Chicago World's Fair
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In the late 19th century, a lot of Syrian immigrants worked at World’s Fairs in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis, where they sold small items of religious significance from back home, as well as other household goods. At the Chicago fair in 1893, a lot of Syrians were employed by Ottoman entrepreneurs to participate in an exhibit reproducing aspects of “Turkish” daily life. This exhibit included depictions of Syrian women being abducted and being saved by their “dusky friends”, swordsmen, dancing girls and a man by the name of Mere Alli Harfush who supposedly came from a “spot which is one of the mysterious places on the globe, where the ruins of the great City of Baalbec still stand” (Gualtieri, 35)This exhibit was clearly catered to a western audience and served to fuel their oriental visions and fantasies of the middle east. These descriptions allude to Americans’ conceptualisation of Syrians as belonging to a mystical land where people rode around on horses and women required saving. It encapsulates Western Orientalism and its tendency to imagine eastern cultures as being 'otherworldly' and exotic.
It must be noted that these exhibits were not, however, just a means to satiate the American imperialist, but were also tactfully used by businessmen and migrant artists to “boost international trade and cross country exchanges” (Gualtieri, 36), as explained by Mae Ngai.