Counter exposition to the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris.

Opening of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886

Postcard of the Annam Tower built in Marseilles (France) for the 1906 Colonial 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 1924 British Empire Exhibition was one, as was the successful 1931 Exposition coloniale in Paris, which lasted six months and attracted 34 million visitors. 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.^[1]

[edit] 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 Tentoonstelling (1883)
• Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886)
• Exposition internationale et coloniale (1894)
• Exposição Insular e Colonial Portuguesa (1894)
• Indo China Exposition Française et Internationale (1902)
• United States, Colonial and International Exposition (1902)
• Exposition coloniale (1906)
• Franco-British Exhibition (1908)
• Koloniale Tentoonstelling (1914)
• International Exhibition of Rubber and Other Tropical Products (1921)
• Festival of Empire (1911)
• Exposition nationale coloniale (1922)
• British Empire Exhibition (1924)
• Exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand (1930)
• Exposition coloniale internationale (1931)
• Paris Colonial Exposition (1931)
• Exposição Colonial Portuguesa (1934)
• Empire Exhibition (1936)
• Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938
• Deutsche Kolonial Ausstellung (1939)
• Exposição do Mundo Português (1940)
• Foire coloniale (1948)

[edit] See also

• Colonialism
• Human zoo
• List of world's fairs

[edit] References

1. ^ "From human zoos to colonial apotheoses: the era of exhibiting the Other" by Pascal Blanchard, Nicolas Bancel, and Sandrine Lemaire

[edit] External links

• Exposition Coloniale of Paris 1931 photographs

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