Gus Casely-Hayford is the Director of the National Museum of African Art. He is a fellow of the Cultural Institute at King’s College London and has served as a trustee of the United Kingdom’s National Trust. As director of Africa 05, he organized the largest African arts season in Britain. Dr Casely-Hayford delivered a TEDGlobal Talk on pre-colonial Africa and is the author of a Ladybird Expert book, Timbuktu. Dr Casely-Hayford served as host for Tate Britain’s Great Art Walks, which examines art by some of Britain’s most famous painters and explores their hidden stories.

The Smithsonian Speaker Series is co-organised by the Smithsonian UK Charitable Trust and Pembroke College, the alma mater of James Smithson (1782-1785), the founder of the US Smithsonian Institution, a network of 19 museums based in Washington DC.