Mud cloth, Mali - 17.3

Bogolanfini — “mud cloth” — is a traditional handmade textile from Mali. In the Bamana language, bogo means earth or mud, lan means by means of, and fini means cloth.

Each cloth is hand-spun and hand-woven from local cotton on narrow strip looms, the strips then sewn together into a larger cloth. It is washed, sun-dried and soaked in a dye made from pounded local leaves. The designs are drawn by hand with a mud dye using a small bamboo or metal spatula, then washed and outlined again. The patterns and colours traditionally carry meaning tied to gender, social status and personal taste, so no two cloths are alike.

Size: approx. 160cm × 200cm.