Abstract
The colonial exhibitions were organized during the new imperialism period, approximately between 1870 and 1935. During this period, Britain, France and Germany fought for new territories and practically colonized the entire world. But at this time, people didn't care so much about colonial problems. Politicians decided to organize some events to justify economically, morally and historically the Western domination. The well known exhibitions were the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 and the international exhibition of Paris (Vincennes) in 1931. But there were plenty of them in cities and countries. In most of them, it was possible to discover indigenous objects, arts, building and traditions. The question about the treatment of native people in countries, which defend human rights and equality, is extremely problematic. The term "human zoo" appeared with the book Human zoos written by several French historians in 2002. How and why former politicians decided to organize this kind of events? Which impacts on the population did they have? How can we interpret the human zoo phenomenon? These are some questions that we will analyze in this article.
