Pakistani Pavilion – Dubai Expo 2020

The World Expo is a 169-year-old tradition where a hosting nation welcomes the world. The first World Expo was held in London, in 1851. The main objectives of World Expos are majorly economic, and cultural. To sum it up, World Expos are celebrated to celebrate diversity and harmony. People from all over the world gather-up to witness and cherish different cultures, values, and homogeneity as the hosting nation and other participating nations exhibit their culture before the world. The stage is set, lights positioned, eyes fixed.

The world will be hosted by The UAE for 182 days, where UAE as well as other participating nations display their culture, hold dialog, debates, and seminars to raise awareness on challenges, and possibilities on many areas of common interests and shared glory, by the world. Dubai Expo 2020 is about “Connecting the Minds and Creating the Future” through sustainability, mobility, and opportunity.

Like many other nations, Pakistan is also an official member of the #DubaiExpo2020. The Pakistan Pavilion was officially inaugurated by the President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi. The theme for Pakistan Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020 is “Pakistan: The Hidden Treasure”. It aims to highlight the hidden potential of Pakistan and Pakistani culture through many mediums, like architecture, art, culture, history, music, tradition.

Noorjehan Bilgrami is the Principal Curator for the Pakistan Pavilion, in her own words,

“‘Pakistan: The Hidden Treasure’ will take the visitors on an immersive, multi-sensory journey exploring the potential and possibilities of our country.”

From seaside to mountainside, Pakistan is one of the world’s best kept secrets. A region where people have revealed their diverse and vibrant culture, nourished by the ancient and enduring River Indus, for a period spanning over 7000 years.

The Inner Journey of the Pakistan Pavilion will showcase and celebrate our history, ethno-religious diversity, rich craft traditions, precious natural resources and cutting-edge industries like never before.”

Highlighting and addressing the culture, history and people of Pakistan are the key objectives of the Pakistan Pavilion. It aims to promote the cause of tourism: as Pakistan has so much to offer in this area. It would ultimately contribute to the business and development sector. The vision for Pakistan Pavilion is quite symmetrical with the government’s policy of promoting tourism in Pakistan in that regard.

The exterior of the monument is designed by internationally renowned artist Rashid Rana. Rana believes that he was expected to transform architecture into art, which he managed to do so quite eloquently. The façade is an attraction point for the visitors, as the outer display is quite a view, and unique in its paradigm, as each prism-like material is uniquely designed, and constructed hence intrigues the visitors for The Inner Journey.

The official theme music for Pakistan Pavilion is produced by the maestro, Rohail Hyatt and is titled as Lala-e-Sehrai (flower of desert). Lala-e-Sehrai consists of four tracks, which portray different musical technicalities that differ in their orientation and expression and represent different demographic regions of Pakistan.

Any forum is an opportunity for any entity to portray, attract, and spread awareness about any entity. Such international forums not only provide financial and economic gains to the nation but serve as a platform for small-scale vendors as well. Moreover, for developing nations, it might help in portraying a positive image of the nation before the world. Which, either way is a win-win for Pakistan. For Pakistan, to be able to portray it’s cultural diversity, and historical significance on a platform with more outreach will revitalize the tourism industry, as Pakistan has a lot to offer in the sector of tourism.