Mud cloth is a centuries-old, hand-dyed textile art that originated in West Africa with the women of Mali’s Bamana culture.
Mud cloth also is known as as “Bogolanfini.” In the Bambara language, Bogolanfini is made up of three words: Bogo, meaning “earth” or “mud,” lan, which means “with,” and fini, which translates to “cloth,” which is how the fabric gets its name.
Narrow strips of handwoven cotton are stitched together into a whole cloth, then painted with patterns and symbols using a variety of natural dyes, including river mud that has been aged for up to one year.
Authentic mud cloth takes two to three weeks to make by applying one to two coats of color-rich mud to undyed cloth. The patterns in the authentic creations often have names and meanings that are rich in history.
Before Europeans started trading manufactured cloth into Africa, indigo was one of the only dyes available for dyeing locally grown, handspun and handwoven cotton cloth.
We will have some Mud printed throws at Bridport this Saturday
Trifle Bazaar 