New York Habitat explores another side of modern French history

France has a long history of accepting immigrants from all corners of the earth. Today, the country is full of thriving immigrant communities playing a large role in public life, particularly in the urban areas. France’s immigrant history, however, has not always been something to be proud of. Like in the United States, France’s immigrant populations have historically been segregated, treated as second-class citizens and been subject to racism. To its credit, France has been eager to examen its own colonial past, as painful and embarrassing as it may be. Running through the summer at the Porte Dorée Immigrant Museum is an exhibit focusing on the 1931 colonial exhibition in Paris. Paris is a city steeped in history; cultural, political and architectural. New York Habitat has summer apartment rentals in Paris that will put visitors at the doorstep of the city’s history.

In 1931, France held the International Colonial Exposition in Paris’ Bois de Vincennes, at the edge of the 12th arrondissement. The event was meant to highlight the power of France’s colonial empire as well as to glorify its civilizing mission. In reality, the exposition was more like voyeuristic ethnography, aiming to feed public curiosity, thus garnering public support for French colonies. The event featured large scale recreations of African villages and Cambodian temples. Native peoples were shipped in from French colonies around the globe and put on display in a zoo-like setting. The natives were dressed in traditional clothing and performed tasks and created aboriginal art work to the amazement of the viewing public. While it may seem shocking today, the exposition should be viewed in the context of its time–the American south was still fiercely segregated, large-scale Asian and African immigration had yet to arrive in Western Europe, and France was eager to promote its power following a devastating World War.

This summer’s exhibition at the Porte Dorée Immigration Museum sets out to explore the dichotomy of the 1931 colonial exposition–an event that played a role in France’s acceptance of millions of refugees and immigrants in the coming years. The exhibition, titled “1931. Foreigners during the time of the colonial exposition,” focuses on the 3 million immigrants already living in France at the time of the controversial expo, France was a country extremely accepting of immigrants yet putting its colonial subjects on display nonetheless. This summer’s exhibit offers a much more contemporary view of France than many of the capital’s other museums and offers an interesting perspective on some of the causes and effects of France’s complex history of immigration.

The Porte Dorée Immigration Museum is rather easy to reach from anywhere in Paris. New York Habitat suggests that first time visitors stay in one of our 12th arrondissement vacation rentals. Here are three of our neighborhood favorites worth taking a look at:

– 1-bedroom apartment rental in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame (PA-2509).
– 2-bedroom rental accommodation in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame (PA-3097).
– 3-bedroom duplex apartment rental in Luxembourg, St Michel-St Germain-Notre Dame
(PA-3106).