Portuguese colonial exhibition
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_(9292392180).jpg) | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| BIE-class | Unrecognized exposition |
| Building(s) | Palácio de Cristal |
| Visitors | 1.5 million |
| Organized by | Henrique Galvão |
| Location | |
| Country | Portugal |
| City | Porto |
| Coordinates | 41°08′48.76″N 8°37′33.56″W / 41.1468778°N 8.6259889°W |
| Timeline | |
| Opening | 16 June 1934 |
| Closure | 30 September 1934 |
The Portuguese colonial exhibition was a world's fair[1] held in Porto, Portugal in 1934 to display achievements of Portugal's colonies in Africa and Asia[2] and allow the visitors to travel throughout the empire in a metaphorical sense.[3]
Portugal's director of 'Colonial Show Fairs' Henrique Galvão who had represented Portugal at the Paris Colonial Exposition in 1931 was made the technical director for this exhibition.[2]
It was decided to re-use the Palácio de Cristal which had been constructed for an earlier exhibition in Porto.[4]
It ran from 16[5] June to 30 September[6] and by the time it had closed there had been 1.5 million visitors.[7]
The Exhibition featured over 400 exhibits placed around streets that were named after different areas of the Portuguese Empire.[3] The exhibits came from Portugal itself (Braga, Chaves, Leixões, Matosinhos and Porto), Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea (Guinea-Bissau), India, Macao[8] (including a reproduction of the Guia lighthouse),[4] Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor (Portuguese Timor).[8]
There were reproductions of villages from different colonies[2] and of the Padrões of Dighton and Yellala,[4] along with a zoo, restaurants[2] a theatre, a cinema which showed 'The Dawn Patrol and an amusement park.[4] The Macao pavilion included a teahouse and Chinese musicians while India was represented by a Hindu temple.[3]