Gezicht op de ingang van een replica van een dorp uit Sápmi (Lapland) op de World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 1893

Charles Dudley Arnold created this photograph of the entrance to a Sápmi village replica at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The World's Fair was a spectacle of progress, but for whom? This image encapsulates the troubling practice of displaying marginalized cultures for entertainment and supposed education. The Sápmi village, recreated here, reduces a living culture to an exhibit, a snapshot frozen in time for the consumption of a Western audience. What does it mean to recreate a home, a life, as an exhibit? The Sami people, their identities, and their heritage are placed on display, reinforcing a narrative of otherness. The photograph serves as a stark reminder of the power dynamics inherent in these displays, where one culture is elevated while another is objectified. It’s a painful reflection on whose stories are told and how they are framed.