Ahead of Expo 2020 Dubai spectacular opening, the New Zealand Pavilion hosts a traditional dawn ritual, ‘Mauri,’ for providing an outstanding guest experience. The ceremony, performed by Whanganui Iwi tribal groups who came from New Zealand, started blowing of the conch shell, followed by calls of affirmation of interconnectedness with the real and pious realms.
There were chants and mantras that sounded all through the exhibition hall. Giving a local touch to the ceremony, Emirati cultural troupes invited New Zealand to Expo 2020. The New Zealand Pavilion is impressed by the Maori standard of ‘kaitiakitanga,’ which celebrates the relationship between life, people, and the environment.