AJA member writes history of World Expos

Unveiling the book at a special ceremony

By Alireza Bahrami

TEHRAN: “The Glass World 2”, a book documenting the history of the World Expos from 1851 to Dubai Expo 2020, has been published.

It complements “the Glass World 1” published around six years ago.

The book, written by Alireza Bahrami, a member of the Asian Journalists’ Association, is the result of his travels and documentaries since 2010 to all of the world Expos as well as specialized Expos, along with research on the history of world industrial exhibitions from 1791 and world Expos from 170 years ago.

The second volume of “The Glass World” also contains more than 800 documentary images of the 2015 Milan (Italy) Expo, as well as the 2017 Astana (Kazakhstan) Expo and all the pavilions.

The introduction ceremony of this book was held in the presence of a group of famous Iranian artists, journalists and cultural directors in the largest art center of Tehran.

The book was also registered at the Expo Museum during a visit by the Iranian Minister of Culture to the Dubai Expo.

A scene from the book launch ceremony

In the first volume of the book, published in 2015, more than 600 documentary images of the 2010 Shanghai Expo (China) and 2012 Yeosu (South Korea) and all the participating pavilions were published.

The first volume of this book has been registered in the Expo Museum as the first Persian-language reference about world Expos.

“The Glass World 2” also contains a complete and extracted table of expos from 1851 to 2025, the city and country of the event, as well as their type.

In addition, the list of world industrial exhibitions from 1791 to the present century, the city and country where they are held and their subject matter have been compiled and included for the first time.

The high-profile guests at the book lanuch ceremony

Other sections of this book are:

What is an Expo?

What is a Horticultural Expo?

What is Triennale di Milano?

Is Every Major International Exhibition an Expo?

About Expo 2010 Shanghai

About Expo 2012 Yeosu

Everything about Expo 2015 Milan

Everything about Expo 2017 Astana

The final part of this book, which has been compiled in collaboration with “Mehrdad Oskuoei” – filmmaker and researcher – is an overview of Iran’s presence in world expos during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras, narrated by postcards and historical advertising cards.

This section contains unique images of how Iran has been present in the Expo of far and very distant years that have been extracted from Western archives.