These workshops will be hosted by arts and cultural organisation, InPlace. InPlace designed and now manages the new Garambi Baan/Laughing Waters Residency Centre, where these workshops will take place. The workshops will be held at River Bend House, a heritage house built in 1968 by acclaimed architect Alistair Knox.

Situated in secluded bushland in Eltham, Victoria, approximately 25km from Birraranga/Naarm (Melbourne’s) CBD in the North Eastern suburbs, Garambi Baan (Laughing Waters) sits within the Shire of Nillumbik (Shallow Earth). The Shire is bordered by Murrindindi Shire in the north, Yarra Ranges Shire in the east, Manningham and Banyule Cities in the south, and the City of Whittlesea in the west. The site where the workshops will be taking place is approximately 6km from the main Eltham township and 14km from Warrandyte township.

The workshops will have access to the beautiful surroundings, including the river, and to the newly restored River Bend House. The surrounding environment forms part of the Yarra Valley Parklands and is a protected conservation zone.

Local accommodation and AirBnB options may be available in Eltham, Research, Kangaroo Ground, or North Warrandyte. 

A note from the organiser:  Aboubakar's workshops use proper quantities of dyestuff and the correct equipment for a professional natural dye practice. In order to both work in the most sustainable and the most comfortable manner, they need to be held somewhere with a lot of open space, where used water can be recycled. We have previously run these workshops in Melbourne centre in 2013 and it was really not ideal both from a practices and an environmental viewpoint,  and so going forward we have opted to run them in a space which best aligns with the needs of the workshop and with a host whose vision is akin to our own. We hope that this will be the beginning of a long working relationship with InPlace, allowing us to perhaps visit Australia more regularly in the coming years, and that you will understand why the location is so important both for these workshops and for an ongoing sustainable dye-practice.