Special Workshop: Traditional Indigo Textile Dyeing from the Dogon Region in Mali

Learn the indigo textile dyeing tradition from the Dogon region in Mali, a world heritage site. Participants will learn how to fold and tie a woven cotton scarf and complete the dyeing process in an indigo dye bath. Once the cloth is dyed and rinsed, students remove the ties and hang the textile to dry. Participants leave with a scarf or personal textile. The instructor will also provide samples of handcrafted textiles produced using various dyeing methods such as stamped and traditional stitched designs and teach participants about the history of indigo and mud-cloth techniques in Mali. Richmond's sister city, Ségou, is in Mali where many of these traditions are practiced. This sister city connection is facilitated by Virginia Friends of Mali, a nonprofit that connects Mali to the United States.

Special Notes

• If this first session becomes full, please sign up for the waitlist, as we may be able to open another session after the first. All proceeds go to the coop to help cover costs of materials and their trip to the United Stated. They provide dye and materials, but participants can bring their own white cotton blend cloth like a t-shirt or scarf to dye. Item must be small-medium sized: placemat, napkin, t-shirt etc.
  
  
  Indigo Dogon project website: https://indigodogon.com/indigo-dogon-textile/
  
  
  Video: https://vimeo.com/536886891
  
  
  
  

About the Instructor

Mamoudou Nango

Mamoudou Nango is a master dyer and the founder and director of the Centre Indigo, a textile training center in the Bandiagara region of Mali, West Africa. He is also the president of the CAPID, a cooperative of indigo textile artisans in the Dogon region, with over 100 members.

He is an accredited tour guide and worked for many years as an information officer on gender with a focus on maternal health and the prevention of obstetrical fistula in his region.

Mamoudou comes from a long line of indigo dyers in his native Dogon Country. He started the cooperative to professionalize local indigo dyers and promote their craft in order to develop new products and open wider commercial markets for handcrafted indigo and mud-cloth textiles. He has organized numerous craft textile training workshops for women and youth in his region, with the support of a Swiss NGO, the European Union and the US Embassy in Mali. He collaborates frequently with Virginia Friends of Mali, a group representing the sister cities of Segou, Mali and Richmond, Virginia.

Mamoudou is fluent in French and several African languages, with limited knowledge of English. He will be accompanied on his trip to the US by his partner Erica Pomerance, a Canadian filmmaker.

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