The First of its Kind

A Cultural History of the Village Nègre

Abstract

The Village Nègre, one of the largest exhibits
in the 1889 World’s Fair, was home to over four
hundred indigenous people from various French
colonies. Throughout this paper, the authors
discuss how the Village Nègre was used by the
French to draw a line between the “civilized” and
the “savage.” The Village also served as a form of
colonialist propaganda while further establishing
European dominance.