The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2025

Wrapper (tafè): Surakamuso Kunkoro Talan (The Mauritanian Woman’s Head Pillow)

1988
(Malian, c. 1941–2020)
Mali
Cotton and dye
Overall: 108.6 x 142.9 cm (42 3/4 x 56 1/4 in.)
Gift of Barbara G. Hoffman and Michael R. Short 2016.49
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Diarra preferred to paint her textiles by bracing the fabric over half of a calabash gourd, while her younger students often used tables.

Description

This contemporary bògòlanfini (mud/clay cloth) is composed of 12 cotton strips sewn together and dyed. Typically, men weave the cloth, while women decorate it using a resist method. They bathe the cloth with an organic yellow or red dye fixative (a mordant), then paint on fermented mud; finally, a caustic solution “discharges” the mud-dye from the unpainted areas. This cloth’s dominant pattern is Surakamuso Kunkoro Talan, which alludes to leather head pillows Mauritanian women carried. The pattern is associated with wealth and femininity. While Nakunte Diarra created this wrapper for display, Bamana men and women in Mali historically wore bògòlanfiniw for special events or professions, or to express identity.
  • 1988
    The textile was acquired directly from Nakunte Diarra in Kolokani, Mali
    1988-2016
    Barbara G. Hoffman and Michael R. Short, Cleveland Heights, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2016-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Aherne, Tavy D. Nakunte Diarra, Bògòlanfini Artist of the Beledougou. Bloomington [Ind.]: Indiana University Art Museum, 1992. p. 43, no,. 22
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Wrapper (tafè): Surakamuso Kunkoro Talan (The Mauritanian Woman’s Head Pillow)|url=false|author=Nakunte Diarra|year=1988|access-date=25 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.49