Anyone visiting the Sinksenfoor fairground this summer will find it hard to imagine that, back in 1900, fairs weren’t about thrilling rides, but about anatomical museums and mechanical theatres. In collaboration with the House of Alijn, University of Antwerp researcher Nele Wynants and her team have organised an exhibition offering a glimpse into the magical fairgrounds of the past.
When we think of ‘science for the general public’ today, we usually picture large science museums or interactive experiences such as Technopolis. In the 19th century, however, scientific research reached everyday people in a very different way — through travelling performers and ‘carnies’. Wynants explains: ‘They toured with theatre shows, museums, and fairground attractions that revolved around science and new technologies. Being born entertainers, they had a keen sense of spectacle. Their anatomical cabinets with wax figures, and their demonstrations of astronomy, electricity and X-rays were a kind of “pop version” of scientific experiments and discoveries.’
Being born entertainers, carnies had a keen sense of spectacle. Their anatomical cabinets were a kind of “pop version” of scientific experiments.
That very spectacle can now be admired at the House of Alijn, during the exhibition Fairground Wonders — just six months after UNESCO recognised Belgian fairground culture as intangible cultural heritage. What left 19th-century fairgoers in awe is now on display at the museum: one of the earliest X-ray machines, a cinematograph, a box that makes objects disappear, a magic lantern, a wax figure of a woman with syphilis, authentic fortune-telling cards, mechanical puppets, a 19th-century diving helmet, and much more.
Alongside the exhibition, Wynants and her team, in partnership with the House of Alijn, have also created the book Foorwonder (published by Lannoo). It’s a colourful tribute to the imagination, wonder and curiosity of an era that continues to resonate today.
Fairground Wonders is a temporary exhibition at the House of Alijn and runs from 20.06.25 to 26.04.26. Visit the exhibition.
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