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"One question to Evelin Ilves, spouse of the President of the Republic of Estonia", Savecity.org Estonia Newsletter, No. 5, October, 2010

25.10.2010

What at the Shanghai EXPO and during the Estonia Pavilion National Day events left you with the most lasting impression?

The Expo 2010 was an event of grandiose dimensions. China again intended to break all records, and just as they did at the Olympic Games in Beijing it worked hard to reach this goal.

Already in 2008, I admired the Olympic buildings, of which every single one seemed like a small world wonder to me. Even more impressive was the organizer’s strengths to achieve integration and harmony among all countries while involving architects, composers, designers and stage directors from every corner of the world. The Olympic Stadium, the “Bird’s Nest”, which won the award of the Best Public Building of the Year, was a fantastic example of international cooperation. The beauty and ingenious construction of this building will always stay with me in my memory.

Because of this experience, the fact that the Chinese Pavilion turned out to be so extraordinary did not come as much of a surprise to me anymore. Its deepness and its aspiration to comprise the whole human history into one moment are stunning.

I also very much liked the fact that even though every country tried to top the others in their originality and in the ideas presented, the Nordic Countries, with Estonia being among them, resembled a unified message of minimalism and crispness, while being a bit loony in their ideas. All Nordic pavilions highlighted nature as a theme. Nature in our countries is still relatively untouched, rich and quite special compared to the rest of the world. We love and care for it, we don’t waste it, and we know we are a part of nature, even though we are not the most important one. In fact, the topic of nature seemed to be the thoroughgoing Ariadne thread between the Nordic pavilions.

As a previous member of the state marketing team, I got the impression that at such a pompous event, only those who focus on one catchy idea instead of trying to show off everything at once, can be successful in placing their message. This was also Estonia’s attempt. But from all the pavilions I visited, Island left the deepest impact on me: An empty cube showing one video inside. This demonstrates again that all ingenious ideas are simple.