Short film Exhibitions directed by Rachid Bouchareb / Algeria (2009)
Rachid Bouchareb’s ‘Exhibition’ recounts through archive footage the fake ‘native villages’ set up in western capitals from the middle of the 19th century where Afrikans, Asians and First Nation Americans were forced to ‘exhibit’ their traditional culture and skills for the patronising entertainment of Europeans at expos and fairs. These human zoos helped to fabricate the myth of European superiority and justify colonialism. The growth of cinema early in the 20th century killed off these travelling villages but not the mindset that continues into modern portrayals of non-Europeans in the media and culture. – http://www.ligali.org/article.php?id=2262
