Thomas K. Seligman Collection
name: label: Photographer
content: Seligman, Thomas K.
place: label: Place
content: Mali
label: Place
content: Niger
label: Place
content: Algeria
topic: label: Topic
content: Vernacular architecture -- Africa
label: Topic
content: Blacksmithing
creator: label: Photographer
content: Seligman, Thomas K.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Thomas K. Seligman Collection
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Thomas K. Seligman grew up in San Fransisco during the 1950s and attended Stanford University in the 1960s. He avoided being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War by joining the Peace Corps. He was sent to Liberia where he taught English at Cuttington University and helped manage the Africana Museum. 

From 1991 to 2011, Seligman was the director of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. He was also the founding curator of the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, serving as the Deputy Direcotr for Operations and Planner (1989-1991), Deputy Director for Educationa and Exhibitions (1972-1988), and Curator (1971-1987). He has curated many exhibitions, including "Timbuktu to Capetown," (Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, 2009), "the Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World" (UCLA Fowler Museum, 2007), and "Enduring Splendor: Jewelry from India's Thar Desert" (UCLA Fowler Museum, 2017).

Seligman specializes in the arts and culture of the Tuareg people of the central Sahara, as well as Indian jewelers of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4493 Slides (photographs) (color, 35 mm )
label: Extent
content: 1,928 Digital images
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1979-2007
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: EEPA.2015-017
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Slides (photographs)
label: Type
content: Digital images
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection is closed for processing and unavailable to researchers.
scopecontent: label: Content Description
content: Collection contains approximately (5000) 35 mm color slides taken by Thomas Seligman, of Tuareg daily life, portraits, cultural festivals, markets, vernacular architecture, rock art and natural lanscapes taken during various trips to Algeria, Mali, and Niger from around 1979 to 2007. Also contains around 1,928 digital images taken by Artstor, Inc.