Latvia pavilion in World Expo 2020 Dubai

Curating the exposition of the Latvia pavilion at the World Expo 2020 was our first work in the genre of “achievement exhibitions”. Instead of thinking about the past or the present, we had to imagine the future. How to attract international attention in Dubai? How to show and tell what is relevant to the world and possible in Latvia?
Wireless sensors that allow to remotely monitor indoor air quality, hemp concrete as an eco friendly alternative in construction, biofilter walls that purify office air and birch bark adhesive stepping in to do the work of chemical glues in production of plywood are solutions for a more breathable future, created in Latvia.
The architectural practice ĒTER (Dagnija Smilga, Kārlis Bērziņš and Niklāvs Paegle), winning the competition for the Latvia pavilion at the World Expo in Dubai, created an architectural vision of the pavilion that manifests human relationship with nature and technology. Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the organiser of Latvia’s participation in the Expo, invited “Kolektīvs” to develop the pavilion’s content.
During a six month period, we got acquainted with the innovations in commercial and science sectors, the strategic goals of the economic policy of Latvia, as well as the context of the Dubai Expo. We proposed that the Latvia pavilion would present innovations and solutions for a better indoor climate, a globally relevant theme that can showcase modernizations created in Latvia in the field of construction, IT, and biomedicine. The exhibition would show how, by uniting the potentials of science, technology and entrepreneurship, Latvia and its entrepreneurs are contributing to solving global challenges. We selected companies and innovations, as well as developed a vision for an imaginative display and audience experience, involving artist Evita Vasiļjeva and 3D sound experience by DirtyAudio.