Thematic Exhibition
RECORDING AFRICA: THE TRAVEL LENS OF THE CARAVAN OF FRIENDSHIP
November 27, 2025 – April 13, 2026
Exhibition Curator: Milica Naumov
At the beginning of 1962, as parts of the African continent were undergoing profound geopolitical transformations and emerging from the era of colonial rule, a group of travelers embarked on a months-long journey through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanganyika. The expedition, titled The Caravan of Friendship and led by Tibor Sekelj, was born out of a belief that encounters between people can create spaces of understanding—not only on the level of ntergovernmental or official politics, but through the exchange of glances and words; through the frames captured by these self-organized travelers in motion.
The exhibition “Recording Africa: The Travel Lens of the Caravan of Friendship” at the Museum of African Art opens this journey through the eyes of Film News cameraman Branko Marjanović, a member of the expedition whose photo album today stands as both document and personal diary—a testimony to an era, but also an invitation to read the echoes of his explorations through landscapes yet unexplored by his lens. The camera in his hand recorded scenes of a continent in transformation, as well as traces of his own curiosity, attentiveness, and the limits of what can, or cannot be “framed.”
The exhibited photographs, film footage, and travel objects do not testify merely to one endeavor, but to ways of seeing and recording. How did the participants of this expedition perceive Africa, and how did they understand their own place within? Where, and to what extent, do idealism and political reality, fascination with the other and the attempt to understand intersect in this regard? The exhibition invites visitors to read the material from this journey as points of encounter—between documents and memories, between what was recorded and what was imagined.
Carefully composed, Branko’s photo album—kept for decades as a private family keepsake —now, together with the objects from the journey, becomes part of a kind of cabinet of memory: an archive in which public and personal histories intertwine, professional testimony meets intimate urge to document and preserve. Perhaps it is here that the essence of the Caravan reveals itself most clearly—not as a “mission,” but as a process of searching, in which preserved memorabilia speak not only of the world shaped in the 1960s, but also of us today—of our ways of seeing and interpreting.
Recording Africa is therefore not merely a story about a completed journey, but an invitation to continue walking in its footsteps—between past and present, between personal and collective memory, between the gazes that once “recorded” and those that now “read.”
On Thursday, November 27, the Museum of African Art in Belgrade opened the exhibition “Recording Africa: The Travel Lens of the Caravan of Friendship.”
Addressing the audience, Milica Josimov emphasized that the exhibition is dedicated to the remarkable expedition led by Tibor Sekelj, who brought together a team of travelers and enthusiasts with the aim of connecting and discovering the diverse cultures of the African continent. The Caravan set off from Alexandria and journeyed through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanganyika, encountering a wide range of landscapes and communities. The Yugoslav Film Archive provided the camera used by Marjanović during the expedition, while Film News and RTS Archive contributed documentary materials.
Milica Naumov, the exhibition’s author, highlighted that the entire project was initiated by a special, “quiet magic” of encounters that continues to this day, ever since Pavle Marjanović brought his father’s photo albums to the Museum two years ago. “Suddenly, the table was filled with objects that speak of a world in the making—a man trying to understand it, his journey, and his deeply personal record of it. From those pages, a story began to unfold: the tale of the Caravan’s journey, but also of all of us who, along the way, became part of that story told through the photo album, which we touched, read, and explored so many years later, recognizing at times within it something of our own, something profoundly personal. That process quickly became a journey itself.”
Pavle Marjanović, son of Branko Marjanović, expressed his gratitude to the Museum and its collaborators, emphasizing that his father’s family legacy is now accessible to the public through personal items and photographs created during the expedition.
The exhibition was formally opened by Prof. Dr. Milan Rakočević, who, thirteen years after the Caravan of Friendship, traveled a similar route as part of the “Kragujevac–Kilimanjaro” expedition. He highlighted that the Caravan represented a legendary journey for his generation, and that even today it can serve as an inspiration for future bold endeavors. “It was not only an adventure, but a journey through friendly countries and proof that a completely different, direct kind of contact can be established,” he noted, adding that Branko’s camera and photo lens captured scenes that remain extraordinary even today.
Photo: Bojan Džodan
Throughout the exhibition, author-led tours will be held every Sunday at 11 a.m., along with creative children’s workshops titled “My Memory Panorama.”. Children will have the opportunity to create a keepsake album dedicated to preserving their favorite memories. Registration is required by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
