Cloth (bogolanfini)

Bamana women of Mali in western Africa are famous for a unique textile known as mud cloth, or bogolanfini. The plain cotton cloth is woven by men, and the design applied by women. The cloth is first immersed in a dye bath made of boiled leaves, which causes the fabric to turn yellow. The surface of the cloth is then painted with fermented river mud that reacts with the dye to bring about a dark color. Bogolanfini is historically rooted in the religious and social practices of Bamana society. For example, the mud cloth skirt worn during a girl’s initiation ceremony was also worn when her marriage was consummated. Male hunters wore bogolanfini tunics, designed with symbolic motifs and covered with amulets, to demonstrate power. Today, new varieties of bogolanfini are produced as tourist merchandise. The recent resurgence of bogolanfini has evolved into a symbol of Malian identity.