The Expo as the modern Silk Road
As I joined the sea of people descending the ramps of the Universal Exposition in Milan, I couldn’t help but wonder, in the age of the internet, is the Expo still relevant? Do tens of millions really need to visit trade fairs to learn about the planet? Beginning in the 1850s, the Expo was an opportunity for countries to showcase their very best, influencing the development of commerce, art and architecture, education, technology and tourism.
Today Universal Expos held every five years continue to facilitate cultural exchange and nation branding – much like the Old Silk Road.. Spread over one million square metres, some fifty-four self-built pavilions were laid out country by country. 140 nations participated. By the end of it, more than 20 million people visited the Milan expo. For Milan, playing host for the second time, this was an opportunity to boost optimism. As the General Director of the Expo 2015 Piero Galli explained, Italy has gone through a rough economic patch of late. The Expo presents a shift and signifies a resurgence. The theme when I visited was Feeding the Planet, and who better than the Italians for that?
The goal was to provide an opportunity for audiences to engage with themes of agriculture, environment and the future of food. Visitors were encouraged to think about the contradictions of our world – while 870 million are undernourished, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year.
We filmed an algae canopy set up to raise awareness about what could be the most viable future food source. As environmental architect Marco Poletto explained, algae is everywhere, in every city, pond and river, but humans are not using or exploiting it. A few pieces of algae has the same amount of protein as one steak. If entire buildings are clad with algae, they can provide cities with oxygen and feed the planet.
In the Expo’s supermarket of the future, experts explored how changing presentation and providing greater transparency can affect the way people interact with food – even making the supermarket a place that facilitates trade and talk. Vital information about the product is displayed in digital mirrors, from the origins of the food, to calories, to the carbon dioxide it produced.
In many ways, the Milan Expo is the perfect end to my nine month journey along the Silk Road for CNN. Centuries ago, traders met in marketplaces like Baku and Samarkand. Today they meet at Expos, the ultimate manifestation of the cultural and commercial exchange of ideas. Bringing tens of millions together, sharing ideas, pushing innovation, facilitating trade and perhaps, most importantly, planning out the basis for future development.