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Bogolan mud cloth

Also known as Bogolanfini

Bogolan is a hand-woven cotton cloth of Mali that is dyed pale yellow with leaves, painted in fermented river mud, and then washed so that the painted lines turn dark brown. The ground between the motifs is lightened afterwards, leaving dark bands of zigzags, checks and dots on a cream cloth.

Play the previewAbout this tradition
Bogolan mud cloth: photograph by BluesyPete
Photo: BluesyPete, CC BY-SA 3.0, source on Wikimedia Commons
Bogolan mud cloth: the game in attract modeLive previewPlay

Runs in your browser, works offline once loaded.

How to play

  1. Pick a mud colour and a painted shape from the tray under the cloth.
  2. Touch a square to paint it: the same shape appears on the matching squares across the cloth, because the bands repeat left to right and top to bottom.
  3. Copy the small cloth shown above, then press Check.
Rules at a glance
  • The cloth repeats left to right and top to bottom, so each square you paint is copied to its three partners.
  • A square counts only when its shape and its colour both match the target.
  • Three stars need a nearly perfect copy; you can undo or clear as often as you like.

About the tradition

Bogolan is made in Mali, with the town of San known for the finest cloth. Men weave the narrow strips and sew them into cloths, and women dye and paint them; today both women and men work as painters and artists.

Origins

A living tradition passed from person to person; it is not tied to a single dated origin. It belongs to the cultural world of Africa: Sahel, West and Central.

Credits

Sources

Get the app

Bogolan mud cloth is one of 20 paper and paint crafts in the Paper & Paint of the World app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Submitted to the App Store and Google Play; in review. Store links appear here the day it goes live. One app, many traditions, no account needed.

See all 20 paper and paint crafts in the app

In review on theApp StoreIn review on theGoogle Play

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