Collaboration with local specialists proved indispensable when preparing the section of the exhibition devoted to Africa. This took the form of a pilot study-residence project organised under the auspices of ICOM (the International Committee of Museums). Château de Prangins welcomed archaeologist and heritage manager Mohamadou Moustapha Dieye, who is also a specialist in African textiles at one of Senegal’s leading museums, the Théodore Monod African Art Museum.

Benefiting from his expertise, the project team designed a module devoted to the production and trading of cotton textiles in western Africa. His perspective on the overall exhibition concept, the objects from the Swiss National Museum collections and our cultural history references in general, greatly enhanced the project.

The partnership also provided an opportunity to explore the rich collections belonging to the Théodore-Monod Museum, which comprise numerous textiles. M. Dieye gave the project team access to the database of the Museum’s fabric collection, including a number of cotton cloths dyed with indigo that were made in western Africa as well as valuable archive photographs documenting their manufacture. The partnership with the Senegalese institution also resulted in the loan of a textile which is on display in the exhibition.