Expos and Cultural Power

Capitalism, Nationalism and Imperialism

Perspectives

• great events contributed to the growth of popular national public cultures which developed in late 19th century

'Invented Traditions'

• Hobsbawm's analyses the invention of national traditions, hence their mass production in the late 19th century which is comparative in Britain, Germany, France and the USA
• France: mass production of popular monuments (like Marianne, symbol of the French Revolution)
• development of mass rituals and festivals
• one 'idiom of public symbolic discourse' is the 'theatrical' in form of 'public ceremonies, parades and ritualized mass gatherings' which had influences on politics
  

'The exhibitionary complex'

• power and knowledge relations in forms of institutional 'surveillance' and 'disciplinary' knowledge in 19th century
• public participated in 'exhibitionary' culture
• control, order and influence in relation to working class achieved through entertainment
• public wants pleasure

'Exhibition' and 'performance complexes'

• expos are understood as a set of cultural and political cultural movements and developments in national cultural policy in late 19th century
• 'rational recreation' movements -> connected with tourism (education and entertainment), religious and religious-related movements

Origin of expos

• great significance of period from 1850-1914
• elite played an important role in the creation of expos
• consumption aspect of expos
• international expos during this time were a significant cultural institution for host city and guest nations, as well as for the international community
• were held every few years
• British created the genre in 1851 -> Crystal Palace Expo in London
• expos were staged every 5 to 10 years due to high costs
• major countries: Britain, France, USA
• after Britain, France took over the leadership of the expo genre
• USA was preoccupied with the Civil War and its aftermath
• only at the end of 19th century many important expos were held in USA
• involvement of national governments in the organisation of expos, also financing -> huge losses

• before Britain staged first expo, precursors can be found in France -> Napoleonic period
• 'Exposition Universelles' -> exhibitions in Paris from 1855-1900, gave character to expos
  
• French expos provided nations with their own pavilions
  
• touristic entertainment sections with shops & cafés

Development

• America's 3 World's Fairs gave new scale and commercialism to the genre, and amplified the entertainment and human display dimensions
• expos as powerful cultural medium for conveying information and values to a mass public
• 'medium is the message'
• expositions are cultural manifestations and the timekeepers of progress (this is obviously the most meaningful sentence for describing expos)
  
• American expos did not only reflect America's culture but also shaped it (art, political system, and economic structure)
  

'Crystal Palace' expo in London 1851

• first international exposition with 25 nations exhibiting in Hyde Park London
  
• 'united the industry of the nations of the earth'
• exhibition of products and produce from all over the world in 4 categories to show power of industrial production: raw materials, machinery, manufactures products, sculpture & plastic arts
• name: 'Crystal Palace' due to the impressive, huge, innovative, temporary building (modernity)
• just as Eiffel Tower, the 'Crystal Palace' shaped the city
• in America, skyscrapers were part of expos -> long-lasting influence on modern architecture
  
• 'Crystal Palace' was destroyed in 1936 & not rebuilt

Expos & Power

• created by politcal elite, who tried to communicate ideological messages to the masses (poular education) -> creation of a new form of public arena for exercising knowledge interests, personal freedoms and civil society
• risky political and ideological projects
• 4 kinds of elite sectors involved in production of international events: group of planners & organizers; nationally-oriented political elite group; internationally-oriented elite group; internationally-based event organisations
• original concept for expos could be from econo-cultural elites but are from political elites
• tasks: design, financing, organisation, and marketing
• in contrast to British expos, French expos were state-dominated projects
  

• expo as temporary & cultural arm of state foreign policy and diplomacy
• internationalisation of the event as international outlook
• important figures: Henry Cole (first British expos), Frederic le Play (Paris 1855, 1867), William P. Blake (Philadelphia 1876), Alfred Picard (Paris 1900)
• inter-city and international competitiveness and comparison, esp. Franco-American
• connencting with cultural NGO's (academic and cultural organisations specialized in art, design, science, technology) in order to educate the public
• elite cultural organisations helped international expos indirectly
• international conferences at expos
• first international agency for coordination&creation of expos: Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in 1930s
• national elites cooperated with INGO's (such as: IOC, FIFA, BIE)

Expos and Imperialism (late 19th c. and inter-war period)

• imperial theme important in France in 1840s and at first expo in London 1851
• Britain world's leading industrial and imperial power
• imperialism links the capitalist democracies with the totalitarian states
• late 19th century expos involved spectacular mass pageant such as: parades, choirs, drama (historical, conetemporary, traditional or exotic themes)
• presentation of India in Crystal Palace expo
• British East India Comapany had leading role in organisation, even Indian Court in the Palace
• France's 1878 expo as the beginning of imperial expo genre (exotic pavilions & palaces)
  

• 'These colonial exhibitions were a celebration of the white man's successful transplantation to the farthest reaches of the globe, and his creation there of societies modelled on European lines'

• USA was anti-colonial and democratic -> no explicit colonial themes
• Wembely 1924/25 -> 'supernational' type of expos
• 'progress-bringing' civilising' mission
  

Difficulties

• the chapter on invented traditions is absolutely unclear and confusing to me
  

Questions

• What does 'pan-Americanism' mean? It is mentioned in chapter 2, p.59. Does it relate to expansionism and interventionism of America?
• The first exhibition in London 1851 was exhibiting the 'power of industrial production' - Was this because of the industrialization which took place in Europe in the 19th century?