The Collector
Felice Maffei, civil engineer. Across six decades of work — beginning in Iran in 1962 and extending across Africa from 1964, then the Middle East, Asia and Europe — he acquired the works of the collection directly, in the places where he lived and worked.
Nine Documented Journeys
Selected postings, fully evidenced — 1962–2016
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IRAN · 1962–63Dez Hydropower Project
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GHANA · 1964–65Akosombo Hydropower Project
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IRAQ · 1966–67South Electrification Project
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IRAN · 1968–70Tehran–Gorgan Transmission Line
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IVORY COAST · 1971–72Bandama River Project
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KUWAIT · 1973–74A Diplomatic Encounter
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IRAN · 1976–80Imperial Aero Club
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KENYA · 1987–89Kerio Valley Development
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EAST TIMOR · 2009–16Nationwide Power Grid
The Flight Logbook
Pages from Felice Maffei’s private pilot’s logbook, kept alongside his engineering postings. The entries record flying hours logged in Ivory Coast in 1971–72, at Bouaké and Abidjan, and with the Imperial Aero Club flying school in Iran in 1976–77.
Six Decades in the Field
A career spanning three continents, 1962–2016
- GHANA1964–65
- IVORY COAST1971–72
- BURKINA FASO1986
- KENYA1987–89
- NIGERIA & LIBYA1994–95
- IRAQ1966–67
- KUWAIT1973–74
- QATAR1975
- LEBANON1991–92
- SYRIA1993
- IRAN1962–63
- IRAN1968–70
- IRAN1976–80
- ITALY (BASED)1981–85
- SEYCHELLES1990
- CHINA1996
- CAMBODIA1996
- THAILAND2000–03, 2007–09
- EAST TIMOR2009–16
- BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA1997–99
- SERBIA & MONTENEGRO2004–05
- BELGIUM2006–07
From Engineer to Collector
Felice Maffei began his career in 1962, on the Dez Hydropower Project in Iran, and it was there that the collection began. In 1964 he arrived in Ghana as site engineer on the Akosombo Hydropower Project, his first posting in Africa. Over the decades that followed, dams, transmission lines and power grids took him across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Wherever he worked, he came to know the traditions and arts of the people around him, and he went on acquiring the works that now form the collection.
Acquired in the Field
Every work in the collection was acquired by Felice Maffei himself, in the places where he lived and worked, never through galleries or auction houses. Each work is recorded with the place and year of its acquisition, and that record is its provenance. A work’s cultural origin and its place of acquisition can differ, because objects travelled between neighbouring peoples, so both are recorded. The collection is still growing: acquisition continues today.
“I have witnessed, appreciated, and loved the habits, lifestyles, traditions, and arts of local populations – from cities to remote ethnic groups in tropical forests, deserts, and mountains. Every piece in my collection carries artistic value and the soul of these experiences.”Felice Maffei
From the Field Archive
Deputy Marketing & Commercial Manager, SADELMI–COGEPI, Milan. Countries visited: Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe.