Michael Hili

ABOUBAKAR FOFANA MALI INDIGO is a series of documentary films about internationally-recognised natural dyer, artist, calligrapher and educator Aboubakar Fofana. It follows the undertaking of his life project to grow and dye with natural indigo in his birth place Mali, West Africa.

The project has two outcomes;
a series of short documentaries which will culminate in a feature length documentary.The documentary hopes not only to show the process and importance of natural indigo dying in Mali, but also to expose the incredible humans involved and the beautiful land on which they work and live.

The documentation will also  act as a case study to supply to other iniatives in West Africa, helping to support positive ventures in the region.


Natural dyeing using indigo leaves was once an economic mainstay in this part of West Africa. It was an integral cultural practice, the importance of which encompassed the span of a human life; from birth, to marriage, to death, and beyond. In the last 60 years, in the face of cheap cloth imports and the use of chemical dyes, traditional organic non-chemical indigo dyeing has completely disappeared. With it has disappeared a potential source of revenue for subsistence farmers and rural women. Along with this revenue source, the knowledge of how to cultivate and harvest indigo suitable for dyeing has also completely disappeared resulting in a reliance on chemical dyestuff which has associated environmental and health risks. Because natural Indigo no longer has any perceived value, the plant is no longer cultivated. It grows wild, but not in profusion as it once did.



Aboubakar's project has several intricately related aims. The project's primary aim is to assist in the rejuvenation of indigo: an ancient Malian cultural and economic mainstay. Firstly rural people will be taught the techniques of growing and harvesting the indigo plant. Using his thirty years of research Aboubakar will then pass on the knowledge of how to transform this plant into usable dyestuff. 
Alongside the indigo cultivation and harvesting, the project also aims to set up a small agricultural model farm.  The focus of the farm will be the rearing of animals, the cultivation of indigenous trees, local food crops and medicinal plants. The farm will in effect demonstrate a complex organic, agricultural ecosystem. The ecosystem will provide food for local people, produce indigo dyestuff and assist in maintaining biodiversity ultimately preserving a cultural heritage of this part of Mali.
Another aim of the project is to gain access to the international market for the sale of both indigo leaves and textiles. This will generate an ongoing income for the participants, helping to alleviate poverty by providing a viable income stream to local rural people, with an emphasis on women.



Documentation is an integral component of the project. It's purpose will be as a model to aid other organisations to achieve similar goals in this region. The documentation needs to be thorough and consistent for it to be assistive.
Due to a lack of resources there is currently no documentation of Aboubakar's project. This campaign hopes to raise funds to change this and allow textile documentary film maker Michael Hili to follow Aboubakar to Mali and document the beginning of this remarkable project. This crucial visit  will coincide with the planting of the first indigo crop and the digging of the first irrigation wells. The footage, interviews and research compiled from this visit will be used to apply for further funding to allow filming to continue into the project's future. Each visit to Mali will form a chapter of the process and will be edited into a short film. The chapters will be released to funders of the project shortly after each visit, inviting them to become a part of the project as it grows. The final compilation of the chapters will act as an educational resource and will also be edited into a feature length documentary. 



The documentation will be released via the internet and other media means, thereby helping to build support for the project and for the products which will result.
it is vital to show other communities that this model is possible, achievable and sustainable.
The majority of rural people in Mali and in this region of West Africa are illiterate. it is for this reason that video documentations is paramount.

The documentation will be accessible in English, French and Bambara languages.



Pozible video and document credits:
Francois Goudier, Michel Kempf and Doreen Hemp

Aboubakar Fofana

Contact and Follow

The pozible funds will form the budget for the first chapter of filming and editing. The resulting short documentary will be used to pursue further funding from arts and government bodies and broadcasters. Therefore the more we are able to crowd fund over the next few weeks the better resourced we will be to create a quality outcome and we will have a greater chance of securing further funding.

There are many challenges facing a project of this kind in Mali. They are well known and understood by all of the participants. The local knowledge and experience of the Key Players in this project is a strong foundation on which to build the success of the project. Environmental, political and cultural challenges will be met by the sensible application of experienced project management to local needs. It is necessary to document these challenges and their resolution if the outcome is to be useful as an educational model.