The Olympic ideal is to celebrate athletic and sporting prowess outside of political influence. But ideals are rarely achieved. The Olympic Games have always had a political dimension. Boycotts, racism, terrorism and Cold War posturing have all marred the show. Wikipedia has examples from just about every Olympiad.
A new exhibition and series of events at the Free Word Centre in Farringdon explores the interplay between the Olympics and politics. The exhibition of images opens on 1 May and runs until 8 September. The accompanying events are all concerned with our own Olympics:
20 June: Artist, writer and photographer Alberto Duman, in association with Mute Magazine, host Regeneration Games, in which a group of critics will respond to a collection of videos, objects and documents that question the "official story" of the regeneration of East London for London 2012.
12 July: Hilary Powell and Isaac Marrero poke around with the iconography and language of the forthcoming games, drawing from their book The Art of Dissent: London's Olympic State.
6 August: A screening of Torch – a new documentary by Marc Silver and AJ Rivers – investigating whether London's Olympics will fulfil its promise to transform East London.
More details on booking for the events will be released nearer the time. But you can catch the exhibition from 1 May at the Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3GA.
See also:
Played in London exhibition and talks.
