BIE-class Universal exposition Organized by Dumarsais Estimé | Area 30 hectares (74 acres) | |
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Category Second category General Exposition Name L'Exposition Internationale de port au Prince 1949 Motto 200 years Port au Prince | ||
The Exposition internationale du bicentenaire de Port-au-Prince was a world's fair held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1949 to mark 200 years since Port-au-Prince's foundation.
Contents
Formations
President Dumarsais Estimé argued in 1948 for an exposition to demonstrate Haitian culture to other countries and encourage tourism and committed $1 million (then almost three-quarters of Haiti's annual budget) to the project.
The fair opened on ground at the Gonave Bay which had been cleared of houses and landscaped with gardens, parks and tall coconut and palm trees
Opening
There were two opening ceremonies: the first on December 8, 1949 and the second on February 12, 1950.
During the first ceremony, a telegram from US president Harry S. Truman to Haitian president Dumarsais Estimé was read out, a parade of US soldiers and marines and a US Air Force squadron flew overhead, and the national exhibits and amusement area opened.
During the second ceremony, the international as well as the official pavilions were opened. Displays were on show from Argentina, Cuba, France, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela, with Vatican City providing a chapel.
Art and music
An art competition was held, with Gesner Abelard winning a bronze prize, and Jacques-Enguerrand Gourgue a gold.
Marian Anderson, Alberto Beltran, Frantz Casseus, Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Issa El Saeih, Dizzy Gillespie, Ernst Lamy, Ti Ro Ro, La Scala singers, members of the Grand National Opera New York, Daniel Santos, Don Shirley and Bebo Valdes all performed during the exposition.