Spotlight on the twin islands at The World’s Greatest Show The world may have had to wait an extra year for Dubai Expo 2020 to begin. Still, when it finally opened with a bang at the beginning of October at its inauguration ceremony, everyone agreed it was worth the wait.
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Although the theme for this year’s exhibition is “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future”, the Expo has always been a trailblazing event, all the way to its start in London in 1851 with “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations”. Opened by Queen Victoria in the architectural marvel Crystal Palace, a giant glass-and-iron structure built especially for the event, The Great Exhibition housed over 100,000 objects displayed along more than ten miles. Not surprisingly, it was probably the most successful and memorable cultural affair of the 19th century, visited by over 15,000 contributors and considered the world’s first international event. Not only did the exposition showcase the very latest inventions and wonders like an early fax machine and a stereoscope, but the Crystal Palace also hosted the first public toilets - something we all take for granted today, but back then being able to “spend a penny” was a very welcome novelty. Since then, expos have continued to be at the forefront of innovation and invention. The Eiffel Tower in Paris
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– still the most visited monument in the world - was constructed for the Exposition Universelle in 1889. Had it not been for this event, the skyline of Paris would look very different today. Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone in 1876 at Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition of Arts, and the first live television broadcast was made at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. The first Expo to be held in an Arab nation, Expo 2020 Dubai, is no exception. As one of the most future-forward expos in history and focusing on mobility, sustainability and opportunity, three of the world’s most important driving forces today, the event is exhibiting countless technological advances in fields such
as artificial intelligence, renewable energy and transport. Even the iconic Al Wasl dome, the centrepiece of the four-square-kilometre site in the desert, is the world’s largest unsupported dome and provides the largest 360-degree projection surface. One hundred and ninety-two countries are participating in the 182-day event, and more than 25 million visitors are expected. Indeed in the first month and a half alone, over four million people visited the impressive site. Antigua & Barbuda is found in the imposing Mobility pavilion designed by Foster + Partners, which features the world’s largest passenger lift. In this district, visitors can catch a ride in an autonomous vehicle and even explore space. For the first time in World Expo
