Qatar Museums Authority and international partners announce new exhibition on history of the Olympics

Berlin, 14 February, 2012:  A new partnership between QMA and several culture institutes* in Greece and Germany has been announced in Berlin to commence preparations for a comprehensive exhibition on the history of the Olympics from ancient to modern times.  The exhibition titled “Olympia: Myth – Cult – Games” will make its first in Berlin at Martin-Gropius-Bau (31 August 2012 – 7 January 2013) then will be shown in Doha at Al Riwaq in spring 2013 before finally appearing at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens in autumn 2013.

On the occasion of announcing “Olympia: Myth – Cult – Games”, His Excellency Ambassador Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammad Al Khulaifi, Ambassador of Qatar in Berlin stated: “In Qatar, we have been embarking on an active programme to promote education, culture and sports and this exhibition overlaps with all these areas.  Co-organizing this exhibition with our reputable partners is an excellent learning and cultural exchange opportunity for Qatar.”

The first section of the exhibition, which is devoted to the sanctuary of Olympia, the ancient Olympic Games (776 BC – 393 AD) and the history of excavations will be handled by QMA partners and will show over 600 objects.  QMA will organize the second section of the exhibition which covers the history of the modern Olympic Games from Athens 1896 to today.  Dr Christian Wacker, director of the sports museum under the umbrella of QMA will be leading research and curatorial work for this part of the exhibition.

Curatorial teams from all partners have started research and the preparations for the exhibition in Berlin later this year are underway.  Distinct from previous exhibitions on ancient Olympia, this exhibition will present a great number of outstanding original objects from the collections of Greek and German museums.  Furthermore, the exhibition will unveil many new objects that have been discovered only in the past 60 years that have never been shown in public.
As for the modern Olympic Games section, it will trace the history of the Olympic Games from their re-invention in the 19th century to present. 

There will be six thematic chapters as follows:

-    Overview of development of the Olympic Games
-    Socio-cultural aspects of the Games: showcases Olympic ideals
-    1936 Berlin Games
-    2004 Athens Games
-    Establishment of modern Olympic Games
-    A glance on early modern versions of Olympic Games before 1896

*Partners from Germany and Greece include:

•     Greek Ministry of Culture, Martin-Groupis-Bau in Berlin, Hellenic Foundation for Culture in Berlin and the German Archaeological Institute
•    QMA to curate the section on modern Olympic Games