Editing Artis (zoo) (section)

==History==
[[File:Oprichters Artis JJ Wijsmuller GF Westerman en JWH Werlemann.jpg|thumb|Litho of the zoo's founders J.J. Wijsmuller, G.F. Westerman, and J.W.H. Werlemann from 1888]]
[[File:Amsterdam -- Apenkooi in Artis (titel op object), RP-F-F19435.jpg|thumb|Postcard of the monkey cage in 1908]]
The zoo was founded in 1838 by three zoology enthusiasts, Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller (also known as the three Ws). It was initially open only to members. Starting in 1851 it was opened to the public during the month of September.<ref name="Mehos_founding"/> In 1920 it was opened year-round to the public, but September remains discount month.<ref name="zoo_discover"/>

The core of the current zoo property, then the "Middenhof" estate, was purchased by the board of the zoological society "Natura Artis Magistra" late in 1838 in the [[Plantage (Amsterdam)|Plantage]], which was then a thinly populated area on the outskirts of Amsterdam. From the start it exhibited both live and mounted specimens.<ref name="zma_about"/>

The zoo is commonly referred to as Artis, because the zoo has three gates with the words 'Natura', 'Artis', and 'Magistra' written above each of them, respectively, which combined formed its actual name. More often than not, only the middle gate was open, so that people who walked through it, seeing that 'Artis' was written above it, believed that the zoo was just called Artis. Thanks to this, soon few people knew it by its full name: Natura Artis Magistra.

The last [[quagga]] in captivity died at Artis on 12 August 1883, because all zebras were referred to as quagga, nobody realized this was the last quagga alive until years later.

=== Ethnological Collections ===
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Artis, the zoo in Amsterdam, organized exhibitions in which not only people from the Dutch colonies, such as [[Suriname]] and [[Dutch East Indies]], but also individuals with physical features considered [[Ableism|'deviant']], were publicly displayed.

Between approximately 1902 and 1941, people from these communities were brought to Artis to live and be exhibited in specially reconstructed 'authentic' villages. These human exhibitions were presented as educational and 'true to nature,' an idea also propagated by [[Carl Hagenbeck]] — an influential German animal trader and organizer of ethnographic exhibitions. In his memoirs, Hagenbeck emphasized that the displayed groups, such as the Inuit ("guests from the far north"), were supposedly unaware that they were performing a show; according to him, they thus presented a "true copy of life in nature." In reality, this practice was part of a broader colonial ideology, in which people from other cultures were reduced to objects of entertainment and study for a predominantly Western audience.<ref>Houtekamer, T. (n.d.). ''[https://studenttheses.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12932/31100/Being%20Human%20in%20Artis.%20Developments%20in%20the%20Amsterdam%20Zoo,1902-1941,%20Timo%20Houtekamer,%203996778.pdf?sequence=2 Being Human in Artis: Developments in the Amsterdam Zoo], 1902–1941'' (Thesis, Utrecht University). Utrecht University Repository.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://historianet.nl/maatschappij/bizarre-trend-mensen-werden-tentoongesteld-in-dierentuin |title=Vernederende trend: Mensen werden tentoongesteld in dierentuin |last=clipboard |first=Gepubliceerd op 16 01 18 Door Martin Landin URL copied to |date=2018-01-16 |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=Historia |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-04-28 |language=nl |title=Artis is ons levende koloniale erfgoed waar velen de ogen nog voor sluiten - Joop - BNNVARA |url=https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/artis-is-ons-levende-koloniale-erfgoed-waar-velen-de-ogen-nog-voor-sluiten |work=Joop}}<!-- auto-translated from Dutch by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

These practices were part of a broader European tradition of "[[Human zoo|human zoos]]," in which both people of different skin colors and individuals whose physical appearance deviated from the norm were exhibited. The extensive ethnographic collection that Artis displayed for a long time in its [[Ethnographisch Museum Artis|Ethnographic Museum]] was transferred in 1921 to the nearby [[Tropenmuseum]].

In recent years, Artis has taken steps to improve the living conditions of animals, while attention to its colonial past in educational communications has remained limited.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2025-04-28 |date=2020-08-07 |language=nl-NL |title='Artis, kijk je koloniale verleden in de ogen' |url=https://www.oneworld.nl/klimaat/artis-kijk-je-koloniale-verleden-in-de-ogen/ |work=OneWorld}}<!-- auto-translated from Dutch by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>