The Wolfsonian–FIU presents a new exhibition showcasing the wonders of 19th and 20th-century world’s fairs—towering architecture and dazzling displays of the latest in technology, science, industry, and art—that promised fairgoers the hope of a better and more modern future.
World’s Fairs: Visions of Tomorrow, on view beginning May 30, is drawn from The Wolfsonian’s vast holdings of world’s fair materials and will be shown in dialogue with a video installation, debuting this fall, by contemporary artist Marco Brambilla.
Featuring nearly 80 Wolfsonian collection works—including posters, design drawings, photographs, ephemera, sculpture, souvenirs, and furniture—World’s Fairs: Visions of Tomorrow spotlights the centerpiece pavilions, spellbinding attractions, and uplifting themes that drew millions to cities from Paris to Spokane, often offering reassurance and hope during times of crisis and change.
The eight major international expositions included in the exhibition are: Paris 1889; Barcelona 1929; Chicago 1933–34; New York 1939– 40; Brussels 1958; New York 1964–65; Montréal 1967; and Spokane 1974.
World’s Fairs is curated by Wolfsonian chief curator Silvia Barisione and chief librarian Francis Xavier Luca. “As Osaka, Japan hosts the latest world’s fair, Expo 2025, with its theme ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’ and a focus on developments in artificial intelligence, it seems only fitting that we open an exhibition centered around the utopian visions of earlier expositions,” Luca said. “This show displays examples of some of the iconic futuristic structures of fairs—including the Eiffel Tower (Paris, 1889), the Trylon and Perisphere (New York, 1939–40) and the Atomium (Brussels, 1958)—in conversation with Marco Brambilla’s forthcoming video installation,” Barisione added.
Rounding out the robust materials on view will be a video gallery of historical clips from select fairs and a behind-the-scenes Marco Brambilla interview teasing his upcoming video installation. Object highlights include:
- The Glory of Iron | La Gloire du fer honors the physical labor that made fair construction possible. Sculptor Arthur Waagen depicts two workers building the Eiffel Tower, a familiar structure built for the 1889 Paris Exposition.
- RCA Victor | The RCA Victor TRK 12 was one of America’s first consumer TVs. It is an example of innovative technology, now a household staple, that made its debut at a world’s fair.
- Chicago World’s Fair Poster | Promotional posters for world’s fairs often highlighted monumental attractions and reflected the latest design and architectural styles. This colorful Art Deco poster from the 1933–34 Chicago world’s fair depicts the massive Federal Building, with three pillars above a golden dome.
- Brussels Expo Guidebook | This official guide to Expo 58 showcases the importance of branding. It includes the Atomium, the central structure of the fair that reframed the atom as a symbol of new, peaceful possibilities for nuclear energy. Beside it is the fair’s logo, an off-center star designed by Belgian graphic designer Lucien de Roeck.
The exhibition leads up to Marco Brambilla: After Utopia, which imagines a virtual expo of iconic structures from fairs held across time and around the globe, including the fairs and structures contextualized in World’s Fairs: Visions of Tomorrow. Brambilla’s installation will be added to the exhibition for Miami Art Week 2025.
Exhibition Credit
Made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
EMEDIA
