Croatian pavilion
After successful participation at World Exhibitions in Lisbon (1998), Hannover (2000), Aichi (2005) and Zaragoza (2008) the Republic of Croatia is presenting itself at the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, which is going to be, according to all indicators and previews, the most spectacular World Exhibition ever. For the Republic of Croatia this participation is of great importance concerning its break-out to the Asian market, as well as a valuable opportunity to promote to the international, especially to the Chinese general public, Croatian achievements and characteristics of numerous Croatian cities as well as the ecologically preserved beauties of the Croatian landscape.
The Republic of Croatia is a European state, geographically located at the passage of the Middle to the Southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans and the Mediterranean Sea. Croatia borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east. With Italy Croatia has maritime border along the Adriatic coast with more then one thousand inhabited and non-inhabited islands. In this way the Croatian culture has been mainly influenced by Middle-European and Mediterranean cultural sphere.
According to the population census from the year 2001 Croatia has 4.437.460 inhabitants. The continental surface covers 56.542 km² and the surface of the territorial sea is 31.067 km², which ranks Croatia among medium-sized European countries. The capital of Croatia Zagreb is the country’s economic, cultural and political center. Since 1980 Zagreb fosters friendly partnership with Shanghai.
The intention of the Republic of Croatia is to present at the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai its reach historical and cultural heritage, its dynamic contemporary urban life and its important potentialities for the future development. These aims will be fulfilled inside the Croatian Pavilion, located in the Zone C together with other European countries and between the Lithuanian and Romanian pavilions, as a flash-journey that will show Croatian cities, their architectural centers, as well as the dynamism of contemporary living.
Ten projectors placed on the walls of the Exhibition space sized 27 x 16,4 m give perspective projections and short video clips (some ten seconds) as well as exchanging pictures of the daily life in Croatian cities showing characteristic urban situations. Exhibited are diversities of life in many continental and coastal, historic and new cities, as well as the visions of the development of urban life in Croatia. Every change of the picture is accompanied by a photo-flash with the name of the city at its bottom or the upper edge. With every projection there are sounds of authentic urban spaces or music which they can inspire. Every projection lasts 4-5 minutes and is automatically repeated. There are white flags on the façade of the pavilion, which is painted red, and these two colours give an impression of the red and white fields of the chequy, the symbol of the Republic of Croatia which is presented on its emblem.
Inside the Croatian pavilion there are a VIP lounge and an info-desk with promotional touristic materials, since Croatian destinations are popular in the frame of the international tourist offers, and there is also a shop which will enable the guests to buy some of the Croatian brands, such as a necktie or a female shawl.
