The giant carved wood doors that led into the Cote d'Ivoire Pavilion told of ancestral legends.  Once inside, the visitor was invited to walk the mock docks of Abidjan and San Pedro harbours amidst the scents of cocoa and coffee.  African music played in the background.

Guests were asked to guess the mood of African tribal masks that adorned the walls.  Some masks appeared funereal and some seemed joyful, but the idea behind this exercise was to prove that ignorance between cultures tends to lead to false conclusions.

Cote d'Ivoire was celebrating 25 years of independence in 1986.  With the anniversary, exhibits boasted that the country managed to become a self-sufficient world supplier while gaining back their traditional heritage.  Further exhibits told the story of how communication through diplomacy was the key to bring the country up to its current status.