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The rich gold resources of Ghana have been the economic foundation upon which Akan kingdoms were first founded as early as the 14th and 15th centuries. Gold of the Akan forests was sent north over a vast trade network that carried commodities, as well as people and ideas, across the Sahara and into the Middle East and Europe The Akan had a global presence long before the arrival of Europeans in West Africa. In this talk, University of Michigan Professor of Art History Dr. Raymond Silverman will explore early evidence for these global connections, including the introduction of the technologies used to make the stunning gold objects exhibited in The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana.