Explore the rich history of world expos with this booklisthttps://en.majalla.com/node/297641/culture-social-affairs/explore-rich-history-world-expos-booklist
Explore the rich history of world expos with this booklist
As Saudi Arabia seeks to bring the world to its capital, Al Majalla lists the best books on the amazing history of these set-piece global events
Rangel Garcia
Expos date back to 1851 and have been responsible for some of the wonders of the world, including the Eiffel Tower. Al Majalla rounds up the best reading on these amazing events.
Explore the rich history of world expos with this booklist
As Saudi Arabia bids to host World Expo 2030 in Riyadh, "expo" has increasingly become a buzzword.
The term is short for “Exposition" which, in turn, comes from the Latin word “Expositiō”. It was used for the first time to describe the Great Exhibition that was held in London in 1851 under the supervision of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria.
That event was a great success, and the snappy style of the abbreviation made the word synonymous with large international exhibitions ever since.
There have been 50 expos held since the first one in Hyde Park in the English capital. Dubai was the last city to host Expo which took place in 2021 (One year after it was supposed to open due to Covid-19 concerns). The exposition titled “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future" attracted around 25 million visitors within just six months, with a vision of a future powered by renewable energy.
Changing the world one expo at a time
Throughout the history of expos, the gatherings have made a memorable mark, shaping the world in which we live today, exhibiting new technologies, products and ideas.
They provide a platform for countries to meet and discuss common challenges, an opportunity for cultural exchange, and a way to enhance international cooperation.
They are responsible for some very famous landmarks. The Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris had the Eiffel Tower as its centrepiece.
World expos are responsible for some very famous landmarks. The Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris had the Eiffel Tower as its centrepiece.
New York defined the prevailing economic gloom of the Great Depression to bring two monumental modernistic structures – the Trylon and Perisphere – to its World Fair, held in 1939 and 1940. They showed the architectural vision for the future of the city.
Montreal's Expo 67 featured the Unisphere, a huge spherical steel representation of the Earth, reflecting the Canadian city's focus on the space age.
In the year 2000, Hannover in Germany looked at sustainability from the architectural masterpiece of its Expo Plaza.
As excitement builds over Riyadh's bid to pick up where these illustrious predecessors left off – and what it could bring to the Saudi Capital – Al Majalla presents a list of the 10 most prominent books written about the world's expos.
The Great Exhibition,1851: A Sourcebook
Jonathon Shears is a professor of 19th-century literature. His book, published in 2017, is the first anthology of its kind. It presents a comprehensive collection of carefully selected primary documents, sourced around the 1851 Exhibition in Hyde Park.
Drawing on contemporary newspapers and periodicals, the archives of the Royal Commission, diaries, journals, celebratory poems and essays, the book provides an unparalleled resource for teachers and students of the first expo and a starting point for researchers new to the subject.
The Great Exhibition,1851: A Sourcebook provides an unparalleled resource for teachers and students of the first expo and a starting point for researchers new to the subject.
Subdivided into six chapters, it also reflects the current scholarly debates about the benefit major exhibitions bring to host cities and communities, an impact that extends beyond the immediate physical and economic aspects, to the cultural factors that last long after the exhibitions are over.
World Fairs and the Global Moulding of National Identities: International Exhibitions as Cultural Platforms, 1851-1958
Edited by Joep Leerssen and Eric Storm and published in 2022, this volume examines the role of the expos held between 1851 and 1958 in shaping national identities.
The co-authors of this book show world fairs as global platforms for the construction of national identities, which helped create a sense of national belonging and pride. They were used to promote the vision of the nation-state and contributed to the idea of national sovereignty.
Their book shows the different cultural trends and visions that accompanied expos. They were used as a means for countries to demonstrate their competitiveness internationally.
But it also shows how expos reformulated ideas over national identity and enhance local discussions about the future. It portrays expos as living laboratories for national and international visions of society, which could reshape ideas on life and progress.
World of Fairs: The Century-of-Progress Expositions
Robert W. Rydell's survey of depression-era expos was published in 1993 by the University of Chicago Press.
It tells the story of how 100 million people visited exhibitions even when America's future seemed so bleak, as they looked for what he calls a "century of progress."
100 million people visited exhibitions even when America's future seemed so bleak, as they looked for what he calls a"century of progress."
These fairs fired the national imagination and served as cultural pillars on which Americans fixed their hopes for future prosperity and power.
The book examines the history of interwar fairs from a cultural perspective, focusing on the role they played in shaping public opinion and promoting new ideas. It outlines various topics covered by these fairs, their entertainment, cultural and economic role, and their impact on contemporary American life.
EXPO: International Expositions, 1851-2010
Anna Jackson's work, from V&A Publications in 2008, is ambitious.
It tries to offer a comprehensive overview of the history of international exhibitions, from the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London to the Shanghai Expo in 2010.
Jackson sees expos as more than displays of technology and industry
and describes them as important cultural events that influenced people and public opinion and contributed to shaping the modern world by outlining new concepts.
This book accompanies a touring exhibition originated by the Bureau International des Expositions, which runs expos, and is written around three broad themes: the city transformed, the world displayed and the future represented.
The book is visually rich, embellished her book with photographs and documents, including publications, brochures, and advertising as well as the promotional materials that usually accompany the expositions.
She uses these to show how expos became a platform to launch products and inventions that changed the world. The list includes the revolver, the sewing machine, the telephone and the television.
Landmarks brought to live by expos include the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Atomium in Brussels. One of the greatest paintings of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso's Guernica, was created specifically to display at the 1937 Paris exposition.
One of the greatest paintings of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso's Guernica, was created specifically to display at the 1937 Paris Exposition.
Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions
Edited by John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle and published by McFarland & Company in 2008, this encyclopaedia contains individual histories of each of the nearly 100 expos and world fairs held in more than 20 countries since 1851.
It is a thoroughly revised and updated version of the book originally published as A Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions in 1990. The new entries include essays on the world's fairs following that period, leading to Expo Shanghai, China, in 2010.
Topics covered include goods, tourism, nationalistic competition, architecture, art and culture. The book includes a foreword by Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, the secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions.
The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record
Stanley Appelbaum's survey of the 1893 Chicago expo came out in 1980 from Dover Publications.
It includes a collection of photographs that highlight the architectural grandeur and other marvels on display along with technological developments, cultural exhibitions, and numerous national pavilions.
It also provides a visual record of famous buildings and landscapes and offers readers a glimpse into one of the largest and most influential gatherings ever of human talent, energy, and industry.
The book demonstrates how the event shaped the future of an entire city with a cultural and social impact that can still be felt.
Shanghai Expo: An International Forum on the Future of Cities
Tim Winter edited this look at the most expensive expo ever held, with the book published by Routledge in 2012.
Shanghai's lavish show of 2010, attracted a staggering 73 million visitors, and cost around $45bn. The theme for the expo was "Better City, Better Life."
Its 13 essays are written by a team of interdisciplinary researchers and offer a detailed analysis of this globally significant event. Chapters cover Shanghai's utopian vision of the future, as well as the limitations of inter-cultural dialogue, and the ways in which this mega-expo reflected its geo-political and cultural moment.
It discusses the prospect of living in cities that are continuously expanding around the world and the ensuing architectural, environmental, economic and cultural challenges that require creative solutions.
The expo is seen as an ideal platform to explore these solutions and present them for public discussion.
Fair World: A History of World's Fairs and Expositions from London to Shanghai 1851-2010
Paul Greenhalgh's exploration of the relationship between architectural design, globalisation, and social justice was published in 2011 by Papadakis.
It explores issues such as fair trade, sustainability, and ethical consumption while looking at how design and planning can contribute to a more equitable and just world.
It also and addresses the challenges and opportunities posed by globalisation, providing insights into the connection between design and social responsibility.
The book is extensive.
The author aims to make it a definitive reference on the most prominent expos, covering listing their content and design, and reaction to them both nationally and globally.
He also compares the most prominent expos and their relative successes.
Exposing the Expositions 1851-1915
Howdie Mickoski's book came out in 2019 and was revised in 2021.
It raises questions about the construction of the expos between 1851 and 1915, which typically took less than two years in each case.
He argues that each expo was built to resemble ancient Rome, which he feels is no accident. The book got mixed reviews, with some critics praising its research and willingness to challenge the official narrative, while others criticised it for its lack of focus and reliance on conspiracy theories.
Whatever else, it sheds light on the fate of the expos buildings and reinforces the point of view that the expos and their urban environment, should be more sustainable. Subsequent expos have tackled exactly that issue.
This Was Expo
Robert Fulford's book was published by McClelland and Stewart in 1968. It includes an account of the author's observations at Expo 67, the world exhibition held in Montreal, Canada.
Fulford is a Canadian journalist who spent four months at the expo as a columnist for the Toronto Star. His behind-the-scenes look reflects its impact on Canadian culture and society.
Decades after it was written, this book remains influential. It contains wonderful pictures of the expo, in addition to accurate descriptions, clever notes, and sharp criticisms directed by the author at a number of pavilions.
But it is especially important because it ultimately depicts how an event that lasted a few months could have such a major impact over generations.
