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A colonial exhibition was a type of international exhibition that was held to boost trade. During the 1880s and beyond, colonial exhibitions had the additional aim of bolstering popular support for the various 
Brussels was the venue for the last colonial exhibition: the Belgian ''Foire coloniale'', held in 1948.
Exposition Coloniale of Paris 1931
photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonial Exhibition History of colonialism World's fairs
A colonial exhibition was a type of international exhibition that was held to boost trade. During the 1880s and beyond, colonial exhibitions had the additional aim of bolstering popular support for the various colonial empires
A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas, settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state.
Before the expansion of early moder ...
during the New Imperialism
In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Com
The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of ove ...
period, which included the scramble for Africa.
The first colonial exhibition, in Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia, in 1866, was the progeny of 25 years of similar exhibitions, also held in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, in which other colonies within the Australian continent participated.
Perhaps the most notable colonial exhibition was the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition
The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...
, which lasted six months and sold 33 million tickets. Paris's Colonial Exhibition opened on 6 May 1931 on 110 hectares (272 acres) of the Bois de Vincennes
The Bois de Vincennes (), located on the eastern edge of Paris, is the largest public park in the city. It was created between 1855 and 1866 by Emperor Napoleon III.
The park is next to the Château de Vincennes, a former residence of the King ...
. 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
The Palais de la Porte Dorée is an exhibit hall located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes at 293, avenue Daumesnil, 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. It now houses the Musée de l'Histoire de l'Immigration, as well as a tropical aquarium ...
, 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 The Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration is a museum of immigration history located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at 293, avenue Daumesnil. The nearest métro station is Porte Dorée. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. ...
.
The French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...
held an anti-colonial counter-exhibition near the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, titled ''The truth about the colonies''. The first section was dedicated to crimes during the colonial conquests, and quoted Albert Londres and André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) 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 ...
's criticisms of forced labour. The second one contrasted the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
's "nationalities policy" with "imperialist colonialism".
Germany and Portugal also staged colonial exhibitions. Human zoo
Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays sometimes emphasized the sup ...
s were featured in some of the exhibitions, such as in the Parisian 1931 exhibition.
The Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
hosted colonial showcases in exhibitions within the Home Islands, but also held several full-scale expositions inside its colonies of Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. 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.
Brussels was the venue for the last colonial exhibition: the Belgian ''Foire coloniale'', held in 1948.
Colonial exhibitions
Exhibitions that may be described as colonial exhibitions include the following.
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Alexander C.T. Geppert, ''Fleeting Cities. Imperial Expositions in Fin-de-Siècle Europe'', Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.See also
*Colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
*Human zoo
Human zoos, also known as ethnological expositions, were public displays of people, usually in a so-called "natural" or "primitive" state. They were most prominent during the 19th and 20th centuries. These displays sometimes emphasized the sup ...
*List of world's fairs
This is a list of international and colonial world's fairs, as well as a list of national exhibitions, a comprehensive chronological list of world's fairs (with notable permanent buildings built).
1790s
* 1791 – Prague, Bohemia, Habsburg m ...
*Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation
European colonialism and colonization was the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over other societies and territories, founding a colony, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. For example, colo ...
External links
Exposition Coloniale of Paris 1931
photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonial Exhibition History of colonialism World's fairs