Games people play: A century of posters

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For all those who think how much art could there possibly be in posters for a sporting event, “A Century of Olympic Posters” is more than just an eye-opener. Besides being extraordinary examples of graphic art, the exhibition also shows how these posters, have over centuries, become the harbingers of history, capturing the political and social mood of each country at a given point of time.

Posters are a vital means of communication for any event and the Olympic games have always used them to build excitement, shape expectations and most importantly express oneself. A towering example of this can be seen in the famous Mexican poster created during the 1968 games that reads Libertad De Expresion (liberty of expression), which aimed to voice the students’ protest to the games. It’s interesting to see how the artist incorporates the rings of the Olympic logo with the number “68”, to create an impression of a chain that compliments the image of a gagged face.
Sir Mark Jones, director, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, who was instrumental in bringing the exhibition to India, says, “All the posters displayed in the exhibition intended to communicate something about the circumstances under which they were created. They signify the changes in political background, while highlighting the spirit of the moment.”
It is fascinating to observe the sheer variation in form, technique, concept and presentation used by various graphic artists to produce stunning results that are eye-catchy and profound all at once. A highlight of the collection is the pioneering official Olympic poster for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, an original lithograph by Olle Hjortsberg that celebrates the athletic male body in the nude. Although the poster had some strategically placed streamers, it was considered too daring to be distributed in some countries. One also gets a vivid picture of the political unrest in the poster for the 1936 Barcelona games, which had to be cancelled eventually when the Spanish Civil War broke out. There are also photos of war-ravaged streets of Spain, where the tangled remains of the posters are strewn all over the streets.
Another deceptively simple looking work of art is an Andy Warhol creation for the winter games of Sarajevo in 1984, which shows an abstract form of a skier in the background of bright shades of red and green. The double outlines of the skier create an illusion of motion, which renders vibrancy to the simple strokes. Calling it a “personal favourite”, Sir Mark says, “It looks bright and vigorous. And if one looks closely, the abstract juxtaposition of colour in the background is actually strategically done to create a strong suggestion of movement.”
The 1964 Tokyo games used a photographic image on their poster for the first time, aptly titled The Start of Sprinters Dash. It was part of a series of posters that were in multi-coloured photogravure, a distinct technical accomplishment for Japan’s printing industry. The photo was taken on a wintry night at the National Stadium and approximately 90,000 copies of this poster were distributed.
As one walks past the walls of artistic genius, one can’t help but notice a sharp nosedive in creativity from the mid eighties. It’s as if with the influx of technology, the human mind took a backseat and what emerges is a picture of laziness and lack of imagination. But what makes it worthwhile are exceptions like the 1988 Seoul Fan Dance poster and the 1984 series of posters for the Los Angeles game, both of which portray an appealing amalgamation of photography and graphic art, sending across strong messages that capture the spirit of the games.

The exhibition is on at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum till March 15