On the 5th of June 2025, the CCCC attended a workshop on West African leather and its relationship to British bookbinding. 

The morning session, hosted by the Cambridge University Library's conservation department, featured talks by Dr Eva Namusoke, who discussed the origins and manufacture of 'niger morocco' in Northern Nigeria, and PhD candidate Madison Bennett, who gave an introduction to biocodicology. This was followed by a session handling books bound in 'niger morocco' to identify characteristics of the leather.

The afternoon was spent at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology's new Centre for Material Culture, where Dr Ayesha Fuentes led a tour of the stores, followed by a sneak-peek of some of Eva's objects that will be shown in her upcoming exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum (opening 19th August). We ended the day by handling and discussing leather items from Northern Nigeria. 

The session was a unique opportunity to see, feel, and even smell 'niger morocco' objects to enhance our own observations and understanding about the material. It was also fascinating to hear about the labour, skill and expertise that went into making these skins and objects. 

Ayesha has written a fantastic blog post here if you wish to read more about the content and outcomes of the session. Thanks to Ayesha, Eva, Madison, and the conservation team at the UL for making this possible!