Opening Program - Caravans of Gold - January 26, 2019

Caravans of Gold, Fragments of Time exhibition and programs have been made possible in part by two major planning and implementation grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Caravans of Gold is also supported in part by Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Studies. An anonymous donor made possible the exhibition’s travel to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Myers Foundations, The Alumnae of Northwestern University, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and The Evanston Arts Council, an agency supported by the City of Evanston. Special thanks to Perucca Family Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago for curatorial research support.

Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa January 26 - July 21, 2019

The related publication is supported in part by Northwestern University’s Office for Research, Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a gift from Liz Warnock to the Department of Art History at Northwestern University, and the Sandra L. Riggs Publications Fund at the Block Museum of Art.

Bioconical bead, Egypt or Syria, 10th -11th century Gold; filigree, granulation, "rope" wire L. 7.2 cm, H. 2.9 cm, The Aga Khan Museum, AKM618.

Participant Biographies Chris Abani is an acclaimed novelist and poet. His most recent books are The Secret History of Las Vegas, The Face: A Memoir and Sanctificum. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Hemingway Award, An Edgar Prize, A Ford USA Artists Fellowship, the PEN Beyond the Margins Award, a Prince Claus Award, the Hurston Wright Legacy Award, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship, among many honors. Born in Nigeria, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Board of Trustees Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Northwestern University. He lives in Chicago.

Kathleen Bickford Berzock is Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Block Museum and curator of Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa. She is co-editor with Christa Clarke of Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display (2010, University of Washington Press). From 1995 – 2013 she was curator of African art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Berzock received her PhD from Indiana University.

Horse, Mali, Terracotta, Musée national du Mali, 2002.17.16.Photo by Seydou Camara.

“Africa is forcing those who will listen to reconsider the continent” –Gus Casely-Hayford

Augustus (Gus) Casely-Hayford, OBE, writes, lectures and broadcasts widely on African culture. He has been Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. since February 2018. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 2018 for his services to Arts and Culture. Born in London, Casely-Hayford was educated at SOAS, where he received his doctorate in African history and was later awarded an honorary fellowship. He has presented two series of Lost Kingdoms of Africa for the BBC and wrote the companion book (Bantam Press, Random House, 2012).

Morikeba Kouyate is a seventh-generation Jali (Griot) and has performed professionally for more than thirty years. Morikeba performs around the country as a solo artist, enticing audiences young and old with exciting music and engaging stories. He performs in his traditional Mandingo language. Morikeba Kouyate has recorded two CDs. Rhonda Wheatley is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work is grounded in the spiritual, speculative and metaphysical. Recent projects include a solo show at Hyde Park Art Center, an In Progress performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and workshops at the University of Chicago. In 2017, Wheatley received the Maker Grant and a 3Arts ‘Make a Wave’ Grant. She earned a BA in English Literature from Loyola University and an MA in Writing from DePaul University.

Participant Biographies Chris Abani is an acclaimed novelist and poet. His most recent books are The Secret History of Las Vegas, The Face: A Memoir and Sanctificum. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Hemingway Award, An Edgar Prize, A Ford USA Artists Fellowship, the PEN Beyond the Margins Award, a Prince Claus Award, the Hurston Wright Legacy Award, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship, among many honors. Born in Nigeria, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Board of Trustees Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Northwestern University. He lives in Chicago.

Kathleen Bickford Berzock is Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Block Museum and curator of Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa. She is co-editor with Christa Clarke of Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display (2010, University of Washington Press). From 1995 – 2013 she was curator of African art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Berzock received her PhD from Indiana University.

Horse, Mali, Terracotta, Musée national du Mali, 2002.17.16.Photo by Seydou Camara.

“Africa is forcing those who will listen to reconsider the continent” –Gus Casely-Hayford

Augustus (Gus) Casely-Hayford, OBE, writes, lectures and broadcasts widely on African culture. He has been Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. since February 2018. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 2018 for his services to Arts and Culture. Born in London, Casely-Hayford was educated at SOAS, where he received his doctorate in African history and was later awarded an honorary fellowship. He has presented two series of Lost Kingdoms of Africa for the BBC and wrote the companion book (Bantam Press, Random House, 2012).

Morikeba Kouyate is a seventh-generation Jali (Griot) and has performed professionally for more than thirty years. Morikeba performs around the country as a solo artist, enticing audiences young and old with exciting music and engaging stories. He performs in his traditional Mandingo language. Morikeba Kouyate has recorded two CDs. Rhonda Wheatley is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work is grounded in the spiritual, speculative and metaphysical. Recent projects include a solo show at Hyde Park Art Center, an In Progress performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and workshops at the University of Chicago. In 2017, Wheatley received the Maker Grant and a 3Arts ‘Make a Wave’ Grant. She earned a BA in English Literature from Loyola University and an MA in Writing from DePaul University.

Caravans of Gold 2pm Opening Conversation Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Welcome remarks: Lisa Corrin The Ellen Philips Katz Director, The Block Museum of Art Performance: Morikeba Kouyate Seventh-generation Jali (griot) Introductory remarks: Jonathan Holloway Provost of Northwestern University Professor of History and African American Studies Annelise Riles Executive Director, Buffett Institute for Global Studies Associate Provost for Global Affairs Reading: Mlondolozi Zondi Performance Studies PhD Candidate Mariam Taher Cultural Anthropology/Archaeology PhD Candidate Presentations and conversation: Kathleen Bickford Berzock Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, The Block Museum of Art Gus Casely-Hayford Director, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art Host, Lost Kingdoms of Africa, BBC Chris Abani Nigerian-born novelist, poet, essayist, Board of Trustees Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies

Left: Virgin and Child, ca. 1275–1300, France, Ivory with paint, 36.8 × 16.5 × 12.7 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917, 17.190.295; Right: Seated Figure, Possibly Ife, Tada Nigeria, Late 13th14th century, Copper with traces of arsenic, lead, and tin, H. 54 cm, Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, 79.R18.

Journey to a medieval world with Africa at its center.

Travel with the Block Museum along routes crossing the Sahara Desert to a time when West African gold fueled expansive trade and drove the movement of people, culture, and religious beliefs.

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.

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.

Caravans of Gold 2pm Opening Conversation Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Welcome remarks: Lisa Corrin The Ellen Philips Katz Director, The Block Museum of Art Performance: Morikeba Kouyate Seventh-generation Jali (griot) Introductory remarks: Jonathan Holloway Provost of Northwestern University Professor of History and African American Studies Annelise Riles Executive Director, Buffett Institute for Global Studies Associate Provost for Global Affairs Reading: Mlondolozi Zondi Performance Studies PhD Candidate Mariam Taher Cultural Anthropology/Archaeology PhD Candidate Presentations and conversation: Kathleen Bickford Berzock Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, The Block Museum of Art Gus Casely-Hayford Director, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art Host, Lost Kingdoms of Africa, BBC Chris Abani Nigerian-born novelist, poet, essayist, Board of Trustees Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies

Left: Virgin and Child, ca. 1275–1300, France, Ivory with paint, 36.8 × 16.5 × 12.7 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917, 17.190.295; Right: Seated Figure, Possibly Ife, Tada Nigeria, Late 13th14th century, Copper with traces of arsenic, lead, and tin, H. 54 cm, Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, 79.R18.

Journey to a medieval world with Africa at its center.

Travel with the Block Museum along routes crossing the Sahara Desert to a time when West African gold fueled expansive trade and drove the movement of people, culture, and religious beliefs.

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.

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.

Also on view

Isaac Julien: The Leopard (Western Union: Small Boats) January 26 - April 14, 2019 Alsdorf Gallery “ [A] refined fusion of politics, history, and stunningly lush aesthetics.” -Artforum

Caravans of Gold Opening Day Activities Hands-on activity, 10:30am – 1:00pm Block Museum First Floor Vestibule & Auditorium Join Chicago artist Rhonda Wheatley in a hands-on activity exploring the power of objects.

Kora performance by Morikeba Kouyate, 11:30 – 12:00pm Block Museum Auditorium Join seventh-generation Jali (griot) Morikeba Kouyate for a kora performance that translates the oral history and legends from medieval West Africa to the present day.

Conversation, 2:00 - 4:00pm Pick-Staiger Concert Hall (doors open 1:30pm) Renowned speakers include Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. and host of the BBC’s Lost Kingdoms of Africa and Chris Abani, Nigerian-born novelist, poet, and essayist and winner of the 2009 Guggenheim Award.

They will be joined by Caravans of Gold curator Kathleen Bickford Berzock, the Block’s Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs. Taking up themes from the exhibition, this panel will consider the relationships between history, power, and imagination, and ask what trans-Saharan exchange from the distant past can tell us about movement and migration today.

DJ Session, 4:30 – 5:30pm Block Museum First Floor Vestibule Enjoy a set of music inspired by the West African Sahara selected by WNUR DJ Kevin Eisenstein.

Throughout the day, see the exhibitions, engage with docents, watch interviews with archaeologists, or read a picture book in the Block Spot!

Isaac Julien, Western Union Series No. 1 (Cast No Shadow), 2007 Courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures, New York © Isaac Julien.

Also on view

Isaac Julien: The Leopard (Western Union: Small Boats) January 26 - April 14, 2019 Alsdorf Gallery “ [A] refined fusion of politics, history, and stunningly lush aesthetics.” -Artforum

Caravans of Gold Opening Day Activities Hands-on activity, 10:30am – 1:00pm Block Museum First Floor Vestibule & Auditorium Join Chicago artist Rhonda Wheatley in a hands-on activity exploring the power of objects.

Kora performance by Morikeba Kouyate, 11:30 – 12:00pm Block Museum Auditorium Join seventh-generation Jali (griot) Morikeba Kouyate for a kora performance that translates the oral history and legends from medieval West Africa to the present day.

Conversation, 2:00 - 4:00pm Pick-Staiger Concert Hall (doors open 1:30pm) Renowned speakers include Gus Casely-Hayford, Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. and host of the BBC’s Lost Kingdoms of Africa and Chris Abani, Nigerian-born novelist, poet, and essayist and winner of the 2009 Guggenheim Award.

They will be joined by Caravans of Gold curator Kathleen Bickford Berzock, the Block’s Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs. Taking up themes from the exhibition, this panel will consider the relationships between history, power, and imagination, and ask what trans-Saharan exchange from the distant past can tell us about movement and migration today.

DJ Session, 4:30 – 5:30pm Block Museum First Floor Vestibule Enjoy a set of music inspired by the West African Sahara selected by WNUR DJ Kevin Eisenstein.

Throughout the day, see the exhibitions, engage with docents, watch interviews with archaeologists, or read a picture book in the Block Spot!

Isaac Julien, Western Union Series No. 1 (Cast No Shadow), 2007 Courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures, New York © Isaac Julien.

Caravans of Gold, Fragments of Time exhibition and programs have been made possible in part by two major planning and implementation grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Caravans of Gold is also supported in part by Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Studies. An anonymous donor made possible the exhibition’s travel to the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Myers Foundations, The Alumnae of Northwestern University, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and The Evanston Arts Council, an agency supported by the City of Evanston. Special thanks to Perucca Family Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago for curatorial research support.

Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa January 26 - July 21, 2019

The related publication is supported in part by Northwestern University’s Office for Research, Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a gift from Liz Warnock to the Department of Art History at Northwestern University, and the Sandra L. Riggs Publications Fund at the Block Museum of Art.

Bioconical bead, Egypt or Syria, 10th -11th century Gold; filigree, granulation, "rope" wire L. 7.2 cm, H. 2.9 cm, The Aga Khan Museum, AKM618.