Nakunte Diarra

Nakunte Diarra (born c. 1941, died 7 May 2020) was a Malian textile artist known for her bògòlanfini.

Life Diarra first learned the basics of bògòlanfini, or mud-dyeing, from her mother and grandmother when she was four years old. but traveled twice to the US to give workshops and demonstrations of her technique.

Works Diarra is a textile artist known for her bògòlanfini, or mud cloth. While the popularity of mudcloth and the international market for it has led to a simplification of traditional techniques in pursuit of mass production, even among artisans, Diarra works in the traditional Beledougou style, which is distinct from the mud-cloth traditions of the Dogon people in Mali and from mud-cloth traditions in Côte d'Ivoire. The textile, especially in its traditional form, is seen as a symbol of Malian cultural identity, and it is this that Diarra embraces in her work.

Diarra's work is known for its near-black color, which she achieves by using iron-rich mud from a particular stream near her village: with it, she is able to achieve sharp contrast and clarity in her designs.

The process of creating these bògòlanfini is highly demanding, both in time and physical labor. Each piece can take between two weeks and two months to finish. in conjunction with the exhibition of her work there and at the Cleveland Museum of Art. From Cleveland, the exhibition traveled to the Indianapolis Art Museum. Nine years later, she was a member of the artistic delegation sent by the Malian government to represent the art of bògòlanfini at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2003. and of a DVD produced by Dr.Barbara G. Hoffman in 2005. Two pieces by Diarra were commissioned for the collection of the Indiana University Art Museum, while other cloths are in the collections of the National Museum of African Art, the National Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Newark Museum of Art and the National Museum of Mali. Diarra was the subject of My Baby, a children's book by Jeanette Winter, featuring a fictional account of the Malian artist as she created mudcloth during her pregnancy for her own child.