DUBAI, 14 February 2022 – Visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai can celebrate Valentine’s Day in a truly special way by eternalising their love in one of the 100 love boxes at the Slovakia Pavilion.
The mastermind of Igor Brossman, co-founder and CEO of the Slovak Bank of Love – the only Love Vault in the world – it is located in Banská Štiavnica
The mastermind of Igor Brossman, co-founder and CEO of the Slovak Bank of Love – the only Love Vault in the world – it is located in Banská Štiavnica, a town inside the old huge volcano, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Having opened its doors to the public on Valentine’s Day in 2018, it currently contains 100,000 love boxes – with 100 of the empty boxes waiting to be filled with love by visitors to Expo 2020.
Inspired by the 1846 poem, Marína, by Slovak poet, critic, publicist, translator and Lutheran priest, Andrej Sládkovič, the poem’s 291 stanzas and 2,900 verses resulted in it being registered in 2017 as the ‘World’s longest love poem’ by the World Record Academy. The 100,000 boxes are symbolic of the 100,000 letters in the poem, with each box containing one letter from the original 1846 manuscript. Adding even more meaning to this unique concept is the fact that Sládkovič’s Marína used to live in the house above the vault.
Igor Brossman said: “These boxes will be filled today with people’s love symbols; anything that evokes love for them, from letters to photographs, theatre tickets, or engagement rings. They will receive a certificate saying they are the certified owners of the box, which will be shipped to Slovakia tonight where they will be stored forever in the Love Vault. The owners of the boxes can visit them in Slovakia any time.”
It’s UNESCO world heritage site. Having opened its doors to the public on Valentine’s Day in 2018, it currently contains 100,000 love boxes – with 100 of the empty boxes waiting to be filled with love by visitors to Expo 2020.
Not only is the vault a celebration of love in every shape and form, the preservation of the poem in this unique way is also a way to keep poetry alive for future generations.
Pete Haduab, Manager of Relationships, Gulf Regions and North Africa said: “The goal was to find a way to build something that really celebrates love, that prompts people to slow down and really think about what is important – and that’s relationships and love. I think they succeeded because they built a beautiful love world which people from across the globe come to see.
“The only place on earth where love is institutionally protected by UNESCO, it’s going to be there forever. So it’s just as well there is room for extension. Given the square footage of the space, we’ve predicted that the vault could one day hold up to 85 million love boxes.”
Visitors to Expo 2020 on (14 February) can visit the Slovakia Pavilion to store their piece of love inside one of the 100 boxes, free of charge. They will also be able to see the actual Love Vault in Slovakia via a live stream.