Join MZAB as we catch up with Baiyinah Brookins, founder of Mystics and Sages, an ethical sterling silver handcrafted jewellery brand which supports Tuareg artisans across Africa.

Please tell us more about your formative years and what inspired your link to jewellery and the Tuareg.

My formative years were shaped by the rich culture, history, spirituality, and entrepreneurship that surrounded me. Growing up the daughter of two entrepreneurs who founded an African Arts Boutique in the heart of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States, I was immersed in a world of craftsmanship, history, and culture. 

The spark that ultimately ignited my journey to create the brand, Mystics and Sages, occurred when my father returned from a business trip to West Africa and gifted me a small half moon sterling silver Tuareg necklace. This necklace was a gateway to the world of the Tuareg people. I was intrigued by the beautiful geometric designs artfully etched into the silver and carefully crafted glass beads that encircled the necklace. I fell in love with the mystical lore and archaic symbolic representation in the designs that point to aspects of cosmology, spirituality, and the environment. 

Although there is deeply held mythology associated with the nomadic Tuareg tribe, of veiled blue men existing in the inhospitable and rugged terrain of North Africa, I wanted to learn more beyond the romantic and highly stereotypical notions of the Tuareg tribe. As I began researching I learned that many people within various spiritual communities in the United States also loved and wore their jewellery,  and after coming into contact with an artisan collective that aligned with my ethos I decided to formally launch Mystics and Sages, a fair-trade e-commerce jewellery brand.

For our readers, who are the Tuareg and what makes them distinctive?

The Tuareg are a historically nomadic community of people found in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya, and Algeria. They have been widely popularized due to their distinctive beauty, rich culture, large white riding camels, and shimmering indigo dress and veils. Despite facing challenges from colonial powers, outsiders, drought, famine, and modern governments, the Tuareg have maintained their resilience and independence, which has contributed to their almost mythic quality. Their history, deeply rooted in the Amazigh identity, spans more than seven thousand years and reflects a profound aspect of their enduring cultural heritage. 

Tell us more about your brand Mystics and Sages and what you hope to achieve through supporting Tuareg artisans?

Mystics and Sages is a fair-trade jewelry brand dedicated to showcasing the unique and handcrafted sterling silver jewelry of the Tuareg tribe. In addition to supporting the work of Tuareg artisans, we hope to donate a portion of our sales to various social and environmental justice initiatives. Through Mystics and Sages, I aspire to honor the legacy of the Tuareg people while also fostering a deeper appreciation for their artistry and cultural heritage. 

What is unique about Tuareg craftsmanship?

Tuareg jewellery craftsman use an age old jewellery making technique named the lost-wax casting tradition, where a detailed model of the desired piece of jewellery is meticulously crafted from wax by hand, once the wax model is perfected it is encased in a heat resistant mould, the next step is to apply heat causing the wax to melt away leaving behind a negative space in the mould. Then the artisan pours in molten metal, in our case sterling silver, into the cavity. As the metal cools it takes on the form of the original wax model. With skilled hands the piece is refined, polished, and shaped into its final form. Most, if not all, of the Tuareg cross designs on our website have been crafted using this method. 

Jewellery for many women is generational, a marker of femininity and holds deep cultural significance. What place do cultural artefacts and ancient craftsmanship hold in a digital age of fast fashion?

Imbued within the heritage and history of Tuareg jewellery is a rich folkloric tradition that I have begun to share on social media. In the age of fast fashion, it is our hope that the conscious consumers who purchase our jewellery will allow the pieces to become keepsakes and family heirlooms passed down for generations. Having worked within the fashion world for a number of years, I have an intimate understanding of the way in which fast fashion has indelibly shaped our industry, where profits are often prioritized over people. Fortunately, there are many brands leading the way in terms of fair-trade and ethical designs, and we aspire to be one of the brands that comes to mind when our customers think of fair-trade.

Jewellery, as a form of adornment, has been a cultural marker of femininity since Pharaonic Egypt and beyond. Women have historically worn silver as a symbol of status, wealth, and beauty. Women form the centrepiece of the Tuareg tribe, and much of the folklore surrounding Tuareg jewellery centres courtship tales between men and women.

What is your vision for an ethical and sustainable future and how can jewellery brands aspire to this?

My vision is for brands to work closely with the craftsmen and women who make the products and to ensure that everyone along the supply chain is compensated fairly for their work. As we are all becoming painfully aware of the chains that capitalism and colonial ventures have shackled humans to, it is our duty to forge a new world that has both the environment and its people at the forefront of our planning.

Finally, what is one line of prose that embodies the ethos behind your brand?

I recently read the text “Tuareg Jewelry: Traditional Patterns and Symbols” by Helen E. Hagan and Lucile Myers, and I fell in love with this quote from an elderly Tuareg woman in 2005.

“We learn that the world is but leaves swirling behind us. We are are the shelter and protection that attracts them…woman walks majestically towards the world and condenses it in her own manners, that the world may swirl behind her and she not swirl behind the world.” 

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Mystics and Sages: Baiyinah Brookins on Tuareg Craftsmanship and the Ornamental Resiliency of a Nomadic People

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