Femme mangbetu “Nobosodnu”

Fonds Haardt Mission Citroën Centre-Afrique - “Croisière Noire”

(C) RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

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The “Black Cruise” (la Croisière noire), a mix of colonial adventure, long-distance car rally and publicity campaign, was born from the will and determination of one famous industrialist, André Citroën. He decided to finance grand intercontinental expeditions to increase the brand-awareness of his automobiles. During the ten month period from October 1924 to June 1925, the “Black Cruise”, also known as the “Citroën-Centre-Afrique” expedition, went from Colomb-Béchar, through the Ahaggar Mountains and Chad, to Antananarivo. Citroën dreamed up the ambitious project of going right across the “black continent” using his half-tracks. It would also be a mission with real scientific objectives. During the expedition, 8 half-tracks covered 28,000 km across Africa. Seventeen members took part in the mission which was directed by Georges-Marie Haardt with Louis Audouin-Dubreuil as his assistant. The expedition’s participants did not return to Paris until the autumn of 1925, when they were received in triumph in France. Various exhibitions were organized. Thanks to this expedition, 300 botanical illustrations were made, 15 books of sketches were completed, specimens of over 300 mammals, 800 birds and 1,500 insects, mostly never before inventoried, were collected, 9.27 km of film was shot and 6,000 photographs were taken. The 70 minute long, silent film of the expedition, which was released on 26 March 1926, enjoyed enormous success, as did the expedition as a whole.