[ad_1]
Welcome to Dubai Expo 2020 is the first World Expo in the Middle East, with more than 190 participating countries-except for Afghanistan, its new Taliban ruler has not appeared.
Dubai has invested billions of dollars to turn this Expo Village built from the ground up into a triumphant tourist attraction and a symbol of the United Arab Emirates itself-a visual feast aimed at getting rid of politics and building on the promise of globalization. superior.
But even if countries use their pavilions as benign TV commercials, political turmoil in the wider world has managed to break in.
“We only have one bullet to shoot,” said Manakhel Tabet, The curator of Yemen Pavilion. “We want to show Yemen in a different way…show the people and not any political agenda.”
But the tortuous journey of the handicrafts on display from the rebel-controlled north of the country to the fashion pavilion funded by the UAE reveals a very different Yemen.
The businessman described the tragic night that traveled through the battlefield in Malibu with sacks of stones, spices and honey at the World Expo. Marib is Yemen’s last government stronghold and is now being besieged by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The pavilion is MyanmarA golden chariot is displayed where the army has seized power and has fallen into a bloody conflict, and tourists are greeted to the plain full of pagodas.
The previous government was overthrown by a coup in February and a leader was appointed Burmese A philanthropist who directed and sponsored the show many years ago.
However, a person familiar with the operation of the exhibition hall, who declined to be named due to fear of retaliation, said that the Myanmar military government has been trying to completely reform the philanthropist’s exhibition and change the schedule of events in recent weeks. Confucian military rallies. Fair six months.
The person added that the Expo organizers are trying to prevent the acquisition, but the fate of the pavilion is still uncertain.
After the UAE announced last year that it would normalize relations with Israel, angering the Palestinians and subverting the long-standing Arab consensus, the Palestinian Authority announced that it would boycott the Dubai World Expo.
However, only a two-minute walk from Israel’s mirrored arch, the Palestine Pavilion stands tall and its vast exterior is painted with Arabic calligraphy: “Yesterday it was called Palestine. Today it is called Palestine.”
The exhibition created a complete sensory experience, inviting visitors to touch handmade ceramic pots, watch vendors slice knafeh, a syrupy cheese pastry, and smell oranges from Palestinian farms.
However, the Palestine Pavilion has not been officially opened to the public because employees described a series of headaches and tried to obtain approval from the Israeli authorities to ship certain goods out of the occupied West Bank.
When asked about the changes that prompted Palestinian participation, the staff said that the absence of Palestinians from the major World Expo would be even worse.
Although many countries received invitations to participate in the World Expo almost immediately after winning the bid in Dubai in 2013, Syria stated that it was invited only two years ago-shortly after the UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus, it showed that the President Al Assad’s relations have improved. Years of devastating civil war. It is the last country to start construction.
The staff of the Black Box Theater are full of inspiring slogans such as “We will rise together” and lengthy explanations of ancient Mesopotamian writing letters, lamenting the last-minute scramble and lack of funds. Noting that Assad focused on rebuilding Syria’s broken cities, the pavilion designer Khalid Al Shama said that the government mainly provided “moral support.”
Illustrated wood panels sent by 1,500 ordinary Syrians from all over the world covered the walls of the pavilion. But tourists will not find mention of death or displacement-the staff insists that this is a happy coincidence, not evidence of freedom of speech restrictions. Miniature portraits of Assad and his wife Asma stared from the mosaic.
Other postcard images show musical instruments, bouquets and a huge Syrian breakfast.
“The war is over,” Al Shama said. “Even with sanctions, we are still alive. This is the message we want to show you.”
A large mirror in the pavilion carries a more mysterious message: “What you see is not all.”
Other politically sensitive pavilions are even difficult to appear.
North Korea is nowhere to be found. After the NATO-backed uprising toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, the Libya Pavilion was plunged into violent chaos, still exuding the smell of fresh paint. The showcase was empty, but thick dust and TV screens flickered between children’s cartoons and the static scenes of Tripoli Beach.
The sign points to Afghanistan, but its pavilion appears to be closed-just a sparse office furniture showroom. In the last few days of the U.S. withdrawal on August 15, before the Taliban occupied Kabul, the country’s former government arranged the pavilion, forced President Ashraf Ghani to go into exile in the UAE, and cancelled the Expo exhibition plan.
At the exhibition in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a female staff member smiled at visitors and gushed that her surreal theme park trip was the first time she had left a country hit by sanctions.
Although the booth displayed portraits of Iran’s past and current supreme leaders, the Shi’ite power’s display did not mention religion or other sources of pride in the country, such as controversial ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. plan.
Instead, Iran performed a hard-core handicraft show, promoting Persian carpets without mentioning that US sanctions would weaken trade. Merchants sell saffron candy. The chef seasoned the kebabs lightly. Businessmen praised the free economic zone.
Perhaps the Iran Pavilion is the most appropriate metaphor for the World Expo. In one room, visitors must peek through a small hole in the wall to see real life scenes in Iran, where unknown people dig huge copper mines, stroll peacefully along country roads, and weave colorful textiles. A short and optimistic glimpse provides only what this country wants you to see. UAE
[ad_2]
Source link