Brussels International Exposition (1935)

The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 was a world's fair held between 27 April and 6 November 1935 on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Belgium.

History

The 1935 World's Fair was the tenth world's fair hosted by Belgium, and the fourth in Brussels, following the fairs in 1888, 1897 and 1910. Officially sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions, twenty-five countries officially participated and a further five were unofficially represented. The theme was colonisation, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Congo Free State.
The exhibition attracted some twenty million visitors. The Belgian architect Joseph van Neck was the principal architect of the fair and of the Art Deco Palais des Expositions, with its interior concrete parabolic arches, and four heroic bronze statues on piers.
Among many other contributors, Le Corbusier designed part of the French exhibit; the Belgian modernist architect Victor Bourgeois designed the Palais des Expositions, the Leopold II restaurant and the Soprocol pavilion. The Belgian art exposition prominently displayed the work of contemporary Belgian artists, including Paul Delvaux, René Magritte and Louis Van Lint, boosting their careers.
The exhibition was photographed in colour by the Dutch photographer Bernard F. Eilers, which was a novelty in 1935.
The Palais des Expositions, and at least three other of the 1935 structures, were re-used for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, which was held on the same site in 1958. Currently, it is home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre, the city's most important event complex in Belgium and the largest exhibition space in the Benelux.