legacy of sustainable textiles. Crafted with integrity, our designs blend heritage craftsmanship with contemporary artistry, each piece a bridge between tradition and innovation.

Collaborating with master artisans , we print with natural dyes, eco-friendly inks, and hand-carved blocks on cotton.

Printed in small batches, our textiles reflect the patience and skill of generations, preserving cultural traditions while respecting the planet.

Beyond textiles, Māya is a platform for storytelling, research, and cultural exchange. Our immersive workshops and exclusive releases share the knowledge gained from working alongside artisans, keeping their traditions alive while inspiring a new generation of makers.

Every print is a conversation across time, a dialogue between past and present.

Maya Block Print Berlin Experiences, Stories and Block Print Workshops. Collaborating with master artisans at workshops and studios in Bagru, we print with natural dyes, eco-friendly inks, and hand-carved blocks on cotton.

This is a portrait of master printer Mr Prakash Chippa, whom Lizane photographed during workshops with Studio Bagru in Bagru, India. This photograph is on display in the new Atelier in Berlin. Come listen to the stories of the master printers we learn from and work with. Photo Lizane Louw

Follow our textile explorations, print projects and research on Instagram.

You will also find the latest information on our block printing workshops in Berlin.

Join our growing international craft community.

View fullsize Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo: Field Notes from our First Community Session The wax resist explorations at Atelier Māya are inspired by field research and time spent in Bhujpur, Gujarat, where we studied block printing with wax alongside maste
View fullsize The Tools of a Master, Anwar Khatri The past four months of test printing and mark-making have been challenging and transformative. We have explored wax resist in Bali and Malaysia, and at the end of last year spent time in Bhujpur, Gujarat, India,
View fullsize Les Amis x Māya: Spring Rhythm I started Māya in the middle of ‘24, feeling rather isolated in Berlin. Being from Cape Town and used to a “lekker vibe” around me, it was hard to find a sense of community here. I was searching for
View fullsize From the Māya Anthology: Studies in Line and Rhythm Sample book, 1899–1901 Accession no. 1936-31-5 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NY Samples of silk ribbons I return to lines often in my work. In the atelier, I have explored
View fullsize Inside Atelier Māya   People arrive at the atelier with a simple intention: to learn block printing, to make something with their hands or to try a print technique.   But the experience does not stay there.   What begins as an introduc
View fullsize Rooibos as colour and material memory. Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) grows in the Cederberg mountains of the Western Cape. These mountainous regions, with very hot, dry summers and cool winters, create the conditions in which this plant thrives. Ro
View fullsize Over the past weeks, we’ve been in a deep flow state, exploring a variety of inks, dyes, and wax for new workshop experiences. There has been a lot of creativity in our research and explorations. We’ve been working with a plant-based wax
View fullsize Field Notes from a Print Weekend On our first Print Weekend of ‘26, the print tables slowly filled with colour and print experiments made by curious hands. Participants were introduced to our world of woodblocks and pattern. Some stepped into
View fullsize We are radical in our protest against the machine. We move slowly. Deliberately. My name is Lizane, and I invite you into a slow-craft and mindful-making movement rooted in research, material knowledge, and lived experience. At Māya, we are radical
View fullsize The Khatri Vibe: Colour Alchemy It is our love for colour and craft, especially block printing, that brought us from Berlin to Bhujpur. One of our biggest gifts this year was a chance encounter on Instagram: an introduction to a world of colour and
View fullsize Free your mind.   Day 5 in Bhujpur with our teacher and mentor, Anwar Khatri.   Anwar is a fifth-generation master batik artist and colour alchemist, but more than all these labels, he is a talented, knowledgeable, generous and very attenti
View fullsize The past two days of test printing and mark making were transformative. We started exploring a new medium: wax. We were introduced to the tools that our teacher and mentor, @anwar.baat, uses in his own creative explorations within his craft. We pri
View fullsize Bhujpur, Kachchh, Gujarat.   Our exploration with batik begins here, in a small village called Bhujpur, with @anwar.baat, a master batik artist and colour master at @baatthesoulofbatik. Today was day one — our first day in his studio. Our
View fullsize A short story about Māya Chilli Red. There are only four bottles. That’s it. A budding printmaker with a very good eye for geometric design sent me a photograph of some kitchen tiles. Her sister-in-law loves the deep red of her kitchen, and
View fullsize NO TIME FOR FAKE PEOPLE — before I even knew his name, this craftsman in Bagru taught me a lesson I didn’t realise I needed. Read more… From History in Colour.
Patterns, Pigments and Prints.
A Fine Art Series.
Image and text by @l
View fullsize Block Print Berlin: Geometrica — Print Weekend & Studio Market Join us for a weekend of block printing, Bauhaus-inspired design thinking, and slow textile craft in Berlin. Step inside Atelier Māya, a dedicated block-print research ateli

Atelier Māya on Instagram

Designed to make a difference.