The Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad is a one-of-a-kind programme that combines artistic practices and sports culture through several major events and dates, from summer 2022 to September 2024.
The 12 episodes of the "Paris Musées Art & Sport" series are one of these dates and invite to discover the works in the City of Paris museums, through the lens of the Olympic Games. Each episode, written in a special way, is a piece of fiction that whisks listeners off into sporting disciplines - archery, dance, fencing, tennis, cycling, rowing, swimming, equestrianism, etc. - and charts the sometimes-forgotten great stories and little anecdotes of the Olympic Games, from the famous Hercules the Archer sculpture by Antoine Bourdelle to Victor Hugo talking about his practice of fencing.
The series, created using binaural audio technology, was made by Nuits Noires, a studio specialized in immersive sound creation, and includes expertise from City of Paris museum curators and help from Paris Musées' Digital Department.
"Paris Musées Art & Sport" enhances the online offering of over 250 podcasts and conferences, available since 2020.
Play tennis at the Palais Galliera
The episode "Game, Set and Fashion" is dedicated to women's tennis. Based on a photo by Egidio Scaioni, housed in the Palais Galliera, listeners discover how women tennis players helped develop this outdoor leisure activity in the 1920s and 30s, and how they became emancipated through the gear they wore.
Suzanne Lenglen was the first woman to revolutionize the history of tennis: she was instantly recognizable for her sweeping movements and stances that were sometimes more artistic than sportive and for her outfits designed by Jean Patou. The French couturier created an outfit for her that stood out a mile from the usual style of women players, who were "enclosed" in their long dresses and covered by large hats.
In 1921, the French Olympic Champion also caused a stir on the Wimbledon lawns where she appeared wearing a sleeveless white cardigan, a pleated white silk skirt revealing her legs dressed in white stockings and immaculate ballet shoes. Here, the typical hat was replaced by a tulle headband that would become almost as iconic as the Lacoste polo shirt several years later.
This was the beginning of fashion on the courts: "The sporty silhouette is absolute chic", to reiterate what Jean Patou said himself!
Listen to all the episodes (in English)
Beauty in action at the Bourdelle Museum
The Bourdelle Museum whisks listeners back to the 1924 Olympic Games' art competition through Hercules the Archer sculpture by Antoine Bourdelle.
With the pen and the foil at the Maison Victor Hugo
The Maison Victor Hugo explores fencing about which Charles and Victor Hugo were passionate, as illustrated through Auguste Vacquerie's photography.
When colours scrum at the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art
The City of Paris Museum of Modern Art joins up with the Cardiff rugby team through Robert Delaunay's work, depicting a rugby match.
Art-chery at the Cernuschi Museum
The Cernuschi Museum heads off along Kisokaidō Road and meets Yuriwaka Dajin, Japanese hero portrayed firing his bow in a series of prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Resistance at its best at the Liberation of Paris Museum - General Leclerc Museum - Jean Moulin Museum
The Liberation of Paris Museum heads off in the footsteps of Jean Moulin, the French Resistance fighter, by following the story of his skis.
Game, Set and Fashion at the Palais Galliera
The Palais Galliera dons the outfits of women tennis players from the 1930s.
Caricature takes the plunge at the Maison de Balzac
The Maison de Balzac discovers rowing in Honoré Daumier's work "L'apprentissage du plaisir nautique".
Pedalling to emancipation at the Petit Palais
The Petit Palais heads off for a bike ride through the work "Bicyclette au Vésinet", a painting by Léon-François Comerre.
High-angle shot at the Carnavalet-History of Paris Museum
The Carnavalet Museum takes a dive into the Deligny Swimming Pool through one of Henri Cartier Bresson's photos, taken in 1955.
At the cutting edge of art at the Cognacq-Jay Museum
The Cognacq-Jay Museum organizes a dance session with the "Trois danseurs dans un paysage" by Pierre Lelu.
The art of going it alone at the Musée de la Vie romantique
The Musée de la Vie romantique takes listeners back to 1839, to meet the "Cavalier sautant une palissade" (Rider jumping a fence), a sculpture created by Princess Marie of Orléans.
Body-to-body on paper at the Zadkine Museum
The Zadkine Museum weaves its way into the work Les lutteurs, a drawing by Ossip Zadkine, created in 1943.