Inside the free exhibition bringing the art of the Expo '86 World's Fair back to life | Daily Hive

Expo '86 "anonymous documentary." (Michael de Courcy | Kenneth Chan)

For just over five months in 1986, Vancouver welcomed the world with mirrored pavilions, futuristic transportation systems, and a promise of global modernity.

That optimism — and the questions it left behind — have returned to public view through “In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art,” a free temporary exhibition at Surrey Art Gallery in Bear Creek Park.

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The exhibition revisits the cultural legacy of Expo ’86, the landmark World’s Fair that transformed Vancouver’s urban and economic identity and introduced tens of millions of people to visions of technological progress and international exchange.

It explores Expo ’86 through the work of contemporary artists using photography, video, installation, and archival materials.

“In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art” at Surrey Art Gallery. (Kenneth Chan)

One of the key focuses of the exhibition highlights the sheer number of high-quality public artworks commissioned for Expo ’86 — temporarily installed beside the pavilions, within the plazas and gathering spaces of the vast fairgrounds, at the entrances to the fairgrounds, and throughout the in-between spaces of the fair.

It zeroes in on the designs of some of the most memorable pieces of art created for the World’s Fair, as well as the architecture of some of the pavilions.

Also featured is an “anonymous documentary” slideshow displayed on a television screen, cycling through 534 of more than 1,700 photographs from the World’s Fair. Taken by photographer Michael de Courcy, the photographs capture unsuspecting visitors alongside the everyday background scenes of the fair.

For younger visitors who never experienced Expo ’86, the exhibition also offers a chance to learn about an important moment in Vancouver history. For those who attended the fair, it may spark memories while also raising new questions about the promises of progress and growth that the World’s Fair represented.

The exhibition also encourages visitors to look beyond the nostalgia and consider how the event affected everyday people and neighbourhoods over time.

“In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art” at Surrey Art Gallery. (Kenneth Chan)

Expo ’86 “anonymous documentary.” (Michael de Courcy | Kenneth Chan)

Vancouver’s World’s Fair welcomed more than 22 million visitors, and is still highly regarded as one of the most successful modern world expositions — in terms of its attendance and operational organization, as well as its lasting cultural, economic, and infrastructural impact.

The scope and theme of Expo ’86 continued to grow and evolve during its planning stage, ultimately becoming a broad communications and transportation themed event under the “Specialized Exhibitions” category — one step down below the full-scale “Universal Exposition” category like Montreal 1967, Shanghai 2010, Dubai 2021/2022, and Osaka 2025.

Vancouver’s World’s Fair was one of the largest Specialized Exhibitions ever, and was regarded to be closer to a Universal Exposition status than what is typical for one tier lower.

Expo ’86 introduced many people to new technology, transportation ideas, and modern architecture. In addition to communications and transportation-themed showcases at the many pavilions, the fairgrounds in False Creek provided Vancouver with a temporary monorail and aerial gondola lines, as well as floating McDonald’s restaurant (the “McBarge”) and other water-based transportation attractions.

“In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art” at Surrey Art Gallery. (Kenneth Chan)

Beyond the main fairgrounds site, Expo ’86 also provided Vancouver with its first SkyTrain line — a showcase of advanced driverless rapid transit — and the Canada Place pier, which was originally built as the Canada Pavilion (directly connected to the main fairgrounds False Creek site by a closed-off section of SkyTrain) to provide a permanent legacy of a cruise ship terminal with a convention centre and a major hotel.

The Cambie Street Bridge — bisecting the False Creek fairground site — was also built in 1985, providing a modern replacement just in time for Expo ’86. As well, BC Place Stadium, finished in 1983, was constructed in time for the event.

The World’s Fair also helped put Vancouver on the international map. To this day, 40 years later, Expo ’86 in Vancouver was the last World’s Fair held in North America.

This temporary exhibition opened at the Surrey Art Gallery last month and is scheduled to close on June 7, 2026.

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