Senegal's Stunning Gold Jewelry ... And The Controversial Women Who Wore It

Senegal's Gold Jewelry - And Its Surprising History - Displayed At Smithsonian Museum Of African Art : Goats and Soda An exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art highlights intricate gold work that nearly disappeared - as well as its past ties to a morally complicated group of powerful women Now the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C is showcasing this jewelry and the history behind it in an exhibit that runs through September 29, 2019.

Walking the streets she noticed row upon row of hole-in-the wall workshops where artisans were crafting gold jewelry unlike anything she'd ever seen Amanda Maples, the curator, says she felt that as important as highlighting the jewelry was telling the story of the women who've been wearing this jewelry for hundreds of years - particularly that group of 18th- and 19th-century women who ushered in the jewelry's heyday and whose influence still reverberates through Senegalese culture The signares "Had the most voluminous cloth ensembles and really bright huge gold jewelry," says Maples.

The Smithsonian commissioned her to re-create a signare's outfit Mustafa says today's Senegalese are mindful that these were African women who found a way thrive at a time of European encroachment: "They are recognized and held up as icons of a negotiation - of being able to bridge and balance many worlds." . Source