Inside Expo

On March 31, 2022, the history-making 6-month event that was Expo 2020 Dubai officially closed her doors. Her last heartbeats emanated from Al Wasl Plaza at 7:45 PM. The closing ceremony marked an end to a decade-plus long journey and celebrated a new beginning for the city of Dubai and the world. In the very last episode of our series we say goodbye to Expo 2020 Dubai, “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.” This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

What does it mean when you talk about the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and how do you make it accessible in a way that really resonates with everybody? As one of the three main sub themes of Expo 2020, Opportunity has an intended purpose: to put words into action. The Global Goals are the perfect expression of what opportunity means. In the first of this two part series about Opportunity at Expo 2020 Dubai, we discover how, in a period of six months, the Global Goals for a brighter, more prosperous future came to life and inspired action by potentially thousands, if not millions of people. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Inside the Opportunity pavilion is a room called Mission Possible. In this room, nearly half a million people made pledges to take small but consistent steps in their day to day lives, for a better world. The Opportunity pavilion was inspired by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, breaking down 17 ambitious goals into steps and projects that each one of us can employ. In the second part of our series on the theme of Opportunity at Expo 2020 Dubai, we will embark on a tour inside Mission Possible, Expo’s Opportunity Pavilion, and take a closer look at the intention behind its design. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

At the heart of Expo 2020 Dubai, right next to Al Wasl Plaza, is the elegant pavilion of the United Arab Emirates. It’s futuristic-looking and avante-garde. An architectural marvel with literal wings, inspired by the national symbol of the United Arab Emirates: the falcon. In this episode, we take a look at the architecture of the UAE pavilion, Alif the mobility pavilion, and Terra the sustainability pavilion. How do they continue a long tradition of World Expos being a platform for architectural innovation? This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

When many of us think of ancient civilizations our minds may venture to Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia or India. But it turns out that there was a centre of trade right in the middle of the desert just south of Dubai that connects with each of these ancient civilizations called Saruq Al-Hadid, and it’s believed to have existed as far back as the Iron Age 4,000 years ago. Of all the many artefacts found at Saruq Al-Hadid a tiny golden ring stood out. This golden ring, now a symbol of Emirati heritage and pride, inspired Expo 2020’s logo, and even Al Wasl Plaza, the centrepiece of the site. In this episode, we’ll tell the story of the communities that lived in Saruq Al-Hadid and how they helped create a ring that came to represent Expo 2020 Dubai. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

What at Expo 2020 Dubai will be in popular culture 20 years from now? That’s the question Charles Pappas asks himself while walking around the site. Charles is the author of a history on World Expos called ‘Flying Cars, Zombie Dogs, and Robot Overlords’. Over the years, World Expos have shaped history, individual lives, and popular culture. In this episode, we give the mic to Charles Pappas to tell us several little stories that prove how World Expos not only influence pop culture, but make it. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Many miles away from the Expo site, on the other side of the world, is a rising fitness wearables company named WHOOP. Together, Expo 2020 Dubai and WHOOP rolled out a wellness program for Expo workers and set out to test the power of biometric health tech, in one of the busiest construction projects, where at the peak of construction, some 45,000 staff were on site. How can programs like this help make construction sites safer and protect workers in labour-intensive industries? In today’s episode, a prototype — and example of what could happen when labour standards, health and wellness, and technology interconnect. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Located in the Sustainability District, the Vision Pavilion is an emotional and inspiring homage to the Ruler of Dubai and celebrates the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The space reflects the city of Dubai itself, small in size, but huge in impact. In today's episode, we'll take you through the Vision Pavilion, a space unlike any other on the Expo grounds that showcases this vision which embraces the past with its traditions and heritage but is fiercely forward looking: ambitious and optimistic. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Wherever you are in the world today, you can see and experience Expo in whichever virtual way you prefer. Whether you are a gamer, looking for content or just curious to explore the Expo site, Virtual Expo has got you covered. Alaa Alshroogi and the Virtual Expo team oversaw the creation of the entire Virtual Expo experience. These platforms have become the core of our connectedness and how accessibility came to have a whole other meaning. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

In the past few years, the team behind Expo 2020 Dubai gave “mobility” a lot of thought. After all, it is one of Expo’s three main themes: Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity. This episode, the first in a two-part series on how Expo 2020 Dubai redefines mobility, is a tour inside Alif, the Mobility Pavilion. And who better to guide us inside Alif than Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer at Expo 2020 Dubai and the driving force behind Alif, and Erik van der Schaft, Alif’s director. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

In 1325, a young scholar by the name of Ibn Battuta left his home in Morocco, to join a convoy headed to Mecca. He was to perform the Muslim Pilgrimage of Hajj and, at the time, the journey was expected to last over a year. But, Ibn Battuta would not return home for another 28 years. He continued a lifelong journey and travelled 120,000 kilometres which is enough to circle the world 3 times. In the second episode of our two-part Mobility series, we look at the lives of three extraordinary individuals, including Ibn Battuta, who shaped our understanding of the world through the lens of mobility. How did Alif - the Mobility Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai - breathe new life into these larger-than-life historical figures? This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

The UK pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai centres around the concept of a collective message to space. To do this, the UK pavilion is using an artificial intelligence software that actually thinks of and writes out poems. This power of connecting minds from around the globe, to input diverse data points and create a pattern of some kind, is at the root of artificial intelligence. This is what makes a melting pot like Expo 2020 Dubai an ideal incubator to showcase and experiment with AI. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

How do you design the right entrance into the city of the future - and Expo? Imagine that you are walking through an enormous gate made of fine lines of structure. It is as if you are walking through a 3D Mashrabiya… immersed in its light, shade and airflow aesthetics. And as you walk away, the portal transfers you into a courtyard filled with trees. This is the main entrance to Expo 2020 Dubai. In part one of our three-part series exploring architecture at Expo, we will come closer to the three ethereal entry portals of Expo 2020 Dubai and how they were brought to life. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

The journey of Al Wasl, the beating heart of Expo, lasted five years — from conception all the way to the moment it was crowned. At 67.5 meters tall and 130-meters wide, it’s the world's largest 360-degree projection surface. But what makes Al Wasl so distinct is that it isn’t just a dome. It’s also a plaza. A place of gathering. In Arabic, Al Wasl means connection. It links all of Expo’s three thematic districts: sustainability, mobility and opportunity. In part two of our three-part series exploring architecture at Expo, we’ll hear from the masterminds that brought Al Wasl to life. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Surreal is a bedazzling water feature at the centre of Expo 2020 Dubai. As one of the highlight attractions on the Expo grounds, Surreal brings together an intricate system of engineering with an ambitious architectural design and beautiful musical compositions in one piece. And it continues to attract, amaze and entertain visitors every day. In the final part of our three-part series exploring architecture at Expo, we're diving deep into how Surreal came to be and the splash it created with Expo visitors. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

What is it that makes our prehistoric origins so fascinating to us? Why do we go to such great lengths to visit and document the ancient skeletal remains of an ancestral human species? And what is the significance of curating this moment in our past at Expo 2020 Dubai? Travel into the past through the Ethiopian and Serbian pavilions as they showcase the importance of prehistoric times. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Throughout history, different cultures have informed each other in ways that create new forms of communication, of expression, of existence. Everything from the Mexican taco to contemporary pop music is the result of cultural fusion and, in a way, it feels like the potential for these combos is endless. So what happens when you bring 192 unique countries together in the same place? Across pavilions at Expo, neighboring hosts talk to each other. They are never neighbors around the world. At Expo 2020 Dubai, they’re neighbors here. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

On the night of September 30th, 2021, people everywhere watched as the first World Expo in the region commemorated a historic milestone as Expo 2020 Dubai was officially declared open. At the heart of the Opening Ceremony is a young girl who becomes the protagonist in this inaugural moment of Expo 2020 Dubai. She presents the uplifting, never-stopping curiosity of Dubai. Through this narrative that unfolds inside the beating heart of the site, Al Wasl Plaza, she guides us to a picture perfect metaphor of what our world could be. As this Expo takes place in real time, we look back at the creative process that made this opening ceremony so magical. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

Sofia is a grade 10 student who loves to bike. She is also the innovator behind Darraja, a wearable solution that increases bikers’ safety. Darraja is on display along with 297 other innovations at the ground floor of Terra - the Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Those innovations were designed and implemented by students within the Young Innovators Initiative, part of the Expo School Programme. In this episode, we will see Expo 2020 Dubai from the eyes of the young ones and how they got to be key-players, stakeholders and shapers of this world event. This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.

So much of Expo’s public realm was designed to inspire a sense of child-like wonder, from the biggest architectural marvel to the smallest tile on the ground. The Expo is full of Easter eggs! These small things that help give this material space a character. A soul. In today’s episode, we go on an Easter egg hunt as we see, hear, smell, touch, and feel all the details that make Expo 2020 Dubai the lived-in city that it is. What stories do the small things tell, and how do they make this place a home? This podcast is by Expo 2020 Dubai and produced by Kerning Cultures Network.