Jamal wandered into Nomadic Ant a year ago with a collection of hand crafted fine silver jewelry made by his family in a remote village of Niger. My travels have yet to take me to this region of Africa and I was immediately drawn into the mysterious nomadic culture. He started laying out his collection of treasures on the floor of the shop: engraved silver bangles, intricately carved geometric necklaces with ebony wood and colored stones, camel leather boxes and decorative tassels, brass jewelry boxes and soapstone incense burners…all of it carried with it the scent of the Sahara as I had always imagined it in my mind.
The Tuaregs are a nomadic group and part of a large Berber ethnic confederation. They inhabit a vast area of the middle and western Sahara and travel throughout Algeria, Mali, Niger and as far as Libya. Tuareg people are often called the “blue people of the desert” because of the indigo dye they use to color their garments that stains their skin a deep shade of blue.
They believe that silver is the metal of the prophet and, in fact, Tuareg women often have a superstitious fear of gold and will not wear it. Silver is a part of every family history, as it holds both symbolic and real value and is used for barter and trading. They are famous for the high quality hand crafted designs, using 99.99% pure fine silver, ebony and semi precious stones.
On Thursday July 19 from 6-9pm, Jamal will set up his treasures for a very special event at Esquina. He will have a new collection of jewelry for sale as well as other handicrafts from his village. All sales that night will go toward raising funds for malaria medication for the village. With rainy season starting in July, it is important to provide medication in these remote areas where many families have no access to medicines or health services. We hope you will join us!
