EXPO 2005

A Short Excursion into the History of World Expositions

World expositions are a peculiar phenomenon of industrial society. The form they evolved into in the 20th century is unparalleled in the history of humankind.

Over the 150 years of their existence, world expositions have always featured new knowledge for their era and reflected trends in the development of human civilization. From the simple display of artefacts in the 19th century, the organization of expositions progressed in the 20th century to ever more refined and comprehensive presentations of exhibits displayed in the context of all their connections and relations.
The 20th century injected new means of expression into world expositions – black-and-white moving pictures, film, the impressive combination of film and sound in the form of Le Corbusier’s audiovisual programme, the first interactive projection (Cincera’s Kinoautomat). Exposition scenography made enormous progress, drawing attention away from the artefact itself to the presentation of the idea behind it.

The number of participants kept rising, and interest in cooperating on international projects and theme-based pavilions grew.

New forms of communications were introduced into the concept of world expositions – the organizers started arranging accompanying events, such as congresses, seminars, concerts, festivals, and interactive projects. The increasing emphasis on the interactive concept was the consequence of globalization tendencies and revolutionary technological development. Expo became a place where different peoples and culture can mingle with each other, and this was the incentive to organize congresses, seminars, concerts, and festivals at the world expositions.

In the first half of the 20th century, the trend was still for panels of judges to award prizes to exhibitors. This process ended in Brussels in 1958, when first prize went to the Czechoslovak pavilion. No prizes were awarded in Montreal; in Osaka in 1970, the Union of Japanese Architects awarded prizes outside the official exposition structure.

World expositions reflect trends in the evolution of human civilization. Globalization, for example, has been reflected in increased international participation at Expo, both in terms of presentations at national pavilions and of cooperation on international projects and theme-based pavilions. In this respect, the expositions of the 20th century covered all areas of human activity.

The first attempts to integrate the states participating in world expositions into an international institution emerged in France, when the first committee was set up in Paris in 1902. In 1908 in Brussels, the permanent group of participating states formed the Fédération des comiteés permanents des expositions. However, this steering and supervisory body needed to be institutionalized at a diplomatic level. In 1928, a congress was organized in Paris which adopted a diplomatic convention intended to guarantee the frequency and quality of world expositions, and at the same time the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) was established. This convention entered into international force on 17 January 1931, and from then on there were criteria precisely defining the holding, organization, and course of world expositions. The BIE classified expositions into general and specialized expositions. General expositions are those which exhibit products from more than one branch of human activity. Specialized expositions focus on one scientific discipline or category of human activity.

Over time, the expositions were classified into several categories:

• Category I: invited countries are required to erect a national pavilion on land leased from the exposition company. At the end of the exposition, the countries demolish or dismantle their pavilions and return the land to its original condition.

• Category II: invited countries use existing exposition halls to display their exhibits. One of the guiding principles of the BIE is ‘The host nation must not demand contributions from officially exhibiting foreign governments’.

Awareness of the world expositions is very slight among the inhabitants of the Czech Republic. How has Czech participation at world expositions been received Czechoslovakia enjoyed successful expositions at Brussels in 1935, Paris in 1937, Brussels in 1958, Montreal in 1967, and Osaka in 1970.

Mgr. Jaroslav Halada

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