Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Music fans visiting Expo 2020 Dubai this weekend will be spoilt for choice, with major local and international acts taking to the stage each night this weekend.

With hugely popular Pakistani singer-songwriter Ali Zafar on stage at Jubilee Park at 2045, before Late Nights @ Expo, featuring Syrian composing star Iyad Rimawi, takes over from 2200. Best known for his soundtracks to such TV series as Nadam and Godfather, Rimawi’s performance will be followed by Serbia’s Eyot, which blends Balkan jazz, classical music and art-rock.

Then for two nights, starting on Friday 22 October, British singer-songwriter Sami Yusuf performs at Al Wasl Plaza with his show, ‘Beyond the Stars’. This hour-long music extravaganza starts at 2030, with the chance to see it again the following evening at the same time. Yusuf leads an array of musicians from around the world, with a special show inspired by the themes of Expo, the legacy of the UAE and the Silk Road. Promising new material, the event features the talents of Guo Gan, master of the erhu, a traditional two-stringed Chinese instrument, and Indian sitarist Asad Khan, as well as Moroccan singer Nablya Maan and Azerbaijani vocalist Teyyar Bayramov.

Also this weekend, on Saturday 23 October, Expo 2020’s all-female Firdaus Orchestra performs a stellar space-themed repertoire comprising Western classical music and an original composition by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman. On stage at Jubilee Park, the orchestra features musical talent from across the Arab world, with 50 women from 23 different nationalities. Their performance begins at 1900.

Firdaus Orchestra, the pioneering all-women musical ensemble led by Academy and Grammy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman, will close Expo 2020 Dubai’s Space Week on Saturday. The orchestra will render a stellar space-themed repertoire comprising Western classical music and an original composition by Rahman.

Starting at 1900 GST at Expo 2020’s Jubilee Park, the Firdaus Orchestra, led by conductor Yasmina Sabbah and representing a melange of musical talent from across the Arab world, will bring their spellbinding showcase to Expo’s Space Week celebrations.

The one-hour performance will include “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as music from Star Wars and E.T. - Adventures on Earth. It will also feature Karl Jenkins’ “Palladio,” Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5,” and a grand finale performance by A.R. Rahman who will present an exclusive new composition, Humanitas-Proorismós-Al Amal - an ode by the composer to explorers of space. ‘Al Amal’ is the Arabic word for ‘Hope’, which, fortuitously, is also the name of the first Arab mission to Mars.

A.R. Rahman said: “To know the unknown is the quest of life, and by exploring space we explore ourselves.”

Expo ticket-holders wishing to attend the orchestra’s inaugural performance on Saturday should arrive early. Due to limited capacity at the venue, access will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Expo tickets can be purchased online at www.expo2020.com.

Running from 17 to 23 October, Expo 2020’s Space Week is hosting astronauts, thought-leaders and other space experts - highlighting the latest innovations in space research and travel, while also providing a platform to discuss critical issues.

Meanwhile, organised by Business France, the French Space Days will be held from October 26 to 28 in partnership with the CNES, French government agency responsible for shaping and implementing France’s space policy, the UAE Space Agency, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). This three-day event aims to strengthen commercial and strategic ties between the United Arab Emirates and France.

After the insertion of the Hope probe in Mars’ orbit and before sending the lunar rover named Rashid to the moon, the UAE clearly demonstrate their huge ability to innovate in the space industry and through the French Space Days program, France is willing to develop new way of collaboration through technical contributions, share of expertise and advanced solutions fitting the UAE’s vision in the field of space exploration, technologies, and applications.

The kick-off for this tailor-made programme will start with a French presence on the International Astronautical Congress 2021 (IAC) running from 26 to 28 October. The 13 French companies will then keep-up with three intensive days of business meetings with engineers and technicians from the UAE Space Agency, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) and the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat).

Among the French specialists of the space industry, 7 companies have been selected by a local jury to pitch their solutions during the French Global Networking Forum, part of the International Astronautical Congress. This forum’s official opening will be chaired by the UAE Space Agency in presence of Xavier Chatel, French Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and moderated by Elodie Robin, Founder of Alidade Ventures and President of the French Tech hub in the United Arab Emirates.

The Space industry, at the forefront of the France Pavilion at Expo 2020, Dubai, UAE, in October 2021:

After celebrating France day at Expo 2020 with an unprecedented duplex between Dubai & the International Space Station currently commanded by Thomas Pesquet, Ambassador of France at Expo 2020 and the first French astronaut in the history to take command of the ISS, the French Space Agency will showcase during two weeks the cutting-edge technologies that allow astronauts to live in Space and to explore Mars while celebrating the milestones reached thanks to international Space cooperation.

Space in France generates €4.2 billion in consolidated turnover, more than half of which will be in the commercial market in 2020 (source: Ministry for the Economy, Finance, and the Recovery).

French space accounts for more than 50% of sales in the European space industry.

It represents 16,000 high-level direct jobs across the entire manufacturing chain.

As the world leader in the accessible commercial market for launches and satellites, it has the capacity to offer the State high-performance, competitive national solutions.

Business France is the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, responsible for fostering export growth by French businesses, as well as promoting and facilitating international investment in France. It promotes France’s companies, business image and nationwide attractiveness as an investment location, and also runs the VIE international internship program

The timing is a big blessing on Dubai to have a mega event in the City of Wonders. This opportunity has come after one and half years of lock down across the world due to the pandemic. The Expo is going to be a grand event. The whole world will have now a reason to visit Dubai. The world is now hailing the vision and courage demonstrated by the leadership of Dubai and the UAE at this special time facing all the challenges and turning the challenges as blessings. About 3 to 5 percent of people visiting Expo 2020 is expected revisiting Dubai or planning to make Dubai their residence post the Expo.

In 1851 the Crystal Palace was the centrepiece of London’s Great Exhibition – the first World Expo. It celebrated the man-made industrial wonders of a rapidly changing world. Architecture, contents and a theme, ‘Industry of All Nations’, were combined to create a big idea of nations meeting nations in shared technological and commercial progress. In more recent years, participants in World Expos, including governments, international organisations and companies, have gathered to find solutions to universal challenges and to promote their achievements, products, ideas, innovations, their national brand, and their nations as destinations for tourism, trade and investment.

World Expos are held under the auspices of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating international exhibitions (‘Expos’) and for fostering their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation. Today, four types of Expos are organised under the BIE’s auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.