 Groslier played a major role in preparing the Cambodian exhibitions for the Colonial Exposition that opened in Vincennes, just outside Paris, on May 6, 1931.The event was designed to be the most spectacular colonial show in history.However, it occurred at a time when the entire concept of colonialism — what the French called their "mission civilisatrice" (civilizing mission) — was increasingly seen by many, in the words of Groslier's biographer, Kent Davis, "less as altruism and more as a quest for power and profit."