Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince
{{Short description|World's fair held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti}}
{{Infobox World's Fair
| box_width =
| class = Universal
| category = 2
| image = Dumarsais estime portrait.jpg
| image_width =
| caption = Haitian president Dumarsais Estimé at the Expo
| year = 1949
| name = L'Exposition Internationale de port au Prince 1949
| motto = 200 years Port au Prince
| building =
| area = {{convert|30|ha|acre|abbr=off}}
| invent =
| visitors =
| organized = Dumarsais Estimé
| cnt =
| org =
| biz =
| country = Haiti
| city = Port-au-Prince
| venue = Gonave Bay
| coord =
| cand = {{start date|1948|10|12}}
| award = {{start date|1948|12|05}}
| open = {{start date|1949|12|01}}
| close = {{start date|1950|06|08}}
| prevexpo = 1939 New York World's Fair
| prevcity = New York City
| nextexpo = Expo 58
| nextcity = Brussels
| suppl = Specialised Expositions
| prevsuppl = International Exhibition on Urbanism and Housing (1947)
| prevsupcity = Paris
| nextsuppl = The International Textile Exhibition
| nextsupcity = Lille
| simuni =
| simspe = Universal Sport Exhibition (1949) in Stockholm and The International Exhibition of Rural Habitat in Lyon
| simhor =
| simoth =
| website =
}}
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.{{cite encyclopedia
| title = Port-au-Prince 1949-1940
| author = Kimberly D. Perle
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions
| page=314
| editor-last = Pelle
| editor-first = Findling
| publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc
| year = 2008
| isbn = 978-0-7864-3416-9
}}
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
Opening
There were two opening ceremonies: the first on December 8, 1949 and the second on February 12, 1950.{{cite encyclopedia
| title = Port-au-Prince 1949-1940
| author = Kimberly D. Perle
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions
| page=315
| editor-last = Pelle
| editor-first = Findling
| publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc
| year = 2008
| isbn = 978-0-7864-3416-9
}}
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, 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.egallery.com/artists/?id=119|access-date=23 July 2012|title=Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue | The Electric Gallery - Egallery - Fine Art - The Art Shopping Source}}
Issa El Saeih,
Ernst Lamy,
La Scala singers,
members of the Grand National Opera New York,
Daniel Santos,{{cite web|url=http://pikliz.fotki.com/discover_europe/discover-haiti/haiti-dantan-corrige/port-au-prince-lesc-51.html|language=fr|access-date=23 July 2012|title=Photo: Fête du Bicentenaire - 8 Décembre 1949. | Il était une fois Haiti...(1ère partie). album | Pikliz.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322113634/http://pikliz.fotki.com/discover_europe/discover-haiti/haiti-dantan-corrige/port-au-prince-lesc-51.html|archive-date=22 March 2014|url-status=dead}}
Don Shirley{{cite web|url=http://www.nathankramer.com/donshirley/bio.htm|access-date=23 June 2012|title=Don Shirley - biography}}
and Bebo Valdes
all performed during the exposition.
Participants
The following countries were invited to and participated in the exhibition:
;Europe
- France, which supported this project with its Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Schumann[https://books.google.com/books?id=6gXqLgVLGNUC&dq=exposition+internationale+du+bicentenaire+de+port-au-prince+1949&pg=PA95 Arthus Wien Weibert, Machine diplomatique française en Haïti: (1945–1958), L'Harmattan, 2012]
- Belgium
- Spain
- Italy
- San Marino
- Vatican City, for which a chapel was built.
;Asia
;America
;International organisations
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
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1949-port-au-prince Official website of the BIE]
- [http://islandluminous.fiu.edu/part09-slide18.html The International Exposition of Port-au-Prince 1949-50], by Hadassah St. Hubert. Retrieved 10 March 2013
- {{cite book | language = fr | title = Exposition internationale 1949-1950 - bi-centenaire de Port-au-Prince 1749-1949 (oficial catalog of the exhibition, printed in 200 copies) | year = 1949 | url = http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00010663/00001/4j | access-date = 2014-03-10}}
{{coord|18.5494|N|72.3484|W|source:wikidata|display=title}}
Category:20th century in Port-au-Prince
Category:Events in Port-au-Prince
{{List of world exhibitions}}
{{Haiti-stub}}