Bezoek aan de Wereldtentoonstelling te Antwerpen, oktober 1930 Possibly 1930

This is a page from a photo album, showing the Antwerp World’s Fair in October 1930. Although anonymous, the photographer captured the fair’s pavilions, each a temple to modernity and national identity. World’s Fairs were key sites for nations to display their cultural and technological achievements. Belgium's fair occurred between the two world wars, a time of rebuilding and anxiety. We see this tension in the architecture. The clean, geometric lines of the Dutch and Hanseatic pavilions declare a modernist faith in efficiency and progress. Juxtapose this with the Temple of Flemish Art: its traditional tower and dome express a longing for cultural heritage. What does it mean for the Flemish to look back instead of forward? Looking at these images, we might consider government archives and newspaper articles, to contextualize them and the aspirations of the people who visited the Antwerp World Fair. These photographs are a reminder that art, even in the form of architecture, is shaped by the social and institutional forces of its time.