Last November, during We Are French Touch, Dominique Hervieu began his intervention by declaring that “ the history of the Olympic Games and the artists is a long, deep and very rich story ". If, in the coming weeks, the JOPs will obviously be an opportunity to admire and celebrate the values ​​of sport and sporting performance, we are also witnessing the unfolding of a splendid cultural Olympiad, led jointly by all the French ICCs for several months and with continued momentum.

The distant origins of the link between Olympic Games and artists

At the microphone on the Plein Cadre stage, Dominique Hervieu underlines that the intricacy between the Olympic Games and the artists began in Greece, in Olympia, where sporting competitions were already organized 3 years ago, before gradually taking the form we know today. According to the interested party, “ from this moment in Antiquity we sought the balance between sport and the arts, between the athlete and the man of culture. It is the fusion between body and mind, beauty and good, aesthetics and the use of one's body, which makes this perfect being. ». The values ​​and aspirations of sport and the arts have always been closely linked, athletes have always inspired artists, and vice versa.

The place of culture and the arts in the invention of the modern Games

Dominique Hervieu continues by remembering Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, the first edition of which took place in 1896, and his desire to preserve the place of arts and culture within the sporting event. The former president of the International Olympic Committee has the idea of ​​the Pentathlon of the Muses: “ alongside sporting events, there were artistic events, sculpture, painting, literature, music and architecture », explains the head of the Cultural Olympiad. These parallel competitions took place from 1912 to 1948. For Dominique Hervieu, even if the Pentathlon of the Muses no longer exists, today's Olympic Games still rely on this very rich heritage, which implies the presence of the arts in the within the event: “ the Cultural Olympiad that I direct inherits this desire to have a sporting event which grows, becomes more complex, is enriched by the presence of artists She says.

Paris 2024, an essential sporting event, an unmissable cultural event

A fertile ground for a multidisciplinary cultural and artistic program linked to Paris 2024, in which no one is left out: for Dominique Hervieu, the Olympic Games are an opportunity to to show the world the richness and diversity of French creativity, from comics to opera to design. And the least we can say is that between the director's intervention last November and the provisional assessment that we can draw up today, this breeding ground has allowed memorable initiatives to take root. In all disciplines and universes, synergies have been created, talents have been expressed, French creativity has set the pace, and this will continue in the coming weeks, like a great passing of the baton. The person concerned evokes exhibitions highlighting sport and collaborations with the Louvre Museum, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, the Musée d’Orsay… and the examples abound in all sectors of the cultural and creative industries. Let us mention, but not be limited to, the design of the olympic torch by Mathieu Lehanneur, the Great Dictation of the Games on the Champ-de-Mars by Augustin Trapenard and Rachid Santaki, the one-man show by biathlon champion Martin Fourcade, the Apache dance show at theOpera Garnier by the choreographer Saïdo Lehlouh, the fireworks celebrating the Games created by Groupe F, the creation of the French delegation's outfits by the Berluti house, the opening ceremony with the director Thomas Jolly at the helm... sport takes over the arts, shines a spotlight on French creation in the eyes of the world and follows a principle, established by Dominique Hervieu: " create a dialogue between sports and the Olympic and Paralympic values ​​of friendship, sharing, excellence, inclusion, in their universal dimension, to bring together worlds that are not always used to to meet ».

205 countries, one capital, superb cultural influence and great chances of medals: the time of excellence and freedom of creation, of surpassing oneself and the discovery of other sensitivities. The French Touch wishes you a great Olympic Games!