On tour
IQD Visit Expo Dubai 2020
An IQD delegation has visited, at the invitation of the Media Center, Expo Dubai 2020, of which we will publish in the next days an in-depth analysis of the exhibition and of some individual pavilions.
Expo Dubai 2020 was supposed to take place, according to the original schedule, between October 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 but due to the COVID-19 Pandemic it has been postponed by one year and is now taking place between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022. However, it was decided to preserve the name Expo 2020 Dubai. This is the first edition to be held in an Arab country, more precisely in the area called ME.NA.SA – that is: Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
The theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, which had the participation of 192 countries “in the land of tolerance”, as defined by the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is Connecting minds, Creating future. Much more than a theme, it is a true mission with which the Universal Exhibition intends to recall the spirit of collaboration in the name of development and innovation. The theme of connection is developed along three lines that deepen and motivate the intent “creating the future”: sustainability, for a progress that does not compromise the lives and needs of future generations; mobility, to create new and more efficient connections between people, communities and countries; opportunities for future generations.
The site of the event is a new exhibition center (named Dubai Trade Center – Jebel ʿAlī) of 4.38 square kilometers located in the southwest quadrant of Dubai and adjacent to the new Āl Maktūm International Airport. The general project was signed by the American architectural firm HOK and has a central square named Al Wasl, named after the ancient name of Dubai, whose meaning is “the connection”, from which branch out, like three large petals, the three thematic areas of the event: Opportunity, Sustainability and Mobility.
Brazilian Pavilion. Photo by Silvia Belotti 
UK Pavilion. Photo by Silvia Belotti
Each of these hosts theme pavilions in the guise of traditional Arabian souks and a Best Practice area for each of the individual themes. Between the petals stand three of the most important structures of the exhibition: the Welcome Pavilion, the Innovation Pavilion and the UAE Pavilion. Outside the three petals we find the national pavilions, some of which are extremely interesting and we will tell you about them here on our website.
On 19 March 2022, twelve days before its conclusion, Expo 2020 Dubai reached 20 million visitors. No other event in the world has reached such a figure since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The next World Expo will be held from May 3 to November 3, 2025 in Japan, in Osaka on the artificial island of Yumeshima. The theme for the next expo is Designing Future Society for Our Lives.
