Gustaf Bolinder was granted 15 000 SEK for his and his wife’s journey to Southern Africa in 1948-49. During their journey they visited Portuguese West and East Africa (Angola and Mozambique), South Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Swaziland and South Africa. They brought home over a thousand objects for the museums of ethnography in Stockholm and Gothenburg respectively. The money, granted by King Gustav V through the Royal Academy of Science, was taken from the so-called lottery funds.
For those Swedes who were the most active explorers it was a big concern how to finance their travels. The expeditions often involved collaborators like assistants, photographers, local translators and guides who cost lots of money. The journeys were often very long, there were costs for technical equipment and for purchase and shipping of the collected objects. Very few expeditions were given financial support from the Swedish state. The Vanadis and the Vega expeditions and some of Sven Hedin’s expeditions are examples of expeditions supported by the state.
Most expeditions were financed by a mix of private sponsors, foundations and scientific societies like The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography and last, but not least, through purchases of objects made afterwards by the museums of ethnography.