Exhibiting Cultures

Elisa Chazal (History, European University Institute, Florence) – ‘“In spite of the clouds which were now in the horizon threatening destruction, it could weather the storm.”: the livery companies’ ambitions behind the re-enactment of past craftsmanship in the “Old London Street”’ (1884). 

European fin-de-siècle historical re-enactments constitute a tool for studying the use of the past by nineteenth-century contemporaries. These attractions built during National or Universal Exhibitions resulted in reconstituting cities in their past form, over the course of one or more past centuries. The historic re-enactment of the "Old London Street", built in 1884, was an early model of this European phenomenon, recreating a London street with houses dating back centuries before the Great Fire of 1666. Visitors were strolling through a reconstructed urban environment inhabited by actors in period costumes imitating activities of the past, such as crafts, entertainment, and the consumption of everyday goods. In this presentation, my aim is to show the strategies behind the performance of the past craftsmanship by the London livery companies in the “Old London Street”. Why did the entrepreneurs of this historical re-enactment ask twenty London guilds to demonstrate past manufacturing to a fin de siècle audience? A closer look at the role of livery companies in 'Old London Street' has highlighted the contemporary agenda of these early modern trade institutions. Their presence demonstrated varied ambitions oscillating between the desire to assert their continued relevance within the City of London, to display the quality of their manufacturing in order to remain competitive on the market, and finally to recruit new apprentices.

Maria Chiara Scuderi (History, Leicester) – ‘Missionary exhibitions as object-lessons for imperial propaganda: the case of Other Lands in Leicester’

Missionary exhibitions of the early 20^th century Britain were object-lessons where the intertwining between politics, religion and cultural practices was at its core. Both in large and small scale, they were national institutions for imperial propaganda, and objects from the mission fields were instrumental not only to represent the culture of ‘native’ people, but also to educate visitors on the idea of the Empire as a God’s gift. As such, missionary exhibitions fostered contemporary European imperial cultures, as they proved the possibility to evangelise through the vastness of the Empire. After the success of the mainstream exhibition The Orient in London, organised by the London Missionary Society in 1908, a number of shows related to missionary activities and in provincial sites increased from the 1910s. 

Within the case study of the 1914 United Missionary Exhibition Other Lands in Leicester, this presentation analyses how missionary exhibitions played a crucial role in shaping knowledge around the relationship between Europe, Church and Empire through displays and material culture. It argues that the history of collections and taste of the early 20^th century Britain is linked to the objects arrived in Europe through mission fields.