africa art
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201BamanaBogolan20.pdf
Global Contemporary: Mali
Traditional mudcloth: Bogolanfini Fine Art mud cloth: Bogolan Designer mudcloth: Bogolan Tourist mudcloth: Bogolan
Nakunte Diarra (1941-)
Chris Seydou (1949-1994)
Groupe Bogolan Kasobane
Traditional Bamana mudcloth : Bogolanfini Bogo is the Bamana word for mud and fini is the word for cloth. This is a very special kind of cotton
cloth that was traditionally dyed by Bamana women in the rural Beledougou region of Mali. The cloths were used as wrappers (skirts) for women, and for poncho-like garments for men. The
graphic design is one that emphasizes a sharp black and white contrast and a visual language of meaningful signs or symbols.
Mali is one of the biggest producers of cotton, much of
which is exported in its raw state. To make a bogolanfini wrapper,
the process begins with hand spun cotton thread spun by women.
The women take the thread to a weaver (always male, and usually working on commission) to be
woven into long strips. Another male cuts and sews the strips together to make the cloth.
1) white cotton cloth dyed with vegetal dye that turns the cloth a mustard yellow.
2) The yellow cloth is painted with mud. The mud is a special fermented mud taken from a pond. The women use a dry calabash gourd as a work surface.
3-4) the cloth is washed and another layer of mud is painted on.
Please note: the artists are actually painting the mud background to allow the white designs to stand out.
5) The cloth is washed again and bleach is carefully applied to the light areas
The desired effect is a clear white design on a deep brown/black background.
Bamana aesthetics: darkness/obscurity (dibi) and clarity (jayan)
Remember the chiwara and the boli? The Bamana traditionally have definite ideas about things that should aspire to clarity (jayan) and things that are supposed to be obscure and difficult to read (dibi). Bogolanfini is another example of Bamana desire
for graphic clarity, sharpness, readability.
Bogolanfini designs are an arcane visual language that refer to stories from the past, to proverbs
about proper behavior, to things in the environment (like the finials on
linguist staffs among the Asante).
In this photo taken in the 1980s, there are two young women wearing bogolanfini wrappers
and tunics
Typical bogolanfini tunic or poncho worn by men and sometimes by women
Nakunte Diarra (1941-) Is an accomplished mudcloth dyer who has
traveled several times to the states for workshops with students and museum audience. She was one of the artists
highlighted at the 2003 Folklife Festival in Washington DC (along with Jenne masons
and Dogon dancers).
New York Times, 1993, exhibition at FIT, NYC
This is Nakunte Diarra’s “signature” that she calls “finitri” from the French word for window (fenetre). When she came to the states in 1993, people asked her why she did not sign her work, but she is not literate, and so she invented this design based on
the multiple paned window at the home of anthropologist Barbara Hoffman in Cleveland.
Nakunte has taught her son to make bogolanfini the traditional way, except that he prefers the flat surface of a table.
Fine Art Bogolan
In the 1970s, a group of young Malian artists met at art school. They were looking for a way to celebrate Malian independence from France,
and they wanted to find an authentic Malian voice for their art, so they turned to mudcloth. They did extensive research with women to
learn the process, and then they incorporated it into their practice. They called themselves Groupe Bogolan Kasobane. Most Fine Art Bogolan is made by men, but there is one
female artist in the group.
GROUPE BOGOLAN KASOBANE Kandioura Coulibaly,
Kletigui Dembele, Boubacar Doumbia, Souleymane Goro, Baba
Keita, and Nene Thiam
Groupe Bogolan Kasobane “Mystery”
Groupe Bogolan Kasobane “Ashanti Fish”
Guimba the Tyrant (film by Malian filmmaker Cheick Oumar Sissoko) costumes and set designed by Groupe Bogolan Kasobane.
Mali Mode was a fashion show that took place at the Museum of Bamako, Mali in October 2008 in
conjunction with an exhibition of the same name. It features traditional and contemporary Malian
costumes and accessories by Kandioura Coulibaly and the Groupe Bogolan Kasobane.
(see link on Blackboard)
Remember the guy in the film Living Memory who said that Malian culture is best represented by clothing (not what he was wearing at the moment). This is what he was talking about.
2018 Retrospective Exhibition of Groupe Bogolan
Kasobane in Spain
MAY 3 - 29, 2018 CASA DE VACAS AT THE GARDEN BUEN RETIRO, MADRID, SPAIN
Groupe Bogolan Kasobane: The Art of Clay from Mali This exhibition of contemporary and traditional bogolan from Mali revolves around the contemporary
bogolan paintings of the Groupe Bogolan Kasobane and the ancient origins of the ancestral Malian technique as women’s work. The exhibition also includes works by other artists who have been
influenced by and collaborated with the Groupe. The show will introduce the Spanish public to the contemporary works of this group of pioneers in Mali who use this traditional technique to make
works of contemporary art. It is in memory of Kandioura Coulibaly.
Atelier Jamana “Communication”
1996
Sidicki Traore “Joy in the Village”
“Geometric Bogolan 1”
Ismael Diabate 2005
Other Fine Art Bogolan artists play with bogolanfini design structure, but also incorporate traditional symbols from
other cultural traditions in Mali (See Rovine article on Blackboard)
Designer Bogolan
Chris Seydou (1949-1994), Malian fashion designer, began using bogolan cloth in his designs
in the early 1990s, starting a trend. Like the young artists, the desire was to celebrate Malian
culture with an authentic Malian cloth.
See Rovine article on Blackboard
Tourist Bogolan The popularity of Bogolan among tourists and urban elite is reflected in the wide array of mudcloths
and mud cloth items in the markets in the capitol of Bamako and other urban centers, not only in Mali, but Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, even Ghana (where it competes with kente cloth).
Tourist bogolan tends to be much less precise, less clear, than traditional
bogolanfini. In many cases the designs are painted on directly as dark patters
on a white, ochre, or brown background.
It did not take long for the international market to recognize that this distinctive design would
appeal to a global market. The pattern of the sheets below is
immediately recognizable as derived from the original bogolanfini, but
now on Egyptian or Indian cotton, commercially printed.
International Bogolan
“Primitive Art … now a Modern Passion. Go Native with Best Prices in Town.”
Victoria Rovine talks about what happened with bogolanfini as a biography of a textile, one that originated
as a complicated dyeing technique with a very specific visual language made by a few Bamana women, to the urban markets of the capitol, and now a global design
phenomenon. If you recognize the original, then you can see how it has been transformed … This red sofa with red bogolan fabric was at a second hand shop in the Hamptons
a couple of years ago. The design is immediately recognizable, even though the color is red and off white.
And here is a bogolan chair for just $2800 … wow.
And perhaps one of the more ridiculous uses of bogolan: a
dog teepee!!!
Givenchy Diane von Furstenberg
And so it is not surprising that the fashion industry would jump on this trend …ethnic chic sells.
Oscar de la Renta 2008
Do you think it is okay for a big name Western fashion designer to make use
of bogolan in their work? Is it an honor? or a tribute? appropriation?
theft?
Converse
Liz Clairborne Ralph Lauren
Question: What do you think Nakunte Diarra would say about this mud cloth bathing suit? Appropriate? Appropriation? Authentic? Offensive? Whatever?
Kevan Hall Detroit Fashion
Designer
2008 “Safari
Collection”
Is it okay for an African American
fashion designer like Hall to turn to
Africa for inspiration?
Achk Kombana Fashion designer. “Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and a graduate of MassArt, Achk drew inspiration from both her African roots and European experience. Featuring native mud cloth, the collection combines bold African
patterns with shapes from imperialist-era England. Think high-neck gowns, puff sleeves and bustles.”
Is it okay for Kombana, who is from central Africa (DRC) to find inspiration in a Malian textile tradition because
they are both African?
Boston Fashion Week 2012
“Angela Davis” clutch purses by Dope catering to the African
American market
nakimuli.com Tenille McMillan Brooklyn NY
This one has both kente and bogolan
bogolan shorts
indigo blue bogolan(fini) design
Ruth Carter, costume designer, won the Oscar for her designs for Black Panther (2018) She drew on many different African traditions for her designs, including bogolan. T’challa
wore purplish bogolan shorts for the fateful fight scene with Killmonger. Check it out if you don't believe me. And the indigo design of his long vest is also based on bogolan.
I think the issue of appropriation is an important one. Artists draw on inspiration from many
different sources, and so they should. But I also think it is important to recognize the source,
and when possible buy responsibly. This particular company is based in Bamako, and supports nearly 300 artisans, including many women, who are able to work from home.
Dope on Arrival NYC
What’s new?
Bogolan face masks
