The Savannah College of Art and Design will feature approximately 80 rare pieces of North African jewelry and 27 late 19th- and early 20th-century photographs as part of the exhibition “Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection” May 11-June 19 at the Pei Ling Chan Gallery, 322 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and will be a signature part of the May 15 SCAD Style Gallery Hop.

Collected over three decades by Xavier Guerrand-Hermès, this work illuminates the diversity and beauty of traditional North African design. Crafted from silver, coral, amber and other semi-precious stones, the jewelry includes wedding necklaces, hair ornaments and fibula. Moroccan, Algerian and Egyptian jewelry show common threads of the Berber culture as well as local variations in materials and motifs.

In addition to the exquisite pieces of jewelry, “Desert Jewels” features the work of some of the most prominent European photographers of the era. Theses include Scotsman George Washington Wilson, the Neurdine brothers from France and Turkish photographer Pascal Sabah, all of whom visited North Africa to capture the magnificent landscapes and “exotic” people on film.

The exhibition is organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, and debuted in October 2008 at the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution.

“Desert Jewels” is presented as part of SCAD Style, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s annual style and design series. SCAD Style events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Visit SCAD Style at www.scadstyle.com for a full list of events or, for more information on exhibitions, visit SCAD Exhibitions at www.scadexhibitions.com.

Photo: SCAD
Fibula (tabzimt), Ait Yenmi peoples, Great Kabylie, Algeria