The provinces in Paris: the Regional Center at the 1937 Paris International Exposition.

The 1937 Paris International Exposition featured a Regional Center which represented all of the French regions for the first time in a Parisian world's fair: Inspired largely by concerns over the increasing a standardization,, and spread of mass culture in France since World War One, the Regional Center aimed to reconcile traditionalism and modernity in a new kind of " modern regionalism ". Whereas regional particularisms have often been interpreted as a threat to national unity in France, they were portrayed in 1937 in a more positive light as an antidote for the perceived standardization of " American-style " modern culture. Through the Regional Center regional forms were appropriated by the " center " and recontextualized as complementary parts of a harmonious national whole. However although the regional committees appointed to plan and fund the regional exhibits were promised a "real autonomy " they were kept firmly in check by the fair planners and II experts in Paris; thus Paris largely dictated the terms of regional authenticity to its producers in the provinces.