Afrique en résonance

Collection du musée africain de Lyon

Published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the African Museum in Lyon, this publication for the first time presents the entire collection, one of the most important in France.

It includes objects produced by a wide range of peoples and cultural groups, including the Yoruba in Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, the Baule in Ivory Coast, and the Senufo covering a variety of countries. The collection also provides a broad panorama of these cultures through their masks, statues, and objects used in daily life all linked by a shared geographical origin: West Africa.

This book also tells the story of how the collection came to be formed through the efforts of missionaries of the Société des missions africaines, as well as outlining the way the museum has developed since its foundation in the 1860s.

Joseph Adandé is professor of Art History at Aborney-Calavi University, Cotonou (Benin). He has published numerous articles, helped organize various exhibitions, and regularly takes part in seminars in Benin and abroad.
Julien Bondaz is a researcher in the Cultural and Social History of Art “equipe d’accueil” (Paris University/Panthéon-Sorbonne) and in the Interdisciplinary Institute of Contemporary Anthropology (CNRS-EHESS), and as part of the Labex creation, arts et patrimoines project, he has coordinated several collective works.
Pierre Boutin is a former Director of the African Museum of Lyon (from 1998 to 2003), member of the Société des missions africaines, and independent researcher. He is currently head of collections at SMA patrimoine.
Claude Prudhomme is emeritus professor of Contemporary History at the University of Lyon 2 and an expert in the history of Christian missions and sub-Saharan Africa. He is a member of the RESEA team (religions, societies, and acculturation) at the Rhône-Alpes Laboratory of Historical Research, LARHRA UMP 5190.
Laurick Zerbini is senior lecturer in the History of African Art at the University of Lyon 2 and a member of the RESEA team (religions, societies, and acculturation) at the Rhône-Alpes Laboratory of Historical Research, LARHRA UMP 5190. She has written articles on Catholic missionary museums and on the creation of an African cultural awareness.