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Titre : « Norway’s infamous ‘human zoo’ was a travesty in 1914. Here’s why it was brought back in 2014 »

Auteur : Taylor Adam

Editeur/partenaire : Washington Post


Texte :

Sometimes, you hear about the controversy surrounding something before you actually hear about the thing itself. Such was the case with European Attraction Limited, an art exhibition that opened in Oslo, Norway, last week. Given the history that inspired European Attraction Limited, the controversy isn’t that surprising. It goes back to 1914, when Kongolandsbyen (« The Congo Village ») was a central part of Oslo’s World Fair celebrations. The attraction brought 80 Africans from Senegal (purportedly from the Congo) to the Norwegian capital in what has been described as a « human zoo. » The men and women wore traditional clothes and lived in specially created huts. It was apparently a big hit, helping to bring 1.4 million people to the world fair celebrations and described as « exceedingly funny » by Norway’s newspaper of record, Aftenposten.

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