In 1934, the first colonial exhibition in Portugal was held in the gardens of the Crystal Palace in Porto.

The Palácio de Cristal was transformed into the ‘Palácio das Colónias’ (Colonial Palace) by a façade put up for the occasion, as you can see in the picture. In the centre of the square we can see the Monument to the Colonising Effort, which today stands in Praça do Império.

To the left of the monument we can see a huge elephant on top of the building, which would become the ‘mascot’ of the exhibition. The elephant was an animal that represented the exoticism of the colonised lands, but also the luxury and power of the precious goods extracted from them, such as the ivory in its teeth.