History

Researchers

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

PhD

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

Master's degree students

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

Bibliography

Audio and video productions

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.