Posted in culture, governance on Jun 4th, 2010
In this second post of a series about my visit to the Shanghai World Expo, I’m going to describe some of the stories presented in the national pavilions. The goal is to sell industrial services and manufactured goods, not to really imagine a better city, better life. But because it is the official theme of the Expo, each country tries to argument a connection between its own interests and the noble cause. The result is in many cases pathetic. It didn’t stop me enjoying the pavilions and the great architectures and multi-media installations; it was just not making any sense.
Posted in contemporary art on Jun 3rd, 2010
This post is the first one of a series about my visit to the Shanghai World Expo 2010. I will start with a description of the crowd present at the Expo, more than 300.000 people per day! The pavilions and their exhibitions are only one aspect of the Expo; it is also a meeting place, not only for business men, but for people from all over China and the world. No need to travel the many villages and cities of China to discover its people, they are all right here. This makes a rather eclectic and disorganised crowd, but that’s what makes it so interesting for a foreigner. Families come here with their meals and vegetables, students come in groups, very few westerners also join the crowd.
