Middle East & Africa | The far-fetched pavilions

At the Dubai expo, no one is eager to talk about reality

There are no politics at the Middle East’s first world’s fair

Orb and sceptics
|DUBAI

THE SETTING is dramatic. Visitors passing from the harsh midday sun to the dim interior are met with slogans. “We believe that every human is part of the collective conscience,” reads a message on the walls of the Syrian pavilion at the Dubai expo. Why the Syrian government has spent years dropping bombs on many of those humans is not explained.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The far-fetched pavilions”

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