Beauty connects people
CHEDAR will be officially presented at the end of July 2025 in the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 2025 Osaka, also engaging with thematic and national pavilions of participant countries interested in exploring the scientific and educational perspectives offered by the project.
CHEDAR was born from a visionary intuition, presented to the world with the reproduction of Michelangelo’s David at life-size scale for the first time through 3D printing - under the direction of Professor Grazia Tucci of the University of Florence — a centerpiece of the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai.
The digital David thus emerged as a symbol of a new Renaissance, where cross-disciplinary expertise, collective intelligence and emerging technologies — from artificial intelligence to virtual reality — open up unprecedented horizons for both scientific and humanistic heritage.
This extraordinary pioneering experience gave rise to CHEDAR: the first enduring legacy to emerge from a World Expo.
It is an international project devoted to the digitization, protection, enhancement and management of cultural heritage, even in areas affected by conflict, natural disasters or climate change.
CHEDAR adopts an innovative approach that integrates technology, art, science and education. Today, it is evolving as a scientific research and interdisciplinary training initiative designed to develop new skills, stimulate research, and foster intercultural dialogue through beauty and knowledge.
Today, it is evolving as a scientific research and interdisciplinary training initiative designed to develop new skills, stimulate research, and foster intercultural dialogue through beauty and knowledge.
Rooted in the broader Mediterranean region, the initiative aims to strengthen cultural, scientific and diplomatic ties.
From Osaka it will continue its journey toward EXPO 2030 Riyadh, allowing an extensive international itinerary of events, academies, exhibitions and encounters — in Italy and across the globe — focused on the digital regeneration of archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage as key elements of national and territorial identities.
A project conceived in Dubai, CHEDAR represents a living legacy of the World Expos and a catalyst of innovation for the future — where cultural heritage becomes a driving force for collaboration and renewal.