The Brussels International Exposition (, ) of 1897 was a world's fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from 10 May 1897 through 8 November 1897. There were 27 participating countries, and an estimated attendance of 7.8 million people. The main venues of the fair were the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark, as well as a colonial section in the suburb of Tervuren, showcasing King Leopold II's personal property; the Congo Free State. The two exposition sites were linked by a purpose-built tramway. Location The exhibition took place on two different sites comprising 14 sections. The first was located in the Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark in the easternmost part of the City of Brussels and constituted the main grounds of the fair, and the second in the Flemish suburb of Tervuren, consisted of a colonial section devoted to the Congo Free State, the personal property of King Leopold II. The two sites were linked by a new tramway line and by the Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan; an grand alley also laid out for this purpose. Colonial exhibit The Tervuren section was hosted in the . The building was designed by the French architect Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe and the classical gardens by the French landscape architect Elie Lainé. In the main hall, known as the Hall of the Great Cultures (), the architect and decorator designed a distinctive wooden Art Nouveau structure to evoke a Congolese forest, using Bilinga wood, an African tree. The exhibition displayed ethnographic objects, stuffed animals and Congolese export products (e.g. coffee, cacao and tobacco). In the park, a temporary "human zoo"—a copy of an African village—was built, in which 60 Congolese people lived for the duration of the exhibition. Seven of them, however, did not survive their forced stay in Belgium. This exhibition's success led to the permanent establishment of the Museum of the Congo (today's Royal Museum for Central Africa) in 1898. Art Nouveau The primary designers of the fair were among the Belgian masters of Art Nouveau architecture at the height of the style: Henry van de Velde, Paul Hankar, Gédéon Bordiau, and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy. Henri Privat-Livemont produced posters for the exposition. There seems to be few physical remnants. The small neoclassical pavilion called the Temple of Human Passions that Victor Horta designed to house a sculptural relief by Jef Lambeaux was completed in time for the fair, but its opening was delayed by disputes until 1899. Vieux-Bruxelles A public favorite