On the morning of November 16,"Face to Face: Donated Exhibits From Expo International Participants " officially opened. The exhibition is hosted by World Expo Museum and displayed sculptures and paintings from 29 countries and regions, as well as masks, shadow puppets, paper-cuts, art installations, etc.

　　The curator Hong Lina gave an explanation to the first group of visitors. Through the curator's explanation, the audience can have a deeper understanding of the stories behind the exhibits and the meaning of the exhibition.

　　The curator said--

　　The exhibition is bright and wonderful, but the first step in planning the exhibition is to "turn over the warehouse." A year ago, a pair of Phoenician villains in the warehouse sparked my interest: who are they, which national pavilion donated to us, and why did the national pavilion choose this pair of villains to represent itself? From this, I thought of planning an exhibition using "faces" as an ideal.

　　There are all kinds of exhibits in the exhibition, but all exhibits have the image of "face". All faces are divided into 20 groups, and each group is mostly composed of 2 exhibits, which are either similar in appearance or related in content. When this idea came into being, I was worried that it was just a good "argument", but I couldn't find enough "argument", that is, suitable exhibits to realize this idea. But it turns out that it is feasible.

　　Although the exhibits are small, behind it is a vertical and horizontal web of human development, as if they are "Link Game". They cross-regional time and space here "hand in hand". Thanks to the generous donations from the international participants of the World Expo, these collections from all over the world made this idea possible.

　　"Face to Face" once became a difficult thing under the epidemic, so come and meet these faces at the Expo. In the last group of the exhibition, you will find that you are also a part of this exhibition.

　　The capture and interest in faces are born with human nature. Behind every face is a lively, rich and creative person, and "people are the best carrier for civilized exchanges and mutual learning."

　　The exhibition takes "faces" as the entry point. Nearly 50 sets of exhibits containing face elements are selected from the collections donated by international participants of previous World Expos, and these faces are divided into 20 groups according to the similarity of appearance or the relevance of content to guide the audience compare the "sameness" and "differentness" of each group of faces, and appreciate the diversity and commonality of world cultures.

　　The exhibition is divided into four units:"From","Survival","Others", and "Relations", correspondingly showing people in different parts of the world about "Where do I come from","How do I survive", and "Who are you?"","The relationship between you and me" four questions.

　　Part of the exhibits

　　Pangu and Tarn

　　Pangu

　　Tarn

　　This group shows the faces of two creation gods, one from New Zealand and one from China. Two completely different nations have surprisingly similar illusions about the beginning of the world.

　　Helios and Tower of the Sun

　　Helios

　　Tower of the Sun

　　This group shows two faces of the sun. Sun worship is a worldwide cultural phenomenon. At the Osaka World Expo in 1970, an iconic building with the face of the sun stood in the center of the festival square, like a giant who presided over the sacrifice in ancient times, spreading his arms to pray to the sun, symbolizing "the fire of human wisdom is like the sun burning from ancient times and will illuminate the future until eternity."

　　Heavenly Girl and Fei Tian

　　Heavenly Girl

　　Fei Tian

　　This group shows two Apsara faces. Whether it is heavenly girl and Fei Tian, they are all celestial beings who specialize in music and dance. They all "walked" from India, but they bloomed in their respective countries with unique local brilliance.

　　Exhibition name:

　　Face to Face: Donated Exhibits From Expo International Participants

　　Exhibition time:

　　November 16, 2021 to February 15, 2022

　　Curator:

　　Hong Lina

　　Exhibition location:

　　World Expo Museum Temporary Exhibition Hall1

　　organizer:

　　Shanghai World Expo Museum