Bogolan (bogolanfini) African mud cloth is a traditional fabric from Mali
The cotton is usually grown on small farms using simple and labour intensive methods.
After the weaving, mainly by use of hand looms, the strips of about 15 cm are stitched together into a whole cloth.
The cloth is soaked in a bath of dye made from tree leaves. After drying in the sun the cloth is then painted with mud in various designs and colours by using sticks.
This mud is collected from the river Niger during dry season and fermented in a clay jar for up to a year.
Due to a chemical reaction between the mud and the dyed cloth, the brown colour remains after the mud is washed off. Both the patterns and the colours used have a symbolic meaning,
