Paris exhibition explores history of 'human zoos'

theGRIO REPORT - A fascinating exhibition in Paris explores the history of so-called "human zoos", predominately from Africa, which were the objects of curiosity and fascination in a bygone era...

kunbitinuoye

Jan 4, 2012

A fascinating exhibition in Paris explores the history of so-called “human zoos,” predominately from Africa, which were the objects of curiosity and fascination in a bygone era.

On view at the famous Quai Branly Museum, it tells the story of the men, women and children, who were shipped to Europe and showcased like zoo animals in circuses, stage shows and reconstructed villages.

The practice, which involved indigenous peoples brought from Asia, Africa, Oceania and America, started in the 16th century and continued until the mid-20th century in Europe and also in the U.S., Japan and Australia.

The exhibition, entitled “Human Zoos: The Invention of Savage”, explores these “freak” shows as a mass entertainment phenomenon, which captivated an estimated 1.4 billion spectators who, between 1800 and 1958, marveled at more than 35,000 individuals throughout the world.

The exotic shows began to decline in the 1930s with changing public interest and the advent of the big screen. The last “living spectacles” were Congo villagers exhibited in Belgium in 1958.

The story, told through 600 items and film archives, shows how what started as a curiosity fed into pseudo-science in the mid-1800s, as researchers sought out physical evidence for their theories of differing races.

It brings together shocking and bizarre artifacts ranging from Native American children displayed at fairgrounds; families from Asia and the South Pacific behind railings in European zoos and dancing Zulus on the London stage, which was the world capital of such shows.

Organizers of The Invention of the Savage, which runs until June 2012, say the aim of the exhibition is to explore how Western Societies created a sense of “other” in regard to foreigners, used to legitimize colonization.

The exhibition, curated by former French international footballer turned anti-racism campaigner Lilian Thuram, shows how these “human specimens” and “living museums” when used with propaganda, manipulated westerners into a belief in European superiority. Thuram, who is of Caribbean origin, says the exhibits explain the background of racist ideas and the “fear of the other” which still persists today.

Othello De’Souza-Hartley, a British born visual artist and photographer, says the exhibits demonstrate just how far people are willing to go to “prove their superiority over other races.”

“I am putting my trust in the voice of the originator who came up with the idea,” says Charmaine Jefferson, Executive Director of the California African American Museum. “If [the exhibition] is as dynamic, investigative and exploratory as it appears to be I’d love to see this shown in the United States.”

Curators should not shy away from exploring “extremely sensitive subject matters, particularly when it involves people of African descent,” says Jefferson, who runs a Los Angeles-based museum devoted to preserving and promoting the art history and culture of African-Americans.

With the slave narrative, for example, black people “don’t always have a pride in keeping that story alive,” says Jefferson. Nonetheless, “our Jewish brothers and sisters are vocal about keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive.”

These histories need to be told in order for us not to make the same mistakes again, including issues that are the hardest to be told, says Jefferson.

By contrast, Robert J. Benz, Executive Vice President of Atlanta’s Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, is more cautious. “The curators should be very careful with the way they present this exhibit,” he told theGrio.

“Every big crime has an accomplice,” says Benz. “The trans-atlantic slave trade had many including the ‘men of science’ and journalists that helped popularize the dehumanization of a group in order to facilitate their exploitation.”

De’Souza-Hartley says in some ways The Invention of the Savage has some parallels with modern attitudes to race. “When you compare it to the media today” especially the “negative images of black men,” he says.

Nevertheless, De’Souza-Hartley, whose work has been featured in a photographic exhibition celebrating cultural diversity at London’s National Portrait Gallery, says despite the importance of reflecting on the past, “there needs to be more exhibitions showcasing the work of today’s black artists which examine issues and images of modern day society.”

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