Liège International Exposition (1905)

1905 Liège
Official Poster of the Fair
Overview
BIE-classUniversal exposition
CategoryHistorical Expo
NameExposition Universelle et Internationale de Liège
Building(s)Palais des beaux-arts de Liège
Area21.08 hectares (52.1 acres)
Visitors7,000,000
Participant(s)
Countries29
Location
CountryBelgium
CityLiège
VenueParc de la Boverie
Coordinates50°37′43.98″N 5°34′32.56″E / 50.6288833°N 5.5757111°E / 50.6288833; 5.5757111
Timeline
Opening25 April 1905 (1905-04-25)
Closure6 November 1905 (1905-11-06)
Universal expositions
PreviousLouisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis
NextMilan International (1906) in Milan

The Liège International Exposition (French: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Liège) was a world's fair held in Liège, Belgium, from 27 April to 6 November 1905[1][2]: 416  just 8 years after a Belgian exposition held in Brussels. Intended to show Liège's industrial importance, the fair also marked 75 years of Belgian Independence[1] and 40 years of Leopold II's reign.[2]: 178 

The exposition received 7 million visitors, covered 52 acres and made 75,117 Belgian francs.[2]: 415 

Participants and exhibits

Principal façade of the Liège Universal Exposition of 1905

Twenty-nine countries were official participants, from Europe: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; from Africa: Egypt and Congo Free State; from America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, and the United States; and from Asia China, Japan, Persia and Turkey. Germany and Spain were unofficial participants[1]

Liège-Guillemins railway station as it appeared in 1905 following improvements for the fair

There was an exhibition of medieval and Renaissance art, L'art ancien au Pays de Liège, as part of the event.[3] Ulrikke Greve' Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseums Vævskole contributed tapestries which won a gold prize.[4]

Legacy

The Palais des Beaux Arts building was left to the city, and housed the Musee d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporaine.[2]: 179  After closing in 2013, in May 2016 it reopened, with a contemporary glass extension, as La Boverie.[5]

Music

A piece by Jean-Théodore Radoux entitled Cantate pour l'inauguration de l'Exposition universelle de Liège, 1905, with words by Jules Sauvenière, was written for the expo.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "LIEGE 1905". Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d John E. Findling; Kimberley D. Pelle (eds.). "Liege 1905". Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9.
  3. ^ Françoise Dumont, Marlène Britta, Christine Renardy, "Les arts à l'Exposition de 1905", in Liège et l'Exposition universelle de 1905 edited by Christine Renardy (Brussels, 2005), pp. 199-200.
  4. ^ "Ulrikke Greve – Norsk biografisk leksikon" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. ^ Michel Gretry (4 May 2017). "La Boverie fête son premier anniversaire sur un succès de foule". RTBF. Retrieved 24 June 2017.


Stub icon

This Belgium-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article related to a festival in Europe is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.