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indigo cloth

Item: Indigo cloth Bankass

Size: 152 x 112 cm

Weight: 400 g

Material: Handspun and handwoven cotton, dyed with natural indigo (bleeds)

Price: € 35.00 (£ 27.00)

Item number: B 01 003

Delivery time: 1 - 2 weeks

Item: Indigo cloth Sangha

Size: 130 x 110 cm

Weight: 400 g

Material: Handspun and handwoven cotton, dyed with natural indigo (bleeds)

Price: € 45.00 (£ 35.00)

Item number: B 01 002

Delivery time: 1 - 2 weeks

Our indigo textiles have been sewn and dyed by Binta Balam from Sangha, Mali.

Indigo from West Africa

Indigo dyeing was known in Africa hundreds of years before the technique reached Europe from India. The leaves of Indigofera tinctoria, a shrub growing 150 cm tall, produce the best blue colouring of all plants. In Africa as elsewhere, synthetic indigo has largely taken over, but some natural indigo is often added in the dye because of its superior colour properties. Natural indigo can be recognised by its sweet scent.  

When dyeing using natural indigo, leaves are soaked in water and fermented for days before lye is added. Strips of cloth or whole sheets of cloth, stitched or tied together to produce patterns, are then soaked in the green dyeing solution. The cloth is dried, turning blue as a result of the contact with oxygen. The process is repeated several times. If it has been carried out properly, very little dye will come out after a few washes. Washing with salt or vinegar makes the indigo more colourfast.

The Soninké people, an ethnic group principally found in Mali and Senegal, spread the art of dyeing with indigo all over West Africa. Outside the Soninké community, dyeing is a task for women only. Today, the Futa Jallon hills of Guinea is the regional centre for indigo dyeing. In Guinea, however, most of the cloth used for dyeing is damask cotton imported from Europe. After dyeing, this elegant bazin cloth is beaten with wooden clubs to produce a shine.

In the Dogon country in Mali, however, the locally grown cotton is spun by hand (by women) then woven (by men) in 15 cm broad strips, which are sewn together (by men) into pagnes of 120 x 170 cm, either before or after dyeing. Traditionally, one of the pagnes serves as a skirt and the other as a top.

Weaving holds a special place in Dogon culture. Just as weaving means creating something new, speech is considered weaving the world. These two sacred arts were bestowed onto humanity at the same time.