[treches] ,

teachings in Mali:

mudpainting

(and indigo-blue)

     
I was in Mali in february 2009, and learned how to make
the classic "mudpainting" (=bogolan). 		First, the fabric is dyed using local plants and herbs. Mud are mixed with the dye to set the colour. (This is green) Here's me trying out: stencils are used to make a pattern, the paint are the colour "chocolate" (mixed with mud of course). It looks just grey while it is drying...

But when the mud is washed out, the colours appear!
(this pattern means "king"..)

Here's the tree which the bark for the "chocolate" colour comes from. This is some leaves that are used to make a yellowish green. And they can be used for cooking to! Dyeing the king-pattern-patch green was not really such a good idea.. Here's something else: natural indigo-dyeing! Made in a set-back village in (under) the Bandiagara Escarpment. The blue comes from the indigo-flower, here dryed and packed into a ball for me to bring home. On the left is natural sodium carbonate made from mud, for fixing the colour. To create the traditional patterns the fabric is folded and sown before the dyeing. Quite like tie-die..! The result might look like this. (The fabric is also handspun and handwoven in the village!) ..and here's a baby-camel! ... :)