Mali has a rich heritage of crafts, including textiles, hair decoration, and  wood-carving. Cinema and literature stand out among the country’s distinctive arts.

Mud architecture

Many Malian houses and even large buildings are built from mud bricks with mud-plastered walls. Larger structures, such as mosques have wooden supports built into them. The supports stick out, giving the appearance of spines.

The most famous mud building is the mosque at Djenné, a town built on an island in the Niger river. The current mosque was built on an old site in the early 1900s.