A significant number of Swedes worked in the Congo Free State (1885-1908), the ill- reputed private colony of the Belgian king Leopold II. They played various roles, for example as sailors, military officers and missionaries. Some played an active part in the ongoing exploitation, others were its critics. In all these groups there were collectors of objects, some of which later became parts of museum collections, large ethnographic exhibitions and displays shown in missionary circles. The project aims to analyse the role that Congolese objects played in the shaping and distribution, in Sweden, of images of Africa, and thereby also the role of the Swedish nation in the colonial project. Through case studies of collections created by male and female Swedes with varying roles in the Congo Free State, research will be carried out on the ways in which objects were put together and charged with different meanings in varying contexts. Besides the collections themselves, various kinds of source material will be used such as exhibition catalogues, missionary literature, photographs, travel accounts and diaries. The project relates to postcolonial theory and contributes to recent discussions of museology and in particular to a revitalization of the study of museum collections. By focusing on the formation of Sweden's relations to the Other in a historical context, it can also help to deepen our understanding of problems in our present-day multicultural society.