Inside a tall glass-encased structure at the Expo Osaka 2025, Japanese families breathe in the fragrance from a hand-carved earthen incense burner inside the UAE pavilion, watched closely by the close-knit team who have brought it all to life.
Young couples touch date palm reeds that stretch high above them in an oasis recreated with more than two million palm fronds, as children sit on rugs spread across the pavilion to watch as their parents brush their fingers across bold black and white threads woven on a traditional wooden loom. The team behind it is a group led by women that has worked closely with hundreds of UAE and Japanese craftspeople, woodcarvers, architects, designers and suppliers.
They tell the nation’s story using artefacts from iron and silver khanjars (daggers) to touchscreens that detail the UAE's progress in space exploration, sustainability and solar energy. With the title Earth to Ether, the pavilion tells of a nation proud of its heritage, whose people have sky-high ambitions.
Sourcing date palm waste
Mariam Al Memari, the head of the UAE Expo Office, speaks of the collective effort to build the pavilion using agricultural waste, discarded date palm trees and leaves in Japan. It took meticulous planning to source date palm waste from farmers in the Middle East and North Africa region, she told The National.
“What is really interesting about this participation is the UAE approach in bringing together different collaborations with partners and suppliers from Japan, the world and the UAE from design, to content to setting up the supply chains for us to actually to deliver this pavilion,” Ms Al Memari said.
This is the second time the World Expo has come to Osaka. The first time the city hosted it, in 1970, 64 million people visited, making it the most-visited world's fair of the 20th century. Abu Dhabi made its debut at that fair, with a pavilion inspired by a fort in Al Ain.
“This Expo is really special for us as we started our Expo journey through Abu Dhabi’s participation in 1970, and now we're back as the UAE more than 55 years later,” Ms Al Memari said. “Now we are showcasing our leading efforts in various fields such as space exploration, health care and sustainable technology.”
A place to rest
The massive glass walls work as an invitation, with visitors glancing into the clear structure and then walking in to explore further.
“It really feels like the UAE is saying 'welcome, you can come here and shelter'. And on days when it’s been raining, a lot of people use the pavilion as a place to rest,” said Shaikha Al Ketbi, the UAE pavilion's creative director. “We know it's physically challenging to see so many exhibitions at once and it's almost a relief when you find a place to sit. We considered that in our design to make people feel relaxed and welcome.”
Handwork by artisans from both countries created the entrance pergola that uses Japanese cedar topped with a canopy of khoos, an Emirati craft of weaving dried date palms. A traditional Emirati architectural technique called areesh is fused with detailed Japanese woodwork to mould the date palm reeds into 90 columns that soar 16 metres high.
“The entire design concept is rooted in the idea of areesh but we wanted to reinterpret what areesh can look like in the future,” Ms Al Ketbi said. “It was part of our past but how will it look in our future and how can we continue to incorporate it in buildings?”
Heritage and the future
A room at the back of the pavilion has people queuing up for short workshops on sadu, khoos and talli, traditional braiding, weaving and decorative embroidery demonstrated by Emirati craftswomen.
Visitors gather on chairs around a table, choose from pink, blue or gold threads, follow the steps shown by the Emirati women and listen to instructions in Japanese and English from guides. They leave with small souvenirs – keychains, bookmarks or miniature spindle replicas.
Several events and workshops have been planned throughout the six-month Expo. Shamma Al Bastaki, the narrative lead, said the response from visitors was overwhelming.
“It has been so rewarding and overwhelming, in a good way, to see how people have been interacting with the exhibits,” said Ms Al Bastaki, an Emirati poet who oversees content development and strategic storytelling. “It was always designed to be multisensory and tangible, but we didn't really expect the extent to which people would interact with each exhibit, from the scent of the oudh, to the scent of the palm on the columns.“
She read a poem, From the Earthly to the Ethereal, at the pavilion opening last week. “We want visitors to learn about the cutting edge work the UAE is doing through the content,” she said.
“The palm tree inspired the design if you see how the palm tree is rooted to the earth but reaches for the ether, for the cosmos and the stars. This reflects the UAE’s journey, how it’s always connected to its heritage but with sky-high ambitions when we highlight sustainability and space exploration.”
