african museum

The African Museum of Verona is one of the most important ethnographic museums in Italy dedicated to the African continent. Founded in 1938 by the Comboni Missionaries, the religious order founded by the Veronese Saint Daniele Comboni, the museum holds over 3,000 objects from various regions of sub-Saharan Africa, collected during more than a century of missionary presence in Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries. The collections include ritual masks, musical instruments, traditional weapons, textiles, jewellery, everyday objects and wooden sculptures that document the richness of African cultures.

The museum is not only an exhibition of objects but also a centre for study and outreach that promotes knowledge of Africa through temporary exhibitions, lectures and educational workshops that fight stereotypes and foster intercultural dialogue.

St. Daniel Comboni and the mission in Africa

Saint Daniele Comboni (1831-1881) was born in Limone sul Garda, near Verona, and devoted his life to the evangelisation of central Africa. After a first journey to Sudan in 1857, he developed his "Plan for the Regeneration of Africa", which envisaged the training of African missionaries and the creation of educational and health institutions managed by local staff, an innovative vision for the colonial era. In 1867 he founded the Institute of Comboni Missionaries based in Verona, and in 1872 the female institute of the Comboni Sisters.

Appointed Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa in 1877, he died in Khartoum in 1881. He was canonised in 2003, becoming the first Italian saint dedicated to Africa. The Comboni missionaries spread during the twentieth century to many African countries, founding schools, hospitals and parishes.

During their activity, the missionaries collected objects from local cultures to document traditions, study African societies and preserve the testimony of precious cultures. These objects, sent to the mother house in Verona, formed the core of the collections of the museum founded in 1938 to make Africa known to Italians and to raise awareness about the reality of the continent.

The collections include objects from Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Congo and Kenya gathered between the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. The ritual masks of the Nilotic and Bantu peoples, with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, were used in initiation ceremonies, funeral rites and propitiatory dances. Each mask is contextualised in its ceremonial use, avoiding exoticising presentations.

The collection of musical instruments includes drums of various sizes, xylophones, harps, lutes and flutes that bear witness to the sophistication of African music. Interactive stations allow visitors to listen to recordings of traditional music: the polyrhythms of West Africa, Pygmy chants and Ethiopian music. The everyday objects (utensils, weapons, jewellery, textiles) document the craftsmanship and social organisation of the communities.

The museum also houses a section on African fauna with stuffed animals, skeletons and collections that document biodiversity. One room is dedicated to Saint Daniele Comboni with personal items, letters and documents on his life and mission, presented as a pioneer of intercultural dialogue.

Since the 1990s, the museum has renewed its exhibition approach by adopting postcolonial perspectives that highlight the complexity and dignity of African cultures, avoiding primitivist stereotypes. New sections present contemporary African art with works by modern artists, the African religions explained in their complex belief systems, and exhibitions on current issues such as migration and climate change. The museum carries out intense educational activity with schools: intercultural workshops that teach children to know Africa beyond stereotypes, itineraries on African art, music and literature, and meetings with African witnesses living in Italy.

During the migration emergency, the museum intensified its awareness-raising activities by explaining the economic, political and environmental causes of migration. Today it collaborates with universities, research centres and NGOs working in Africa. It organises lectures, documentary screenings and book presentations.

It has become a meeting place for the African diaspora in Verona: the local community uses the spaces for cultural events and celebrations that highlight African cultures in Italy.