Heralding the new century, the 1900 Paris World Fair provided an opportunity for nations to present their latest technological and social innovations. Among the exhibitors was the sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, the first Black American to present at a European art fair, whose radical infographics revealed the socio-economic progress of of the Black communities in the United States. This exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York (until 29 May 2023) brings together items from Du Bois’s display alongside decorative art objects that were also presented at the fair. Find out more on the Cooper Hewitt’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here
Land owned by Negroes in Georgia, U.S.A. 1870–1900 (1900), W.E.B.Du Bois and students of Atlanta University. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Courtesy Library of Congress
City and rural population, 1890 (c. 1900), W.E.B. Du Bois and students of Atlanta University. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Courtesy Library of Congress, Washington
Buckle (c. 1900), att. Edward Colonna. Smithsonian Institution Photo: Dennis Cowley; © Smithsonian Institution