Colonial exhibition
Encyclopedia
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
during the New Imperialism
New Imperialism
New Imperialism refers to the colonial expansion adopted by Europe's powers and, later, Japan and the United States, during the 19th and early 20th centuries; expansion took place from the French conquest of Algeria until World War I: approximately 1830 to 1914...
period, which started in the 1880s with the scramble for Africa
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
.
The British Empire Exhibition
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925.-History:It was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April 1924. The British Empire contained 58 countries at that time, and only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part...
of 1924–5 ranked among these expositions, but perhaps the most notable was the rather successful 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition
Paris Colonial Exposition
The Paris Colonial Exhibition was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions.-History :The exposition opened on 6 May 1931 in the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern outskirts of...
, which lasted six months and sold 33 million tickets. Paris's Colonial Exhibition debuted on 6 May 1931, and encompassed 110 hectares of the Bois de Vincennes
Bois de Vincennes
The Bois de Vincennes is a park in the English landscape manner to the east of Paris. The park is named after the nearby town of 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
Palais de la Porte Dorée
The Palais de la Porte Dorée is an exhibit hall located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes at 293, avenue Daumesnil, XIIe arrondissement of Paris, France...
, which today serves as the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration
Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration
The Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration is a museum of immigration history located in the XIIe arrondissement at 293, avenue Daumesnil, Paris, France. The nearest métro station is Porte Dorée...
, as well as the Musée Permanente des Colonies, designed by architect Albert Laprode.
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
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
. The first section was dedicated to the crimes made during the colonial conquests, and quoted Albert Londres
Albert Londres
Albert Londres was a French journalist and writer. One of the inventors of investigative journalism, he criticized abuses of colonialism such as forced labour. Albert Londres gave his name to a journalism prize for Francophone journalists.- Biography :Londres was born in Vichy in 1884...
and André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, 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 zoo
Human zoo
Human zoos were 19th- and 20th-century public exhibits of humans, usually in a so-called natural or primitive state. The displays often emphasized the cultural differences between Europeans of Western civilisation and non-European peoples...
s were featured in some of these exhibitions, such as in the Parisian 1931 exhibition.
Colonial exhibitions
Exhibitions which may be described as colonial exhibitions include:- Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia (1866)
- Intercolonial Exhibition (1870)
- Intercolonial Exhibition (1875)
- Intercolonial Exhibition (1876)
- Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel TentoonstellingInternationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel TentoonstellingThe Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling or Exposition Universelle Coloniale et d'Exportation Générale was a colonial exhibition that was held in Amsterdam from May 1st to October 1st, 1883...
(1883) - Colonial and Indian ExhibitionColonial and Indian ExhibitionThe Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was a very substantial exhibition held in South Kensington in London, and intended "to stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majesty's Empire"...
(1886) - Exposition internationale et coloniale (1894)
- Exposição Insular e Colonial Portuguesa (1894)
- Great Industrial Exposition of Berlin (1896)
- Brussels International (1897)Brussels International (1897)The Brussels International Exposition of 1897 was a World's Fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from May 10, 1897 through November 8, 1897...
- Indo China Exposition Française et Internationale (1902)
- United States, Colonial and International Exposition (1902)
- Exposition coloniale (1906)
- Franco-British Exhibition (1908)Franco-British Exhibition (1908)The Franco-British Exhibition was a large public fair held in London in the early years of the 20th Century. The exhibition attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France....
- Exposition Universelle de BruxellesBrussels International 1910Exposition Universelle et Internationale was a world's fair held in Brussels in 1910 from April 23 to November 1. This was just thirteen years after the previous Brussels world's fair....
(1910) - Koloniale Tentoonstelling (1914)
- International Exhibition of Rubber and Other Tropical Products (1921)
- Festival of EmpireFestival of EmpireThe Festival of Empire or Festival of the Empire was held at The Crystal Palace in London in 1911, to celebrate the coronation of King George V...
(1911) - Exposition nationale coloniale (1922)
- British Empire ExhibitionBritish Empire ExhibitionThe British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925.-History:It was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April 1924. The British Empire contained 58 countries at that time, and only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part...
(1924–5) - Exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand (1930)
- Exposition coloniale internationale (1931)
- Paris Colonial ExpositionParis Colonial ExpositionThe Paris Colonial Exhibition was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions.-History :The exposition opened on 6 May 1931 in the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern outskirts of...
(1931) - Exposição Colonial Portuguesa (1934)
- Empire Exhibition (1936)
- Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 was an international exposition held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, from May to December 1938....
- Deutsche Kolonial Ausstellung (1939)
- Exposição do Mundo Português (1940)
- Foire coloniale (1948)
Japanese colonial exhibitions
During the early 20th century, the Empire of JapanEmpire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
was noteworthy in that it not only hosted colonial showcases in exhibitions within the Home Islands
Japanese Archipelago
The , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean...
, but also held several full-scale expositions inside its colonies of Korea
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
and Taiwan
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....
. 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.
Expositions held in Japanese colonies included:
- Korea Trade Fair to Commemorate 5 Years of Government (Seoul, 1915)
- Korea Exhibition (Seoul, 1929)
- Taiwan Exhibition to Commemorate 40 Years of Government (Taipei, 1935)
External links
- Exposition Coloniale of Paris 1931 photographs