BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhuanet) -- In the days before film, painting was the way to record a scene in history. Today, when we look back at the first World Expo in London in 1851, a painting helps a lot. And for the first time, the documentary on canvas is displayed outside of Britain.
This is the original oil painting of British artist Henry Courtney Selous: the opening ceremony of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. The piece was commissioned by Queen Victoria.
On the painting, you can easily see the Chinese merchant Xi Sheng who took part in the first world exposition in 1851, though he was not sent by the government.
Chen Xiejun, Curator of Shanghai Museum, said, "Obviously, the Qing Dynasty was not at its most prosperous time when the first Expo was held in London. Against that background, the painting helps us learn more about China's involvement in the World Expo from the start."
Along with the painting, a few rarely-seen historic exhibits are also displayed at the Expo Museum in Shanghai. It's part of an effort to tell visitors how the World Expo was born.
London is the cradle of the World Expo. In the mid-19th century, Prince Albert of England, also the husband of Queen Victoria, proposed a large-scale global fair and demanded that foreign products be displayed. His industrial-age idea took shape on May 1st, 1851, in Hyde Park at the "Crystal Palace."
As the curator of the Shanghai Museum has emphasized, it's a way to pass on the old, but still maintain the core of today's expo creation.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
