The markets in Mali are filled with textiles of all sizes, shapes and colors!
Batiks here are made only with wooden stamps and tjanting tools of any kind are non-existent. The result is patterned fabric used for clothing and wax resist paintings such as these are imported from Guinea or Senegal and not made here in Mali.
This country is instead famous for Bogolanfini cloth which contrary
to popular belief, is painted with a type of clay, not mud.
I know I sound like a broken record, but it really is such a small world after all! Through Robin Paris (my teacher in the U.K.), I contacted Jim Barry, (a batik artist who visits Mali regularly) who proceeded to introduce me to Janet Goldner who just so happens to be friends with Nia Flym and Agus Ismoyo (the couple I studied with in Indonesia) and is also co-writer of the grant that sponsored their collaboration with a group of Bogolan artists here in Mali! Amazingly, both Jim and Janet are also in Mali for the summer and I was lucky enough to meet them both during my first week here in the capital city of Bamako. With Janet’s help, I have arranged to spend a week in the city of
Segou with the
Bogolan Kasovane artist group - 6 artists responsible for bringing Bogolan into the international art scene. Jim Barry’s knowledge of Indigo dyers in
Dogon Country gave me the perfect excuse to visit this spiritual place noted for the villages perched on cliff sides. I can’t wait to get started!
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