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Current Exhibitions

January 26-July 21, 2019

Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa

This exhibition interweaves the art history, archaeology, history, and literature on trans-Saharan trade, inviting audiences to reach back toward a forgotten past. Archeological fragments transport audiences over 500 years to a time when medieval African trade routes and major cities in the Sahara drove global trade and culture.

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

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Upcoming Events & Programs

Cinema

July117 PM

La Politique des Autres: Short Films by Agnès Varda

The movie-mad cinéastes of the French New Wave gave us the "politique des auteurs," which François Truffaut described in a single sentence: “There are no works, there are only auteurs.” But the woman who gave us the French New Wave, the celebrated Belgian-born French filmmaker Agnès Varda (1928 - 2019), was not a cinephile. Rather, the dozens of features, documentaries, and short films she crafted throughout her six-decade career testify to a different guiding passion: a love of the people, places, and politics she encountered on the other side of her lens.

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Caravans of Gold Exhibition Tours

Tuesdays at 12PM

Curatorial overview of the exhibition. Capacity for a gallery tour is 35 people. Should attendance exceed capacity, the curatorial overview will be presented in the Block Auditorium, followed by informal Q&A with the curator in the galleries. These free, informal tours kick off in the museum lobby and can be tailored to the questions and interests of those attending. All are welcome. Tours typically last 45-60 minutes.

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News from The Block Museum

Head of Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch tours Caravans of Gold

“I think what this exhibition does is it centralizes Africa,” Bunch said. "This is really cutting-edge work and I’m very excited about it.”

Kathleen Bickford Berzock speaks at Harvard’s Villa I Tatti

The Block’s associate director of curatorial affairs presented on her exhibition Caravans of Gold to an international audience at the Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, Italy.

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Scenes from The Block

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