Blog post by Tina Palaić and Marko Frelih, PhD from Slovene Ethnographic museum about the missionary Ignacij Knoblehar.
In mid-August 1850, the newspapers in Ljubljana published the exciting news: »Our prominent missionary Knoblehar is in Ljubljana.« People could meet him strolling along the streets of Ljubljana dressed in typical oriental clothes: a long gown and turban on his head. With his appearance he explicitly showed that he came from another cultural milieu. According to the news he was an attraction. People welcomed him with enthusiasm and showed a lot of interest for different objects he brought from South Sudan and displayed in the theological seminary. Knoblehar collected these objects among the Nilotic people: Bari, Shiluk and Chir. There are still about 230 preserved objects at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana and about 60 objects at Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna. These are one of the oldest African collections in Europe. Today the Knoblehar collection includes mostly weapons (spears, clubs, bows, arrows, shields), instruments (whistles, horns, rattles), clay pipes, jewellery, blacksmith tools, utensils and clothes.
How did Knoblehar choose and obtain the objects? Why did he as a missionary collect them? How has the role of his collection changed over time? In addition to his missionary endeavours Ignacij Knoblehar also systematically investigated the White Nile and became one of the most prominent experts on the river Nile in his time. His endeavours might have led him to the idea to present everyday life of the peoples of the White Nile in his homeland and in Europe – with collection of their everyday objects. He regarded the local population as lost pagan savages that could be saved from the damnation in hell only through baptism and the other sacraments, and by learning the Christian doctrine. In this regard the documenting of their spiritual life was probably irrelevant for him what is also evident when analysing the collection – there are no spiritual objects included.
We can recognize additional arguments for collecting and presenting the objects in his homeland through Knoblehar's other activities at the time of his visit in 1850. After a short stay in Ljubljana, he took some objects with him to Vienna. He immediately secured an audience with the young emperor Franz Joseph I., who listened very carefully the Knoblehar's deliberate presentation of the vision of the African mission. The emperor promised to become a patron of the mission and to supply the necessary funds. Knoblehar's visit in Vienna awakened an Austrian appetite for supremacy in eastern Africa on several levels. Control of the trading routes on the Nile was very important for many European countries. Trade for ivory and other natural resources was very lucrative. The English, French, Germans and, increasingly, also Austrians were aware of this. In Knoblehar's work the Austrian government recognised an opportunity to assert itself politically and economically in Africa.
Several factors contributed to the processes of colonization, however there were also many myths, stereotypes and generalizations about Africa and its peoples which defended the legitimacy of colonialism. They were produced by the Europeans, working among the locals. Diplomats, consuls, investigators, merchants, and also missionaries were collecting the »material evidence of African inferiority«, which contributed to the »scientific legitimacy« of colonialism. As a consequence European cultural and religious values were imposed on imagined »wild, irrational, undeveloped Africans«. During Knoblehar's mission the first stereotypes about African peoples emerged also in Slovenia, mostly due to his collection as well as the Slovene press. People read about activities on the White Nile for an entire decade in several Slovene newspapers, for instance in the Catholic newsletter Zgodnja Danica. Many information about the peoples of the White Nile was published in the form of missionary reports and articles. For the first time in history Slovenes were thoroughly acquainted with an African country. Many stereotypes and myths have been preserved to this day. However Knoblehar's mission finished soon. Because of poor health, he decided to go to Europe in 1857 and died in Naples in 1858. After his death other missionaries gradually left the mission established along the White Nile. For the Austrian government this path to Africa has been closed.
Knoblehar's collection is considered as one of the sources of information about the missionary's work among the Nilotic peoples as well as local peoples’ everyday practices and customs. However, we have to analyse it in the context of its origin, and especially to reconsider the purposes of collecting in order to understand the collection's components. Today we can use it as a tool for the reflection of the different processes of colonialism as well as articulation and commentary on its legacy. The collection can be understood as a source for inspiration for different museum's stakeholders, for instance scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds, museum experts, contemporary artists, students, museum visitors, interested in the issue and also representatives from migrant associations, who should be invited to share their perspectives and ideas about the collection as well as their experience and knowledge connected with its diverse themes. You can read more about this topic in the catalogue "Sudan Mission 1848-1858: Ignacij Knoblehar – Missionary, Explorer of the White Nile and Collector of African Objects", (2009) by the author Marko Frelih, PhD, curator at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. It includes also an article The Sudan Collections at the Museum für Völkerkunde in Vienna by Barbara Plankensteiner, PhD.
