Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince
1949 Port-au-Prince | |
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Haitian president Dumarsais Estimé at the Expo | |
Overview | |
BIE-class | Universal exposition |
Category | Second category General Exposition |
Name | L'Exposition Internationale de port au Prince 1949 |
Motto | 200 years Port au Prince |
Area | 30 hectares (74 acres) |
Organized by | Dumarsais Estimé |
Location | |
Country | Haiti |
City | Port-au-Prince |
Venue | Gonave Bay |
Timeline | |
Bidding | October 12, 1948 (1948-10-12) |
Awarded | December 5, 1948 (1948-12-05) |
Opening | December 1, 1949 (1949-12-01) |
Closure | June 8, 1950 (1950-06-08) |
Universal expositions | |
Previous | 1939 New York World's Fair in New York City |
Next | Expo 58 in Brussels |
Specialised Expositions | |
Previous | International Exhibition on Urbanism and Housing (1947) in Paris |
Next | The International Textile Exhibition in Lille |
Simultaneous | |
Specialized | Universal Sport Exhibition (1949) in Stockholm and The International Exhibition of Rural Habitat in Lyon |
The Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince was a world's fair held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1949 to mark the 200th anniversary of the city's founding.
Creation
President Dumarsais Estimé argued in 1948 for an exposition to demonstrate Haitian culture to other countries and encourage tourism and committed $1 million (then almost three-quarters of Haiti's annual budget) to the project.[1]
The fair opened on ground at the Gonave Bay which had been cleared of houses and landscaped with gardens, parks and tall coconut and palm trees[1]
Opening
There were two opening ceremonies: the first on December 8, 1949 and the second on February 12, 1950.[2]
During the first ceremony, a telegram from US president Harry S. Truman to Haitian president Dumarsais Estimé was read out, a parade of US soldiers and marines and a US Air Force squadron flew overhead, and the national exhibits and amusement area opened.
During the second ceremony, the international as well as the official pavilions were opened. Displays were on show from Argentina, Cuba, France, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela,[2] with Vatican City providing a chapel.
Art and music
An art competition was held, with Gesner Abelard winning a bronze prize, and Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue a gold.[3]
Marian Anderson, Alberto Beltran, Frantz Casseus, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Issa El Saeih, Dizzy Gillespie, Ernst Lamy, Ti Ro Ro, La Scala singers, members of the Grand National Opera New York, Daniel Santos,[4] Don Shirley[5] and Bebo Valdes[4] all performed during the exposition.
Participants
Among the countries invited and participating in this Universal Exhibition of 1949:
- Europe
France, which supported this project with its Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Schumann,[6] Belgium, Spain, Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City, the latter for which a chapel was built.
- Asia
- America
Canada, United States, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala, Chile, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica
- International organisations
United Nations and Organization of American States.
Legacy
Following the close of the exposition many of the pavilions were used for Haitian Governmental Buildings. The Pavilion of Haiti was converted into the Legislative Assembly Building. The Post Pavilion became a post office. The Guatemala Pavilion became the home of the Haiti Red Cross, and the Vatican Pavilion became a church. The devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake laid waste to many buildings in Haiti including most of these exposition buildings including the Legislative Building, Red Cross, and Post Office.
References
- ^ a b Kimberly D. Perle (2008). "Port-au-Prince 1949-1940". In Pelle, Findling (ed.). Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
- ^ a b Kimberly D. Perle (2008). "Port-au-Prince 1949-1940". In Pelle, Findling (ed.). Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
- ^ "Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue | The Electric Gallery - Egallery - Fine Art - The Art Shopping Source". Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Photo: Fête du Bicentenaire - 8 Décembre 1949. | Il était une fois Haiti...(1ère partie). album | Pikliz.com" (in French). Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "Don Shirley - biography". Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ Arthus Wien Weibert, Machine diplomatique française en Haïti: (1945–1958), L'Harmattan, 2012
External links
- Official website of the BIE
- The International Exposition of Port-au-Prince 1949-50, by Hadassah St. Hubert. Retrieved 10 March 2013
- Exposition internationale 1949-1950 - bi-centenaire de Port-au-Prince 1749-1949 (oficial catalog of the exhibition, printed in 200 copies) (in French). 1949. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
18°32′58″N 72°20′54″W / 18.5494°N 72.3484°W / 18.5494; -72.3484
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recognized
expositions
- London 1851
- Paris 1855
- London 1862
- Paris 1867
- Vienna 1873
- Philadelphia 1876
- Paris 1878
- Melbourne 1880
- Barcelona 1888
- Paris 1889
- Chicago 1893
- Brussels 1897
- Paris 1900
- St. Louis 1904
- Liège 1905
- Milan 1906
- Brussels 1910
- Turin 1911
- Ghent 1913
- San Francisco 1915
- Barcelona 1929
- Seville 1929
- Chicago 1933
Universal
expositions
- Brussels 1935
- Paris 1937
- New York 1939–1940
- Port-au-Prince 1949
- Brussels 1958
- Seattle 1962
- Montreal 1967
- Osaka 1970
Chicago 1992- Seville 1992
- Hannover 2000
- Aichi 2005
- Shanghai 2010
- Milan 2015
- Dubai 2020†
- Osaka 2025
- Riyadh 2030
specialized
expositions
- Stockholm 1936
- Helsinki 1938
- Liège 1939
- Paris 1947
- Stockholm 1949
- Lyon 1949
- Lille 1951
- Jerusalem 1953
- Rome 1953
- Naples 1954
- Turin 1955
- Helsingborg 1955
- Beit Dagan 1956
- Berlin 1957
- Turin 1961
- Munich 1965
- San Antonio 1968
- Budapest 1971
- Spokane 1974
- Okinawa 1975
- Plovdiv 1981
- Knoxville 1982
- New Orleans 1984
- Plovdiv 1985
- Tsukuba 1985
- Vancouver 1986
- Brisbane 1988
- Plovdiv 1991
- Genoa 1992
- Taejŏn 1993
- Lisbon 1998
- Zaragoza 2008
- Yeosu 2012
- Astana 2017
Buenos Aires 2023- Belgrade 2027
horticultural
exhibitions (AIPH)
- Rotterdam 1960
- Paris 1969
- Amsterdam 1972
- Hamburg 1973
- Vienna 1974
- Montreal 1980
- Amsterdam 1982
- Munich 1983
- Liverpool 1984
- Osaka 1990
- Zoetermeer 1992
- Stuttgart 1993
- Kunming 1999
- Haarlemmermeer 2002
- Rostock 2003
- Chiang Mai 2006–2007
- Venlo 2012
- Antalya 2016
- Beijing 2019
- Almere 2022
- Doha 2023
- Yokohama 2027
recognized
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