Apollo Magazine

Bamana Mud Cloth: From Mali to the World

The Dallas Museum of Art explores the symbolism of the intricately patterned cloths known as ‘bogolanfini’

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

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

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.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here  

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

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

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

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

Recommended for you

From baptisms to boat burnings, life along the Thames is full of surprises

With an eye for ritual, the photographer Chloe Dewe Mathews celebrates an unfamiliar vision of the river

Judging by his Old Masters, Norton Simon had a better eye than J. Paul Getty

Nicholas Penny’s survey of 17th- and 18th-century Italian paintings in the Norton Simon Museum reveals the astute figure behind the collections

Glasgow must not forget its greatest architect

In his bicentenary year, the Scottish architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson should be getting more attention
Exit mobile version