More than a year after departing for Japan, Forest of Civilizations, a unique project by the Czech company Subfossil Oak created for EXPO 2025 Osaka, is returning to the Czech Republic. On Thursday, 20 August, the exhibition will arrive from Japan at Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport.
The final part of the monumental exhibits made from approximately 6,500-year-old subfossil oak is now returning to the Czech Republic. During EXPO, each tree was representing each participating country, together forming a single installation – a symbolic connection between the history of our planet and the story of contemporary civilization.
From a Czech project to an international story
Forest of Civilizations was created in northern Moravia and, during the 184 days of the World Expo, became an international project visited by heads of state, members of royal families, presidents, ministers, ambassadors, national pavilion commissioners and other distinguished guests. Among them was also President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel. Through the project, Subfossil Oak also became the first non-Japanese Platinum Partner of EXPO 2025.
The project’s participation in EXPO represented an extraordinary investment. The total costs associated with the project’s participation in the World Expo amounted to EUR 11,682,000. The declared value of the 133 individual exhibits prior to the opening of EXPO exceeded EUR 45 million.
However, the value of Forest of Civilizations cannot be measured solely by the price of the individual trees. Its true value lies primarily in the combination of their age, Czech origin, craftsmanship, documented history and, more recently, the international story that all 133 exhibits acquired during EXPO 2025.
EXPO has ended. The story of Forest of Civilizations continues.
The return to the Czech Republic marks the end of the project’s Japanese chapter. Its story, however, does not end here.
From the very beginning, the aim was to create a project that would exist beyond the duration of the World Expo. EXPO 2025 was intended to be the beginning of its story, not its conclusion.
Subfossil Oak is now seeking a strategic partner for the project’s further development. Several potential investors from both the Czech Republic and abroad have already expressed interest in taking over Forest of Civilizations.
The company’s priority is to preserve all 133 trunks as a single entity. It is therefore not seeking buyers for individual trees, but rather a partner willing to continue the project as a whole and carry its story forward, giving it a long-term vision while further developing its cultural, international and economic potential. The preferred scenario is for Forest of Civilizations to remain in the Czech Republic, or at least in Czech hands.
Thanks to the team and partners
Subfossil Oak would also like to thank everyone who contributed to the creation, preparation, implementation and presentation of the project at EXPO 2025, as well as its return to the Czech Republic.
Special thanks go to artist Jaroslav Prošek, the author of the installation in Osaka; architect Kolář for his consultations; and architect Tomáš Fila for the project designs and studies.
We would also like to thank the University of Vienna for its expert cooperation in the field of seismicity and earthquake simulations, our partners responsible for the project’s digitalisation, legal and professional services, as well as the international team that represented the project throughout the World Expo.
The company also extends its thanks to Mr. Kukol’s engineering works for manufacturing the bases under exceptionally demanding conditions following the floods in Moravia in 2024; to Mr. Jaromír Cagaš’s travel agency for arranging travel and accommodation for the team; to Mr. Kožíšek for producing the metal QR codes and providing the audio recordings placed on each trunk; and to all other companies, suppliers, technicians, craftsmen and collaborators whose work and support made the project possible.
A special thank-you also goes to our project ambassadors – two-time Olympic judo champion Lukáš Krpálek and traveller Jiří Kolbaba.
The journey home is the beginning of a new journey
The arrival of Forest of Civilizations at Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport is not merely the return of an extraordinary shipment from Japan. It is the return of a Czech project that became an international project during the World Expo.