Award winning British artist to design UK’s Stephen Hawking inspired pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020

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Updated 28 September 2018
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Award winning British artist to design UK’s Stephen Hawking inspired pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020

  • The pavilion will showcase an innovative and creative design highlighting the UK’s expertise in artificial intelligence and space sector
  • Details of the pavilion were unveiled on Thursday in the latest project announced for the global trade show

DUBAI: Award-winning British artist and designer Es Devlin will design the United Kingdom’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
The pavilion will showcase an innovative and creative design highlighting the UK’s expertise in artificial intelligence and space sector.
Details of the pavilion were unveiled on Thursday in the latest project announced for the global trade show.
Devlin is known for creating stunning large-scale performance sculptures for artists like Kanye West and Beyonce that fuse technology and poetry. Devlin has also created installations including the interactive Fifth Lion sculpture installed in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Inspired by Stephen Hawking, the Expo 2020 platform will be an illuminated sculptural message, aiming to offer the Expo’s anticipated 25 million visitors a unique experience.
“The idea draws directly on one of Stephen Hawking’s final projects, ‘Breakthrough Message’, a global competition that Hawking and his colleagues conceived in 2015 inviting people worldwide to consider what message we would communicate to express ourselves as a planet, should we one day encounter other advanced civilizations in Space,” Devlin said.

Each visitor will be invited to contribute to the sculptural message, she added.
“What if the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 became a place where visitors from all over the world chose to take part in a collective global project that showcases British expertise in A.I. technologies and poetry while transcending national identities?”
Britain’s International Trade Secretary Dr. Liam Fox MP said: “The quality of design proposals we received for the UK pavilion were testament to the UK’s world leading creative talent and I’m confident that Es Devlin OBE and the team will help us take advantage of this unique opportunity to showcase the very best of British to a truly global audience.”
The World Expo in Dubai is set to start from 20 Oct. 2020 to 10 April 2021.
Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, Executive Director at Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said their focus is on empowering individuals and communities to create opportunities that help shape a better future.
“The UK Pavilion will be an intriguing platform for people to learn, have fun and work together to discover innovations and explore new frontiers in areas including space and Artificial Intelligence – echoing Expo 2020’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,’” he said.

 


Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction

Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares. (AP)
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Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction

  • Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. 
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. 
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.