Human ‘Animal’ Zoo

Colonialism is very vulnerable to bring bitter stories to the colonized. As Belgium did in 1958, the advanced and prosperous countries in Western Europe were not in tune with the spirit of their leaders, they added to the dark history of colonialism. Instead of humanizing humans, but actually “animalizing” humans. They made a show entitled Human Zoo.

Reporting from the guardian, the Belgian government created an exhibition that was designed like a zoo , but the contents were a group of living humans . Surrounded by a fence made of bamboo, the men, women and children of black coolies from the Congo were exhibited like a zoo displaying animals.

In 1958, the Belgian government was holding an exhibition to commemorate 200 days of post-war social, cultural and technological progress. Not a circus show, but rather a racial harassment show, a live performance of black men, women and children in “authentic condition”, and used as a means of “education” and entertainment for white Europeans. And that man’s garden show has been a long time coming by the Belgians.

Belgium at that time was still in control by colonizing the Congo until 1958. Residents of the colonized country were often the targets of exploitation under the pretext of show and brought to their country. This is known from Belgian history itself, where King Leopold II had imported 267 Congolese into the capital Brussels to be exhibited around his colonial palace in Tervuren, east of Brussels.

Human zoo exhibition in 1958, the organizers filled the place to resemble a typical village of the original Congolese people. By bringing people who are in their fields, craftsmen, so that they stand typical Congolese thatched huts. They were seen by white men and women standing on the edge of the guardrail made of bamboo. Sometimes, cynical gazes and ridicule could be heard on the sidelines of the audience. In fact, other reports tell of people gossiping about “seeing niggers in the zoo”.

Different continents, different climates or weather, the extremely cold season in Belgium resulted in seven Congolese people dying of pneumonia and influenza. Their bodies were dumped in mass graves that did not bear the markings as headstones at local cemeteries. If counted, the Congolese on display were among 598 people — including 273 men, 128 women and 197 children, a total of 183 families.

After Congo gained independence in June 1960, such human performances were no longer staged anywhere. Although it is remembered as a bittersweet event, Belgium does not want to rethink its colonial past. Especially about the human show that is full of hatred and acts of racism.

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