South African and International Exhibition
South African and International Exhibition | |
---|---|
Overview | |
BIE-class | Unrecognized exposition |
Name | South African and International Exhibition |
Area | 30 acres (12 ha) |
Visitors | 400 000 |
Location | |
Country | Cape Colony |
City | Kimberley |
Venue | Public Gardens |
Coordinates | 28°44′34″S 24°46′36″E / 28.7427111111°S 24.7767583333°E |
Timeline | |
Opening | 8 September 1892 |
Closure | 10 January 1893 |
The South African and International Exhibition was a world's fair held in Kimberley, Cape Colony in 1892 to promote trade and labour.
The exhibition
[edit]The exhibition was opened by Henry Loch, High Commissioner for Southern Africa on 8 September 1892[1] and closed 20 January 1893.[2]
Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony, decided that the exhibition should be held in Kimberley. It was held in the Public Gardens of Kimberley[1] (now Queen's Park)[3] on a 30-acre site, with corrugated iron buildings[2] designed D. W. Greatbatch.[1]
There were art displays including paintings from the Royal Collection, mineral displays of diamonds, coal, crocidolite, diamonds, gold and silver, mining machinery,[2] and sheep shearing equipment.[4]
400 000 people attended, and the fair lost £14,195,[2] with the loss being covered by Rhodes.[1]
Legacy
[edit]The De Beers exhibit was taken to be displayed at the 1893 Chicago exhibition.[2] The art hall was converted to be used by the Kimberley Rifles, and subsequently used as a typhoid hospital during the Boer war.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Cape Colony: South African International Exhibition, Kimberley". Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "1892 Kimberley South African and International Exposition – What Remains". Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Queens Park Kimberley • Kimberley • CITY PORTAL". Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "From the Great Exhibition to the Festival of Britain, 1851–1951" (PDF). p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.