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

Enter the Atelier
A working textile and colour research studio in Berlin. Block printing, resist and natural colour, treated as contemporary design disciplines.

Block Print Berlin
Workshops, private sessions and atelier days in block printing, resist and natural colour.
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At Atelier Māya, participants working on craft or art projects on a long table covered with various materials, in a well-lit indoor space, with framed pictures on the wall.

Group Experiences
Block printing sessions for teams, studios and private groups in Berlin.
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Textile Research Intensives
Private one-to-one research built around your own practice, from a single day to two weeks in the atelier.
Explore the research intensives

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.

Close-up of a wooden block design of Atelier Māya Berlin. The block design is made up of concentric circular grooves on a dark blue background with sunlight creating a shadow.

‍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
– Explore the Cupboard

Close-up of a person's hand practising block printing at Atelier Māya in Berlin.

‍Field Notes
Observations, studies, and print explorations
– Read Field Notes

Contemporary textile research through print, colour, and material.

About Māya

We love textiles, travel, and exploration.

Atelier Māya grew from a deep curiosity about cloth, colour, pattern, and the stories held within textile traditions across different cultures and landscapes.

Through years of travel and ongoing field research, the atelier has developed a contemporary practice focussed on observation, material study, and process-led making. Our work moves between block-printing studios, natural-dye workshops, artisan communities, research journeys, and the print tables of the Berlin atelier.

Today, Māya brings together block printing, natural dye, wax resist and material exploration through workshops, private atelier sessions, and research-led experiences.

The studio is designed as a calm and focused environment where participants can enjoy a creative escape, work with their hands, and develop a deeper relationship with cloth, colour, and surface.

Rather than focusing on fixed outcomes, the atelier encourages experimentation and the development of individual print language through process, observation, experimentation and making.

Atelier Māya continues to evolve through fieldwork, collaboration, and ongoing research into contemporary textile practice, print culture, and material traditions.

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 From the Māya Anthology: Stories in Cloth 1. Watercolour for Printed Fabric Design Wey, 1882–83 William Morris 2. Printed Textile Wey, 1882–83 William Morris Manufacturer: Morris & Co I am fascinated by the work and philosophy
View fullsize Inside the Practice Textile Research Intensives at Atelier Māya, Berlin Over the past fourteen months, a particular kind of enquiry has begun to appear often at Atelier Māya. Artists, designers, researchers and practitioners have been looking for a
View fullsize A year ago, Atelier Māya became a place. We call this space in East Berlin our creative home. Before 72 square metres and eight print tables, Māya existed mostly in travel: photographs, notebooks, and a growing collection of blocks. Then we opened
View fullsize The First Impression. How Laalji, indigo and an imperfect red moon story scarf inspired the story of Māya. On the 4th of March 2016, in Bagru, India, I printed my first Red Moon design. I did not know then that those imperfect Dabu impressions and
View fullsize Atelier Māya I Community Gallery The online gallery is now open. We know there is incredible work being created behind the scenes, and that sometimes it can be hard to get new eyes on your work. This post is a space to celebrate creativity,
View fullsize A Season of Making. Spring '26 at Atelier Māya, Berlin Colour • Cloth • Community As we move into Slow Craft Summer, we wanted to pause and look back at the season we spent behind the print tables. Spring 2026 marked an important cha
View fullsize Field Notes from Block Print, Wax Resist & Indigo at Atelier Māya   This weekend, we gathered once again around the print tables and indigo vats. We continued to explore our Māya Berlin Blue with our participants.   Using brushes, block
View fullsize Atelier Māya Summer Print Lab A five-day research intensive exploring cloth, colour, print, and material practice in Berlin. _________________ This August, Atelier Māya launches its inaugural Summer Print Lab. Since opening the doors of Atel
View fullsize From the Māya Anthology: Stories in Cloth Vesta, Match, circa 1920s–40s Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher Hand-block printed textile samples Barron & Larcher Studio, England What draws me to these samples is not only what they teach
View fullsize Field Notes from the Atelier When Jillian brought her design students from Western Carolina University into the atelier, the goal was not to introduce a new printing technique. As she shared before the workshop, she wanted her students “to ex
View fullsize Block Print, Wax Resist & Indigo 14 June · Atelier Māya, Berlin Five participants. Each working at their own custom-designed 2 metre print table. A full day inside a working textile research atelier exploring block printing, molt
View fullsize Block Print, Wax Resist and Indigo: Field Notes from our First Public Wax Resist & Indigo Session This weekend we welcomed a small group into Atelier Māya for our first public wax resist and indigo workshop. The session built on months of res
View fullsize Block Print & Sashiko — A Māya x Keiko Experience Where Print Meets Stitch: A Textile Study Developed Inside the Atelier For the past year, Atelier Māya and Keiko have been developing a shared textile practice between block printing and
View fullsize Block Print & Sashiko: A Māya x Keiko Experience 24 May · Atelier Māya, Berlin Eight participants. Eight custom-designed 2 metre print tables. One full day inside a working textile research atelier. The day moves between block print
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

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