Why Were There Art Branches in the Ancient Olympic Games?

So why for years? While ‘art branches’ also take part in the Olympics We don’t see such a practice anymore?

Just like the branches of art like sports Let’s see what has changed in this exciting arena where they compete among themselves.

There are many reasons behind the inclusion of arts branches in the Olympic program.

Until the 20th century both traditions from ancient Greece The vision of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, was the main reason behind this development.

in ancient greece art and sports went together; The harmony between athlete and artist was seen as the ideal way to train both body and mind. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, in the process of restarting the modern Olympics in 1896, stated that the Olympics were not only physical; He thought it should be an intellectual and artistic celebration.

1906’da “Le Figaro” from In his article on this subject, he wrote that in order for the Olympics to regain their glory in ancient Greece, art should be a part of this great event.

This idea that arts and sports should go together aimed to make the Olympics a more comprehensive and entertaining celebration.

Coubertin’s idea is At the 1908 London Olympics Although it was not implemented, it was held at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics when art competitions were added to the program.

In these competitions that took place in time architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture Medals were given in five main categories: Competitions awarded on the condition that works of art were only related to sports and had never been exhibited before, reinforced the intellectual dimension of the Olympics.

Although art competitions did not attract widespread attention in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, they attracted great attention in the 1924 Paris Olympics and the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

During this period, artists Selma Lagerlöf and Igor Stravinsky The presence of names like these increased the prestige of the competitions. In particular, the Olympic gold won by Paul Landowski in Amsterdam with a statue of a boxer demonstrated a perfect combination of art and sport.

However, As a result of an evaluation made by the IOC in 1949 It was decided that art competitions were not compatible with the amateurism approach of the Olympics. The fact that most of the artists participating in the competitions were professionals made this situation even more evident.

In 1952, when art branches were refused to be included in the Olympics, art competitions were completely excluded from the category.

of the olympics having an intellectual vision The branches of art behind it disappeared into history over time. The medal-winning works awarded in the competitions held in these fields, with some exceptions, disappeared over time.

Do you think nowadays Arts branches to be in the Olympics Would it make sense?

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