Jewelry, fashion, and identity: the Tuareg example.

When I entered the African Art History program at Indiana University in 1986, I was already aware at the legends and stories surrounding Roy Sieber: the birthday cake that landed on the floor, the evenings at his home that were spent looking at objects, and his one-liner "The time to read a book is when you are reading the book!"

Sieber was always open to new views and topics of research. His interest in textiles and decorative arts inspired me in my own study of Tuareg jewelry. He encouraged me to think in broad terms, to stretch the boundaries of my discipline. He was also extraordinarily generous with his time (and Sophie's). I cherished the hours I spent with him examining artworks: there was always something new to learn and to see--another angle, the one unexpected detail.

Sieber loved to play; he enjoyed a good joke as well as fine poetry. He also liked to surprise and be surprised. One day, my husband and I went to see Sophie and "himself" at their house in Washington. After a while, Sieber pulled out a large stack of Polaroids and started rearranging them. I knew he was going to ask someone to pick "the best object," and I hoped I'd pass the test. Sophie smiled. Instead of giving the photos to me, however, he handed them to my husband, GianPaolo, who protested, "Papa Sieber, 'the best' isn't fair. I didn't study this stuff ..." Sieber paused, looked at him, and chuckled. "Okay, the three best." GianPaolo went through the stack and after a while came up with the three. Sieber was delighted. I was relieved. Then he said: "And now which one is the best?"

As the father figure for generations of students, Sieber taught us to laugh at ourselves and to share with each other. I think one of the things he gave all of us was a sense of our own humanity. As a professional today, I continue to be mentored and inspired by him. His infinite curiosity, his high standards and pursuit of excellence, and his dedication to the African humanities are his legacy. For his students and colleagues, it is both a priceless gift and a challenging responsibility.

   When God decides to create a perfect human being
   No animal front the steppes can equal it.
   It will not have similar eyes or the gaze,
   Long knotted braids, resting over the shoulders,
   And like saddle ornaments, her earrings tinkle,
   And around her neck, the necklaces shine.

From a Tuareg poem by Rabidin Ag Sidi Mohamed (1)

Western audiences are familiar with the jewelry of the Tuareg, a seminomadic pastoralist people of north African Berber origins who inhabit the Sahara Desert, southern Algeria, southwestern Libya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and adjacent areas. These necklaces, bracelets, crosses, and rings are popular tourist mementos in many west African countries. Given diverse ethnic attributions, they are also available through mail-order catalogues and in markets and stores in Indonesia and Europe.

Like other expressions at African artistry, Tuareg jewelry forms are a source of inspiration in the West, where they have appeared in the fashion arena and in the media as markers of "exotica." They are also being reinterpreted by African fashion designers and jewelers. An analysis of the convergence of local and international Tuareg jewelry styles will help us assess how this phenomenon might be helping to shape urban Tuareg identities and give new dimension to the authenticity and modernity of Tuareg jewelry in Niger, where I conducted my field research.

The Classical Repertoire

The Tuareg place great importance on their physical appearance, and they have explicit ideas about attire and de meaner (Fig. 2). Both men and women have a proud bearing that is enhanced by garments that flow and billow as they walk. (2) Jewelry is considered a necessary part of everyday dress. It is rare to see a Tuareg man without a ring, an amulet, or a bracelet. Women wear head ornaments, earrings, amulets, pendants, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and veil weights. Ostentatious display, however, is considered to be in poor taste except on festival and holiday occasions, and in some areas on market day, when people wear all of their finest ornaments and clothing. Women who do not have enough jewelry to wear on these occasions are known to borrow them from friends and family members.

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A woman inherits her mother's jewelry, which might include large hoop earrings and necklaces made with tubular silver ezmaman beads (Fig. 3). When she marries, her husband gives her bracelets, rings, and necklaces made of polyhedral silver negneg beads as part of the bridewealth. Wearing certain items signals whether one is married, divorced, or widowed.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Jewelry also communicates social status. In earlier times, each social class had its own kinds of ornaments; in some instances, pieces were similar in form, and class distinctions were conveyed by differences in materials. If made in certain shapes and materials or worn in sufficient quantity, jewelry becomes a kind of protection for the wearer. For example, Tuareg regard the triangle, recurrent in all their jewelry forms, as a potent protector against evil forces. Particular media carry other benefits as well. Silver supposedly brings happiness, and agates, which are rare, are considered healing stones. Shells, used to make khomessa amulets (see Gottler 1989:251, fig. 122), are fertility charms.

Jewelry items are either forged or cast in molds by the lost-wax process, and decorative techniques include bending, chasing, engraving, stamping, and repousse. Smiths may use materials such as red copper, brass, lead, tin and aluminum, and beads made of glass, agate, shell, or stone. The principal metal, however, is silver recycled from Maria Theresa thalers (Austrian coins), five-franc pieces, and scrap silver found in markets. References in the literature often allude to the Tuareg preference for silver as opposed to gold, a material thought to attract misfortune (see Rasmussen 1987:9). Many authors note that silver jewelry is worn not only because the metal brings happiness and good fortune to the wearer but also because the Tuareg are Islamized (Rasmussen 1987:13; Gabus 1958:48; Lhote 1984:160). (3) This opinion is mirrored in much of the literature on north African Berber jewelry, though Henriette Camps-Fabrer has suggested that silver may have been favored simply because it was less expensive (1990:21). (4) In response to my questions on the subject, informants replied that silver was the metal they'd always known, and that thaler silver was especially favored because of its warmth and light. (5) The metal is appreciated for its "clarity"--its luminosity--and the tactile quality acquired through patination.

Great value and prestige are attached not only to the materials used but also to the care and technical expertise with which pieces are made and embellished. Almost all Tuareg jewelry is ornate, decorated with endless combinations of intricately incised geometric motifs. The Tuareg aesthetic particularly favors triangles, rectangles, and squares. This preference extends to items that shine, move gracefully, and are smooth to the touch. Delicacy and subtlety are of primary importance. Patrons and smiths alike pride themselves on their ability to judge a piece's workmanship and design as well as the value of the materials used.

Contemporary Production

Gold has recently become a valuable commodity, a sign of wealth, and current fashions dictate that it rather than silver be used in jewelry. Several factors account for its increased popularity. Gold ornaments first appeared in Tuareg areas of Niger in the 1960s and became more easily available when Tuareg men began to work in Libya in the 1970s. Today more people can afford these items: in Arlit (a town in Niger north of Agadez), living standards greatly improved when the uranium mines began production in 1971; and now that many Tuareg women work, they are quick to invest their salaries in gold jewelry (Fig. 4). Greater communication between villages, towns, and cities through the mass media (magazines and television) has also facilitated the introduction and acceptance of the gold forms. In addition, the Tuareg have become increasingly sedentarized and are now part of pluriethnic societies. According to some scholars, wearing gold jewelry and colorful clothing, which Tuareg people once considered to be in poor taste, reflects social change and the development of a sense of national identity (Claudot-Hawad 1993:112).

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

Some Tuareg smiths in urban centers such as Agadez have made gold jewelry their specialty (Fig. 5). Their work recalls classical forms and motifs, and they use traditional manufacturing techniques: women consider them "authentically" Tuareg. The greatest difference is that the forms are smaller and much lighter (Fig. 6). Women in these urban areas now wear more jewelry on a daily basis than in earlier times. Those who order classical pieces are inclined to ask for small necklaces with pendants, such as the chatchat necklaces (Fig. 7), and they avoid jewelry produced for the tourist trade. Items are commissioned from Tuareg smiths or purchased ready-made from the Senegalese jewelers who, during my research in Niger, seemed to specialize in the sale of gold ornaments.

[FIGURES 5-7 OMITTED]

Some pieces have been given names in Tamashegh, the language spoken by the Tuareg people. One example is the tamaten oragh (oragh=gold), which is also referred to as broderies (from the French broder, "to embroider") because of the fine gold wire "embroidered" in scalloped de signs around coins (Fig. 8). (6)

[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]

My analysis of the jewelry forms used when I was in Niger in 1990-1991 clearly shows that although gold items are being added to the repertoire, they are not replacing the classical examples in silver, (7) which in many families account for most of a woman's first jewelry purchases. The tizabaten earrings, tereout tan idmarden pectoral amulets, cross forms (Fig. 9), ezmaman and tadnet necklaces (Fig. 10), elkiss bracelets (Fig. 11), and "bagues ambiance," or rattle rings, are just a few of the prestige forms that people are still proud to own. If women consider silver jewelry to be too heavy and bulky, it is either modified to accommodate new needs or, in many instances, kept for daughters and nieces.

[FIGURES 9-11 OMITTED]

Thus, jewelry in the two metals is being used in parallel. Silver is considered classical, culturally stable, part of the greater Tuareg cultural identity. Gold jewelry highlights the importance of change and fashion, and it signals financial stability.

Production for Foreign Communities in the 1990s

More smiths from rural areas are working for government and museum cooperatives in cities than they did twenty years ago. Their new lifestyles in urban centers and easier access to foreign patrons have changed both their social and economic positions. (8) Smiths continue to produce classical pieces for Tuareg clients. Some have also established lucrative jewelry boutiques, mainly for foreign patrons, that support their own workshops and smiths in other areas (Fig. 12). Others show their pieces on Internet sites. (9) Their economic well-being lies principally in their ability not only to produce classical items for Tuareg clients and pieces for the tourist trade but also to execute commissions of high-quality, "traditional" jewelry that fit the specifications of members of the local foreign community and the norms set by dealers and traders from Europe and the United States. They must also fulfill the demands of antique dealers, merchants, and intermediaries in Niger.

[FIGURE 12 OMITTED]

Most resident foreigners seek out the silver pieces, feeling that they retain a more "authentic" character. The specialists who produce work for this clientele as well as for collectors and foreign dealers may follow the strict canons of classical forms and designs, as in the production of necklaces and amulets (Fig. 13). Traditional designs may also be adapted to Western tastes. For example, the large rattle rings once worn for dancing and child-naming ceremonies are much smaller now, and, with adaptions in their basic design, are transformed into pins (Fig. 14). The cross of InGall has been used as a pendant (Fig. 15), as drop earrings, in a larger version as a key ring, and as a belt buckle (Fig. 16).

[FIGURES 13-16 OMITTED]

Just as forms are being manipulated, the choices of metals and materials used in the manufacture of jewelry for the foreign community have been altered to fit foreign norms and taste. Sterling silver imported from Europe has replaced the Maria Theresa thaler, and necklaces with traditional pendants are interspersed with imported coral, amethyst, shell, or colored glass beads instead of the faceted black beads used in classical ornaments (Fig. 17). Pieces that incorporate these imported materials also fetch a higher price.

[FIGURE 17 OMITTED]

Although most techniques and basic designs remain unchanged, modern tools have greatly reduced the production time. Many smiths use European-manufactured files, pliers, tweezers, and saws, though they continue to make stamps for decorative effects. Electric polishers and the contents of a manganese alkali battery cell can be used to enhance finely engraved motifs with darkened reliefs; one immediately creates the patina that was once achieved only with wear.

Signatures are more frequent on modern pieces and on those produced for foreigners and tourists. In fact, it is quite common to hear merchants in tourist markets call out, "See, this is a real Tuareg piece--it is signed" (Fig. 18). The popularity of the jewelry has encouraged smiths to produce other objects that fit the needs of foreigners, such as boxes, chopsticks, knife rests, coffee spoons, paper holders, and letter openers (Fig. 19).

[FIGURES 18-19 OMITTED]

Convergence and Reinterpretation in the West

In the past ten years the advertising and fashion industries have used stereotypes about the Tuareg to sell their products, capitalizing on the mystique of a people who once were famous warriors, who were reported to have held medieval love courts, who are famed as poets, and who know how to live in a difficult physical environment. For example, in 1993 the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ran an ad for Camel cigarettes in Newsweek (1993:6) that featured a Tuareg warrior behind an Indiana Jones type. In 1997 the Saeco Company used the image of a turbaned Blue-eyed man set against allusions to desert life in order to sell air-conditioning units called "Tuareg" (Panorama 1997:118).

Judging from the steady stream of tourists still visiting the Sahara, it seems that the Tuareg and their landscape continue to generate romantic images which fulfill Western fantasies. People buy into the mythologies of another place and time. In 1992 the cultural association Arcana, based in Turin, Italy, mounted a small exhibition of Tuareg jewelry. The accompanying brochure illustrates traditional pieces and gives a cultural summary; then it introduces gold Tuareg-style jewelry called "ethnica," produced by the Valenza Jewelry Company (Associazzione Culturale Arcana, 1992:n.p.). The Italian magazine Il Mondo dei Gioielli (1993:40) once proposed "authentic" silver Tuareg jewelry forms for Valentine's Day.

Presentations like these, which rely on the exotic to sell fashions and accessories, are not new. In the 1900s the lavish use of pearls by members of European and American high society was partly inspired by Indian traditions (see the photograph of the Duchess of Marlborough wearing pearl necklaces in Dubin 1987:301). Photographs published in European and American fashion magazines over the past twenty years often highlight clothing styles accessorized with foreign jewelry forms. In one, a model wears the tadnet necklace (labeled an "Arab cross" necklace) to set off her slick motorcycle outfit (Elle USA 1992:327), and another fashion spread shows jeans-clad women wearing Tuareg rattle rings and band bracelets on their upper arms (Moda 1992:184-85). I doubt that most people looking at the photographs knew where these ornaments came from: what matters are the "look" and the creation of an identity, however fleeting.

As the social historian Jennifer Craik points out, the fashion arena is slippery. It communicates and commodifies identity, and it is never permanent:

   Fashion behavior invokes rules and
   codes of dress, adornment and gesture
   to articulate attributes of the
   social body. At a collective level,
   fashion maps social conduct and, in
   turn, is shaped by it. Fashion statements
   appear to mark a moment,
   but the fashion body is never secure
   or fixed. The body is constantly re-clothed
   and re-fashioned in accordance
   with changing arrangements
   of the self.

   (Craik 1994:225)

Fashion themes are dictated by a complex, remarkably globalized system that links the arts, popular trends, and culture at a very quick pace. In recent years African fashion models such as Iman and Alek Wek have been the darlings of European designers and photographers (Elle UK 1998: 89-94; see also Le Goues 1997, Paquin 1994), and allusions to the "new metropolitan African styles" are frequent (Attolico 1997:193). Catchy expressions like "ethnic chic" and "real d'Africa" (African nostalgia) are mainstream, used to highlight lavish collages of African statues or masks, bracelets, textiles, bags, and clothing in fashion magazines. (10)

A fascination with things "ethnic" was particularly strong in 1997 and 1998 (Vormese 1997:138-43), and Africa was celebrated in one way or another in almost every fashion collection. According to the fashion historian Colin McDowell (1997:119), a designer's inspiration results from a process of layering, a collage of various influences, which are materialized in his or her source book. The couturier John Galliano, to cite the most extreme example, used Maasai necklaces and Dinka corsets with his spring/summer 1997 dress called Kamata. It was inspired by a dress designed by Christian Dior in 1948 and by photographs of Maasai taken by Mirella Ricciardi (McDowell 1997:32, 33).

This crisscrossing of cultures continued in Milan in 1998. The spring collections in that fashion capital included those of the Senegalese designer Oumou Sy, and several exhibits celebrating "le noir" were organized all over town (Matarrese 1998a). Jean-Paul Gaultier adopted Tuareg turbans for his 1998 spring/summer collections (see L'Officiel 1998), so it should come as no surprise that Gucci's and St. Laurent's 2002 spring/summer fashions illustrated in Vogue Paris (2002:206-19) presented African head wraps under the title "Melting Tops!"

Hermes, a well-established French leather goods company in Paris, also manufactures silver jewelry, scarves, and household items. It christened 1997 "The Year of Africa." Since 1993 Hermes has produced silk scarves with Tuareg motifs, leather bags adorned with Tuareg cross closures, and innumerable Tuareg necklaces, belt buckles, bracelets, and rings. The company's "Tuareg line" of silver accessories and jewelry pieces is manufactured by Tuareg smiths in a workshop in Agadez (Dorleans 1997: n.p.). Hermes catalogues sometimes include a travel diary with photographs of the places the designers visited and of local artists and artisans, as well as background information on the cultures represented (Le Monde d'Hermes 1997:98-101). For example, the caption for the "Desert Leathers" scarf reads:

   For some people, the desert was a
   passion, an obsession, a way of losing
   themselves.... For others, the
   desert is daily life, where the eye
   pursues the ancient dream of cool
   shade and deep wells while the
   hand works, whenever it can, because
   that is what it was made for.
   Here are several bags and pouches
   of the skillful Tuareg, those proud
   inhabitants of the Hoggar and Gao
   in the Sahara.

   (Le Carre Hermes 1993)

This situation leads us to consider how Tuareg smiths perceive this Western interest in things Tuareg, and whether this interest has brought or will bring about ephemeral or lasting changes within the culture itself.

The smiths are indeed receptive to the opinions of foreign clients. Antique dealers (Fig. 1) and merchants tell them which types of pieces to produce for different clienteles. Those who travel abroad learn what has good resale potential on the European and American markets. While Tuareg smiths do not search for exotica, they are certainly open to new ideas. Inspiration comes in the form of fashion-magazine images, jewelry catalogues, and the jewelry forms of neighboring groups such as the Wodaabe and the Moors. (11) This positive response to outside influences is not a form of acculturation but an opening of an artistic dialogue, as exemplified by Tuareg crosses. (12)

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Tuareg Crosses

Tuareg crosses have always held a certain appeal for foreigners, and they constitute the one object type that was adapted and transformed by an outside influence, then reintegrated within Tuareg culture. Crosses were once called tenaghalt ("that which is made by fusion"). They were given group names, (13) and different types were used by different social classes. During the French colonial era, however, the crosses, often in the form of pendants, acquired the names of the areas in which they were worn, such as the croix d'Iferouane and the croix d'Agadez (e.g., in Tamashegh, tenaghalt tan Agadez, or "cross of Agadez"; Creyaufmuller 1983a:60). Some cross designs were used to create the insignias for Saharan military groups, and the army still uses similar ones today (see Boucher 1982: pl. 10). When crosses became popular among foreigners in the 1950s, they began to be manufactured in greater numbers, and new types were invented to satisfy popular demand. The earliest known prototype was recorded by Foureau in 1905 (p. 921). Sixteen examples were recorded in 1955 (Dudot 1955:106), and there were twenty-one known crosses when I was in the field in 1991. The latest cross honors Mano Dayak, founder of the Temoust Liberation Front, who died in a plane crash in the Air Mountains in December 1995. (14)

Over time, the cross forms became increasingly Europeanized--for example, hanging loops were added (Creyaufmuller 1983b:39)--and their original names (and meanings, if any) were lost. Combinations and stylizations of crosses appear on dagger handles, on satchels and bags, in Berber carpets woven in Morocco (Creyaufmuller 1983b:39), on amulet cases, and, as medals and pins, on berets worn by Niger's army. A collection of twenty-one crosses, framed as the perfect souvenir, can be found in most tourist markets in west Africa (Fig. 20). In addition, aprons, the Niamey phone book, postage stamps, bottle openers (Fig. 21), soap boxes, and government vehicles are often decorated with cross motifs. The entrance posts to many Nigerien cities are large cement Agadez cross sculptures.

[FIGURES 20-21 OMITTED]

This foreign influence is recognized as such; the older smiths I spoke to were always careful to point out that the earliest prototypes were the Agadez, Iferouane, InGall, Tahoua, and Zinder crosses. (15) However, crosses have become part of the national vocabulary, and they are such a visual constant that they have almost become emblematic of the nation of Niger rather than the Tuareg people.

International Styles

There is a continual convergence of classical and modern Tuareg jewelry styles. Today some of these forms (such as crosses, amulets, and necklaces) are being reinterpreted by African fashion designers who, like the smiths, need to appeal to different kinds of clienteles. (16) Those working abroad--for example Lamine Kouyate (a.k.a. Xuly Bet) from Senegal, Ly Dumas from Cameroon, and Mickael Kra from Cote d'Ivoire--have opened work spaces and boutiques in Paris (Revue Noire 1998:143), where they are enjoying increasing recognition (Benaim 1997:140-43). Their clothing and jewelry are often photographed in European fashion magazines (e.g., Vogue Paris 1998: n.p.; L'Officiel 1998: n.p.). (17) These individuals incorporate African elements into their creations--for example, Mickael Kra's jewelry is inspired by Asante gold-weights and Tuareg forms (see Revue Noire 1998:99)--and promote their fashions as international metropolitan styles (La Cecla 1998:80-87).

Another group of designers, based in Africa, are working to create a modern fashion industry at home and gain greater visibility on an international scale (Reuters 1997). (18) Like their counterparts abroad, these designers are trying to reach a varied clientele, and they highlight African artistry by incorporating indigenous textiles and accessories. The K'Palezo festival, held in Abidjan in 1997, was part of this effort. Its purpose was to promote the African fashion and textile industries; its long-term goals are to develop both industries into creative and financially productive fields (Glazai 1997).

Alphadi, a Nigerien, is perhaps the most influential of the group of African designers. He became the president of the African Federation of Fashion Designers when the Malian designer Chris Seydou died in 1994. Alphadi lives and works in Niamey and has a boutique in Paris (Vormese 1997:n.p.). His styles characteristically involve handwoven cotton textiles that reproduce motifs and designs on Zarma wedding blankets. He also makes prolific use of jewelry commissioned from Tuareg smiths in Niamey, and his clothing sometimes incorporates characters from tifinagh, the Tuareg alphabet, as embroidered designs (Revue Noire 1998:21).

Alphadi sees Internet sites as providing international visibility for African designers. According to him, the fashion and textile industries and the related areas of jewelry and leatherwork can become stable enough in the future to create jobs and support local entrepreneurship (www.anais.org/Fr, 1996). In February 1997 he announced the creation of the biennial International Festival of African Fashion (Festival International de la Mode Africaine, or FIMA). The event promotes the African fashion industry and creates a forum for discussion and exchange between African artists and artists from other continents (Revue Noire 1998:23). The first festival was held near the town of InGall (west of Agadez in Niger) in November 1998. The fashion show, called tende (a traditional Tuareg dance), attracted numerous African and European designers. The second festival was held outside Niamey, and the next festival is scheduled to be held in Niamey later this year. Including fashion shows, concerts, and discussion panels, FIMA has become a major media event, judging from the extended coverage it has received (e.g., Sepulchre 1999; Matarrese 1998b; Manservisi 1998).

Urban Identities

Some smiths I know tailor their personal fashion look to their audience. On one occasion I saw Moussa Albaka, who travels extensively, at the airport; he left for Paris wearing gray trousers, a light blue shirt, and a Burberry-style raincoat. In 1992 he showed up in Florence at the annual International Craft Fair in traditional festival attire (Fig. 22). When I asked why the change, he responded that the French liked a more conservative look, whereas the Italians would certainly appreciate his traditional flair!

[FIGURE 22 OMITTED]

Smiths dress in different ways to suit different audiences abroad, but this does not mean that they view themselves differently from one situation to the next, nor does it mean that they view their jewelry forms differently either. They are proud of both the small, classical pieces favored by Tuareg patrons (and Western collectors) and the more modern (larger) items favored by Western patrons (Figs. 23, 24). Smiths derive a strong sense of solidarity from all objects they've produced well, and can often be found discussing their work with one another. Theirs, they feel, is an important contribution to the expressive culture of Niger.

[FIGURES 23-24 OMITTED]

Some smiths in urban communities are also enjoying the publicity and attention given them as creative and original emerging artists. But when asked if they perceive a difference between being an artisan and being an artist, the usual response is no. (19) They hope the pieces that win competitions, or are out of the ordinary, will help build their reputations, establish relationships with patrons, and facilitate the government endorsements necessary to participate in international competitions and attend international trade fairs. Smiths are also businessmen, and like their counterparts the world over, know that their businesses can only continue through sales. They are keenly aware that a wide range of expertise ensures greater work opportunities.

The Tuareg still evaluate a person's merit based on social class and appropriate comportment, and contemporary oral literature still portrays an idealized society. Nevertheless, social stratification is no longer as rigid (Claudot-Hawad 1993:98-101). With regard to the use of jewelry, analogous changes are emerging. In earlier times some pieces (such as the heavy pectoral amulets) and certain weapons (such as the takouba sword) were reserved for the nobility. Today they may be owned by people who have the means to acquire them. Women, once limited to dark indigo clothing, are now seen wearing colorful ensembles at christenings and festivals. Tuareg jewelry accentuates new forms and techniques, and in some cases--the gold ornaments, for example--embody changing cultural ideals. This intentionality on the part of Tuareg women is the result of an artistic "engagement with the world" (Ravenhill 1996:17). The meaning and effect of the gold jewelry now being used will only become clear in the years to come.

Viewed through the Western lens, most images of the Tuareg are still steeped in romantic mythologies. It is doubtful that European fashion designers will ever adopt the gold jewelry, for they lack the panache and drama of the classical silver pieces. On the other hand, African fashion designer Mickael Kra is incorporating gold cross forms, and Alphadi is using modern silver Tuareg jewelry.

Like Alphadi and other designers, some Tuareg artists, like Rissa Ixa, are seeking to preserve their national patrimony, while others, like the poet Hawad, are taking it one step further. In 1991 Rissa Ixa, a self-taught painter now living in Niamey, created Tagazt, which is also known as the Association for the Promotion of the Traditional Arts and Culture of Niger. The association seeks to archive traditional forms and designs before these disappear from common usage. Rissa Ixa uses traditional dance, music, and decorative motifs as sources of inspiration for his work. His paintings and drawings record scenes of nomadic lifestyles, individuals in traditional attire, and smiths at work. The artist has also been making an inventory of metal engraving and punch motifs, and of pyro-engraved designs. These are reproduced on jewelry designs.

Working in another vein is the Tuareg writer and poet Hawad, who comes from the Air region of Niger but lives and works in Aix-en-Provence, France. Considering the alphabetization programs in Niger and in Mali, and the need for more vowels in the tifinagh alphabet, Hawad has developed an innovative version of tifinagh in both print and cursive forms. He also uses a calligraphic style of exceptional beauty and grace (see Revue Noire 1995:76-77) to illustrate his poems (Claudot-Hawad 1993:141-45). Hawad's literary oeuvre addresses a vision of a world built through its people's movement and mobility, which are the backbone of Tuareg life and culture.

Today the Tuareg identity encompasses many portraits. Like the objects produced by smiths, these portraits are not homogeneous, and they defy the neatly pigeonholed categories created by Western scholarship. Appropriately, a poem by Hawad (in Claudot-Hawad 1993:117) embraces both the attachment to the Tuareg world and the opening to and recognition of modernity:

   Children!
   To play, leave the bed of the valley.
   To sleep, return to its bosom.

[This article was accepted/or publication in November 2002]

This article is based on data collected in the Republic of Niger from 1990 to 1991; an earlier version on this topic was delivered at the Eleventh Triennial Symposium on African Art, held in April 1998 in New Orleans. I would like to acknowledge the support of a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant and to thank the informants I worked with while I was in Niger, particularly Agak Mohamed, Moussa Albaka and his family and the members of his workshop, Gaisha Ibnou, Daouda Mohamed, and Ahanti. I also thank Thomas Seligman for his comments and suggestions.

At this writing, an exhibition on the culture and arts of the Tuareg of Mali, Niger, and Algeria is being organized by Thomas Seligman, Director of Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University and Maria Berns, Director of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Seligmam and I will be co-curators. The exhibition is due to open in 2006 and will travel to other U.S. museums.

(1.) These are lines 13 to 18 of "Your Words Weigh on My Ailing Heart," written by Rabidin Ag Sidi Mohamed. It was recited by Mohamed Ag Erly and recorded by GianCarlo Castelli-Gattinara (1992:424, poem 30). Castelli-Gattinara's text is in both Tamashegh and Italian; the English is my translation.

(2.) Roy Sieber (1972:12) mentions that "African attitudes toward the accouterments of rank seem to declare themselves in three views: first, prestige dress must be conspicuous. Second, it may announce itself with sound. Third, it is often additive. Thus prestige may declare itself by a conspicuously visible and audible accumulation of ornament." Writing about the Tuareg, Susan Rasmussen (1994:91-92) stresses the importance of the way things move as well; "Artistic form needs to be set in motion to be complete."

3. Rachel Hasson states: "In contrast to the Koran, the hadith [Prophetic tradition) seems to ascribe considerable importance to jewellery. For example, a number of passages ordain that silver was preferable to gold" (1987:8).

(4.) Considering this emphasis on the use of silver, it is interesting to note that Paul Eudel (1902:523) writes about the wealthy Tuareg women in Algeria who purchased their jewelry in the oases and favored gold bracelets. The use of gold jewelry has almost always been associated with urban dwellers in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and in the Saharan oases. In contrast, silver jewelry is more readily related to Berber and nomadic peoples and to those who live in rural environments. Henriette Camps-Fabrer's comment is plausible, though if may also be that peoples' attitudes and Islamic beliefs and customs influenced preferences (see note 3).

(5.) Recorded interview, Gaisha Ibnou, Agadez, Niger, February 1991.

(6.) In contrast, the gold necklaces brought back from Saudi Arabia by family members is simply referred to as collier d'Arabie, or collier femme arabe.

(7.) For illustrations of classical Tuareg jewelry forms, consult Mickelsen 1976:16-19 or Gabus 1982.

(8.) Regarded as jewelers and artists by foreigners, smiths have benefited economically from the patronage of outsiders. In Tuareg society, however, their position is more ambiguous. They are looked down upon because of their associations with manual labor and commerce; yet their services as intermediaries, as skilled craftsmen, and as healers are indispensable.

(9.) In 1997 Moussa Albaka's photograph was on www.txdi rect.net/~jmayer/fon.html in the "Links to Information on Niger" section. The site, created by J. Mayer, is no longer operative. More recently some pieces from Albaka's workshop were shown on the Internet site devoted to the international craft shown Ouagadougou: www.siao.bf/francais/nospavil lons_htm/prodexposes/bijouterie/bijouterie.htm. Other Internet sites exhibit objects manufactured by the Village Artisanal de Wadata in Niamey.

(10.) The Italian expression "mal d'Africa" usually refers to those people who, once they have lived in Africa, can no longer adapt in their country of origin (see Gattermayer 1997).

(11.) Recorded interview, Moussa Albaka, Niamey, September 1991.

(12.) The idea of artistic dialogue resulted from a conversation with Patrick McNaughton in May 1996.

(13.) These groups are politically autonomous federations whose names derive from regions; they are sometimes divided into smaller groups. For example, the Tuareg in the Air region of Niger are called Kel Air (kel = people). Kel Air may be further subdivided into the Kel Ewey, the Kel Ferwan, the Kel Fadey, and the Kel Tamat (Nicolaisen 1963:7).

(14.) Personal communication: Thomas Seligman, February 25, 1997. The chronology of Tuareg cross types is complicated by the fact that crosses were given conflicting names in the literature. The Foureau-Lamy mission is noted by Milburn (1992:626). The sixteen examples are recorded by Dudot (1955).

(15.) Personal communication: Agak Mohamed, Niamey, September 1990.

(16.) The fashion industry's impact on global culture (through the Internet and the media) and the important role it plays in the financial sector of the world's economy are providing new venues for local African economies and for designers and jewelers both in Africa and abroad. As we have seen, local and external influences, inspirations, and themes are all Interrelated in the fashion industry, and are a phenomenon that goes both ways.

(17.) According to Franco La Cecla [1998:82), "The new Afro-Parisian fashion designers ... are now a regular feature on the city landscape.... The chief difference from the past lies in the fact that this is no longer an 'ethnic wave' phenomenon. These are no longer exotic oddities, nor is this a quest of 'ethnic authenticity' Rather this is a thriving workshop of cultural melanges ..."

(18.) Contemporary fashion in Africa is a multivocal discourse. The young Congolese men known as Sapeurs, for example, have created an identity by purchasing the latest styles in Paris or Brussels to wear back in Kinshasa (P. Martin 1995:171-72; Gondola 1999:28). Other designers are using African textiles and accessories, following Chris Seydou's example, and draw on urban culture as an inspiration for modernity (Revue Noire 1998:8).

(19.) Recorded interview, Daouda Mohamed, Niamey, May 1990.

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Kristyne Loughran received her Ph.D. in African art history from Indiana University in 1996. She is an independent scholar living in Florence, Italy, and a consulting editor of African Arts.