History of Expo

The Dubai World Expo was scheduled for 2020, but was postponed due to the epidemic. For the first time in its 170-year history, the exhibition has not been cancelled, but postponed for a year.

The Slovenian pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai represented Slovenia as a green, smart and creative country. With a focus on sustainable development, innovation and natural and cultural heritage, the pavilion took visitors through Slovenia's diverse story, combining technology, nature and art. The pavilion is designed as a smart environment that will allow visitors a virtual visit and experience of the future using advanced digital solutions. The interior of the facility was equipped with advanced LCD surfaces on the walls, ceiling and floor, which allowed for impressive presentations of Slovenian stories and surpluses. The pavilion highlighted the three elements that characterise Slovenia the most: water, which is the source of life, vitality, the flow of materials and ideas; nature, which connects the earth with the universe, knowledge and innovation, and represents the green and clean heart of Slovenia; and innovation, represented in the pavilion by a huge wooden parasol, our shield and shelter, which is a true technological invention with a strong Slovenian identity in its construction and execution.

The stand-alone Slovenian pavilion represented the country with the slogan “I Feel Slovenia”. Our country presented itself as a green, active and healthy destination in Milan with a series of interactive elements and an architectural design. The five different shapes that made up the pavilion represented five different themes: salt pans, bees, thermal and mineral waters, hiking, cycling and black carbon measurements. Together, they formed a varied composition that evoked Slovenia's geographical landscapes and arable land, while on a symbolic level, the pavilion's composition reflected the germination of the fundamental ideas of sustainable development. This pavilion was transported to Pomurje at the end of Expo 2015, where it serves as a facility to showcase the region, its tourism offer, business opportunities and key attractions.

The slogan of the Shanghai exhibition was “Better City, Better Life”. Slovenia presented itself with a stand-alone pavilion on the theme “Open Book”, as Ljubljana was the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2010. Visitors could wander among large open books in the pavilion, each illustrating one of the eight stories: Plečnik's National and University Library, contemporary Slovenian design, the beauty of Slovenia, the Sea Route, the Karst, the contemporary Slovenian house, Herman Potočnik's Noordung and Slavoj Žižek's book Living in the End of Times, which he wrote especially for Expo 2010. The Slovenian pavilion was also awarded the Gold Medal for Creativity. More than three million people visited the Slovenian pavilion in Shanghai.

In Hanover, Slovenia, with its independent indoor pavilion, showed itself as a beautiful land with many opportunities for tourism and a country that builds on its own knowledge and is open to the world. We presented our concept “Life and Work”, which was based on the overarching theme of the exhibition. The pavilion presentation was based on a number of computer monitors, through which visitors could get familiarised with Slovenian achievements in the fields of culture, sport, science, technology and economy.

Slovenia presented itself for the first time in Lisbon with a stand-alone modular pavilion. As a young Central European country with a strong interest in economic and tourist cooperation and a strong focus on environmental issues, we presented ourselves with the project “Slovenia – Terra Mystica”, which illustrated the monitoring of the natural water cycle and introduced visitors to the natural sights and beauty of Slovenia. With Slovenian salt in jute gift bags, the exhibition drew attention to Slovenia's efforts to protect and preserve its rich natural heritage.