Like Senufo Korhogo cloth, Bogolanfini cloth is dyed with a type of iron-rich mud. Bogolanfini cloth differs from other mud cloths, however, in that the mud dyes are not only especially rich in minerals, but also fermented, and they therefore produce an especially deep brownish-black color. Bogolanfini cloth also differs in being made using a negative process. The designs are … [Read more...] about Bogolanfini Mud Cloth with Lines, Dots, and U shapes: Researched by Hannah Harmon
This cloth figure represents a 20th-century Ghanaian woman doing chores, sweeping up the mess that is in front of her. The most interesting aspect of this figure, however, is that she wears a dress and head covering of fabric printed to represent the famous Asante cloth known as Kente. Like the Korhogo cloth also in this exhibit, Kente cloth is one of the few textiles in … [Read more...] about Figure of a Sweeping Woman wearing Kente Cloth: Researched by Hannah Harmon
Korhogo mud cloth is one of the few African textiles that is produced by men. The cloths are made by painting iron-rich mud onto handmade panels of cotton cloth and then submerging the entire cloth into a dye made of boiled vegetation. The stylized images on the cloths are figures and animals that hold great symbolic meaning for the Senufo. The central figure on this cloth … [Read more...] about Korhogo Mud Cloth with Dancer and Two Birds: Researched by Hannah Harmon
From ancient times through today, African cultures have made beads of many different materials, including shells, seeds, bone, ivory, horn, clay, gourd, wood, rock crystal, iron, copper, brass, and gold. The widespread trade of colorful European glass seed beads, however, enabled African artisans to greatly expand traditional beadwork forms and designs, and they elevated this … [Read more...] about African Beadwork: Researched by Amanda Horned and Cortney Metzger
Basketry has developed in all parts of the world, and the objects produced reflect their uses, their meanings, and the cultures that made them. Traditional cultures use basketry to make nets and weirs for hunting and fishing, to hold and distribute seeds during planting, to gather crops during the harvest, to process foods and materials, to store and ferment, and to hold, … [Read more...] about African Basketry: Researched by Lindsay Werner, Caitlin Baker, and Randi Ryder