The brief – collaborate with stakeholders including government, iwi and creative agencies to develop and deliver a unique and authentic visitor experience for the Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, designed by Jasmax. 

We provided – experience design | graphic design | content development | production & installation | delivery management 

The Aotearoa New Zealand Pavilion sits within the Sustainability District at Expo 2020 Dubai. The pavilion’s theme, Care for People and Place, is based on the concept of kaitiakitanga – the connection between people and the natural environment. The theme was inspired by the world-first status given to the Whanganui River by legislation that recognised it as a living and indivisible whole, with the rights of a person: Ko au te Awa, ko te Awa ko au – I am the river, the river is me.

We collaborated with Creative Director Karl Johnstone, Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, and creative agencies including Assembly Ltd, Perceptual Engineering and Satellite Media, to work within the architectural fixtures to develop and deliver an immersive, multi-sensory visitor experience that showcases the nation’s spirit of innovation and technical production. 

Visitors are welcomed into a cool space featuring textured walls made from sustainable New Zealand strong-wool by T&R Interiors. As they continue, their body form interacts with and displaces projected particles, illustrating the impact of humans on the natural world. Next, a large rock from Mount Tongariro, selected from the source of the Whanganui River, is surrounded by falling water and imbued with the river’s mauri (life principle) – its pulse emanates within and outside the building. In the final room, a multidimensional looping 7 minute film is projected across 65-metres of wall and a suspended and animated cube, engaging visitors in the story of how New Zealand innovates to care for people and place.