Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Canberra Day : September 11, 1988
Agreement to Participate : 3 March 1988
Commissioner : Mr Fulton Muir
Pavilion : 275 square metres
 Return to Table of Contents
The A.C.T., being one of the last Australian Governments to confirm representation at the World Exposition, had to be relegated far away from the flag-ship Australian Pavilion and other states, and was placed at the very eastern part of the Expo site, bordered by Nepal and Kenya.

Being the year that the monumental new Australian Parliament House was to be completed in Canberra, the ceiling of the pavilion quite memorably was adorned by a life-size replica of the enormous 12m x 6m Australian Flag that was to grace the top of the 'flag-pole' above the centre of the new Parliament House building.
Visitors to the Pavilion could also view a theatrette audio-visual on the new building, as well as a scale model.

Highlight of the Pavilion was the brilliant and controversial work by Jackson Pollock, 'Blue Poles', on special loan from the National Art Gallery.  

The new Parliament House was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in May, 1988.

The controversial "Blue Poles", on loan from the National Gallery of Australia  Maps and images of the design of Canberra also featured
Some images from the Australian Capital Territory Pavilion
[R] Pavilion Entrance, featuring the iconic flag-pole top of the new Australian Parliament
[M] Early designs of Canberra and the new Parliament House
[L] The brilliant and controversial 'Blue Poles' by Jackson Pollock, on loan from the National Art Gallery
Images Courtesy of Damian McGreevy
 Front of the Australian Capital Territory Pavilion, World Expo '88 - featuring the symbolic new Parliament House structure

References:
Report of the Commissioner-General of Expo 88 on the Australian Government's Involvement in Expo '88 (1988), Published by Office of the
      Commissioner-General of World Expo '88
The McGreevy Collection
World Expo '88 - The Official Souvenir Program (1988), Editor Andrew Cowell, Published by Australian Consolidated Press
Expo! an independent Review (1988), Written by Scott Jones, David Bray, Juanita Phillips, Published by Boolarong Publications

Questions? Answers? Would you like to contribute your story and/or photograph to this page? Click here to send an e-mail to pavilions@celebrate88.com

Return to the Pavilions Page!