Inflatable art installation delights Expo 2020 Dubai visitors

DUBAI: It is an experience like no other: a large inflatable structure of three domes on the outside, and an incandescent colourful maze on the inside. Expo 2020 Dubai visitors are being treated to the immersive art installation, Kaleidoscope presents Dodecalis Luminarium by Architects of Air, which opened at Festival Garden.

The luminarium is named after the dodecahedron – the 12-sided Platonic solid based on pentagons. The various colours visitors see on the inside are created by light shining through the plastic from the outside, and changes according to the time of day and the weather.

Installation designer, Alan Parkinson, said: “I can say that its outside is deceptive, and visitors will often come out remarking that it seems so much bigger inside and that they could never have anticipated how bright the colours are.”

Dodecalis has been experienced by three million people in 43 countries, and being a roving artwork, fits with Expo 2020 Dubai’s subtheme of Mobility.

Parkinson added: “Luminaria are essentially transient and intrinsic to our operation, (our aim) is to try and… make our footprint as light as possible.

“I think that which is ephemeral has a beauty that something permanent can’t attain.  A sunrise may have the most beautiful array of hues – but knowing it is transient (whatever a photographer may lay claim to), one is more thankful for the gift.”

Source: Expo 2020 Website