Pen the Universal Exhibition of 1889, a particularly sinister attraction exhibited to the delighted population 400 Africans in enclosures. Published in partnership with RetroNews, the website of the National Library of France
From the 1870s, “zoological shows” featuring human beings appeared in major European capitals such as Berlin, London or Paris. In 1877, Geoffroy de Saint-Hilaire, the director of the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris, organized several exhibitions for the entertainment of Parisians, notably presenting “Eskimos” and “Nubians”.
The popular success of these "anthropozoological shows" is such that they multiply in France and become real mass entertainment. During the Universal Exhibition of 1889, a space was dedicated to the colonial exhibition on the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris. The program, drawn up in collaboration with the administration of the colonies, aims to "achieve a rational and attractive figuration of the industry, the mores, the external appearance of each of our groups of possessions in the different parts of the world,” reports the newspaper Le Constitutionnel.
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