Are we still part of the show? The 1901 World's Fair

History · Published 13 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: At the turn of the 20th century, the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York, became a stage for conflicting representations of Black identity. Today, artist Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin uses these archives to ask a haunting question: how much of that historical spectacle still shapes our modern society?

Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin’s forthcoming musical, "At Buffalo," draws directly from archival materials of the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition. This world's fair served as a site where Black identity was curated and exhibited in ways that were often contradictory. By examining these historical records, Kootin highlights how the fair functioned as a platform for complex, and often unsettling, cultural representations.

The work seeks to bridge the gap between the past and the present. It identifies "unsettlingly familiar parallels" between the social dynamics of the early 1900s and contemporary American life. The production serves as a mirror, forcing the audience to confront whether the structures of performance and identity established over a century ago continue to dictate how people are seen and categorized today.

This exploration of marginalized histories is part of a broader academic movement to uncover "inconvenient" histories in the arts. For instance, researchers Sarah Whitfield and Sean Mayes have worked to document the neglected contributions of Black practitioners in British musical theatre during the first half of the 20th century. Their work emphasizes that for too long, these narratives were centered on white achievements, often erasing the very people who were actively trying to "unearth and explore" their own identities through performance.

By looking back at the 1901 fair, Kootin isn't just recounting history; she is analyzing the mechanics of cultural curation. The musical invites the viewer to consider the role of the spectator and the performer, asking if the "show" of identity is a cycle that we are still participating in, whether we realize it or not.

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