ニュージーランド館、万博で早くも人気
2010年5月5日
An authentic slice of New Zealand’s natural environment and culture transported to Shanghai for Expo 2010 is proving a hit with visitors attracted by the visual beauty and tactile qualities of the country’s pavilion.
Themed on the story of Māori creation, the pavilion carries a strong cultural message as well as giving Expo visitors a realistic taste of everyday life in New Zealand.
Already some iconic Kiwi features, including a massive pounamu boulder, a life-size pohutukawa tree, and a carved waharoa gateway made of ancient kauri, are proving a fascination for Expo visitors.
Sky Father Earth Mother
Expo 2010 is the largest World Expo in history and the New Zealand pavilion, which officially opened last weekend (1.5.10), is expected to attract more than 40,000 visitors daily during the six months.
New Zealand has a prime position at the 528ha Expo site in the heart of Shanghai, on the main walkway and close to the host pavilion.
The pavilion theme, ‘City of Nature: Living between land and sky’ was inspired by the Māori creation story of Tane - the forest god, who separated his parents Rangi and Papa - sky father and earth mother.
Phillip Gibson, New Zealand Commissioner for the 2010 Shanghai Expo, said New Zealanders would be very proud of the pavilion.
Pounamu boulder
One of the main distinguishing features is a roof top garden that depicts the indoor - outdoor way of life that typifies New Zealand.
An 1800k pounamu - New Zealand greenstone or jade - boulder in the entrance way is a stand-out feature that offers a point of difference to other pavilions and was attracting a lot of local interest, Gibson said.
The boulder, which was also shipped from New Zealand to the World Expo in Japan four years ago, comes from the Arahura Valley, in southwest New Zealand. Ngai Tahu tribe member Horiana Mason Tootell, who originally discovered the boulder, attended the Expo opening ceremony.
"It's jade and in China that matters - there is a distinct connection as we're both jade cultures," said Gibson.
Māori carving
Another popular attraction is the waharoa Māori gateway, carved in the shape of a maumahara or ceremonial canoe which sits on the welcoming square at the entrance to the pavilion.
Made of a precious 3500-year-old kauri tree trunk, the canoe is 10 metres long and three metres wide. During Expo, the waharoa will be carved and shaped with traditional designs by artists from Te Puia - the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua, in New Zealand’s North Island.
The canoe will be gifted to China by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on 9 July, the New Zealand's national day at the expo.
Pohutukawa tree
A giant artificial pohutukawa tree - a coastal New Zealand native species with distinctive red blooms that are abundant at Christmas time - also graces the exterior of the pavilion.
The life-sized specimen, made of polystyrene and rubber, was built in Upper Hutt near Wellington, and shipped from New Zealand along with the bulk of the pavilion materials.
Organisers said the tree had created some security issues as it had been a magnet for Expo visitors who couldn’t keep their hands off it.
"The tree has proved very popular and everyone wants to touch it. We'll have to put up some more barriers - we want people to enjoy it, but not damage it," said Gibson.
New Zealand showcase
The pavilion cost NZ$30 million but was "value for money" with a predicted seven million visitors who would be getting a quality tourism and education message, said Gibson.
"The special quality of our pavilion is that it has a very welcoming feel to it. Expo visitors will look at this pavilion and want to come in because it's visually beautiful.
"It's a wonderful showcase for New Zealand because we're showing the world that we're clean, green and innovative," he said.
Gibson says there are political, economic and business objectives behind the pavilion and during Expo there will be six New Zealand ministerial-led trade missions plus visits from high profile private sector companies.
NZ pavilion visitor experiences
The wedge-shaped pavilion offers four visitor experiences:
- a welcoming veranda with a high canopy and supporting pillars that provides shelter for visitors watching cultural performances and entry queues
- a city of nature experience where visitors walk up a winding ramp taking them through a day in the life of a New Zealand family in a composite New Zealand city and a natural setting
- a garden and wild places walk that leads back down towards the veranda through a New Zealand garden of trees and flowers
- a VIP experience in a mezzanine hospitality area located on the east side of the pavilion.
Gibson says the aim of the New Zealand pavilion is to present a welcoming vision of a nation that is striving to bring its cities into a sustainable balance with nature; a country in which natural beauty, the inspiration that it brings, and the lifestyles that it permits, can exist alongside and contribute to a modern and innovative first world economy.
More information:
Māori carving sets off for Shanghai
New Zealand and China links
Pounamu - protecting New Zealand's precious heritage
Te Puia - Maori arts and crafts institute
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