Human Zoo

This work presents an allegory of the human zoos that spread across Europe and North America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Men, women and children from colonized territories were transported and exhibited to the public in reconstructed "native villages." They were displayed as curiosities, staged to reinforce racial hierarchies and the illusion of European superiority. Millions of visitors attended these exhibitions.

The central figure is a child. He stands inside a confined space that evokes an enclosure. His posture is upright, but his presence is framed as spectacle.

Beside him appears the figure of an ape. The juxtaposition reflects the racial ideology that structured these exhibitions. Colonized people were deliberately presented as closer to animals than to Europeans.

A banana lies between them. It is both a prop and a symbol. Food used in cages. A cliché used to ridicule. A gesture repeated in stadiums and streets long after the exhibitions themselves disappeared.

The child and the animal are placed within the same visual language of captivity. The comparison is not accidental. It was the message. Human zoos transformed racism into entertainment. They turned spectators into participants.

The title Human Zoo exposes the crude simplicity of this racial staging. Three elements arranged to construct an entire hierarchy.

The practice did not belong only to distant centuries. Human exhibitions continued into the 20th century, and their imagery still shapes racial stereotypes today.

Material and FormThe surface uses a restrained palette of dusty browns, muted ochres, faded creams and dark earth tones. The overall finish is matte, textured, and deliberately subdued.

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