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Apollo
Art Diary

Bamana Mud Cloth: From Mali to the World

5 November 2021

The Bamana people of Mali have been making intricately patterned mud cloths, or bogolanfini, for centuries, using an elaborate and labour-intensive process of baking fermented mud into woven cotton. This display at the Dallas Museum of Art (13 November–4 December 2022) explores the wide range of symbolic meanings bogalanfini patterns hold among the Bamana, while also looking at the influence they have exerted on global fashion since the 1970s, when the Malian designer Chris Seydou introduced them on the catwalks of Paris. Find out more from the DMA’s website.

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Bogolanfini (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali.

Bogolanfini cloth (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali. Dallas Museum of Art

Bogolanfini (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali.

Bogolanfini cloth (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali. Dallas Museum of Art

Bogolanfini (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali.

Bogolanfini cloth (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali. Dallas Museum of Art

Bogolanfini (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali.

Bogolanfini cloth (1970–79), Bamana peoples, Mali. Dallas Museum of Art