A Closer Look at Bògòlanfini (Mud Cloth)

Bògòlanfini, popularly known as mud cloth, is made by the Bamana people of southwestern Mali. The Bamana are a village based society mainly consisting of farmers, though textile artists are one of many “craft castes” that one is born into. Cotton cloth woven into strips by men is decorated in symbolic geometric patterns by women by a several-stage discharge method using mud, bark and vegetable dyes. 

The many stages of dyeing and washing sets the pigment and traditionally was also seen as a way to imbue the cloth with protective power, known as nyama. The cloth was made as wrappers around five feet in length and wrapped around girls to protect them during their initiation ceremonies into adulthood. After this use, it would be presented to the girl’s elderly sponsor, who may be wrapped in at her death to contain the nyama released. Another traditional use was as tunics worn to protect hunters and warriors.

Bògòlanfini created international interest when it was introduced into the fashion design world in the early 1980s by young Malian designer Chris Seydou. Artists continue to update the tradition today, introducing more colors and larger, bolder designs for the local and international market.

I've kept some of the mud cloth as pure textiles, but have turned some into feather-filled pillows. See the entire bògòlanfini collection here.

A Closer Look at Kuba Cloth

Kuba applique cloth is a traditional royal textile from the Kuba kingdom of the east central Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the founding of the empire by the Bushoong people in the early 1600s, each new king would be responsible for introducing new patterns that were invented by, and named after designers, and was an honored achievement. Hundreds of royal patterns are known today and are collaboratively made.

Men weave raffia fiber on a loom and women applique cut shapes of raffia textile, tie-dye, or embroider fibers that are cut to create a cut-pile, velvety surface. The abstract shapes, arranged in bold designs, appear to be in a regular pattern, but actually embrace an asymmetrical composition. Similar patterns can be found on woven panels used in architecture, woven mats, and even carved wood objects such as court containers and masks. The British Museum has a wonderful example of a partially woven cloth pre-applique on a loom which you can see here.

The cloth was once only worn by members of the royal court for ceremonial events and would have been wrapped several times around the waist as a skirt, making the wearer appear larger than life as well as publicly announcing their status. Textiles are kept in the family treasury, used in gift giving, and presented at funerals for important members of the kingdom, and were traditionally used as currency.

Today, Kuba textiles are produced for local use, exported, sold to art collectors, and is heralded as one of the great international abstract art forms. To learn more about Kuba cloth and its history, check out the collection by The Metropolitan Museum of Art here. The Met shows various forms of the artwork, exhibitions and an art history timeline.

We have only one Kuba cloth in its original form as a textile in the shop. The others have been made into magnificent feather-filled pillows as you can see below. Click through to see the entire collection.

Tribal Art From Vietnam

There are 53 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam. During my recent visit there I put together a special group of my favorite paper masks from the shamans, new prints from old wood blocks, textile patches from the back of Dao women's coats and handwritten and illustrated book pages from Taoist shaman. They are all rich examples of a few of the tribal groups in Vietnam, showing their traditions have changed little in a century (as documented by comparing photographs taken a century apart) and in most cases many centuries....Here is a favorite spot I go to find these disappearing gems.

Shaman paper masks

Pages from Taoist Shaman book

Contemporary print from a Shaman's Buddhist stamp

Textile patches from the back of Dao women's coats

A journey through time...