All Nations Rise started with a question:
Can we truly love one another without knowing one another?
Thirty-three countries sit inside MVNU, including the one it stands in.
Most of us could not say what half of them eat, wear or celebrate.
We pass each other every day and know nothing.
What happens
Two floors, taking turns.
One thing at a time. When the stage is running, the floor upstairs goes quiet.
Upstairs
The exhibition (marketplace)
A stand for every country, run by the people from it. Food, drinks, dress, music, things from home. The art gallery is in the lobby, with work from MVNU and other schools.
Opens at 1:00, and runs until the court opens.
Downstairs
The court
The room sits down and the stage takes over: a parade of flags, dance, a fashion walk of traditional dress, a panel, student voices, and an ending the whole room sings together.
Begins at 2:45. Finishes at 5:00.
The passport
Everybody gets a passport at the door.
It is made in front of you at the registration desk, with your own country in it.
- 1The order of the daySo you know where to be and when.
- 2Questions for other peopleOnly someone from another continent can answer them.
- 3Six regionsOne box for each, marked off at the stands.
Fill it in and you take it home.
You cannot complete it standing still. And you cannot complete it talking to people you already know.
Who you end up next to
Come with your people. Leave with more.
At most events like this, everybody drifts back to the table where they already know the names. This one is built so that does not happen.
The stands are spread across the whole concourse, so getting round them means crossing the room. The questions in your passport can only be answered by someone whose home is not yours. By the time the doors to the court open, half the room has already met.
The person you sit next to is the point.
What people wear
Dressed like home.
Everybody comes in their own clothes. Nobody feels strange, because everybody is dressed like home.
Who it is for
One room.
Students, families, staff, people from the town, and anyone from another school who wants to bring their country. It is not a student event with guests. It is one room.
Saturday 10 April 2027 · Ariel Arena
Leave knowing someone you didn’t know this morning.
Count me in