Antwerp's 'human zoo': Belgium confronts shame of colonial past

Home Shows Focus To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: FOCUS © FRANCE 24 05:34 Issued on: 07/08/2026 - 10:57 From the show In 1894, when the Belgian city of Antwerp was hosting a World's Fair, 144 Congolese people were forcibly brought to the city to be exhibited in the Congo Pavilion. In this "human zoo", seven Congolese men ultimately died of disease. Today, this shocking episode still haunts Belgium as one of its colonial history's darkest chapters. But in May of this year, the city of Antwerp began to confront this painful past by heeding demands from its Congolese community by unveiling a monument to the victims. It's a way to confront the demons of the wealthy Belgian port city that greatly benefitted from the colonial period. FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon reports.