MONTENEGRO – THE DIVINE CONDITION: ON CIRCULAR AND EVOLVING NATURESCAPES

CONTEXT AND THEME

“Designing Future Society for Our Lives” as the overarching theme of EXPO 2025 Osaka introduces a system of sub-themes focused on the quality of future life and the symbiosis of natural, artificial, and hybrid environments. Montenegro embraces this ambition of realizing physical/material manifestations of coexistence with nature by addressing questions raised under the sub-theme “Connecting Lives.” As a constitutionally ecological state, Montenegro continues to promote its greatest wealth – its intact natural landscapes. These vast, uniquely diverse natural environments, despite their differences, only in synergy enable the fulfilment of the essential condition for future sustainability.

This condition represents the divine principle of circular energy flow and the continuous future development of nature. Thus, Montenegro’s concept for EXPO 2025 Osaka is cantered around the fantastic diversity of its natural conditions, presented through selected characteristic landscapes – naturscapes – and the fundamental principles inherent within them.

CONCEPT

Conceived as a dominant, symmetrical, multi-layered, multimedia installation, the exhibition “Montenegro – The Divine Condition” serves as the central element of Montenegro’s pavilion at EXPO 2025 Osaka.

Structured into four identical microcosms – terrariums – featuring large glass prismatic structures, the installation presents a fantastical layered landscape when viewed frontally. Each microcosm functions as an experimental installation, containing both natural and artificial components that shape a selected morphological section. While forming a cohesive exhibition unit, these individual elements are thematically distinct – each representing a self-contained world, showcasing natural phenomena in micro-form:

– 1T – Terrarium 1 – Ulcinj saltpans
– 2T – Terrarium 2 – Durmitor national park and the tara canyon
– 3T – Terrarium 3 – Sinjajevina mountain range
– 4T – Terrarium 4 – Biogradska Gora national park

The concept of the installation aims to offer visitors an extraordinary spatial and sensory experience, allowing them to momentarily immerse themselves in Montenegro’s real circular natural processes – or rather, their technical and technological multimedia representations in Osaka.