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ITALY will showcase the fine flavours and the opulent archaeological and agrarian culture of Bahrain at the Expo Milano this year.
Themed, ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’, the non-profit commercial worldwide exhibition will focus on nutrition, sustainability and protecting the planet’s natural resources. It is likely to host more than 20 million visitors and feature 148 countries and international organisations from May 1 to October 31.
For the first-time ever, the countries are going to be organised by themes and food production chains instead of by their geographic location.
“The Bahrain presence in Milan will be a great occasion to showcase the real beauty and potential of this country, not only to the Italian public, but to the world,” said Italian Ambassador to Bahrain, Alberto Vecchi.
The Bahrain Pavilion, titled ‘Archaeologies of Green’, will reflect the farming culture of the kingdom, including fruit gardens and artefacts and will allow visitors to try some of the kingdom’s traditional treats.
A press conference staged last weekend featured samplers by Narise Kambar, Bahraini chef and owner of Saffron by Jena and Jena Bakery. The tasty traditional bites included Bahraini madrooba with chicken, which is a traditional chicken porridge, charcoal-scented meatballs with rice crust, chicken and citron khubz (bread) bites, mango papaya smoothies and tamarind tea.
All aspects of the modern, white pavilion’s design are styled to be congruent and tied into each other, including the logos, which feature 25 different shapes that are replicas of each piece of the pavilion.
Designed to be dismantled, the white concrete panels of the pavilion will be taken back to Manama and will be used as a botanical garden at the end of the expo.
To add to the flair, there will also be a fashion show by Bahraini designer Hind Matar. The designs will feature traditional textures and prints and will have detachable parts, like the concept of the pavilion.
The Ministry of Culture is also working on a film effort themed ‘Feed Your Mind, Film Your Planet’ that will feature young and amateur filmmakers across the country and share their views on food and nutrition using various recording devices, including smartphones, tablets and video cameras.
A memory-based cookbook is also in the works to help preserve tasty traditions. “The idea behind the cookbook is to gather a large number of recipes that are related to memories; for example, the way people remember their mother’s or their grandmother’s cooking,” said Noura Al Sayeh, deputy commissioner general of the Bahrain Pavilion.
From a pool of more than 200 applicants, 24 volunteers have been selected to help run the pavilion in Milan alongside five Bahraini ‘pavilion ambassadors’ – GulfWeekly health columnist and acclaimed nutritional therapist Alia Almoayed, founder and chief creative of Muharraqi studios, Khalid Abdulla Al Muharraqi, restaurateur Kambar, marine and conservation biologist Reem Al Mealla and urban development and branding specialist Ahmed Taleb.
“I am really excited to see it all come together, the new trees that were planted, the archaeological exhibitions, the documentary that was produced, Narise’s café and I’m mostly excited to see people’s reaction when the pavilion opens,” she added.
For more information, contact s.matar@moiraicommunications.com
