View source for Expo.02

{{refimprove|date=June 2019}}
'''Expo.02''' was the 6th [[Swiss National Exhibition|Swiss national exposition]], which was held from 15 May to 20 October 2002. The exposition took place around the lakes of [[Lake Neuchâtel|Neuchâtel]], [[Lake Biel|Bienne/Biel]] and [[Lake Murten|Morat/Murten]]. It was divided into five sites, which were called ''Arteplages'', due to the proximity of the water (some sites were actually partially or totally built on the water). The five ''arteplages'' were located in [[Neuchâtel]], [[Yverdon-les-Bains]], [[Murten|Morat/Murten]], [[Biel/Bienne]] and on a mobile barge traveling from one site to another.<ref>{{cite web |title=National exhibitions |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/gesellschaft/grossanlaesse/landesausstellungen.html |publisher=Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs: Presence Switzerland |accessdate=26 June 2019}}</ref> The barge represented the [[canton of Jura]], which does not have access to any one of the three lakes.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

Expo.02 was the subject of controversy in Switzerland due to the many financial problems it encountered. It was first scheduled to take place in 2001 (under the name of ''Expo.01''), but the catastrophic organization and lack of funding threatened to put an end to the project, which was saved at the last minute by the Swiss Federal Government, which put in a large amount of public money to save the exhibition. Expo.02 cost 1.6 billion Swiss francs. Most of it came from major Swiss companies which sponsored the different exhibitions on the ''Arteplages''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

According to the organisers, more than 10 million admissions were counted, and the exhibition succeeded in achieving its sole and only goal: the public's pleasure.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

Each ''arteplage'' was dedicated to a different theme. There was ''"Nature and Artifice"'' in Neuchâtel, ''"I and the Universe"'' in Yverdon-les-Bains, ''"Instants and Eternity"'' in Murten/Morat, ''"Power and Freedom"'' in Biel/Bienne and ''"Sense and Movement"'' on the mobile platform.{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}

==Images==
<gallery>
Image:SwissExpo02-Neuchatel.png|Neuchâtel
Image:Tuerme auf der Arteplage Biel der Expo.02.jpg|The towers in Bienne
Image:Monolith by nouvel small.jpg|The monolith of Jean Nouvel in Morat
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Expo.02}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140805010428/http://www.expo-archive.ch/ Expo-archive.ch (via archive.org)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20020601180902/http://www.expo.02.ch/e/home.html Official site (via archive.org)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Culture of Switzerland]]
[[Category:2002 in Switzerland]]
[[Category:World's fairs in Europe|Switzerland]]
[[Category:Floating architecture]]
[[Category:National exhibitions]]