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Osaka World Expo Forum
LASALLE College of the Arts, Osaka Metropolitan University and Singapore Tourism Board
Artwork: Akihito Okunaka, INTER-WORLD/Cocooner (2025), as part of the Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025.
Situated at Osaka World Expo 2025
As part of the LASALLE x Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) Forum, my classmates and I were invited to present on the theme “Singapore as a Global Arts Hub,” offering my reflections on mega art events in Singapore and the evolving role of the arts in shaping national identity.
Before the panel, we were given the rare opportunity to visit the Osaka World Expo 2025, an expansive international event with the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”
The group in front of the Singpore pavillion at the Osaka World Expo
Featuring global pavilions centred on sustainability, innovation and cultural exchange, the Expo offered a comprehensive look at how nations articulate identity and future aspirations on a world stage.
Experiencing the event firsthand while walking through the pavilions, engaging with interactive works and observing visitor responses gave me a vivid sense of how cultural showcases operate at a global scale and how soft power, storytelling and design intersect in such environments.
Inside the France pavilion at the Dior section
My presentation for the LASALLE x OMU forum
This visit informed the conversations that unfolded later during the forum discussion and Q&A with my programme leader, Dr Natalia Grincheva and my fellow coursemates. I represented LASALLE in my presentation on local grassroots arts markets and addressed questions on Singapore’s arts culture and our opinions on the Expo.
It was so interesting to hear the OMU students’ perspectives and to get to know them better.
LASALLE and OMU
We later brought these observations home through a group guest talk with the Singapore Tourism Board, “Where Dreams Shape,” where we shared our insights and reflected on our key learnings from Osaka and the broader significance of global cultural gatherings.
Read more about the talk here.
“Where Dreams Shape" guest talk
Overall, the experience was deeply enriching. Hearing different perspectives and forming new connections with my friends reminded me of how valuable these moments of exchange are, and I’m grateful to have been part of it.
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