Dyeing

African people like colors in their clothes that for Europeans may seem unusual and sometimes too bright. However, traditional ways and styles of dyeing in Africa are very diverse, and some of them have gained popularity outside the continent. These are, in the first place, bogolan and kente.

The word bogolan comes from the Bamana language and means “made of clay”. Cotton fabric made of thin strips (woven on a traditional loom) is soaked in a decoction of the anogeis tree leaves, after which it becomes yellowish. Then the fabric is dried in the sun, and a layer of dark clay is spread over it, after which it is dried again. When, afterwards, the fabric is washed in water, the extra clay is washed away, but the dark color remains. Then other coloring agents can be applied, and the spots that have to remain light are treated with acrid soap or Javel water. The bogolan technique is used by the Bamana, Maninka, Dogon and Senufo people, but each of these groups have their own set of patterns and ornaments. The Bamana people prefer geometrical patterns, while the Senufo people depict fearful large-toothed birds, “angels” with spears and houses with gabled roofs. Nowadays, the Bambara people rarely wear clothes made of bogolyan as it is associated with paganism, but it is very popular with tourists.

Kente is the fabric of the Akan people and is vowen on a manual loom. It used to be made of raffia palm fibers, but now cotton thread is preferred. Clothes made of kente are worn on grand occasions, and the patterns are selected with care – each type of dyeing corresponds to its own symbolism.

Even manufactured fabrics with labels “Made in India” have very specific African patterns in Africa. Africans themselves explain this simply – the fabric is made on local manufacturing plants, and the label is used so that it is more popular with customers.

One does not often see people dressed in   bogolan mud cloth in the capital.  Mali. The Bamana. Ye. V. Perehvalskaya. 2005		When cloth is starched, it is beaten with mauls to make them shine. Bamako. Perekhvalskaya E., 2005.