So where did it all begin ? Attempting to trace the History of Exhibitions- Part 1
Rucheeka Chhugani
Marketing & Communications at NürnbergMesse India | Advocating Sustainability for the Indian Exhibition Industry
Having worked in the Exhibition Industry for the last 13 years, I am always curious to find the genesis of a particular event. Who came up with the idea, who were the initial stakeholders, what purpose was being solved, what kind of response did it generate, and so on. Yes numbers, both financial and exhibitor/visitor can give you a fair bit of an idea about how well the event eventually fared, but that's like looking at the history of all major world events and mapping it out purely based on figures and statistics.?
It is however always the human element, the stories and the anecdotes, which bring the spirit of a time alive.?
Which led me to start thinking about the History of Exhibitions in general, where did the journey begin, how did it evolve over time, to become the dynamic Industry it has turned into today.?
So my initial research tells me that it was in 1791 in Bohemia, Prague during the Habsburg Monarchy, that the first industrial exhibition (*please note the term Industrial) took place. It was on the occasion of the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia, and the considerable sophistication of manufacturing methods in the Czech lands during that time period was being celebrated.?
Of course the entire concept of aligning buyers and sellers during a trade fair goes back much longer, but for that I will have to look into the archives of pre- Industrial Revolution and read a lot of Yuval Noah Harari. In Germany for instance, one can go back some 800 years to trace the history of the initial fairs which took place and today the country is a world leader where exhibitions are concerned. All of this is turning out to be very exciting research indeed.?
Do you have any historical perspectives, books to recommend or articles to share which can throw light on this. As we gear up to start the business of trade fairs once more, it would be interesting to see how we have evolved and stood the test of time throughout history.
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#exhibitions #history #tradefairs #genesis