Expert Marjorie Ransom talks about Yemeni Silver Jewelry: Arab Museum celebrates Yemeni culture
On Friday, May 13, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn welcomed back its great friend,
Yemeni silver jewelry expert Marjorie Ransom, who delivered a fascinating talk entitled Jewelry
Empowering Women: A Yemeni Story. She shared selections from her jewelry collection in person and
via a slide presentation. Her talked covered the history of jewelry-making, how women use their silver,
the silver makers, and the differences in all of these across Yemen.
Ransom also introduced her new book, Silver Treasures from the Land Of Sheba: Regional Yemeni
Jewelry (The American University in Cairo Press, 2014), which highlights her vast knowledge and 30-year
experience in studying the art of traditional Yemeni silver jewelry.
The entire event was very well received by the 40 guests in the Museum’s Russell J. Ebeid Library &
Resource Center. The audience was diverse: Yemeni families, non-Arabs, Korean students and people of
all ages. Prior to her talk, Ransom enjoyed one-on-one conversations with Professor Andrew Shryock,
Rasheed Alnozili – publisher of the Yemeni American News, along with Ali Baleed Almaklani (ACCESS
Board member and Executive Director of Yemen American Benevolent Association) and other attendees.
The AANM is very grateful to Fawzy Alghazali, the owner of Mocha Café, who sponsored the reception
following Ransom’s talk. It was Arabic hospitality and generosity at its best, with a delicious spread of
dinner and dessert that delighted the guests. More very gracious hospitality was shown to Ransom and
her entourage during a later dinner at Sheeba, where owner Ismael Aljahmi served the party and shared
great conversations over dinner.
The jewelry event was followed by lively Global Fridays concert by Abdulrahman Al Akhfash, an expert in
Yemeni traditional music. The performance also featured Yemeni traditional dancers and some young, up
and coming talent. It was the final Global Fridays concert of the series’ Winter Spring 2016 series.
