Mali - Bogolan Mud cloth Exhibition

This exhibition was produced in partnership with the Arts Council, Oxfam and Christian Aid as an educational tool, in celebration of global cultural heritage and in solidarity with the people of Mali.

The exhibition is comprised of 24 A1 size, full colour laminated panels and is available to buy or hire

Clicking on an image will open a 600 * 840 version, (approx 60kb) in a new window.
Contact
To hire this exhibtion: contact education officer Barbara Lowe

To buy a copy of this exhibition:
contact educational resources manager Dave Richards

Few people outside Africa can readily locate Mali on a world map, but most would recognise the name Timbuktu.

This ancient Saharan city was once the centre of a powerful empire, one in a succession which ruled much of West Africa for many centuries. It is another paradox that prosperous empires flourished throughout most of the last thousand years in what is now one of the poorest regions of the world. The prosperity of former Malian empires is no accident of history. Although the country is totally landlocked, it contains three important rivers – the Niger, the Senegal and the Bani. To the north of these rivers lies the Sahara Desert, which brought wealth to Mali as the crossroads of trans-Saharan trade.

Play sound clip

Ali Farka Toure:	1. Heygana
	2. Biennial

Ali is one of Mali's leading international music stars and an exponent of a form of traditional Malian music that is regarded as the root of contemporary Blues, Gospel and Soul. These sometimes haunting melodies and rythyms were exported to the americas via slavery and now permeate modern popular music.

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Bogolan, or bogolanfini, is a Malian textile that has grown and evolved from its traditional base in the Bamana and other Malian cultural groups to play a significant part in the artisan culture of Mali. It also influences textile design internationally and acts as a representation of African cultural identity and symbolism. In Bamako, the capital of Mali, bogolan has, in the past decade, been the object of dramatic, stylistic, and functional innovations at the hands of Malian artists and art merchants. Although the distinctive patterns may be familiar to people internationally, few are aware of its origins, its rich history, and its important role in the lives of innumerable Malians. The cloth's many incarnations in Bamako and abroad encompass every aspect of the global economy, in which African art now circulates. Bogolan is also global in its symbolic reach, its story a dramatisation of the changing role of tradition, authenticity and identity in contemporary urban Africa.

The evolution of Bogolan
Bogolan is profoundly embedded in traditional Malian practices, worn during Bamana women's initiation ceremonies and used by hunters as spiritually charged protective garments. In villages where the cloth is still made for local consumption, bogolan is woven by men and decorated by women using symbolic patterns that refer to Bamana history and mythology. Today in Bamako, bogolan dyes made of carefully prepared mixtures of earth, leaves and bark are used to paint elaborately detailed landscapes, images from Malian history, and abstractions. The cloth is also fashioned into flowing robes as well as Western-style miniskirts, and quickly produced versions of bogolan are sold by the hundreds in tourist markets in Mali and abroad. In addition, bogolan's adaptations to European and American markets exemplify its role in the recent celebration of multiculturalism. In its many incarnations, bogolan provides a fascinating illustration of the role of art in identity politics, its meanings shifting with the same fluidity as its forms.

Bogolanfini, like any language, is a text that can be read if one learns its vocabulary. Many of the motifs have direct referents, including objects (drums, cushions or houses), locations (streams, hills and towns), animals and historical events. Many designs have more complicated, historical or proverbial meanings beneath the basic identification of a motif’s referent. Medicinal knowledge, historical facts and moral precepts for correct behaviour are all coded into bogolanfini designs.

Although men weave the cloth from which bogolanfini is made, women do the work that transforms it into a distinctly Malian art form, for they gather, process, and apply mineral and vegetable pigments to create its colours and patterns. Rural women learn the technique from older female relatives, observing and later assisting in the creation of the cloth. Because the lives of women are filled with responsibility for children, tending gardens and fields, and household chores, bogolanfini is generally produced during the dry season, when farming responsibilities are temporarily suspended. Older women, past their childbearing years and relieved of some responsibilities by their now-grown children or by their increased frailty, may have the time and the talent to devote to bogolanfini production. It offers a rare opportunity for elderly women to continue to contribute to their families’ economic well-being.

See part two of the Bogolan mudcloth exhibition