Exhibition of Tuareg Art to Open at National Museum of African Art

The first major exhibition in the United States to examine the historic and evolving culture and arts of the seminomadic Tuareg peoples of West Africa opens at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art Oct. 10. “Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World,” continues through Jan. 27, 2008.

Featuring the distinctive jewelry, clothing, leatherwork and other highly decorated items for which the Tuareg are famous, the exhibition considers the complexities of history, desert living and the ever-changing effects of globalization.

“This show presents another view of Africa—one unfamiliar, discrete, yet historically and culturally significant,” said Sharon F. Patton, director of the National Museum of African Art. “It represents a confluence of topography, culture and present time, an extraordinary feat for any art exhibition.”

Highlights

“Art of Being Tuareg” includes more than 200 works from public and private collections around the world, as well as documentary photographs, video footage and music. Highlights include:

§ Photographic portraits and first-person accounts that introduce visitors to what it means to be a Tuareg today

§ A goatskin tent, typical of the Tuareg nomadic lifestyle, displayed with carved tent poles, decorated screens, camel saddles, daggers, swords, leather bags, tools and musical instruments

§ Classical Tuareg silver jewelry, including a necklace made of silver crosses. Tuareg women once used this type of cross as a form of currency.

§ Video footage from a desert wedding showing the confluence of Tuareg culture past and present

§ A close look at one well-respected inadan (artist or smith) family in Niger, with a simulation of their workshop; a video shows the family making jewelry and provides insight into their lives.

§ A concluding display on the global marketplace for Tuareg art with Tuareg-produced and inspired works that are sold at Hermès and other exclusive boutiques in the United States and Europe

Educational Programs

The museum will offer a series of free educational activities for families and adult audiences. The museum presents a “Let’s Read about Africa” program Oct. 13 at 10:30 a.m. with Cristina Kessler, who will read from her 1995 book, “One Night, A Story from the Desert” about a young Tuareg goat herder. Curator Christine Mullen Kreamer will introduce the newly opened exhibition, “Art of Being Tuareg,” to the public Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. Two films are planned as well: “Africa: Desert Odyssey” examines the endurance of an age-old Tuareg tradition against the backdrop of the modern world through the story of a nine-year-old Tuareg boy embarking on his first trans-Saharan trek (Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.); and “Middle of the Moment” documents the nomadic lifestyles of two Tuareg groups and the circus troupe Cirque O (Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.).

Sponsors and Publication

“Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World” was organized by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Major support was provided by C. Diane Christensen and Karen Christensen. Support to the Cantor Arts Center came from the Halperin Director’s Discretionary Fund, the Bill and Jean Lane Fund and the Phyllis C. Wattis Program Fund. Additional generous support to the Fowler Museum was provided by the Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director’s Discretionary Fund and the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles. Cantor Arts Center director Thomas K. Seligman and independent scholar Kristyne Loughran are the exhibition curators. “Art of Being Tuareg” opened at the Fowler Museum in 2006 before traveling to the Cantor Arts Center and the Smithsonian.