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| Folklife Festival 2003 > Mali > Textiles > Bogolan / Mudcloth |
| bogolan / mudcloth | |
| Bogolan is to its wearer what the shell is for the turtle. | |
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Mud-dyed cloth, bogolan, can not only be seen everywhere in Mali-it has gone global. Clothing and interior designers worldwide now use it or copy its designs. The cloth's distinctive brown-red color comes from iron-rich mud. Traditionally, an artist handpainted only the negative spaces, letting the main image stand out as the unpainted white design on the cloth. Recently, some mudcloth artists have experimented with stencils that reverse how the design is made. The mud color becomes the main design, while the unpainted white areas serve as the design background. Traditionally, Bambara (Bamanan) women, as well as those of the
Minianka, Senufo, Dogon, and other ethnic groups, produced the cloth
for important life events and taught the process to their daughters.
Men, especially hunters, wore it for celebrations. Today, both women
and men make mudcloth for sale in markets, and Malian students study
it at the arts academy. Visit the African Voices exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History for more information on bogolan. |
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| Coming to the Festival... | |
| Nakounté Diarra, Kolokani | |
| —Nakounté Diarra is one of the masters in the art making bogolon, a cotton fabric dyed with mud. Her works come from her imagination and include designs for pagnes (Women's wrappers) and clothing for hunters and traditional healers. Her knowledge of this process is featured in NMNH exhibition "African Voices." This very famous artist trained Founemousso Sakaliba | |
| Founemousso Sakiliba, Bamako | |
| —Founemousso Sakiliba is President of the Association of Widows and Orphans in the Bamako neighborhood of Sabalibougou. She teaches members how to make bogolon so they have skills that will help them generate income. The work of the organization extends to the West African region and people form outside Mali come to Bamako to study with her. The Association is known for its scarves, pictures, tablecloths, and pillowcases. | |
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