Photo credit: © Bill Dutfield, used with permission with our sincere thanks.
Mauritius Pavilion
The Mauritius Pavilion, on Ile
Notre-Dame close to the Expo-Express station, provides an introduction to
an island paradise.
Where is Mauritius? It's in the Indian Ocean, and on entering the pavilion a cartographic model, photographs and displays put the visitor in the picture. Over the entrance to the tourism display is a 15-foot wood carving bearing figures symbolizing Man and his World. These words of Mauritian novelist Mme. Marcelle Lagesse are also inscribed: "See what we have made in two-and-a-half centuries of a land which had been lost in the ocean. The courage and the tenacity of those who found this land have shaped its story, the perseverance of its sons has has steered its destiny." The first display area describes the island's progressive sugar industry which is basic to the economy, increasingly important tea and tobacco industries, quality of products and manpower, opportunities for development. Mauritian hostesses will be delighted to talk about their island. Craftsmanship, history, culture, arts and the haunting music to which the sega is danced -- these are some of the pavilion's elements. |
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