Spectacular spinning artwork adds wild magic to Terra’s Inner Core

Equinox, an animated sculpture by celebrated British artist Mat Collishaw, and commissioned by Expo 2020 Dubai, has been unveiled at Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion.

Terra – one of Expo’s three Thematic Pavilions – provides a stunning showcase for the 3D artwork that harnesses zoetrope technology, an early form of animation, to create a captivating optical illusion.

The centrepiece is a giant lotus flower, featuring an orbit of insects, spinning on its vertical axis. Its petals act as ‘shutters’ – animating the insects within as they appear to fly, eat and pollinate in perfect harmony. They also function as a sacred chalice conserving insect ecology, with their enhanced scale underscoring the cataclysm that would follow their decline.

Accompanying the work, which stands more than five metres high and three metres wide, is a selection of poems that praise the sanctity of nature, including those by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and celebrated English poet and painter William Blake.

'Equinox' artist Mat Collishaw and John Bull, Director, Terra - The Sustainability Pavilion

The entire installation and setting is poetic commentary on the delicate calibration of the Earth’s natural ecosystems and will inspire millions of visitors to re-examine their relationship with the natural world.