Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History
The 1897 Tervuren Human Zoo: Belgium's Colonial Spectacle
In 1897, as part of the Brussels International Exposition, King Leopold II erected a replica Congolese village at the Tervuren estate, complete with 267 Congolese men, women, and children displayed as living exhibits. This episode examines the human zoo phenomenon within Belgium's colonial project — how it shaped public perception of Africa, reinforced racial hierarchies, and provided a seemingly benevolent cover for the brutal extractive regime in the Congo Free State. We follow the journey of these individuals, forcibly brought from the Kasai and Lualaba regions, their daily lives in…
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