The Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry was held in Glasgow in 1911. It was the third of 4 international exhibitions held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Cranston's exhibition cafe

Summary

The exhibition followed the lead of the previous two exhibitions ( Glaswegian exhibition (1888) and

Glasgow International Exhibition (1901) The Glasgow International Exhibition was the second of 4 international exhibitions held in Glasgow, Scotland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition took place during a period of half-mourning requested by Edward VII but ...

) and took place at

Kelvingrove Park Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. History Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, and ...

. It ran from 2 May to 4 November 1911, and recorded over 9.3 million visits. The aim of the event was to fund a Chair of Scottish History and Literature at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, with the Exhibition Prospectus quoting the resolution of a March 1909 meeting: ''"the time had fully arrived when Scottish history should be placed on a differing plane from that which it had hitherto occupied in the education of the rising generations."'' Although the size of this National exhibition was largely similar to that of its International predecessors, it garnered little attention from the London-based national press.

Exhibits

The fair was held close to the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin (Scottish Gaelic: ''Abhainn Cheilbhinn'') is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it init ...

structured around the Stewart Memorial and included a Palaces of History (based on the

Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...

, Industries, and Art, a Concert Hall and an Aviation Building as well as exhibits of Decorative Art. The site used was further east than the 1911 event, and excluded

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

. Entertainments included boat trips, an aerial railway and a ''Highland Village'' (from which a cairn marking the village remains). In addition to the Highlanders in the Highland Village, the event also featured other displays of people, from both Lapland and West Africa. The latter comprised around 100 individuals, including children, from

Equatorial Africa Equatorial Africa is an ambiguous term that sometimes is used to refer either to the equatorial region of Sub-Saharan Africa traversed by the Equator, more broadly to tropical Africa or in a biological and geo-environmental sense to the intra- ...

, the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-Congo) was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, ...

, Dahomey and Sudan. Their performances of religious ceremonies, singing, and dancing were popular, despite some objections at the time that the inclusion of these human exhibits lowered the serious quality of the Exhibition. The language of the exhibition pamphlet (Souvenir of a Visit to the West African Colonies')'' reveals racist attitudes toward these groups as primitive, or unclean, and discussed their countries mainly in terms of what benefit they brought to the colonising country.

Legacy and remnants

The land upon which the exhibition sat is now still in use as Kelvingrove Park. Profits from the fair successfully funded the establishment of a Chair of Scottish History and Literature at the University of Glasgow in 1913; the post originally being filled by

Robert Rait Sir Robert Sangster Rait (10 February 1874 – 25 May 1936) was a Scottish historian, Historiographer Royal and Principal of the University of Glasgow. Early life Rait was born in 1874 in Narborough, Leicestershire to Scottish parents, although ...

References

External links

- site map

photo from the University overlooking the exhibition site part way through construction
World's fairs in Glasgow 1911 in Scotland History of Glasgow Culture in Glasgow Foreign relations of Scotland Industrial history of Scotland Cultural history of Scotland Economy of Glasgow 1911 in international relations 1910s in Glasgow 1911 festivals {{UK-festival-stub

Summary

Exhibits

Legacy and remnants

See also

References

External links