Curator of decorative arts Catherine Futter and her colleagues from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art provide an illustrated behind-the-scenes look at the museum’s new exhibit running through August 19, 2012.

Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939 features 200 objects introduced at world’s fairs over nearly a century. These events were the first global marketplaces, where manufacturers and artisans promoted their most ingenious innovations.

Futter is the Helen Jane and R. Hugh “Pat” Uhlmann Curator of Decorative Arts at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.