Gold bullion, as either raw dust or cast ingots, was the main driver of trans-Saharan trade from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries. Collected at several river sites across West Africa, the incorruptible material allowed the medieval empires of North Africa to mint their exceptionally fine gold coinages. Yet, in addition to its role as a monetary instrument, gold was also worked into exquisite pieces of fine jewelry, although extant pieces are exceptionally rare. The fragmentary remains of a thriving tradition of goldsmith work south of the Sahara alludes to the networks of technical practice that existed within and across the desert, linking West Africa to the Mediterranean system.
Sarah Guérin is Assistant Professor of Western Medieval Art and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has taught since 2016. Her research focuses on the materials of medieval art, and the systems of exchange that contribute both to provisioning those material and the dissemination of techniques. Since 2012, she has contributed to the exhibition project, Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, which is currently fully installed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art and is awaiting visitors as soon as museums are once again able to open (provisional closing date July 30th 2021).
Date: Wednesday, December 2nd
Time: 12:30-2:30pm EST
Location: Online
This event will take place as a live Webinar at 12:30pm EST (New York time). To register as an attendee, please use the following link:
https://nyu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tas2ko75QqWqXfFrqkVZYA
Only registered attendees will be able to access this event.
Silsila: Center for Material Histories is an NYU center dedicated to material histories of the Islamicate world. Each semester we hold a thematic series of lectures and workshops, which are open to the public. Details of the Center can be found at:
http://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/research-centers/silsila.html
