Allovio Stefano
Democratic Republic of Congo; initiation rituals; urban Africa
1991-2005
Arioti Maria
Democratic Republic of Congo; Ituri pygmies; African pastoral societies
1980
Asiimwe Godfrey
Uganda; history; policy and governance
2016-2018
Bargna Ivan
Cameroon; African art and art objects
2002-2004
Bellagamba Alice
Africa; migrations
1998
Beneduce Roberto
Cameroon; ethnopsychiatry; medical anthropology
2000-2005
Buffa Carlo
Democratic Republic of Congo; mental illness; epilepsy
1979-1986
Buscaglia Ilaria
Rwanda; domestic workers
2014-2015
Facci Serena
Democratic Republic of Congo; Uganda; ethnomusicology
1986-2018
Mattalucci Claudia
Tanzania; pregnancy and birth; local conception of the person
1995-2003
Muranga Manuel
German, French and English literature and language
2007; 2009
Mutaka Philip Ngessimo
African Linguistics
2001-2009
Nannyonga-Tasumuza Sylvia
Ugands; ethnomusicology; folk music
2009-2010
Ndoleire Oswald
Linguistics; Uganda
2006-2009
Ochse Elana
English
2017
Remotti Francesco | Founder and Former Director
Democratic Republic of Congo; Banande; terminology and kinship systems; marriage patterns and political implications;
traditional political structure; organization of space; issues of Nande semantics
1979-2015
Rugerinyange Deo Gratias
Rundi language expert
1993; 1996
Syahuka-Muhindo Arthur
Uganda; violence in political conflicts
2015-2016
Vallarino Gancia Francesca
Uganda, Bakonzo; mental illness; traditional therapies and Western medicine
2005-2006
Buscaglia Ilaria
Rwanda; postgenocide; Buhanga forest; gender issues
2008; 2009-2013
Cafuri Roberta
West Africa; historical sites; museums
1998-1999
Campagnoli Mauro
Cameroon; musicology
1998-2006
Cimardi Linda
Uganda; Bunyoro and Toro kingdoms; traditional musical heritage
2009-2014
Crupi Vanna
Uganda; traditional music repertoires
2005-2011
D’Elia Miriam
Democratic Republic of Congo; Uganda; gender issues
2014-2018
Emer Elisa
Uganda; mental illness; therapy
2007
Forni Silvia
Cameroon; artistic objects; ceramic production
1997-2003
Grasso Erika
Kenya; museum anthropology
2013
Lammers Marie Christine
Cameroon; disease; healing
2000-2003
Luraschi Moira
Cameroon; women's associationism
2002-2003
Ntege Jerome
Uganda; Ebola; disease
2017-2018
Odongoh Aguto Stevens
Uganda; conflict; violence
2017-2018
Pes Daniela
Cameroon; pygmy baka; local organizations
2002-2004
Pompeo Francesco
Cameroon; identity; traditional power
1997-1999
Pratesi Innocenti Carla
Rwanda; genocide; politics of memory
2001-2003
Quaranta Ivo
Cameroon; AIDS; disease
1999-2003
Sottilotta Marco
Uganda; royal power; capitalization policies
2015-2018
Taliani Simona
Cameroon; childhood; motherhood
2001-2003; 2005
Viola Lia
Kenya; gender relations; homophobia
2012-2013
Baluku Stanley
African history
2007-2010
Cassina Letizia
Uganda; clothing
2011
Ciancio Marco
Cameroon; blacksmiths
1999-2000
Formenti Ambra
Tanzania; Bujora Ethnographic Museum and Cultural Center
2001-2003
Gianluca Forno
Uganda; social marginality
2003-2006
Gardoncini Sara
Uganda, Rwenzori; political-territorial organization
2007-2011
Tardivo Valeria
Uganda; Nyabingi cult; Kagarama hill
2010-2011
Varesio Amarilli
Uganda; waste recycling; long-term displaced persons
2021
Zavaroni Cristina
Uganda, konzo society; gender construction; school education
2005-2007
ZAIRE (1979-1991)
During the first decade since the foundation of the Mission, research focused mainly on the Banande of Zaire, a group located in North Kivu, today the Democratic Republic of Congo. These were multidisciplinary investigations that ranged from traditional medicine to kinship terminology, from political structure to ethnomusicology and ethnovisual research.
BURUNDI (1989-1993)
Towards the end of the 1980s, the Mission extended its research to Burundi. In 1992 the University of Turin signed an institutional cooperation agreement with the Centre de Civilization Burundaise and in 1993 with the University of Bujumbura. The research activities focused on power in the Rundi space, on the Kubandwa cult of possession, on ritual songs and dances. In 1993, political unrest began in the country, and investigations had to come to a forced halt.
CAMEROON (1997-2004)
In the second half of the '90s, research was started in Cameroon. The presence in the field was also strengthened at an institutional level, thanks to the cooperation agreement signed in 1999 between the University of Turin and the University of Yaoundé. Investigations have ranged from the production of artistic and ceramic objects to the ethnomusicology of forest groups, from the impact of AIDS on society and the cultural representations of the disease to childhood.
RWENZORI (2005-2008)
Since 2005, Uganda has been the Mission's main field of investigation. The first research project conducted by the Mission in Uganda focused on the Rwenzori region. Numerous identities and cultures characterize the region around the Rwenzori massif. On the Congolese side, the Banande have settled, while on the Ugandan side, the Bakonzo. These are two groups whose division stems from the colonial border. They share multiple cultural and linguistic traits. The studies conducted in the area have focused on musical traditions, the dynamics of peace and conflict, war and violence, traditional therapeutic models, and traditional rituals.
SACRED SITES & HERITAGE PRESERVATION (2008-2010)
Between 2008 and 2010, the Mission took part in an international team coordinated by the Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD) of Nairobi as part of the CORUS project "Approche socio-historique de sites sacrés naturels et enjeux contemporains autour de la preservation de ce patrimoine (Kenya, Madagascar, Ouganda)". The program included surveys on some natural sacred sites located in Kenya, Madagascar, and Uganda. The Italian team focused on a series of Ugandan sacred sites, such as the archipelago of the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria, the Buddo hill, a sacred tree on the Mubende hill.
RELIGION, POLITICS & CONFLICTS IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION (2015-2018)
Between 2015 and 2018, the Mission launched a joint research project between the University of Turin and Makerere University. The project was titled "Religion, Politics, and Conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa." The research project aimed to analyze the conflict that has historically characterized the Rwenzori region and its political and religious implications. The investigation focused on the identity dynamics at work in the Rwenzori transboundary region, the situation of violent ethnic tension in the region, the issue of land as a critical factor in the explosion of violence, and the relationship between religion and politics in the conflicts in the border area between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ITALY & CONGO (2014-2018)
Since 2014, Congo has been an essential area of research for the Mission in the dimension of the transcontinental diaspora. In Italy, immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo represent a very significant reality, as they were among the first to obtain the management of a place of worship in the center of Rome: the Church of the Nativity defined precisely "of the Congolese." In this context, the Mission's research documented the relationship between music and liturgy in the Congolese community of Rome. In fact, in close contact with the motherland, this community is remarkably united around musical activities. Research was also conducted on two Congolese evangelical churches in Piedmont and on the role of churches in the socioeconomic integration processes of migrants and the role of religious experience in the trajectories of migrants.