The documentation Centre has come into being as a meeting point of different cultural activities aimed at a better understanding of the values and advantages offered by the multicultural reality of today society.
The Centre's archives, which are open to the public, contain materials ranging from an analysis of the design of ethnographic museums in Europe (in pArticular in Italy) to the history of African Art.
The research activity includes visual documentation of Italian colonialism, a subject which has been explored in a series of exhibition, at present circulating in Italy.
In the ethnographic museum, housed in the picturesque rooms of the ground floor of the ex-convent of Saint Francisco, more than 600 objects from East Africa are on display. The objects have been selected and arranged to illustrate a series of themes showing the interaction of human beings and nature in ways characteristic of each culture.
Many educational materials are available to the visitors. In addition to the Guide of the ethnographic museum (Quaderno 1), special documentation for classroom use by teachers has been prepared in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (Quaderno 2).
Upon request visitors may view a series of videotapes on African cultures.