By CAROLYN WARFIELD
Alts Corrflspondflnt
BELEDOUGOU - Unlik the
mud cloth bogol nfini produced
in the urrounding a s of San,
Mopti, Dogon country (Bandi
gara to Douentza) and Djenne,
th fin t d ign work i done in
Beledougou in central Mali, a
center for rna terful bogolanfini
produc .
Mud cloth is thought to have
originat d in Beledougou,
spreading throughout w t-een
tral and north a tern Mali. The
entire dye and design p is
done by women and is a lucra
tive village enterprise.
As a cultural crossroads of
West Africa, Mali is approxi
mately the size of Texas and
California combined. It is situ
ated between the Arba world to
the north and the Black African
n tio to th \l h. T eoun
try a range ofclimat ,ve -
tation and a variety of ethnic
groups.
Situated near the Bani River
between Djenne and San, the
village of Beledougou, orne 90
miles north of Kolokoni, i the
home ofNakunte DiaIT ,a third
gener tion B mb ra mud clo h
specialist. B ledougou w on
of the la t region to resi t
French military occup tion and
pursuant colonization that be
gan in 18 0 until independen
in 1960.
ALTHOUGH THE Bam
bara are primarily agricultural
ists, groups within the i ty
are hunters, traders and craft
speople.
Diarra provide an opportu-
nity to the evolution of b th
an artist and an art form.
"Bogolanfini i a woman' 1 e
sponsibility," Diarra remarks.
"In a village where ev ryon is
Bambara, it is n ary to hav
bogolan, This ancient and vi
brant living art form is ev r
changing yet reflecting the con
tinuity of historical tradition."
The cloth i indigenous to th
countrysid where cotton grow
locally and' combed and pun
into thread by women. Male
weavers convert th thread into
narrow strip of plain white cot
ton which it is sold in rolls at til
market.
Extensiv fi Id re earch con-
�unte Diarra stands in front of
"Tapis", a 'display cloth (1992) by N.
Diarra. Beledougou, Mali, mud dye on
cotton cloth. (photo by Mlch el cavanagh and
ducted by art historian P cal
Imperato and photographic re-
earcher Marli Shamir verified
the mud dyeing process mis
taken a a di charge dyeing
techniqu combined with resist
methods.
THE UNIQUE MANNER of
applying mud dye to cloth has
distinguished bogolanfini from
other drawn and painted design
methods found in African tex
tiles.
Perception of Nakunte
Diarra at a recent point in her
40-year car r is based in large
part on the research undertaken
in 1 92 by Julianne Short and
Tavy Aherne, two Ph.D. candi
dat at Indiana University
which r ulted in a traveling ex
hibition with an interactive
vid sponsored by the Univ r-
ity' Mu urn.
Most rec ntly, D' rra's
h ndiwo t t h
ion Institute of Technology in
New York. Through December
31 her xquisite d igns can be
n at the Indi inapolis Mu
urn of Art.
During the dry season, a pe-
riod that extends from October
to May, when the demands of
farming are least expected,
Diarra gathers enough mud
from a stream bed to last the
three months of rain. Once the
mud is taken, it is fennented for
12 months.
Time consuming
technique
neously, completing a textile in
two weeks.
Bogolanfini is done in tai
lored or flat rectangular pieces.
In its finished state it is made
into men and women's clothing
or other utilitarian articles. Not
only is this textile used for Bam
baran ce monial occasions, it
has influenced' Western haute
COUtUl and interior design.
Design aesthetics
In Mand culture, otericde
sign patterns are ideographic to
convey the importance of racy
and guarded word. According to
art historian David Dalby, the
Bambara employ two graphic
systems for mystic and ritual
purpo which a not u for
secular communication. Usually
the cloths are named based on
the artist' intention when sh
ex ut motif pi cern nt.
Meanings and nam may
vary from on a and from art
ist to art' t usceptible to cur
rent ev nts and changing
conc rn . D ign ab tractions
nd naming re d rived from
utilitarian objects, daily and his
torical ev nts, flora nd fauna,
cultural h rand prov rbial
cod of conduct. .
On popular folk hero i
Koumi Di who led n unsuc-
sfu] volt gainst th French
in 1915 nd w killed ina b ttl
with th Fr nch garrison from
K i om d ign ncode
knowl r o�iza I only to
ce pi whil oth a
pur ly d r tive ubj to in i-
vidual pr f and tl
Use
man development cycle of birth
initiation, marriage and death:
Distinguishable in gray, red,
black and white, each color coin
cides with a spectfic ritual ass0-
ciation. Hunters wear gray 88
camouflage. Red is worn by both
hunters and herdsmen.
White is the most commonly
worn cloth by both genders.
Young women adorn this color
during excision rites. A new
bride embellishes it at the time
h leaves her family to live with
her husband. White marks the
rrival of th first born, is used
to wrap the infant and is kept as
a shroud to cover the mother at
death.
State of the art