Between 1900 and 1909 Emil Torday (1885-1931), the Hungarian Africa researcher, carried out three expeditions to the Congo River basin. In the summer of 2009, on the one hundredth anniversary of his last journey, a Hungarian expedition traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to retrace part of Torday's itinerary.

The expedition was successful in reaching the sites where and the ethnic groups among whom Torday executed his most significant research and collecting of art and artifacts. The expedition was documented by Attila Lóránt as photographer and Dávid Reisinger as cinematographer. Ildikó Szilasi, the leader of the expedition, carried out anthropological observations and collected artifacts in collaboration with the Congolese anthropologist Charles Ngwabwanyi Kunda.

The contents of this exhibition include some of the writings of Torday and photos taken by Torday or his fellow-travelers at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the photographs, videos, documents and objects assembled during the expedition in the summer of 2009. The aim of the exhibition is to acquaint the public with the opus and achievements of Torday. Furthermore to show the public the cultural processes and social phenomena taking place in the Congo nowadays.

The exhibition is opened to the public between 06.02-28.02 from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Between 01.03-04.03 the Museum is opened from 10am to 8pm."

Photo: Attila Lóránt

Source: Museum of Ethnography
Address: 1055 Budapest, Kossuth Lajos square 12.
Tel: +36 1 473 24 00