The Literary Games, launched in 1912 by Coubertin, were a flop. But the history of the Olympic Games has intersected with those of beautiful feathers and is now available in essential exhibitions, such as at the Louvre or Alésia.
“Uniting Muscle and Spirit through the bonds of legitimate marriage” : it is 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 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…), these events faded away and disappeared 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, like Henry de Montherlant, painting the atmosphere of Colombes in the newspaper Tomorrow.
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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), reviving the Zatopek races 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 France (https://olympiade-culturelle.paris2024.org ).
Among those not to be missed, the exhibition offered at the Louvre until September 16, 2024, in the Richelieu gallery, on sport in the arts: “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 exercise, developed among others with the Creps de Toulouse.
Closer to home, the Montpellier Metropolis is circulating the 55 panels and the touch table of a traveling exhibition “At the heart of Olympism” in its municipalities until September. Proof that gaming history can come to you.
