Lecture: Threatened World Cultural Sites: The Silk Road & Mali

ArtTable The World Monuments Fund lists 67 cultural sites still threatened in 2014. ArtTable members Marla Mossman and Janet Goldner have intimate understanding of the issues in respective geographical areas: Marla on The Silk Road, and Janet on Mali. Each is an artist and a cultural ambassador to these areas of the world that have important and impressive ancient cultural …

Roundtable: Reflecting on the Ways Forward in Mali

This roundtable assembled a variety of academics and policy makers working in Mali in different areas, and from different perspectives. We come together to discuss ways to build a durable peace, responsible government and vibrant civil society in Mali. Part 1 focused on the political, military, and economic dimensions of the crisis and the future and included Greg Mann, historian, …

Lecture: UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mali

The African Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division at the Library of Congress presents UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mali a lecture by Janet Goldner, Scholar and Sculptor The African & Middle Eastern Division Reading Room LJ-220 Thomas Jefferson Building 10 First St. SE Washington, DC 20540 Here’s a link to a videocast of the lecture. For additional information …

Transcultural Collaborations: Collapsing Distance, Transforming Home

Transculture refers to the act of uniting people from different backgrounds and cultures in an effort to exchange varied perspectives and contexts. An exchange of this sort can potentially yield global/universal similarities and specific cultural differences. It is a way for people to think together while contributing beliefs and strategies from their individual experiences. Careful attention must be paid to …

Common Threads: Groupe Bogolan Kasobane, Gee’s Bend Quilters in Residence

Common Threads brought together artists of two of the world’s most vibrant contemporary textile traditions: The Quilters of Gee’s Bend and the Groupe Bogolan Kasobane, bogolan masters from Mali. This visual art performance/demonstration featured artists of the two traditions working simultaneously on their respective art pieces during the course of a week-long residency. Panel discussions and lectures explored each art …

Transcultural Exchange Conference 2011

Janet spoke on the panel, The New Renaissance Man (sic). Doing it for Yourself: From Specialization to Multi-Tasking, on Saturday, April 9th. A look at the how the traditional model of the artist in the studio, supported by gallery shows, is morphing into that of artists who are also curators, residency program directors, designers and/or their own pr agents. 2011 …

Artistry of African/Diaspora Blacksmiths

i ni ce, thank you, merci: Apprenticing at a Forge in Dioro, Mali. During her Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship in 1995, Janet apprenticed with a family of blacksmiths in Dioro. She made small knives with carved wooden handles and hair tressing tools, the beginning objects for all apprentices at the forge. The skills needed to make these simple tools introduce …

In the Shadow of the Empires: Protecting West Africa’s Cultural Heritage

Chairs: Janet Goldner, Oussouby Sacko; Participants: Janet Goldner, Oussouby Sacko, Kandioura Coulibaly, Kletigui Dembéle, Yuka Goto Focusing on culture, art and design issues for the first time at Mali Symposium on Applied Sciences (MSAS), this roundtable session brought together artists, architects and many other cultural actors. Many aspects of West African culture are in danger of being lost due to …

Bamako Symposium on the Arts

The symposium is designed to enable Malian and international arts practitioners, researchers, and policymakers share experiences, research and practitioner wisdom across arts disciplines and to identify key best practices across civilizations and their contiguities with the Mali context. The hope is that we will generate new initiatives to boost human capital development in Mali in the 21st century through a …

Artist in Residence

During the month of April, Janet Goldner was in Residence in the Sculpture Department at New Jersey City University. She produced welded steel sculptures in the sculpture facility and taught a workshop for the sculpture students. Using a process inspired by the renowned feminist art critic, Arlene Raven, students examined the reasons and context of their artistic production in order …