1/3
1/3
In Dialogue
In Dialogue
May 20, 2026
Frédéric Gadmer: Autel du vodun Djéholou, Adjarra, Dahomey (Bénin), 19.1.1930; Archives de la Planète, Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Département des Hauts-de-Seine
The exhibition offers a new interpretation of the film and photographic materials produced in Dahomey (now Benin) during a documentary expedition in 1930. From January to May of that year, Catholic missionary Francis Aupiais and camera operator Frédéric Gadmer visited the French colony in West Africa on behalf of Albert Kahn’s Archives de la Planète.
Conceptualised as a Franco-Beninese dialogue, the showcase examines the era’s perspectives on non-European cultures in the context of colonial rule and the early days of ethnography. It forms part of a series of presentations exploring key themes of the Albert-Kahn Museum’s collection. Following previous exhibitions dedicated to travel and gardens, the curatorial team now shines a light on the ethnographic dimension of the Archives de la Planète, which has recently been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
A Return Trip to Benin also questions the contemporary perception of imagery from 1930 through the eyes of artists from the African continent. Artworks by Ishola Akpo, Thulani Chauke, Sènami Donoumassou, Bronwyn Lace, Roméo Mivekannin, Angelo Moustapha and Marcus Neustetter serve as critical counterpoints – reappropriating and reactivating the photographs and films through a combination of painting, photography, performance and installation.
Katrin UllmannConceptualised as a Franco-Beninese dialogue, the showcase examines the era’s perspectives on non-European cultures in the context of colonial rule and the early days of ethnography. It forms part of a series of presentations exploring key themes of the Albert-Kahn Museum’s collection. Following previous exhibitions dedicated to travel and gardens, the curatorial team now shines a light on the ethnographic dimension of the Archives de la Planète, which has recently been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
A Return Trip to Benin also questions the contemporary perception of imagery from 1930 through the eyes of artists from the African continent. Artworks by Ishola Akpo, Thulani Chauke, Sènami Donoumassou, Bronwyn Lace, Roméo Mivekannin, Angelo Moustapha and Marcus Neustetter serve as critical counterpoints – reappropriating and reactivating the photographs and films through a combination of painting, photography, performance and installation.
Frédéric Gadmer: Autel du vodun Djéholou, Adjarra, Dahomey (Bénin), 19.1.1930; Archives de la Planète, Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Département des Hauts-de-Seine
Frédéric Gadmer: Portrait du chef Zodéougan, Zado, Dahomey (Bénin), 28.2.1930; Archives de la Planète, Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Département des Hauts-de-Seine
Frédéric Gadmer: Portrait de la sœur et des femmes du chef Justin Aho, Abomey, Dahomey (Bénin), 8.3.1930; Archives de la Planète, Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Département des Hauts-de-Seine, Inv. A63644