African bogolans

The bogolon or bogolan is a textile dyed by hand in West Africa, mainly wooven in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The term "bogolan" originates in the Bambara language of the biggest ethnic group in Mali, in which the word "bogo" means "earth" and "lan" means "with".

Bogolan's fabric

The fabric of bogolan is a coarse cotton fabric, spun and woven in a dozen centimeters band over a length of several meters. These bands are dyed after a first sewn edge to edge to form pieces of cloth of varying dimensions.

Bogolan dyeing technique

After a basic dye obtained from ocher earth, tissues are again worked with dyes or mineral plant decoctions obtained from leaves or bark of trees crushed and mixed with potash or soda.

The fabrics are then richly decorated and used locally to make warm clothing, most famous of them all the traditional Dogons clothes. In Europe you use bogolans most often as decorative draperies or rugs.

Africouleur markets bogolans of various sizes, mainly large pieces of 3m by 1m30.