Milan Expo 'Clusters' bring together top photographers

(ANSA) - Milan, March 9 - Nine photographers will shoot photos to line the walls of the nine Expo 2015 "Cluster" pavilions, a concept that groups countries not by geography, but through a common category or food, to reflect Expo's theme "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".
    This is the first time a world's fair has used the cluster concept, offering the opportunity to participate to countries that don't have their own pavilions as well as those that already do.
    "Bio-Mediterraneum: Health, Beauty and Harmony," is the largest at 7,304 square metres and will host 10 countries from the Mediterranean region, shot by Ferdinando Scianna.
    Alessandra Sanguineti was tapped for the theme "Islands, Sea, and Food", representing 14 island groups, and as the smallest of the nine Cluster pavilions, measuring in at 2,535 square metres spread over two buildings.
    "Agriculture and Nutrition in Arid Zones", housing eight countries in Africa and the Middle East, rounds out the themes in a 4,030-square-metre pavilion designed to recreate the idea of the desert, including a date market, with photos by George Steinmetz.
    The supply chain clusters cover five areas: rice, shot by photographer Gianni Barengo Gardin; coffee as seen by Sebastiao Salgado; cocoa and chocolate with the work of photographer Martin Parr; cereals and tubers by photographer Joel Mayerowitz; fruits and legumes by Irene Kung; and spices with photos by Alex Webb.
    The rice cluster houses six countries in a pavilion covering 3,546 square metres, covered with mirrored surfaces that reflect large plants to create the effect of being in an actual rice field.
    Italian coffee brand Illy is the official sponsor of the coffee cluster, which spreads across 4,427 square metres and hosts nine countries from Africa and the Americas.
    The cocoa and chocolate cluster has been entrusted to the hands of Eurochocolate, organizers of Perugia's international chocolate fair, and is 3,546 square metres with six participating countries.
    Italian flour-maker Varvello will sponsor the 3,820-square-metre cereals and tubers cluster, which unites seven countries in a pavilion that will offer a "healthy pizzeria" where visitors can try pizza made of quinoa.
    Huiyan Juice, China's largest producer of fruit juices, is sponsor to both the fruits and legumes cluster and the spices cluster, joined by a marketplace.
    Fruits and legumes stretches along 3,705 square metres and hosts six countries, while spices covers 3,702 square metres and includes four countries.