As part of the Résurgence festival, until November 24 in the Cauvaldor region, Geneviève Bouyjou presents the exhibition “The beginnings of sport at the end of the 19th century”; exciting result of research and reconstruction work.
Part of the heritage collection of the Forge de Bourzolles, Hélène Bouyjou traces the history of sport, its influences on the economy and society, art and medicine. If the first plates speak of physical food activity in prehistory, of war truce imposed by the ancient Olympic Games, the exhibition mainly focuses on the end of the 19th century, when sport begins to take shape. Guided tour by the author of the exhibition.
1850-1914: Structuring into clubs and federations which impose rules and competitions. Pierre de Coubertin takes over the modern Olympics, closed to women. The sports press is inventing itself and specialist journalists are organizing the events they will cover. This is the case of the Tour de France created in 1903 by Henri Desgrange, runner and journalist. The end of the 19th century saw the first champions who shared the spotlight with the adventurers. Like Annie Londonderry who goes around the world on a bicycle or these two sailors rowing across the Atlantic!
The exhibition also addresses the societal impact of sport. The invention of the inner tube and the removable tire, the Hirondelle created by an arms factory, seaside villas when bathing becomes leisure: sport innovates and impacts the economy. The condition of women is evolving; they leave the corset for lighter sports outfits, which causes them to be vilified.
Then, sport and art. The Impressionists came out to paint sport and movement, in keeping with the ideology of naturalism.
Finally, in Souillac. France draws inspiration from what exists in England, first in the city then in the countryside. Here we still play soule like in the Middle Ages. This common ancestor of Rugby and football is a sport where anything goes! A first club “of physical education and sport in Souillac” was created which would become the USS Rugby. Here too, the development of sport will have an economic and societal impact.
The exhibition is rich in photos and engravings. To discover it and know the rest of the story: go to the Souillac library until November 23.
