MUD CLOTH - also called 'bogolan' - is one of Africa's most unusual textiles. Narrow strips of handwoven cotton are stitched together into a whole cloth, then painted with patterns and symbols using a variety of natural dyes, including leaves tree branches and river mud. Some areas are painted with a bleach and the cloth is left to dry in the sun for a week. When the bleach solution is washed off with water, what remains is the characteristic white pattern on a dark background