Olympic Museum to launch Russian exhibition in January to mark Sochi 2014

By Gary Anderson

October 16 - A major exhibition entitled the Russian Avant-Garde and Sport is set to take place at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne from January next year, to mark the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The exhibition, due to run from January 21 to May 11, coinciding with the first Winter Games to be staged in Russia, is set to explore sport in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s through the works of the artistic avant-garde, especially in the fields of photography, cinema and graphic design.

Most of the works on display will be archive documents such as photos, posters, books and extracts from films, and will include the work of Russian artists and photographers, such as Alexander Rodchenko, Nikolai Kubeev, Gustav Klucis and Krasinski, as well other noted European photographers, such as Pierre Boucher, Liselotte Grschebina, Gerhard Riebicke, Lothar Rübelt and Lazlo Moholy-Nagy.

Alexander Rodchenko's photography exploring the approcah to physical education and sport in post revolution USSR will be featured in the special exhibition next year

Alexander Rodchenko's photography exploring the approach to physical education and sport in post revolution USSR will be featured in the special exhibition next year

The main theme of the exhibition, which is being curated by François Albera, Professor of History and Aesthetics of Cinema at the University of Lausanne, centres on the USSR authorities' approach to physical education and sport in the post revolution 1920s and 1930s and how the avant-garde artists of the time contributed to documenting and promoting the values of physical endeavour and sport.

The new exhibition will also be the first major international display to be housed in the Olympic Museum following its re-opening on December 21 this year, after 22 months of rebuilding works.

The museum, which was first proposed by former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch and opened its doors to the public in June 1993, contains the largest archive of Olympic Games related artefacts and memorabilia in the world.

It was named European Museum of the Year in 1995.

The Olympic Museum in Lausanne will open its doors to the public on December 21 after 22 months of redevelopment work

Following the recently completed redevelopment works, the exhibition area has almost doubled to 3,000 square metres and the three levels of the permanent exhibition will each take a fresh look at an essential dimension of the modern Olympic Movement.