Exploring Expo 2020

By Sandhya Mendonca

As the metro sped to Expo 2020, we were eager, enthusiastic and energetic. We had just arrived from a 7 degree chill that seeped through fur caps and three layers of clothing in Istanbul to a warm welcome in Dubai.

Our Emirates air tickets gave us complimentary day passes, so off we went towards innovation and enlightenment. First, why is it called Expo 2020 when we are in 2021? Originally scheduled to be held from October 2020 to April 2021, the Expo was postponed because of the pandemic. Since a lot of moolah and effort had already been spent on branding and marketing blitz, organisers decided to stick with the original name.

Your face, your passport

Upon entry, our passes are scanned and we are photographed. If we visit again, facial recognition will see us through! Suitably impressed, we followed the round of rhythmic drums to the centre stage where official speeches take place.

The Expo is categorised into three Districts: Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. As we wove our way through, we understood the sympathetic expression on the face of one of the numerous well-trained and courteous volunteers when I told her that I had a list of country pavilions to visit. We never made it out of the first that we visited, the Mobility District. One would need a couple of weeks or more to do full justice to all but here’s a sneak peek into the pavilions that we visited.

The most astounding feature of the Expo is that themes are not linear; countries have interpreted them in a unique way, making the journey whimsical and immersive, melding arts and technology seamlessly.

Alif

Alif is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet and that was the name of the Special Mobility Pavilion. It traces the human urge to move from the very beginning of life. Beginning with ninemetre-tall statues of innovators whose early innovations led to navigations of the world, we walked through cutting edge technological displays of space explorations. How smart cities are going to be with AI/ ML, big data, robotics, and the not-so-distant future when autonomous transport, drones, robots and solar powered tricycles will be ubiquitous.

Hola! It was the music wafting that was irresistible and led us to Mexico. With a brilliant facade woven by 200 women artists, the Mexico Pavilion is a colourful showcase of arts, cuisine apart from the business networking opportunities. Stepping through to huge 3D screens, we were transported to the rich diversity of Mexico with enchanting flowers and butterflies as the leitmotif.

Step it Up!

The Mobility District has 5400 sq.m dedicated to sports, fitness and well-being. I was chuffed as my watch had me clocking an average of 12,000 steps a day in the previous weeks and I enjoyed the zany fun options here. You check out your reflexes apart from watching live sporting action, tournaments, exhibition games, – we were in time to see an international bowling contest – and meeting sports heroes. There are workshops and sports clinics for those who register early.

We didn’t to be reminded by PA announcements to keep ourselves hydrated and rather thankfully, fell into a queue that offered cans of water that led to the land of Oz. There was a bit of a wait as there was a show in progress and some dropped out but I held firm. I could not walk away from the entreating looks of the volunteers – we need warm bodies to fill the seats, as I know from my experience of curating many events and festivals.

Star Gazing

Australia prides itself as a nation built on mobility and its pavilion showcases its 60,000 years of innovation. We gazed up at the night skies Down Under at a show unfolded about the stars that guided the aboriginals and created a world of folklore alongside the evolution of astronomy. We came out to a rollicking musical act with food and drink.

Queues had begun to form outside country pavilions as evening was gaining upon us. More sensible people had chosen to come after it had got cooler. With waning energy, we stuck to looking at the pavilions from the outside, and having eaten very expensive ice creams, wearily trudged back to the Metro. Note: all purchases are via cards, no cash transactions here.

Should you go?

Undoubtedly yes! There’s much to see and learn at every Expo from the very first held in London in 1851. Innovators vie to present their ideas to the world at every expo and many of these have had marked impact on our lives.

Can you imagine a life without telephones or for that matter, tomato ketchup? From the X-ray machine to the ice cream cone, the first commercial broadcast television to the Imax, touchscreens to humanoid robots many innovations have emerged at ex