Award-winning British artist Es Devlin OBE will design the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The Pavilion will be the centrepiece of the UK’s presence at the Expo – highlighting UK expertise in artificial intelligence and the space sector.

The UK Pavilion at Expoåç 2020 Dubai will be produced by the London and Dubai-based global brand experience agency Avantgarde. The Department for International Trade will lead the UK government’s presence with cross-government support.

Es Devlin OBE is known for creating stunning large-scale performative sculptures that fuse technology and poetry. Explaining her inspiration for the project and what she hopes it will achieve, Es Devlin OBE said: “The idea draws directly on one of Stephen Hawking’s final projects, ‘Breakthrough Message’, a global competition that Hawking and his colleagues conceived in 2015 inviting people worldwide to consider what message we would communicate to express ourselves as a planet, should we one day encounter other advanced civilisations in space.

Devlin and Avantgarde will join forces with Manchester-based structural engineers Atelier One and sustainability experts Atelier Ten.

Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, executive director, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau said: “At Expo 2020 Dubai, our focus on empowering individuals and communities to create opportunities that help shape a better future drives everything we do. The UK Pavilion will be an intriguing platform for people to learn, have fun and work together to discover innovations and explore new frontiers in areas including space and Artificial Intelligence – echoing Expo 2020’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.”