The Albert Kahn Departmental Museum near Paris has opened its flagship exhibition for the 2025-2026 season, titled "Benin Round Trip: Views of Dahomey in 1930." This groundbreaking show presents a fresh perspective on films and photographs created during a mission by the Archives of the Planet, carried out by Catholic missionary Francis Aupiais and cameraman Frédéric Gadmer in Dahomey, now known as Benin, from January to May 1930.
The exhibition offers an immersive Franco-Beninese dialogue that critically examines how Western observers viewed non-European cultures during the colonial period and the early development of ethnography as a field of study. This unique presentation challenges visitors to reconsider historical documentation methods and their lasting impact on cultural understanding.
The 1930 mission to Dahomey holds exceptional significance for several reasons. It represented the only venture by the Archives of the Planet into sub-Saharan Africa and marked the final large-scale expedition before the project concluded following the collapse of Albert Kahn's banking empire. The mission originated from the initiative of Father Francis Aupiais (1877-1945), an unconventional clergyman who approached Albert Kahn in 1927 with a compelling proposal.
Father Aupiais, a missionary priest dedicated to deepening understanding of African cultures through long-term engagement, successfully convinced the philanthropist Albert Kahn to finance his ambitious plan. His goal was to comprehensively document Dahomean cultural and religious practices, an endeavor that aligned perfectly with Kahn's broader humanist vision of preserving global cultural heritage through visual documentation.
The missionary's primary objective was to contribute to African recognition by documenting not only evangelization efforts but, more importantly, Dahomey's traditional culture. He held particular reverence for royal ceremonies and vodún religious rites, which he considered essential elements of the region's cultural identity that deserved careful preservation and respectful study.
During the four-and-a-half-month mission, cameraman Frédéric Gadmer, working under Father Aupiais's direction, produced an extraordinary collection of visual materials. The documentation effort resulted in 1,102 autochromes, which were early color photographs, and 140 reels of film footage capturing various aspects of Dahomean life and culture.
These films represent a milestone in ethnographic documentation, being the first of such scale and scope to be shot in Dahomey. The collection constitutes the largest group of films in the entire Archives of the Planet and stands as one of the earliest film collections in French ethnography, created just five years after the founding of the Institute of Ethnology in Paris and one year before the famous Dakar-Djibouti mission.
The exhibition "Benin Round Trip: Views of Dahomey in 1930" will run through June 14, 2026, at the Albert Kahn Departmental Museum, located at 2 rue du Port in Boulogne-Billancourt. Visitors can find additional information about the exhibition and museum programs at www.albert-kahn.hauts-de-seine.fr.
