Colonial exhibition

Counter exposition to the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris.
Map of the 1894 Lyon fair
Overview of 1896 exhibition
Postcard from Brussels International
Postcard of the Palais d'expositions at Hanoi Exhibition
Postcard of the Annam Tower built for the exhibition.
Bird's eye view of the Franco-British exhibition
The Royal Agricultural Hall site of the rubber exhibition
Replica of Canada Parliament Building at Festival of Empire
Poster for the exhibition
A season ticket pass section showing logo
Overview of the colonial exhibition of Semarang.
The Palace of Industry building from British Empire Exhibition
"Le Cactus" at the 1931 French exhibition

A colonial exhibition was a type of international exhibition intended to boost trade and bolster popular support for the various colonial empires during the New Imperialism period, which started in the 1880s with the scramble for Africa.

The British Empire Exhibition of 1924–5, held at Wembley Park in north-west London, ranked among these expositions, but perhaps the most notable was the rather successful 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, which lasted six months and sold 33 million tickets.[1] Paris's Colonial Exhibition debuted on 6 May 1931, and encompassed 110 hectares of the Bois de Vincennes. The exhibition included dozens of temporary museums and façades representing the various colonies of the European nations, as well as several permanent buildings. Among these were the Palais de la Porte Dorée, designed by architect Albert Laprode, which then housed the Musée permanent des Colonies, and serves today as the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration.[1]

An anti-colonial counter-exhibition was held near the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, titled Truth on the Colonies and was organized by the French Communist Party. The first section was dedicated to the crimes made during the colonial conquests, and quoted Albert Londres and André Gide's criticisms of forced labour while the second one made an apology of the Soviets' "nationalities' policy" compared to "imperialist colonialism".

Germany and Portugal also staged colonial exhibitions, as well as Belgium, which had a Foire coloniale as late as 1948. Human zoos were featured in some of these exhibitions, such as in the Parisian 1931 exhibition.[2]


Empire of Japan hosted colonial showcases in exhibitions within the Home Islands, but also held several full-scale expositions inside its colonies of Korea and Taiwan. These exhibitions did however have objectives comparable to that of their European counterparts, in that they highlighted economic achievements and social progress under Japanese colonial rule to Japanese and colonial subjects alike.

Colonial exhibitions

Exhibitions which may be described as colonial exhibitions include:

Name of exhibition Date Location Country Notes
Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia1866Melbourne  Australia
Intercolonial Exhibition[3]1870SydneyIncluded printwork by Helena Scott
Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition[3]1875Melbourne
Intercolonial Exhibition1876Brisbane
Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling1883Amsterdam Netherlands
Colonial and Indian Exhibition1886London United Kingdom
Exposition Universelle 1889 Paris  France
Exposition internationale et coloniale1894Lyon
Exposição Insular e Colonial Portuguesa1894Oporto Portugal
Great Industrial Exposition1896Berlin Germany
Exposition nationale et coloniale 1896 Rouen  France
Brussels International1897Brussels Belgium
Exposition internationale et coloniale 1898 Rochefort  France
Hanoi exhibition1902Hanoi French Indochina
United States, Colonial and International Exposition1902New York City United States
Marseille colonial exhibition1906Marseille France
Exposition Coloniale 1907 Paris
Franco-British Exhibition1908London United KingdomThe exhibition celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France.
Festival of Empire 1911
Exposition Universelle1910Brussels Belgium
International exhibition of marine and maritime hygiene1914Genoa Italy
Colonial Exhibition1914Semarang Dutch East IndiesIntended to "give a comprehensive picture of the Dutch Indies in their present prosperous condition".[4]
Korea Trade Fair 1915 Seoul Japan Japanese Korea
International Exhibition of Rubber and Other Tropical Products1921London United Kingdom
Exposition nationale coloniale1922Marseille France
British Empire Exhibition1924London United Kingdom
Korea Exhibition 1929 Seoul Japan Japanese Korea
Exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand1930Antwerp[5] Belgium
Paris Colonial Exposition1931Paris FranceA six-month exhibition that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions.
Exposição Colonial Portuguesa1934Porto Portugal
Taiwan Exhibition 1935 Taipei Japan Japanese Formosa
Empire Exhibition1936Johannesburg South AfricaThe Empire Exhibition held in Johannesburg from 15 September 1936 to 15 January 1937 was the first time the Empire Exhibition was held outside of Britain.[6] It was seen as an opportunity for the expansion of British trade.[7] It coincided with Johannesburg's Jubilee and was staged on a grand scale, with over twenty acres of industrial and commercial exhibits.[8] It was opened by the Governor-General.[9]
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne 1937 Paris  France
Empire Exhibition1938Glasgow United Kingdom
Deutsche Kolonial Ausstellung1939Dresden Nazi Germany
Exposição do Mundo Português1940Lisbon PortugalHeld primarily as a celebration of the Estado Novo. One foreign nation, Brazil, participated in the exhibition.
Foire coloniale1948Brussels Belgium
Entrance to the Korea Exhibition, Seoul, 1929

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Blevis, Laure; Lafout-Couturieur, Hélène; et al. (2008). 1931: Les Étrangers au temps de l'Exposition Coloniale. Paris: Gallimard.
  2. ↑ "From human zoos to colonial apotheoses: the era of exhibiting the Other". Centro de Estudos Sociais. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
  3. 1 2 Pelle, Findling, ed. (2008). "Appendix D:Fairs Not Included". Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 423. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
  4. ↑ "Calendar". The Independent. 13 Jul 1914. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Pelle, Findling, ed. (2008). "Appendix B:Fair Statistics". Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
  6. ↑ "Lexicon - Empire Exhibition". Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Empire Exhibition at Johannesburg". Nature. 137: 182. doi:10.1038/137182a0.
  8. ↑ "Souvenir Catalogue,Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg (1936)". Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ "British Pathe News: South Africa's Empire Exhibition". Retrieved January 30, 2016.

Bibliography

  • Alexander C.T. Geppert, Fleeting Cities. Imperial Expositions in Fin-de-Siècle Europe, Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
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