Equinox (2021) is a permanent kinetic sculpture (a contemporary 3D zoetrope) created by artist Mat Collishaw for the Inner Core of Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The enlarged waterlily shaped sculpture that stands more than five metres-high and three metres-wide appears to be growing from beneath the water reservoir at the base of the Inner Core, towards the light which floods through the aperture above the artwork at the centre of the Pavilion.

The work is an optical illusion, a mirage that functions in two different states, a daytime and night time mode. During the day, the flower is in a closed position, with the insect models inside flitting between the 3D-printed petals through animation. In the evening, the surrounding lights will be dimmed and the work functions as a strobe zoetrope. Equinox celebrates the mysterious ingenuity of insects, their microscopic behaviour and the delicately calibrated ecosystem they maintain. They are positioned inside an enlarged waterlily, a flower that symbolises triumph over adversity, echoing the theme of the Sustainability Pavilion, an inspiration towards a more compassionate relationship with the natural world.

To accompany the work, Collishaw has selected poems that praise the sanctity of nature by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai), and celebrated English poet William Blake.