France has scheduled hundreds of arts and cultural activities that kicked pre-, during and post the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Viewers of the Olympics in Africa, may not be familiar with the concept of the Cultural Olympiad. In a nutshell, Cultural Olympiad brings together and celebrates two concepts, – culture and sports – often separated but both means of expression.
It was drawn from the ancient tradition of quadrennial celebration of athletics and the arts that held in Olympia from 776 BC to 395 AD.
When French educator and historian, Baron Pieere de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, prior to the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, his dream has always been to feature culture prominently at the event.
However, that dream didn’t materialize until 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.
At first, from 1912 to 1948, the cultural aspect of the Olympic Games was competitive in nature with artistes and creatives in architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture who created works inspired by sport-related themes awarded medals.
Today, the Cultural Olympiad has taken a different form. Rather than competitive art, the host country puts on a dazzling array of cultural events that run parallel to the Olympics. It has helped host cities position themselves as leading cultural and creative hubs; and shine the spotlight on their artistes.
Barcelona took the lead when it proposed a four-year Cultural Olympiad starting in 1988 after the Seoul Games and ending in Barcelona 1992, to enhance the city’s international appeal beyond the Games. Same as in Sydney 2000, and Torino 2006 Games.
However, it was the London 2012 Games that took the Cultural Olympiad to great heights. It hosted not just a few exhibitions or concerts, instead it was a cultural extravaganza never been seen in modern Olympic and Paralympic Games. It featured over 170,000 events and over 40,000 artists.
Cultural Olympiad in France has kicked off with hundreds of events, shows, exhibitions and projects blending art, culture and sports ahead of the Paris Olympic set to open July 26.
A few of them, Euro News reports include ‘Run in the Louvre’, a programme organized by the Louvre Museum in Paris that welcomes visitors to participate in an hour-long, four 10-minute yoga and exercise sessions within its prestigious art halls. At the temporary stadium of Place de la Concorde, spectators can witness thrilling skateboarding and breakdancing events. Petit Palais features an exhibition ‘The Moving Body’ which is bridging the gap between sport and art with over 50 captivating works across variant genres of art, while in Marseille, the Regards de Provence Museum has opened the exhibition ‘Surfing The Wave’ which aims to illustrate the influence of surfing and board sports on contemporary creative and visual arts.
