ABSTRACT
In the late 19th century, the World’s Expos became forums for exchanging ideas, for the observation and comparison of educational experiences, crucial in the intermediation and re-contextualization of objects and processes. This chapter concerns Brazil’s exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, in 1904, which explores center-periphery relations relating to transnational studies. One of these aspects focuses on the representation of S. Paulo in its relationship with Brazil, addressing these dynamics in a nation marked by regionalisms; the other focuses on Brazil’s connection with the global power center. It is shown how the state of S. Paulo regionalism, expressed in the narrative of its recent “advances,” aimed to achieve international prominence. This claim was opposed by the official narrative, marked by unity and nationalism. However, Brazil’s exhibition emphasized natural wealth and striving to attract capital and immigrants, minimally accounting for the educational requirements. Having examined the path of the objects and texts from the subnational to the “universal” scope, I argue that the curatorial rhetoric of the Brazilian Commission was effective in diluting regionalisms in favor of the image of unity, as well as in persuading that the nation had left its “primitive” past.
