Mali Mud Cloths [1]ArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba Stitch Resist
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat
Mali Mud Cloths

Mali Mud Cloths [1]
One of the best known types of cloth from Africa are the bogolanfini, the so-called mud cloths from Mali. Made by Bamana women to the north of Bamako, they are decorated with geometric patterns in white on a black background. This work is carried out on locally stripwoven cotton cloth to make hunter's shirts and women's wraps.

The cloth is first soaked in a mulch of leaves from local trees such as Anogeissus (n'galman) and Combretum glutinosum (n'tjankara), which contain the mordant tannin that dyes it in a deep-urine yellow. Designs are drawn in outline on the cloth in river mud that has been kept for one year or more and is rich in iron salts. The remainder of the cloth is then carefully covered with the mud around the outlined motifs, using a blunt knife, spatula or even toothbrush. The iron oxide in the mud reacts with the tannic acid in the cloth to produce a color-fast black ground for the design. Finally, the mud is washed off and the remaining yellow areas are bleached white with a mixture of millet bran and peanuts and the active ingredient, caustic soda. The whole process may be repeated several times to deepen the shade of black.

Bogolanfini were traditionally worn by hunters, pregnant or menstruating women or anyone in danger of losing blood. They are protective cloths, keeping away threatening evil spirits, who are meant to be confused by the meandering patterns or the close weave of the fabric, and are thus unable to penetrate the wearer's body, but go away without causing any harm. First made commercially for an international film festival at the Malian capital of Bamako in the 1970s, they generated a Pan-African, then worldwide demand. Production is centred on the town of Segui, north of Bamako. There is a large export market to the United States for those concerned with 'black consciousness.'

Bogolanfini mud cloth made by the Bamana of Mali. The dense apllication of iron-rich mud to the tannin-mordanted cotton cloth results in an intricate negative pattern of exposed bleached areas.

Bamana Bogolanfini mud cloth from Segui, Mali. The meandering patterns are designed so that any threatening spirits will become disorientated and not penetrate the body of the vulnerable wearer.

Bogolanfini mud cloth made by Bamana of Mali.

Bogolanfini mud cloth made by the Bamana of Mali. These cloths have become symbolic of a Pan-African identity and are exported to Europe and America and other parts of Africa.

Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).