HUMAN ZOOSThe Invention of the Savage

from 17 September to 23 December 2016

Press dossierwww.zooshumains.be/presse

Press release

Human Zoos. The Invention of the Savage

For the first time in Belgium, the exhibition Zoos humains. L’invention du sauvage is going to be put on at the initiative of the Fondation Lilian Thursam, which aims to educate against racism, and of the Achac research group. The latter have produced the exhibition and enriched it specially for its installation at La Cité Miroir in Liège. This exhibition, in various forms, has already been on show in France (at the musée du quai Branly among others), in Guyana, California, Ivory Coast, and Switzerland.

For almost five centuries, the human exhibition industry went on to fascinate more than 1 billion 400 million visitors and put on show between 30 and 35 000 exhibits throughout the world. These human exhibitions aimed essentially at drawing a boundary and a hierarchy between allegedly “civilised hu-mans” and alleged “savages”. It was always, most often, the first visual contact, the first encounter, between the Other and Us.

Through Human Zoos, spectators learn how racist prejudices took hold. Racism is above all a construc-tion of the intellect. The exhibition invites everyone to be aware that history has conditioned us, from generation to generation, to see ourselves primarily as Blacks, White, North Africans or Asians.

By proposing this theme, the non-profit association Secular Action Centre of the Province of Liège and the non-profit association MNEMA wish to shed light on this historic reality and enable a reflection on our own intellectual heritage. It is important to understand how our prejudices have set in, so that we can deconstruct them. Our societies must learn the nevertheless simple idea that a person’s skin colour, gender, religion or sexuality in no way determines their intelligence, the language they speak, their physical capacities, their nationality, their likes and dislikes. Each of us is capable of believing whatever we are told, bad or good.

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Press contact:

Charlotte Collot Press attaché0490 42 53 69 - 04 250 99 48charlottecollot@calliege.be

FIVE CENTURIES OF EXHIBITION HISTORY

This unprecedented exhibition tells the story of the women, men and children – from Africa, Oceania, the Americas and sometimes Europe – who were put on show in the West. For almost five centuries (1490-1960), Europe, America and Japan presented them as so-called “savages”. The phenomenon reached its peak between the mid-19th century and the 1950s, manifesting itself in a veritable exhibi-tion industry.

This “spectacle” fascinated our Western societies, counting almost a billion and a half visitors and tens of thousands of human exhibits. In Belgium, as in the other Western European countries, visitors came in their millions, from 1885 to 1958, to discover those who were called “savages”. Coming from the four corners of the world and from the Belgian colonies too, they were agents in the staging of this great show of otherness, and they legitimised colonisation.

In theatres, circuses, fairgrounds, cabarets, zoos, pleasure gardens and great universal, national, or colonial exhibitions, the “savage” was invented. It is essential to keep in mind that, often, this “spec-tacle” constituted the public’s first contact with the “Other”, at the time when colonial empires were unfolding across the five continents.

© Groupe de recherche Achac

© Groupe de recherche Achac

A PHENOMENON IN BELGIUM, THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND ACROSS THE WORLD

It was through this prism that millions of Belgians, like their European neighbours, forged their view of the colonised peoples. It is comprehensible only if it is put in perspective with its context; that of the building of the great colonial empires and of the emergence of racialist, eugenic or segregationist theories, at a time when mass spectacles contributed to establishing a common identity in the West. The exhibition of human groups on such a scale remains a practice that is specific to the colonial nations.

The exhibition’s presence at this site is born of the desire to better understand the origins and construc-tion mechanisms of discrimination and stereotypes, 110 years after the first Universal Exhibition in Liège in 1905 where Europe’s colonial nations put their colonies on show.

The Achac research group, made up of historians specialising in the colonial and post-colonial ques-tion and Fondation Lilian Thuram. Éducation contre le racisme, join the non-profit associations Secu-lar Action Centre of the Province of Liége and MNEMA in offering La Cité Miroir, a space for debate and culture, for telling this forgotten history at the crossroads of the histories of colonialism, science, racism and the world of the spectacle... The history of “human zoos”.

ORGANISED TOURS OF THE EXHIBITION

Tours offered by the Secular Action Centre of the Province of Liège according to a critical and citizenly approach to the phenomenon of human zoos, and with a view to providing education on human rights.

While all individuals are born free and with equal rights, nothing is less easy than understanding and accepting diversity. Like other colonising peoples, the Europeans refused for a long time to place their humanity on a par with that of those who often differed as a result of their physical appearance and culture.

Come and find out how history has conditioned us, from generation to generation, to see ourselves primarily as Blacks, Whites, North Africans, or Asians... Well, a person’s skin colour, their religion, their sexuality in no way determines their intelligence or physical capabilities. Come and understand how our prejudices have set in and how they can be deconstructed.

¬ Tours in French and English ¬ Price: €25 • Exceptional rate thanks to the support of public authorities and partners ¬ Open to all visitors aged 12 and above

An introductory brochure (French, German and Dutch version) will be available at a price of €2 (This amount covers translation costs)

Tours offered by the non-profit Art&fact, an association of art historians from the University of Liège, according to a historical, anthropological and artistic approach to the phenomenon of human zoos.

The “Other” has always been invoked. Be he different by virtue of his geographical origin, his culture or his physical appearance, he fascinates and frightens simultaneously. The first contacts with new populations, from the 16th century onwards, prompted a growing curiosity, which swiftly gave way to veritable racial theories aiming at establishing “scientifically” the superiority of the white race. The big colonial powers of the 19th century, in particular Belgium, contributed to reinforcing unequal treatment. The sentiment of the exhibition and tour is extended to the “freaks”, the individuals affected by a physical flaw who, for a long time, caused circuses to prosper in Europe and the United States.

¬ Tour in French, Dutch and English ¬ Price: €65 / €75 (see information below) ¬ Open to all visitors aged 12 and above

FOR EVERYONE AGED 12 AND ABOVE

INFORMATION

Admission to the exhibition:Full rate €5Concession €3(groups of min .10 pers. / max 25 pers. , under 26, jobseekers, MNEMA citizen, member of Territoires de la Mémoire, carte Prof, article 27)

Tours of the Secular Action Centre of the Province of Liège: €25Exceptional rate thanks to the support of public authorities and partners

Art& Fact tours:Weekdays: Guided tours (French and Dutch): €65Guided tours in English: €75Weekends: Guided tours (French, English, Dutch): €75

BOOKINGS

By e-mail: reservation@citemiroir.beBy telephone: 04 230 70 50

Accessible to persons of reduced mobility

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Friday from 9am to 18pmSaturday and Sunday from 10am to 18pmLast entrance at 17pm

Exposition de Charleroi 1911. Entrée principale.© Groupe de recherche Achac

THE ORGANISERSLe Centre d’Action Laïque de la Province de Liège asbl

Through its measures, the Secular Action Centre of the Province of Liège, a non-profit association, militates in favour of the dignity of each individual, by combating discriminatory practices, marginalisation and injustice. This is put into practice by meaningful initiatives in favour of amplified equality, solidarity, democracy and citizenship. The association, established at La Cité Miroir, finds in this space a new framework for action which allows it to reach an ever-bigger audience and thus promote values of emancipation and autonomy of the indi-vidual. Its action is inscribed in a perspective of social progress aimed at reaffirming its role as a stakeholder in building a fair, tolerant and democratic society based on solidarity.

www.calliege.be

MNEMA asbl

Created on 10 December 2004 at the initiative of the Territoires de la Mémoire, the non-profit association MNE-MA was responsible for the project to renovate the former la Sauvenière baths and spas in Liège in order to transform them into La Cité Miroir, a true hub of education, debate and culture. In parallel to this management task, MNEMA offers a varied cultural programme at La Cité Miroir: theatre, music, conference cycle. All these activities are in direct relation with citizenship education, commemorative work, or dialogue among cultures, the non-profit association’s three major lines. MNEMA’s desire and mission is to position itself as a defender of diversity, pluralism and tolerance. Within La Cité Miroir, it forges an intelligent link between the past, the present and the future.

www.mnema.be

THE PARTNERSAchac research group (Paris)

Since 1989, the Achac research group has been studying stereotypes and representations of the “Other” through the history of “human zoos”. This examination been performed through various international colloquia and a do-cumentary, Zoos humains, with broadcaster Arte in 2002. Several works, among them Human Zoos and colonial exhibitions (La Découverte) in 2011 and L’invention de la race. Scientific representations at popular exhibitions (La Découverte) in 2014 brought together more than fifty contributions. At the same time, the exhibition Exhibi-tions. L’invention du sauvage was held at the Musée du quai Branly in 2011-2012 (with a catalogue published at Actes Sud) in collaboration with the Fondation Lilian Thuram. Éducation contre le Racisme.

www.achac.com

La Fondation Lilian Thuram. Éducation contre le racisme (Paris)

“One is not born racist, one becomes it” is the cornerstone of the foundation set up in 2008 by Lilian Thuram. Its aim is to show that racism is above all a historical political construction. From generation to generation, history has conditioned us to divide the human race into categories.The passing on of this message is the foundation’s aim, by way of pedagogical support measures, event organi-sation, the publication of works or comic books, and to inculcate these values via the intermediary of parents, school and sport.

www.thuram.org

Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale Tervueren (Brussels)

The MRAC must be a global centre of research and knowledge diffusion, dedicated to the past and present of societies and their natural environments in Africa, in particular in Central Africa, in order stimulate interest and to ensure better understanding of this part of the world by the general public and the scientific community, and to use partnerships in order to contribute significantly to this region’s sustainable development. The main missions of this institution centred on Africa therefore comprise the acquisition and management of collections, scientific research, exploitation of the results of this research, and presentation of part of its collections to the general public. The museum is a centre of knowledge and resources on Africa and in particular Central Africa, in a historical, contemporary and global context. The museum exhibits unique collections. It is a place of remem-bering the colonial past and positions itself as a dynamic platform of exchange and dialogue among cultures and among generations.

www.africamuseum.be

THE LOCATIONLa Cité Miroir

An exceptional location in the service of education, debate and culture. The former building of la Sauvenière baths and spas is a work of reference in Liège’s architectural landscape. The building has been a listed part of Walloon Heritage as a monument since May 2005.

Built from 1938 onwards at the initiative of Deputy Mayor Georges Truffaut and opened to the public in 1942, this project enrolled itself in the hygienist movement, which wished to enable everybody, including the most vulne-rable, to enjoy the benefits of cleanliness for health. The public baths were, moreover, used well after the closure of the swimming pool. Care provided also extended to the treatment of certain illnesses, such as tuberculosis or skin diseases. We note that this place remains very dear to the heart of the Liégeois, many of whom learned to swim or practised other sports disciplines there. The la Sauvenière swimming pool was therefore designed as a place of social emancipation, of solidarity and treatments accessible to all.

The building was renovated under the direction of the non-profit association MNEMA by Triangle Architectes and consulting firm Pierre Beugnier.

Since January 2014, through the activity of several associations (Le Centre d’Action Laïque de la Province de Liège asbl, Les Territoires de la Mémoire asbl and Mnema asbl), La Cité Miroir has become a key place of reflec-tion and dialogue, within which art, culture, knowledge and memory benefit from unique means of expression in order to prompt the curiosity and nourish the open-mindedness of everyone. La Cité Miroir is a space where the past and the present meet all citizens in order to build the future!

More information - www.citemiroir.be

© Thierry Lechanteur

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Place Xavier Neujean • 22 • 4000 Liege

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