Zawadi sources much of our Tuareg art from Moussa, a Tuareg artist who lives in Niger, but travels frequently to Dakar, Senegal, which is where we first met him.

The Tuareg people are about 2 million nomadic people who live across the Sahara Desert, including in the North African countries of Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria and Chad. For thousands of years, the Tuareg economy revolved around trans-Saharan trade. The Tuaregs are part of the Berber group of people, and they are largely Muslim. Much of Tuareg art is in the form of jewelry, leather and metal saddle decorations, and finely crafted swords.

While we have seen much Tuareg Jewelry, Moussa’s unique flair for detailed hand carving and design is distinctively different and high quality.  He works primarily in silver but also integrates ebony wood in some of his designs.

Moussa and Faraji in Dakar, Senegal, 2008

SHOP TUAREG ART