Ch. 15: Contextualizing the Visual (and Virtual) Realities of Expo 2010
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Description
This chapter appears in the book, Visualizing Modern China: Image, History, and Memory, 1750–Present. Edited by James A. Cook, Joshua Goldstein, Matthew D. Johnson, and Sigrid Schmalzer.
Chapter abstract: In the months leading up to “Expo 2010 Shanghai,” the first official world’s fair to be held in China, advertisements for the event abounded. Promotional video created under the auspices of the Chinese Communist state declared the exposition a celebration of achievements in “urban civilization,” noting the theme of the event itself as “Better City, Better Life.” State promoters promised that the Expo would display the potential for a “harmonious coexistence between humans and nature in the cities of the future. Meanwhile the official Expo mascot, a blue creature named "Haibao," promoted the coming event as a fun-filled spectacle in his own public appearances, video, and a serial television program. A Fall 2009 edition of the official Expo Shanghai Newsletter offers similar promotional rhetoric. The lead story notes that a city-wide tourism festival, “an entertainment extravaganza,” would take place in conjunction with Expo 2010, and attendees could purchase enticing multi-event ticket packages.
ISBN
9780739190432
Publication Date
2014
Publisher
Lexington Books, part of Bloomsbury Publishing
City
New York
Keywords
Expo 2010, China, Public memory, Popular culture, Promotion
Disciplines
Asian History | Public History | Social History
Recommended Citation
Fernsebner, Susan R., "Ch. 15: Contextualizing the Visual (and Virtual) Realities of Expo 2010" (2014). Books and Chapters. 14.
https://scholar.umw.edu/hist_amst_books/14