May 1 - October 13, 2025
Experiential Curation at World Expo 2025 (Osaka, Japan)
As part of E Factor Experiences Ltd
Under the aegies of IGNCA and ITPO, Government of India
Situated in the Connecting Lives zone at World Expo 2025, Osaka, the India Pavilion (Bharat) unfolds as a curatorial passage through time—bridging India’s ancient civilisational wisdom with its contemporary global aspirations.
As Principal Curator, Nayanika led the artistic, editorial, and spatial storytelling strategy: shaping narrative arcs, selecting collaborators, and overseeing multimedia commissions and object-based interventions across thematic zones. Inspired by the figure of Padmapani, the pavilion’s lotus-shaped exterior extends inward as a conceptual stream. With the aim to invite visitors to move through experiences that emphasise empathy, oneness, and innovation.
Zones such as the Oneness Lounge, Living Heritage Corridor, and Innovative Bharat were curated to foreground India’s pluralistic identities, scientific temperament, and ecological consciousness. With over 70 exhibits—ranging from rare crafts to kinetic installations, digital displays to spiritual metaphors—the Pavilion becomes a living archive of Bharat’s layered stories. It is at once a contemplative space and a future-facing hub, where design, diplomacy, and public imagination intersect.
India Pavilion
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World Expo 2025
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India Pavilion * World Expo 2025 *
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To develop a curatorial blueprint for physical and digital content that communicates India’s pluralistic heritage and global ambitions through experiential storytelling at a world stage.
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Site-responsive curatorial strategy and spatial narrative design
Editorial lead for all exhibition texts, films, brochures, and public communications
Cross-sectoral liaison with ministries, artists, architects, fabricators, Japanese institutions, and visual design teams
Development of digital content strategy aligned with curatorial vision and stakeholder expectations
On-site oversight for fabrication, installation, and display logic
Integration of long-term maintenance SOPs for operational continuity across the Pavilion's 6-month lifespan
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Visual semiotics and mythic symbolism in contemporary space-making
Exhibition-making as diplomacy: India’s cultural soft power
Indigenous knowledge, ODOP crafts, and techno-cultural storytelling
Environmental imaginaries in exhibition architecture
Participatory curation and inclusive regional representation
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Curatorial Exhibtion label writing
Collateral/Publication Writing
Archival Records Writing
Content Brief writing
Curatorial Briefs and Reports for stakeholders
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Concept-to-execution curatorial direction across 70+ multimedia exhibits
Interpretive strategy spanning five thematic zones: entrance, oneness lounge, heritage andcraft culture, technology and innovation, governance, state representation, corporate representation.
Editorial ownership of communication tools across platforms
Pavilion positioned as a soft power landmark and international cultural interface
यत्र विश्वं भवत्येकनीडम्
(Yatra Vishwam Bhavatyekanidam)
Where the world becomes one nest
Photo Courtesy: PIB, India (Project under ITPO, IGNCA)
© India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO)