From Leipzig to Maputo, Mozambique

The ethnologist Giselher Blesse (born 1949) was for 40 years a research associate at the Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, today's GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig. From the beginning, his activities at the institution included the intensive study of historical and contemporary objects from Mozambique. He saw connections grown between Mozambique and the museum, including visits by Malangatana Valente Ngwenya and Nafta Langa to Leipzig in 1982, or exhibitions such as Malangatana Valente Ngwenya. Painting, Graphics, Drawings in 1986. In 1985, during a three-month trip to Maputo, Mozambique, Blesse had the opportunity to do research on site, visit museums, interview Makonde sculptors and and to visit Malangatana Valente Ngwenya in his studio. In a video interview from Giselher Blesse recalls the museum work of the 1980s linked to Mozambique and the research visit to Maputo in 1985.