An exhibition in a wildlife park in southern Belgium of traditional performances by eight Baka pygmies from eastern Cameroon was heavily criticized last week by a number of advocacy groups. The exhibition was organized by local aid group Oasis-Nature, which is attempting to raise money for health centers and schools to serve Baka communities in Cameroon. A chorus of outrage has erupted over the ‘show’, with organizers accused of exploiting the Baka culture in a throwback to colonial depictions of African groups at World’s Fairs in the 1880s. The center of the exhibition is a village of mud huts built by the pygmies, who perform traditional music and songs for tourists. One critic, Joseph Anganda, for the Movement of New Immigrants, remarked, "Aid cannot come by way of humiliation. We must respect those we help." The Baka people number around 150,000, but their nomadic way of life has been disrupted by logging and development in Cameroon's tropical forest.
