The World's Fair- Part III: Political Theater

For Part II, "Unusual Encounters", click here.

Part III: Political Theater

My approach with this World’s Fair blog series has been to look at how events of this scale not only show but actually perform- what happens at these events and how they create new things into being. Here I look at one instance in which a Fair was used as political theater. I did some research in the archives of the New York Public Library on India’s participation at New York’s 1964 World’s Fair, and here is what I found out:

In 1964, India represented itself at a World’s Fair for the first time- the times before when India had been present it was the British, then colonial rulers, who had put India on display. To put India’s participation at this Fair in context, consider that it is the Cold War, The United States and the Soviet Union have almost come to blows during the Cuban Missile Crisis, India has recently been at war with communist China and it is also fighting over the region of Kashmir with Pakistan. Indians back home are critical of the money being spent at the Fair as they think it should be used to help with fighting the wars; and none other than Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Nehru’s daughter, is the Chairwoman of India’s participation at the Fair.

Outside the entrance to the India pavilion was a large wooden board inscribed with a famous Mahatma Gandhi quote: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any”. Though India was in turmoil in the world, it presented itself at the World’s Fair as a delicious mix of past and present, playing on the exotic and the modern, all the while affirming the strides it had made since independence from the British. The pavilion was advertized in a brochure as such:

“India – the world’s largest democracy, has appropriately selected “Progress In Democracy” as the special theme for its Pavilion. Here is a panorama of color and spectacle of Indian life: marriage and rituals, and glimpses of the country’s rich heritage – all reflecting the diversity, but also the fundamental underlying unity of the people of the land of India. The vitality of the new and developing institutions provide a colorful contrast to the peaceful serenity of an early 5th Century stone Buddha from Sarnath and several other antiques and works of ancient Indian art – which are being shown for the first time in this country. But faiths and festivals are only one part of India. An escalator ride to the 2nd floor brings the visitors to an exhibit depicting the ‘Changing Face of India’, a glimpse of its growing industrial maturity and harnessing the natural resources of the country.“

In the pavilion’s restaurant, visitors could sample delicacies, including the Kashmiri Fruit Cocktail and the Kashmiri Fruit Cup. One could also visit the store, upstairs, and buy “Gorgeous silks from Kashmir” and “Kashmir stoles and scarves”. While contested in the real world, the region of Kashmir seemed to belong to India at the Fair. The Pakistan pavilion for its part emphasized instead “Kebabs” and the “finest rugs and carpets from the Frontier Regions of West Pakistan”, never naming Kashmir directly.

Gandhi came to the Fair repeatedly and made two major speeches, one for the groundbreaking of the India pavilion right after the short war with China, where she said: “It will give you some idea of the great importance we attach to the Fair and to friendship with this great country and its people, that despite these difficulties, our government finally made the decision to take part. We believe that it is only through the understanding of each other’s cultures and ways of life that friendship can be achieved, and it is only through friendship that peace can be achieved.”

Gandhi came again for the grand opening of the Fair, in the company of Presidents Johnson and Eisenhower and many other high dignitaries. Here she said: “I am deeply sensible of the honor you have done my country. Our participation confirms our faith in the theme of this fair: ‘peace through understanding’. Historically your theme is linked with its location, for we are in New York City, the home of the United Nations…. All men are born equal, said Abraham Lincoln, who was born in the United States, but belongs to the whole world. However none of us have been able to live up to this ideal. Between the idea and the reality lies the shadow of short sighted natural interests and the false notions of pride and prestige. Interdependence is but another word for working together.”

Within this Cold War context, India was selling itself as culturally ancient but politically current, and as a democratic ally for the United States in Asia. At the Fair, the India pavilion was right across the United States pavilion, in what looked like a circle of allies that also included close by the Turkey and West Berlin pavilions (see bottom left part of the map below).

The World of the Fair and the real world seemed to overlap and in my research I sometimes wondered which was informing the other. Prime Minister Nehru died during the period of the Fair and the India pavilion closed for a couple of days, with the Indian flag flying at half mast and a book of condolences sent to Indira Gandhi with signatures from high dignitaries. There was even a bomb scare at the pavilion that was attributed to angry Pakistanis.

India had described itself at the Fair in the same terms that the British had used to describe India in the past with words like "colorful" appearing dozens of times on brochures and advertisements. The press had been mesmerized by this but especially by Gandhi, the elegant woman from this intriguing culture, who ended up using the stage of the Fair to make important political claims. By the time she came to Washington in April 1966, now as Prime Minister, to meet with President Johnson, Gandhi was well know among officials in the United States as a result of her several visits to New York for the Fair. A Time Magazine article published ahead of her meeting with Johnson entitled “Visitor in a Sari” explained how “President Johnson hoped to help strengthen India so that it [could] take its place along with Japan as a bulwark against Chinese Communist expansion in Asia”. This is precisely what Gandhi had been working at for the past few years, lobbying not at the United Nations nor on Capitol Hill, but at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair.

Stay tuned next week for Part IV: "Artaud discovers Balinese music"

Nico-

Tags: 1964 World's Fair, Cold War, India, Indian culture, New York World's Fair, Pakistan, U.S.A., United Nations

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