Belgium unveils monument to victims of 1894 Antwerp human zoo

Antwerp’s 1894 World’s Fair featured a Congo Pavilion in which more than a hundred Congolese individuals were forcibly brought to the city and displayed for European audiences. The exhibit, commonly referred to as a “human zoo,” resulted in the death of seven men from disease while they were confined in the pavilion. Contemporary accounts describe the conditions as unsanitary and the presentation as a stark illustration of Belgium’s colonial exploitation of the Congo Free State during King Leopold II’s reign.

In 2024, a monument honoring the victims of the 1894 exhibition was unveiled in Antwerp, marking a formal acknowledgment of the episode as one of Belgium’s darkest colonial chapters. The ceremony, attended by local officials and representatives of Congolese heritage groups, aims to foster public remembrance and dialogue about the nation’s historical responsibilities. The report on the unveiling was compiled by Alix le Bourbon and Dave Keating.