43 x 67 in. | 109.2 x 170.2 cm.
Gift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art
(Charles Bird, professor of anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana); IMA (June 16, 1994).
Popularly known as mud cloths, these textiles are made up of narrow strips of hand-spun cotton woven by Bamana men. The term signifies the use of mud as the primary means of decoration. The drawing of the patterns, which involves a complicated process of using mud as a resist element, is performed by women. The patterns all have symbolic significance and help to identify the wearer’s status in society.
Bamana hunters wear tunics and wrappers made of fabrics decorated in the same technique. The tunics are often embellished with amulets believed to help protect the wearer from evil forces.
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