CultureAntwerp's 'human zoo': Belgium confronts the shame of its colonial past

During the 1894 World's Fair in Antwerp, 144 Congolese people were forcibly brought to the Belgian city and displayed in the Congo Pavilion. The exhibition, described as a “human zoo”, ended with seven Congolese men dying from disease. The disturbing episode continues to haunt Belgium today. It remains regarded as one of the darkest chapters in the country’s colonial history.