Antwerp’s ‘human zoo’: Belgium confronts shame of colonial past

In 1894, when the Belgian city of Antwerp was hosting a World’s Fair, more than a hundred 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. This year, a monument to the victims was unveiled. Report by Alix le Bourbon and Dave Keating.