Exterieur van de Oriëntaalse sectie van de wereldtentoonstelling te Antwerpen 1894

This photograph by Th. Lantin shows the exterior of the Oriental section of the Antwerp World Fair in 1894. World Fairs were a product of their time, the height of European colonialism, and the image creates meaning through both its visual codes and historical associations. This photograph documents the way the ‘Orient’ was being consumed by a European audience, a mix of education, fascination, and perhaps appropriation. These fairs presented a curated version of the world, reinforcing Europe’s dominance and influence. The architecture is an imagined version of oriental design. As historians, our interpretation of art is contingent on social and institutional context. To fully understand this photograph, one might research the history of World Fairs, the specifics of Belgian colonialism, and contemporary attitudes toward the ‘Orient.’