Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1900 Brussels International Exposition and the Human Zoo
In 1900, Brussels hosted a World's Fair that drew millions to marvel at technological wonders—and at a Congolese village inhabited by 267 Africans brought against their will. This episode zooms in on the Human Zoo exhibit, where visitors gawked at real people in simulated 'native' huts, performing daily tasks under the watch of Belgian overseers. We meet Paul Panda Farnana, a Congolese intellectual studying in Belgium who was forced to interpret for the exhibit, and whose later activism would challenge colonial narratives. We explore the ideological machinery behind the…
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