Pentathlon of Muses

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games

What if you paint and sculpt your way into the Olympics?    Well, you could have between 1912 and 1948. 

Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympics and incorporated art competitions as part of the games. It was de Coubertin’s dream to “create an environment in modern society where artists and athletes could again be mutually inspired,” Beatriz García writes in her essay entitled The Concept of Olympic cultural programmes.

It is a little known fact that the Olympic Games have always included competitions in the arts since their origin in ancient Olympia over two thousand years ago.  The first art competitor in Olympia was said to be Herodotus, the historical writer in 444 B.C.  If you’re curious to know more, you can read all about it in the book titled The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions.

The art competitions within the Olympics were called the ‘Pentathlon of Muses’ and medals were awarded in the categories of sculpture, painting, music, literature and architecture.  Athletes could compete in both the sports and arts aspect of the competitions.  Alfréd Hajós of Hungary won two gold medals at the 1896 Athens Olympics as a swimmer and then, twenty-eight years later, he won a silver medal in architecture.

Although the competition of the arts in the modern Olympic games was short-lived, the marriage of art and sport would remain in the form of the Cultural Olympiad. 

The Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad runs January 22 until March 21, 2010 with art and cultural exhibits popping up all over the city’s urban landscape.

A glimpse of what to expect at this year’s Olympiad:

Bright Light   

Bright Light will feature a collection of 14 commissioned public art projects that will light up the Downtown Eastside and highlight the community’s cultural vitality.

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Visceral Bodies displays the work of 18 contemporary artists who investigate the human body. This exhibition will be presented alongside Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man, a collection of 16th century drawings by the first major artist to study human anatomy.

 

 Gabriel de la Mora; Memoria I, 24.10.07           

 

 

 

 

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Tracing Night is a large maze-like installation that combines drawing, video and sound to recreate the phenomenon of night and darkness.

 Detail from Tracing Night, 2004, by Ed Pien

For a full listing of arts and culture at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games click below.