News: Olympism – More Than a Dream opens at the most Parisian Palace

An epic journey through the history and legends of sport at the Art Gallery.

As part of Qatar’s contribution to Paris 2024, 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum is staging an exhibition in France’s capital city from 31 July to 25 August at Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris Hotel. The exhibition, titled The Olympism: More than a Dream, records 40 years of Qatar’s participation in the Olympics since 1984.

In the elegant surroundings of the Raffles art gallery, the exhibition is divided into 3 parts:

• The first part is a tribute to Pierre de Coubertin, Founder of the Modern Olympics, and celebrates Qatar’s gift of the first translation of Coubertin’s Selected Writings into Arabic for the first time. The exhibition features iconic Olympic objects from the Museum’s collection, from Muhammad Ali’s left boxing glove from Rome 1960, hand-inscribed by the most charismatic of athletes, detailing his victories, to a rare Innsbruck 1964 Olympic torch used on the first occasion that the Olympic flame for a Winter Games was lit in Olympia, Greece birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games. 

  

• The second part highlights key milestones in Qatar’s progress as an Olympic nation, from its first participation at Los Angeles 1984 to Tokyo 2020.  Foregrounding Qatar’s continuous involvement in each subsequent Summer Olympic Games and Paralympics—featuring milestone moments, memorabilia and medals from Qatar’s first medal in 1992 to one of the two Tokyo 2020 Golds—the exhibition shines a light on how the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship have been articulated in Qatar and across the MENA region. On display is the bronze won by Qatar athlete Mohammed Suleiman in the 1500m at Barcelona, the first medal in the history of the Olympic Games to be won by a Gulf Country.  The gold medal won by the ‘Qatari Falcon’ Mutaz Barshim at Tokyo 2020 is one of the highlights of the exhibition. In the high jump final, Qatar’s Barshim and Italy’s Tamberi both cleared a height of 2.37m but did not progress.  In one of the most heart-warming moments in Olympic history, Barshim then made history by suggesting that the pair share the gold. This rare instance of athletes of different nations agreeing to share the same medal is a shining example of Olympic values of Excellence, Respect and Friendship.

• The third and final part explores Qatar’s emergence as a global sporting leader and host, and its aspirations to host the Olympic Games in the future. Building on its long and successful track record as international sport host, Qatar now wishes to progress its Olympic dream.

The exhibition is curated by Susan Hayward FMA, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum and led by Museum’s Director, Abdulla Al Mulla, and the 3-2-1 team in partnership with the Coubertin Family Association and Qatar Olympic Committee.

Information:
Exhibition until 25 August 2024
Open to all
Art Gallery, Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris
Email: paris@raffles.com
Phone: +33 (0)1 42 99 88 00