Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara

By Alisa LaGamma with contributions from Yaëlle Biro, Mamadou Cissé, David C. Conrad, Souleymane, Bachir Diagne, Roderick McIntosh, Paulo F. de Moraes Farias, Giulia Paoletti, and Ibrahima Thiaw

This groundbreaking volume is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of the diverse cultural achievements and traditions of the African region known as the Sahel, a vast area on the southern edge of the Sahara desert that includes present-day Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad. Essays by leading international scholars explore the unique cultural landscape in which these ancient communities flourished, spanning more than 1,300 years from the pre-Islamic period through the nineteenth century. Richly illustrated and brilliantly argued, Sahel brings to life the enduring creativity of the peoples who lived, traded, and traveled through this crossroads of the world.

Alisa LaGamma is Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Curator in Charge of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.