Your Australian World Expositions Connection - Celebrating Brisbane's World Expo '88 and Australia at World Expositions - |
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About World Expo '88 Brisbane City Council Image #
BCC-T108-2
[TOP AND MIDDLE IMAGE] Official logos
of World Expo '88
'Expo Globe' logo [unattributed]
Sticker Image Copyright Papermoon
'Sunsail' logo [Copyright and Courtesy
of Cato
Purnell Partners
[ABOVE] Official Closing Ceremony at
the River Stage 30 October 1988
Image BCC-T120-1839 Courtesy and
Copyright of
Brisbane City CouncilTwo official logos were used
interchangeably for the Exposition - the 'globe
boomerang' logo and the later introduced 'sun-sail'
logo.
The 'boomerang' logo combines two boomerang shapes forming an 'x', which is then linked to the numerals '88' located within the circle of the letter 'P' - thus spelling the word 'eXPo', superimposed on an wire-frame image of the globe. The boomerangs refer to the fact that World Expo '88 was an Australian Exposition - and commemorating the 200th Anniversary of European settlement to Australia. The globe signifies that it is an world event - with World Expo '88 - Brisbane - in the centre. Finally, the 'green' and 'gold' colour scheme refer to the official sports colours for Australia - representing the green of the land and the gold of the sun (and beaches) - which is popularly used by Australians at international sports events - from make-up to clothing, hats, boxing kangaroo flags, and even curly topped green-and-gold wigs. The 'sun-sail' logo, also popular, and used extensively in the final lead-up to the opening of the Exposition, captures the joy of the Exposition as a grand cultural festvial - projecting the major entertainment themes onto an image of one of the major icons of the Expo - the massive sun-sail canopies - portraying - from left to right - circus; the visual arts; marching bands; the performing arts; theatre; all under the Queensland sun. Note that the State of Queensland - being in the sub-tropics and tropics - is familiarly known as 'The Sunshine State' - and that Brisbane, as Capital of Queensland, has always prouded itself on being the 'more friendly' of the Australian Capitals - partly a legacy of the highly successful advertising campaign for the Brisbane 1982 Commonwealth Games - 'Shine On, Brisbane!' - and also partly because the city boasts the highest daily average number of hours of sunshine of any Australian Capital. Finally, the blue wavy line represents the expo's location on the banks of the Brisbane River - in total, a snapshot image of the location, iconic structures, and festival characteristics of the Expo. The Expo was commonly known as 'World Expo '88', and the theme for the six month international specialised exposition was 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' - ideal and apt for Australia - and Queensland - featuring some of nature's most enduring attractions - with the wonders of the eco-systems of the Great Barrier Reef and her beaches and rainforest - only a few hours from Brisbane by air, as well as the skyscraper pleasure domes of the Gold Coast - one of Australia's major tourist destinations - only an hour south by car or hovercraft. Technology and the sciences have been common themes for 20th Century Expositions, however, the marriage of Leisure and Technology, was, for World Expo '88 a world-first - signifying a new prosperous age of man - where leisure time became an increasingly important part of each day's living - concomittant with changing technologies that better able man to not only enjoy more of life, but to do so with greater enjoyment. In the design of their Pavilions, International, National and Corporate participants were asked to develop themes with this in mind, with the Expo Authority further articulating three sub-themes for World Expo '88: (i) Leisure - The Universal Past-time (ii) Technology - Creating and Created for Leisure, and (iii) Leisure and Technology - the Future Together 52 Government participants and 48 Corporate Participants did just that. Read on for a compendium survey of all that World Expo '88 had to offer.......and find out ways in which you can experience World Expo '88 in today's Brisbane.
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