Paris 2024 Olympic Games: exhibitions, literature… a cultural Olympiad which also has its roots in Coubertin

At the MuseoParc d'Alésia, an exhibition on the origins of the Olympic Games, on view until November 30. MAXPPP – JC Tardivon

The Literary Games, launched in 1912 by Coubertin, were a flop. But the history of the Olympic Games has intersected with those of beautiful writers and is now available in unmissable exhibitions, such as at the Louvre or Alésia.

"Unite by the bonds of a legitimate marriage the Muscle and the Spirit"& nbsp;: it was in these terms that Pierre-de-Coubertin justified at the beginning of the 20th century the idea of ​​accompanying his modern sports games with a competition dedicated to the sport of sport. rsquo;art in all its forms. Competitions in architecture, sculpture, painting and literature launched at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912.

Shunned by renowned artists, including in Paris in 1924, victims of a certain indifference (Coubertin himself was distinguished several times…hellip;), these ordeals s&rsquo ;will wither and disappear after the Second World War.

From Montherlant to Echenoz

But history did not need these imposed figures to weave links between the Olympics and literature, certain writers not hesitating to lend their pen to cover the Olympics, such as Henry de Montherlant, painting the atmosphere of Colombes in the newspaper Demain.

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games… Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt: "The Greeks invented sport and all the fundamentals of our society"

With their myths, their symbols and the weight of their history, the rings will inspire other authors to rewrite it, such as Jean Echenoz (2008), bringing the races back to life by Zatopek in a fictional biography (Courir).

At the Louvre: sport in the arts

Today, the Cultural Olympiad is officially displayed in large scale on the Paris 2024 website, which lists on a map the abundance of initiatives launched in the four corners of l’Hexagon (https://olympiade-culturelle.paris2024.org).

Among those not to be missed, the exhibition on offer at the Louvre until September 16, 2024, in the Richelieu gallery, on sport in the arts: & ;quot;Olympism, a modern invention, an ancient heritage.

Traveling exhibition around Montpellier

In Burgundy, the MuséoParc d’Alésia also returns until November 30 to the origins of the competition through a temporary exhibition "O sport . Games for gods." Where Vercingétorix laid down his arms at the feet of Caesar, it is accompanied by a sound tour restoring recordings of athletes in full effort, developed among others with the Creps de Toulouse.

Closer to us, the Montpellier Metropolis is circulating the 55 panels and the touch table of a traveling exhibition "At the heart of the’in its communes until September. rsquo;Olympism". Proof that the history of games can come to you.