Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa (Catalog) [show prizes]
Title: Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
Author: Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Author: Chris Abani
Author: Robert Launay
Author: Ralph A. Austen
Author: Mamadi Dembele
Author: Ahmed Ettahiri
Author: Youssef Khiara
Author: Yousuf Abdallah Usman
Author: Cynthia Becker
Author: Ronald A. Messier
Author: Abdallah Fili
Author: Sam Nixon
Author: Mamadou Cisse
Author: Detlef Gronenborn
Author: Sarah M. Guerin
Author: Gianluca Pastorelli
Author: Marc Walton
Author: Abidemi Babatunde Babalola
Author: Mauro Nobili
Author: Raymond Silverman
Author: Gayla Ben-Arieh
Abstract: How West African gold and trade across the Sahara were central to the medieval world
The Sahara Desert was a thriving crossroads of exchange for West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in the medieval period. Fueling this exchange was West African gold, prized for its purity and used for minting currencies and adorning luxury objects such as jewelry, textiles, and religious objects. Caravans made the arduous journey by camel southward across the Sahara carrying goods for trade—glass vessels and beads, glazed ceramics, copper, books, and foodstuffs, including salt, which was obtained in the middle of the desert. Northward, the journey brought not only gold but also ivory, animal hides and leatherwork, spices, and captives from West Africa forced into slavery.
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time draws on the latest archaeological discoveries and art historical research to construct a compelling look at medieval trans-Saharan exchange and its legacy. Contributors from diverse disciplines present case studies that form a rich portrayal of a distant time. Topics include descriptions of key medieval cities around the Sahara; networks of exchange that contributed to the circulation of gold, copper, and ivory and their associated art forms; and medieval glass bead production in West Africa’s forest region. The volume also reflects on Morocco’s Gnawa material culture, associated with descendants of West African slaves, and movements of people across the Sahara today.
Featuring a wealth of color images, this fascinating book demonstrates how the rootedness of place, culture, and tradition is closely tied to the circulation of people, objects, and ideas. These “fragments in time” offer irrefutable evidence of the key role that Africa played in medieval history and promote a new understanding of the past and the present.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/caravans-of-gold-fragments-in-time-art-culture-and-exchange-across-medieval-saharan-africa/oclc/1032654614&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: The worldcat.org record for the exhibition companion publication.
Secondary URL: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14202.html
Secondary URL Description: Princeton University Press page describing the book and offering point of sale.
Catalog Type: Exhibition Catalog
Publisher: The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, in association with Princeton University Press
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa (Exhibition) [show prizes]
Title: Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
Curator: Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Abstract: Caravans of Gold is the first major exhibition addressing the scope of Saharan trade and the shared history of West Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe from the eighth to sixteenth centuries. Weaving stories about interconnected histories, the exhibition showcases the objects and ideas that connected at the crossroads of the medieval Sahara and celebrates West Africa’s historic and underrecognized global significance.
Caravans of Gold draws on recent archaeological discoveries, including rare fragments from major medieval African trading centers like Sijilmasa, Gao, and Tadmekka. These “fragments in time” are seen alongside works of art that invite us to imagine them as they once were. They are the starting point for a new understanding of the medieval past and for seeing the present in a new light.
Presenting more than 250 artworks spanning five centuries and a vast geographic expanse, the exhibition features unprecedented loans from partner institutions in Mali, Morocco, and Nigeria, many of which will be seen in North America for the first time.
The Block Museum exhibition will travel to The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (Sept. 21, 2019 – Feb. 23, 2020) and then to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute (April 8 – Nov. 29, 2020)
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/2019/caravans-of-gold,-fragments-in-time-art,-culture,-and-exchange-across-medieval-saharan-africa.html
Primary URL Description: Exhibition page on organizing museum's website.
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa (Companion Website) (Web Resource)
Title: Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa (Companion Website)
Author: The Block Museum of Art
Abstract: Here you will find in-depth information about the Caravans of Gold exhibition, including images and information about key objects and artworks from the exhibition, interviews with experts, and resources to support teaching and learning.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://caravansofgold.org/
Primary URL Description: Companion website for Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Saharan Africa.
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa (PWA) (Web Resource)
Title: Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa (PWA)
Author: Dr. Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Author: Sarah M. Estrela
Author: Melanie Garcia Sympson
Author: Chris Diaz
Author: Emily Andrey
Author: Lois Biggs
Author: Meghan Clare Considine
Author: Brian Rogers Cook
Author: Zoe Detweiler
Author: Brianna Heath
Author: Nicholas Liou
Author: Mina Milaz
Author: Joely Simon
Author: Cindy Qian
Author: Elizabeth Zhang
Abstract: A digital project exploring the global reach of medieval Saharan exchange from the eighth to sixteenth centuries.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://caravans.library.northwestern.edu/
Primary URL Description: This website presents a condensed digital version of the exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa and highlights some of the important objects that were featured in it. Organized by The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, the exhibition was on view from January 26 through July 21, 2019. The exhibition was also presented at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada (Sept. 21, 2019–Feb. 23, 2020) and the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. (TBD, Fall 2020–21).
Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Africa: A Teacher's Guide (Web Resource)
Title: Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange Across Medieval Africa: A Teacher's Guide
Author: Lauren C. Watkins
Author: Amy Settergren
Author: Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Author: Melanie Garcia Sympson
Author: América Salomon
Abstract: The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is proud to announce the publication of a Teacher’s Guide and a list of Recommended Resources to support educators in teaching about the history of medieval West Africa and its resonances today. The packet, accessible to a non-specialist audience, can be used alongside the touring exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time or independently with online materials. This free collection of activities, lessons, and further readings is intended to support students by helping them:
- Make connections between the past and the present
- Critically examine history
- Shape perceptions of Africa and expand their worldview
The Teacher’s Guide begins and ends with a series of activities to contextualize the Caravans of Gold story and to help students understand what is at stake in learning this history. Individual lessons explore different facets of the story through key objects and case studies. We offer prompts for looking closely at objects, and we share background information that can help teachers and students learn more about medieval trans-Saharan trade. The Recommended Resources document contains resources for extending your exploration.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://nublockmuseum.blog/2020/05/20/now-available-k-12-teachers-resource-guide-for-caravans-of-gold-fragments-in-time/
Secondary URL: https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/caravans-of-gold-fragments-in-time-art-culture-and-exchange-across-medieval-saharan-africa/teachers-guide/