Like her grandmother before her, Diarra taught mud-dyeing to her granddaughter, and, in a modern twist, also began teaching the craft to men, including her son.
Older, more traditional patterns she has dubbed "Bamalan," and newer designs she calls "Mali," in reference to her (and her country's) independence.
Then, men stripweave the cloth on narrow looms; in Diarra's case, it is her husband that makes the cotton strips and then weaves them into a piece of fabric.
[7] In 1993, 30 of Diarra's works were displayed in a single-artist exhibition organized by the Indiana University Art Museum that also traveled to the Fashion Institute of Technology and beyond.
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.
[15] Diarra was the subject of My Baby,[16] 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.