Morning, March 25. On a working visit to World Expo Museum (WEM), Vincent Loscertales, Secretary-General of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), Vice chairman of WEM and honorary citizen of Shanghai received a focus interview from more than 10 Shanghai-based Chinese central media and local media. Reporters exchanged views with Loscertales on key issues of WEM preparation process and future long term cooperation and development between BIE and WEM.

    WEM is the first international museum constructed cooperatively by the Shanghai Municipal Government and BIE, characterized as being international, unique, thematic, and sustainable. It will be built into the museum with distinctive characteristics highlighting design and creativity and a center for international academic exchange. The Shanghai Municipal Government has selected WEM as a major cultural facility construction project in the city’s "Twelfth Five-year Plan" and major project of the city in 2014 and 2015. The construction work of WEM was finished in Dec. 25, 2015 and it is scheduled to open to the public by the end of 2016. 

   Inheriting Expo Spirit & Encouraging Sustainable Innovation

    Loscertales said that BIE and WEM shared a relation of close cooperation. The future WEM will march forward hand in hand with BIE to inherit World Expo culture and encourage the carrying forward of innovative spirit in culture development.

    When asked to comment after inspecting the construction site of the new museum, Loscertales said that the entire building was at the world top level regarding quality and appearance. And he expected it to be not only a grand building, but also an important center of World Expo that combines functions of education, research and information exchange to better interpret the spirit of World Expo development and encourage the effective undertaking and development of future World Expo. Meanwhile it would also act as an important platform on which world leading research institutes and corporations can cooperate closely and encourage the carrying forward of innovative spirit in cultural development.

   WEM: The Most Important Cooperative Partner of BIE

    According to Loscertales, WEM is a highly important cooperative partner and component of BIE and promises broad cooperation with BIE in the future. First, BIE will continue to support WEM in carrying out its exhibition and display projects and building more archive rooms including setting up a highly modern digital platform and organizing a series of forums and relative events. Meanwhile BIE will further encourage its 169 member countries to cooperate with WEM. Both BIE and WEM will offer advices and suggestions on the future World Expo. Through cooperation, BIE and WEM are expected to build a complete platform for training and research.

   An Eventful Opening Season

    Regarding media attention on what events the new museum will organize in its opening season, Mr. Loscertales said that from cooperation at the international level representatives from Expo 2017 Astana Kazakhstan and Expo 2020 Dubai will be invited to set their pavilions here in WEM and through the exhibition the essence of the coming and future World Expos will be communicated with more visitors expected. There are plans to invite international institutes including relative research agencies to a number of seminars, and plans to invite major museums in the world to seminars aiming at research on main valuable collections and museum collections around the world and setup of long term cooperative relations based on the platform. Furthermore, WEM will look for opportunities of long term cooperation with certain corporations, and encourage provinces, cities and autonomous regions nationwide to improve training and participate so as to attract more visitors at home and better promote World Expo culture in the country.

   WEM Focuses on Multilayer Cultural Experience

    Exhibition is one of the most important cooperative projects between BIE and WEM, what kind of exhibition and display means will the WEM provide for visitors after its completion? Liu Xiuhua, director of WEM explained to media in the final renark that WEM will adopt high-tech, multimedia and interactive exhibition and display means with youths and teenagers, its key educational targets. Apart from film projection, 120 special 4D effect cinemas in WEM offer young people their favorite interactive forms with full time and panoramic immersive experience. Furthermore the building has arranged many functional spaces to be open subsequently that emphasize multilayer cultural experience, such as youth and teenager center and public forum, together with a nearly 2,000 square meter World Expo themed library.

   

    From the Press Conference

   

    From the Press Conference

   

    BIE Secretary-General Loscertales at TV Interview

   

    WEM Director Liu Xiuhua at TV Interview