View source for Colonial exhibition

{{Short description|Type of exhibition held to promote colonial empires}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
[[File:1931 Counter Exhibition.jpg|thumb|Counter-exposition to the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris.]]
[[File:Plan_Exposition_universelle_Lyon_1894_Parc_Tête_d'Or.jpg|thumb|200px|Map of the 1894 Lyon fair]] [[File:Berlin, Treptow, Gewerbeausstellung 1896, Übersicht.jpg|thumb|200px|Overview of 1896 exhibition]] [[File:Postcard from the Exposition Internationale de Bruxelles (1897).jpg|thumb|200px|Postcard from Brussels International]] 
[[File:Đấu xảo Hà Nội 1902.jpg|thumb|200px|Postcard of the Palais d'expositions at Hanoi Exhibition]] 
[[File:Franco-British Exhibition.jpg|thumb|200px|Bird's eye view of the Franco-British exhibition]]
[[File:Agricultural Hall Islington ILN 1861.jpg|200px|thumb|The Royal Agricultural Hall site of the rubber exhibition]] 
[[File:Festival of Empire 1911 from Candian House.jpg|thumb|200px|Replica of Canada Parliament Building at Festival of Empire]]
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Gezicht over de paviljoens op het terrein van de Koloniale Tentoonstelling in Semarang TMnr 60026651.jpg|thumb|200px|Overview of the colonial exhibition of Semarang.]] 
[[File:Palace of Industry British Empire Exhibition 1924 1.JPG|thumb|200px|The Palace of Industry building from British Empire Exhibition]] 
A '''colonial exhibition''' was a type of [[World's fair|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 [[colonialism|colonial empires]] during the [[New Imperialism]] period, which included the [[scramble for Africa]].

The first colonial exhibition, in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]], in 1866, was the progeny of 25 years of similar exhibitions held in [[Melbourne]], in which other colonies within the Australian continent participated.

Perhaps the most notable colonial exhibition was the 1931 [[Paris Colonial Exposition]], which lasted six months and sold 33 million tickets.<ref name=Blevis>{{cite book |title=1931: Les Étrangers au temps de l'Exposition Coloniale |first1=Laure |last1=Blevis |first2=Hélène |last2=Lafout-Couturieur |publisher=Gallimard |location=Paris |year=2008 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> Paris's Colonial Exhibition opened on 6 May 1931 on 110 hectares (272 acres) of the [[Bois de 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]], 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]].<ref name=Blevis />

The [[French Communist Party]] 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]]'s criticisms of [[forced labour]]. The second one contrasted the [[Soviet Union]]'s "[[National delimitation in the Soviet Union|nationalities policy]]" with "imperialist colonialism".

Germany and Portugal also staged colonial exhibitions. [[Human zoo]]s were featured in some of the exhibitions, such as the Parisian 1931 exhibition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ces.uc.pt/formacao/materiais_racismo_pos_racismo/From_human_zoos_to_colonial_apotheoses_the_era_of_exhibiting_the_Other.htm |title=From human zoos to colonial apotheoses: the era of exhibiting the Other |publisher=Centro de Estudos Sociais |access-date=2014-02-03}}</ref>

The [[Empire of Japan]] hosted colonial showcases in exhibitions within the [[Japanese archipelago|Home Islands]], but also held several full-scale expositions inside its colonies of [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]] and [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]]. These exhibitions had objectives comparable to their European counterparts, highlighting economic achievements and social progress under Japanese colonial rule to Japanese and colonial subjects alike. 
[[File:British Empire flag RMG RP 17 35.jpg|thumb|<bdi>A [[British Empire flag]] distributed at the British Empire Exhibition.</bdi>]]
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.
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Name of exhibition
!Date
!Location
!Country
!Notes
|-
||[[Sydney International Exhibition]]||1879|||[[Sydney]]|| {{flag|New South Wales}}||{{refn|group=note|Exhibitions in Australia started 25 years earlier, when the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales, inspired by the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, mounted their own exhibitions in 1854 in preparation for the Paris Exhibition of 1855 and in 1861 for the London Exhibition of 1862. These earlier exhibitions were known as Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibitions: "intercolonial" referring to the Australian colonies that became states of Australia after federation in 1901, not those in separate countries of the British Empire.<ref name= latrobejournal>{{cite web |url= http://latrobejournal.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-56/t1-g-t4.html |title= Over the border: Victoria at interstate exhibitions |last= Cowley |first= Des |date= 1995 |website= The La Trobe Journal |publisher= The State Library Victoria |access-date= 22 July 2019}}</ref>}}
|-
|| [[Internationale Koloniale en Uitvoerhandel Tentoonstelling]] || 1883 || [[Amsterdam]] || {{flag|Netherlands}}||
|-
|| [[Colonial and Indian Exhibition]] || 1886 || [[London]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||
|-
| [[Philippines Exposition (1887)|Philippines Exposition]] || 1887 || [[Madrid]] || {{Flagicon|Spain|1874}} [[Spain]] ||
|-
|| [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|Exposition Universelle]] ||1889||[[Paris]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposition internationale et coloniale (1894)|Exposition internationale et coloniale]]|| 1894 || [[Lyon]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposição Insular e Colonial Portuguesa]] || 1894 || [[Porto]] || {{flagicon|Portugal|1830}} [[Portugal]] ||
|-
|| [[Great Industrial Exposition of Berlin|Great Industrial Exposition]] || 1896 || [[Berlin]] || {{flag|Germany|empire}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposition nationale et coloniale]] || 1896 || [[Rouen]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[Brussels International (1897)|Brussels International]] || 1897 || [[Brussels]] || {{flag|Belgium}} ||
|-
|[[Exposition internationale et coloniale (1898)|Exposition internationale et coloniale]] || 1898 || [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[Greater America Exposition]] || 1899 || [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]] || {{flag|United States}} ||
|-
|| [[Hanoi exhibition]] || 1902 || [[Hanoi]] || {{flag|French Indochina}} ||
|-
|| [[United States, Colonial and International Exposition]]{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} || 1902 ||[[New York City]] || {{flag|United States}} ||
|-
|| {{illm|Marseille colonial exhibition|fr|Exposition coloniale de Marseille (1906)}} ||1906 || [[Marseille]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| Exposition Coloniale || 1907 || [[Paris]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[Franco-British Exhibition (1908)|Franco-British Exhibition]] || 1908 || [[London]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||<ref group="note">The exhibition celebrated the [[Entente Cordiale]] signed in 1904 by the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]].</ref>{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
|-
|| [[Festival of Empire]] || 1911 || [[London]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||
|-
|| [[Brussels International 1910|Exposition Universelle]] || 1910 || [[Brussels]] || {{flag|Belgium}} ||
|-
|| [[International exhibition of marine and maritime hygiene]] || 1914 || [[Genoa]] || {{flag|Italy|1861}} ||
|-
|| [[Colonial Exhibition of Semarang|Colonial Exhibition]] || 1914 || [[Semarang]] || {{flag|Dutch East Indies }} ||{{refn|group=note| The exhibition was to "give a comprehensive picture of the Dutch Indies in their present prosperous condition".<ref>{{cite news |title=Calendar |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/n54/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=13 July 1914 |access-date=5 August 2012}}</ref>}}
|-
|| [[Joseon Industrial Exhibition]] || 1915 || [[Seoul|Gyeongseong (Seoul)]] || {{flagicon|Japan}} [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese Korea]] ||
|-
|| [[International Exhibition of Rubber and Other Tropical Products]] || 1921 || [[London]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposition nationale coloniale]] || 1922 || [[Marseille]] || {{flag|France}} ||
|-
|| [[British Empire Exhibition]] || 1924 || [[London]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||
|-
|| [[Chosun Exhibition]] || 1929 || [[Seoul|Gyeongseong (Seoul)]] || {{flagicon|Japan}} [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese Korea]]
|-
|| [[Exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand]] || 1930 || [[Antwerp]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title = Appendix B:Fair Statistics|encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions|page=415|editor-last = Pelle|editor-first = Findling|publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-7864-3416-9}}</ref> || {{flag|Belgium}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposition coloniale internationale|Paris Colonial Exposition]] || 1931 || [[Paris]] || {{flag|France}} || <ref group="note">This six-month exhibition attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions.</ref>{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
|-
|| [[Exposição Colonial Portuguesa]] || 1934 || [[Porto]] || {{flag|Portugal}} ||
|-
|| [[The Taiwan Exposition: In Commemoration of the First Forty Years of Colonial Rule|Taiwan Exposition]] || 1935 || [[Taipei|Taihoku (Taipei)]] || {{flagicon|Japan}} [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese Formosa]] ||
|-
|| [[Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg|Empire Exhibition]]   || 1936 || [[Johannesburg]] || {{flag|South Africa|1928}} ||{{refn|group=note| The Empire Exhibition held in Johannesburg from 15 September 1936 to 15 January 1937 was the first time the Empire Exhibition was held outside of Britain.<ref name="joburg">{{cite web|access-date=5 December 2013|url=http://www.artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/style_det.php?styleid=523|title=Lexicon – Empire Exhibition}}</ref> It was seen as an opportunity for the expansion of British trade.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Empire Exhibition at Johannesburg | volume=137 |issue=3457 | doi=10.1038/137182a0|journal=Nature|page=182|year=1936 |doi-access=free | bibcode=1936Natur.137Q.182. }}</ref> It coincided with Johannesburg's Jubilee and was staged on a grand scale, with over twenty acres of industrial and commercial exhibits.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=30 January 2016|url=https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots/empire-exhibition-johannesburg-1936-|title=Souvenir Catalogue, Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg (1936)}}</ref> It was opened by the Governor-General.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=30 January 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7czJRh9LEY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/v7czJRh9LEY |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=British Pathe News: South Africa's Empire Exhibition| website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref>}}
|-
|[[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne]]
|1937
|[[Paris]]
|{{flag|France}}
|
|-
|| [[Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938|Empire Exhibition]] || 1938 || [[Glasgow]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} ||
|-
|| [[German Africa Show|Deutsche Kolonial Ausstellung]] || 1939 ||  [[Dresden]]||{{flag|Nazi Germany}} ||
|-
|| [[Exposição do Mundo Português]] || 1940 || [[Lisbon]] || {{flag|Portugal}}  ||<ref group="note">Held primarily as a celebration of the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]]. One foreign nation, [[Brazil]], participated in the exhibition.</ref>{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
|-
|| [[Foire coloniale]] ||1948 || [[Brussels]] || {{flag|Belgium}} ||
|}

[[File:Korea Exhibition 1929.JPG|thumb|right|Entrance to the Korea Exhibition, Seoul, 1929]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
<references />

== Bibliography ==
* Alexander C.T. Geppert, ''Fleeting Cities. Imperial Expositions in Fin-de-Siècle Europe'', Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

== See also ==
*[[Colonialism]]
*[[Human zoo]]
*[[List of world's fairs]]
*[[Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation]]

==External links==
*[http://lartnouveau.com/art_deco/expo_coloniale_1931.htm Exposition Coloniale of Paris 1931] photographs
  
{{List of world exhibitions}}
{{commons category|Colonial exhibitions}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colonial Exhibition}}
[[Category:Colonial exhibitions| ]]
[[Category:History of colonialism]]
[[Category:World's fairs]]