The exhibition
Being the first World’s Fair after the Second World War, Expo 58 offered a great moment of relief and fraternity between the peoples of this earth. With 42 million visitors welcomed in a heartily, optimistic and merry atmosphere, among which were 80% of Belgians, the Expo left an idyllic image of a period of splendour and full of hope engraved in our collective memory.
The retrospective Between Utopia and Reality invites the visitor to discover the various facets of Expo 58 and the main events that marked the Fifties on a journey through the different spheres of this magic building that is the Atomium. The entrance hall of the Atomium allows the visitor to dive into the ambience of Expo 58 via a series of photographs, a gondola and a number of merchandising objects. After that, Experiencing Expo 58 will take the visitor through the avenues of the Expo.
The visitor then takes a two-levelled tour conceived as a countdown to April 17th 1958 (inauguration date of Expo 58) during which he or she discovers the Fifties: everyday life, the political context in Belgium (regarding the so‑called Royal Question, the so‑called School Pact, and Congo, for instance) and the international context (the Cold War, decolonisation, the emergence of the Third World), but also the coming into being and preparation of the World’s Fair (promotion campaigns) and the vast infrastructure works taking place in Brussels. The reflections of Lucien De Roeck on the realisation of his famous Expo Star that still today marks the Galaxy 58 are also focused on in particular.
In the second sphere, the inauguration of the Expo and its main message are illustrated on a first level: A World View – A New Humanism. Belgium presents itself gives an overview over the Belgian Section, centred on the scale model of the Arrow of Civil Engineering.
On the second level, The world presents itself then shows how the Cold War, decolonisation, and the political context in Belgium made their way to the Heysel plains during six months, to the Pavilion of the USA and the Soviet Pavilion taunting each other, to the Thai pagoda and further on to the “electric poem” at the Philips pavilion and the Liebig canteen. The presence of the colonies (and of the pavilion of Belgian Congo among others) constitutes another feature of this discovery journey.
The tour ends with a series of interesting figures (ranging from the number of plants to the number of hostesses present at the Expo, and from the number of births and deceases having taken place to the number of workers on the site during the six months of Expo 58). A series of pleasurable aspects about entertainment, accommodation and travelling at Expo 58 rounds off the visit. Finally, the Peas Bar gives a summarised overview over Belgium and the state of things abroad during the years that followed the Expo.