
Bògòlanfini or bogolan (; "mud cloth"; sometimes called mud-dyed cloth
[ or mud-painted cloth][ in English) is a handmade ]Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
an cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud. It has an important place in traditional Malian culture
The culture of Mali derives from the shared experience, as a colonial and post-colonial polity, and the interaction of the numerous cultures which make up the Malian people. What is today the nation of Mali was united first in the medieval period ...
and has, more recently, become a symbol of Malian cultural identity
Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity (social science), identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, Locality (settlement), locality, gender, o ...
.[ The cloth is exported worldwide for use in fashion, ]fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...
and decoration.[
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Origins and etymology
The dye technique is associated with several Malian ethnic groups, but the Bamana version has become best known outside Mali. In the Bambara language
Bambara, also known as Bamana (N'Ko script: ) or Bamanankan (N'Ko script: ; Arabic script: ), is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 14 million people, natively by 4.2 million Bambara people and about 10 million ...
, the word ''bògòlanfini'' is a composite of ''bɔgɔ'', meaning "earth" or "mud"; ''lan'', meaning "with" or "by means of"; and ''fini'', meaning "cloth".[ Although usually translated as "mud cloth," ''bògòlan'' actually refers to slip clay with a high iron content. The iron in the clay will stain handspun and handwoven cotton textiles ]black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
.[
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Production
The center of bògòlanfini production, and the source of the highest quality cloth, is the town of San.[
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Traditional production
In traditional bògòlanfini production, men weave the cloth and women dye it. On narrow looms, strips of cotton fabric about wide are woven and stitched into cloths about wide and long.[
The dyeing (a "strange and cumbersome technique", according to Donne (1973)][) begins with a step invisible in the finished product: The cloth is soaked in a dye bath made from leaves of the ''n'gallama'' tree ('' Anogeissus leiocarpa'') that have been mashed, and then boiled or soaked. Now yellow, but not yet color-fast, the cloth is sun-dried and then painted with designs using a metal tool or wooden stick, and carefully and repeatedly applied to outline the intricate motifs. The paint is made from a specially selected mud, collected from riverbeds and fermented for up to a year in a clay jar. Because of a chemical reaction between the treated mud and the dyed cloth, the brown color remains after the mud has been washed off. Finally, the yellow ''n'gallama'' dye is removed from the unmarked parts of the cloth by applying soap or bleach, rendering the finished cloth white with dark marks where it was painted.][
After long use, the very dark brown color turns a variety of rich tones of brown, while the unpainted underside of the fabric retains a pale russet color.][
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Variants and modern production
Around Mopti
Mopti (Fulfulde: Mobti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confluence of the ...
and Djenné
Djenné (; also known as Djénné, Jenné, and Jenne) is a Songhai people, Songhai town and Communes of Mali, urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the ...
, a much simpler method is used by artists considered to be of inferior skill:[ The cloth is dyed yellow in ''wolo'' solution, made from the leaves of '']Terminalia avicennoides
''Terminalia avicennioides'' () is a tree species in the genus '' Terminalia'' found in West Africa.
Castalagin and flavogallonic acid dilactoneThe use of microfluorometric method for activity-guided isolation of antiplasmodial compound from p ...
'', and then painted over with black designs. The yellow is either removed, producing a stark black and white design, or painted a deep orange with a solution from the bark of ''M'Peku'' ('' Lannea velutina'').[
Based on these simplified techniques, as of around 2000 large quantities of bògòlanfini are being mass-produced for tourist and export markets. These fabrics use simpler designs, often applied by stencil, painted in black on a yellow or orange background. With this method, the cloth can be produced about six to seven times faster. The democratic reforms after the overthrow of Moussa Traoré in 1991 caused many young men to lose their previously guaranteed government jobs and scholarships. This led many to take up bògòlanfini production. Consequently, most cloth is now produced by men rather than women, and the traditional year-long apprenticeships have been replaced by short, informal training sessions.][
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Cultural significance
In traditional Malian culture, bògòlanfini is worn by hunters and serves as camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
, ritual protection, and a badge of status. Women are wrapped in bògòlanfini after their initiation into adulthood (which includes genital mutilation
Genital modifications are forms of body modifications applied to the human sex organs, human sexual organs, including invasive modifications performed through genital cutting or surgery. The term genital enhancement seem to be generally used for ...
) and immediately after childbirth, as the cloth is believed to have the power to absorb the dangerous forces released under such circumstances.[
Bògòlanfini patterns are rich in cultural significance, referring to historical events (such as a famous battle between a Malian warrior and the French), crocodiles (significant in Bambara mythology), and other objects, mythological concepts, or proverbs. Since about 1980, Bògòlanfini has become a symbol of Malian cultural identity and is being promoted as such by the Malian government.][
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Uses
Bògòlanfini has become a popular Malian export, notably to the United States. There, it is marketed as ''mud cloth'', either as a symbol of African American culture
African-American culture, also known as Black American culture or Black culture in American English, refers to the cultural expressions of African Americans, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. African-American/Bl ...
, or as a generically "ethnic" decorative cloth.[
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In fashion
In Mali, the cloth is worn by people of all ethnicities, including prominently in Malian cinema and by Malian musicians, either as an expression of national or ethnic identity or as a fashion statement. Particularly popular among young people, bògòlanfini is made into a wide range of clothes, including Western miniskirts and jackets as well as traditional flowing robes ('' boubous'').[
The Malian ]fashion designer
Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...
Chris Seydou has been credited with popularizing bògòlanfini in international fashion.[
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In art
Bògòlanfini is also produced as fine art by several Malian artists, notably by the ''Groupe Bogolan Kasobané Groupe Bogolan Kasobané is an artist collective from Mali, West Africa with a studio in Bamako and a gallery in Ségou. Innovators and pioneers in the bogolan fine arts movement, the Groupe traveled throughout Mali, researching the bogolan tradi ...
'', six artists collaborating since 1978. These paintings are produced with vegetable dyes and mud, but often feature designs unrelated to those of traditional fabrics; their newer motifs are also often found on clothing.[ Other notable creators include ]Nakunte Diarra
Nakunte Diarra (born c. 1941, died 7 May 2020) was a Malian textile artist known for her ''bògòlanfini''.
Life
Diarra first learned the basics of ''bògòlanfini'', or mud-dyeing, from her mother and grandmother when she was four years old. T ...
.[
Traditional bògòlanfini designs are also used for on a wide range of commercial products, such as coffee mugs, curtains, towels, sheets, book covers and wrapping paper.][
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogolanfini
African clothing
Textile arts of Africa
Culture of Mali