Alif - The Mobility Pavilion to take visitors on a journey through time and space, from ancient exploration through to a virtual future

• Arab world’s role in advancing global mobility showcased in inspiring experience
• Dubai and the UAE’s progress captured in story of mobility through the centuries
• Giant photorealistic sculptures and the UAE’s space programme among highlights

DUBAI : Expo 2020 Dubai has revealed details of the eye-grabbing visitor experience at Alif – The Mobility Pavilion, where visitors will be taken on a voyage through time and space to discover how people, goods, ideas and data are interacting in ever more complex ways. Bringing the story of global mobility to life in immersive and inspiring ways, the Mobility Pavilion showcases the pivotal role the UAE and the entire Arab world has, and continues, to play in advancing human progress, in a journey that encompasses everything from ancient exploration to the Emirates Mission to Mars and beyond.

The visitor experience begins 4,500 years ago in Saruq Al Hadid, a settlement in the Dubai desert that had extensive relations with areas of the Gulf, the Levant and West Asia, demonstrating the enduring strategic importance of this region. Visitors are then invited aboard the world’s largest elevating platform, which transports them to the House of Wisdom in ninth-century Baghdad. 

Next, they will encounter towering nine-metre-tall photo-realistic figures from the Golden Age of Arab Civilisation – including ancient navigator Ibn Majid and celebrated explorer Ibn Battuta – whose innovations helped drive forward global mobility throughout the centuries. The stories of these historical giants are used to explore the concept of mobility, its power and far-reaching influence, as well as highlighting innovations from the Arab region that have catalysed advances in human exploration and mobility.

The experience subsequently leaps forward in time to the 21^st century, entering a virtual world brimming with data, before moving into the city of future, where visitors will be given a glimpse of where mobility may potentially evolve to in the years and decades to come.

Inextricably linked to the visitor experience is the story of Dubai, and the role the emirate and the UAE have always played in connecting people on a global scale. Visitors will be shown the incredible progress the UAE has enjoyed in the past 50 years, especially in mobility-related fields such as airlines, logistics and smart cities, extending into the solar system through the UAE’s space programme and the Hope Mission to Mars. 

Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Representing our desire to explore and progress, Alif – The Mobility Pavilion will take visitors on a journey of discovery, exploring new horizons and discovering how making connections, together with developing new technologies, is the basis for human progress. 

“We are proud that this must-see pavilion celebrates the Arab world as a leading light in mobility across the ages, changing perceptions of what this region has achieved. We hope that visitors, especially young Arabs, will leave this experience inspired - realising that anything is possible, motivated to make a difference in our world and looking with optimism to a future when we connect and work together on a global scale.” 

One of Expo 2020’s signature attractions, Alif – The Mobility Pavilion was made possible through the work of local and international collaborators. The UAE Space Agency and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center provided expertise and content for the space segment. Global experience design agency MET Studio, decorated New Zealand movie and television creatives Weta Workshop and Academy Award-winning Los Angeles-based experience company Magnopus have also all worked with Expo 2020 to create the pavilion’s inspiring visitor experience. 

The pavilion was designed by award-winning British architectural design and engineering firm Foster + Partners. Its ribbed and curved shape was devised to evoke movement, with its highly polished stainless-steel cladding inspired by chrome fenders and aircraft wings, reflecting movement from the surrounding areas. 

The pavilion and its grounds feature a partly underground, partly open-air 330-metre track that allows visitors to see cutting-edge mobility devices in action, alongside an amphitheatre and second stage, and a plaza around the building that will host mobility-related performances, events, symposiums and demonstrations. 

Alif – The Mobility Pavilion is one of three Thematic Pavilions that explore Expo 2020’s key subthemes – Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion was revealed to the public in January 2021, while details of Mission Possible – the Opportunity Pavilion was revealed earlier this week. 

One of the first global mega-events to take place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Expo 2020 runs from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, inviting visitors from around the world to join the making of a new world and experience a six-month journey of human creativity, innovation, progress and culture.

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About Expo 2020 Dubai

From 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 Dubai will welcome visitors from every corner of the globe to join the making of a new world, as it brings together the planet in one place to reimagine tomorrow.

• With the purpose of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, Expo 2020 will be the world’s most impactful global incubator for new ideas, catalysing an exchange of new perspectives and inspiring action to deliver real-life solutions to real-world challenges
• Expo 2020 will be the biggest cultural gathering in the world, presenting a visually striking and emotionally inspiring 182 days, as more than 200 participants – including nations, multilateral organisations, businesses, and educational institutions, as well as millions of visitors – create the largest and most diverse World Expo ever
• Expo 2020’s subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability will inspire visitors to preserve and protect our planet, explore new frontiers and build a better future for everyone
• For six months, Expo 2020 will be a must-visit family destination, with thousands of events, amazing exploratory experiences, and free entry for children up to age 18
• Expo is committed to building a more equitable and just world for everyone, while keeping visitors safe by following the latest guidance of the world’s leading medical, science and health experts
• Expo 2020 is the first World Expo to take place in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, located on a 4.38 sqkm site adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
• Built with a meaningful and measurable long-term legacy in mind, the Expo site will transform into District 2020 – a model global community that will rethink the cities of the future – after Expo 2020 closes its doors

How to cover Expo 2020 Dubai in person at event time or report on the event remotely 

To attend Expo 2020 or cover Expo 2020 remotely using content and assets generated by Expo, you must be accredited.

To kick off your journey with Expo 2020, please ensure that you:

• Register to access our Media Information System, Tawassul at https://media.expo2020dubai.com

Tawassul is regularly updated, providing the latest content assets, including press releases, photographs, audio and video, the electronic media kit, and information on broadcast and photography operations. It also provides you with important information and updates on facilities and services such as media accreditation, visa information for international accredited media, and permits. Access to other media-related systems (Media Asset Management System and Media Bookings System), which will be launched in Q2 2021, will only be permitted to accredited media (see below). Information about these systems can be found on Tawassul.

• Once registered, submit an Expo 2020 Media Accreditation expression of interest.

Within this expression of interest, please appoint an Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) from within your organisation who will act as the single point of contact with Expo 2020 for media accreditation. Following this, approved media organisations will be provided login details and instructions for the accreditation system to enable them to submit applications.

For support, contact Expo 2020 Dubai’s Media Services team at media.services@expo2020.ae
Visit: www.expo2020dubai.com 
Follow: Twitter: @expo2020dubai | Facebook: @Expo2020Dubai | Instagram: expo2020duba 

About World Expos

In 1851 the Crystal Palace was the centrepiece of London’s Great Exhibition – the first World Expo. It celebrated the man-made industrial wonders of a rapidly changing world. Architecture, contents and a theme, ‘Industry of All Nations’, were combined to create a big idea of nations meeting nations in shared technological and commercial progress. In more recent years, participants in World Expos, including governments, international organisations and companies, have gathered to find solutions to universal challenges and to promote their achievements, products, ideas, innovations, their national brand, and their nations as destinations for tourism, trade and investment.

World Expos are held under the auspices of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating international exhibitions (‘Expos’) and for fostering their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation. Today, four types of Expos are organised under the BIE’s auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Press Office
On call contact                                                                                    
Email: press.office@expo2020.ae
Tel: +971 56 688 9509
P.O. Box 2020, Dubai, UAE

© Press Release 2021