The 9th Beijing Biennale, themed “the Light of Life”, eulogizes the value of life and highlights the dignity, power and glory of life. This session is a city cultural activity of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and will be held at the National Museum of China during the period of the Beijing 2022 Games. It is a continuation of the 3rd session, themed “Colors and the Olympics”, and highlights the visual charm of “power and beauty”. To facilitate your understanding, we provide 14 keywords related to the theme.
Description of Fossil / Debashis Pal(Bangladesh) / stone, ceramic / 198cm×48cm×30cm / 2007 / Work from the 3rd Beijing Biennale
Olympic Configuration / Nemith Ferenc(Hungary) / bronze / 96cm×63cm / 2006 / Work from the 3rd Beijing Biennale
Olympiad 2008 / Raul Vilchis Huitron(Mexico) / acrylic on canvas / 120cm×150cm / 2007 / Work from the 3rd Beijing Biennale
Infinite Competion / Zhou Changjiang(China) / mixed media / 150cm×500cm / 2008 / Work from the 3rd Beijing Biennale
Fuoco / Erica Forneris(Italy) / etching / 70×40cm / 2007 / Work from the 3rd Beijing Biennale
Key Word: Olympic Symbols, Flags, Mascots and Posters
The Olympic Games have its own symbols, mottoes, flags, anthems, emblems, medals and mascots. They bear rich cultural significance and demonstrate Olympic values.
Olympic Rings, symbol of the Olympic Games, consists of five interlocking rings colored blue, black, red, yellow and green. It represents the union of the five continents of the world and the meeting of friendly athletes from all over the world at the fair Olympic Games.
Olympic Rings
The Olympic flag was created by Coubertin in 1913 and was flown for the first time when the IOC held its 20th anniversary meeting in Paris. In the center of a white ground, five rings interlaced: blue, yellow, black, green and red.
1914 Olympic Congress in Paris
Olympic Flag
Beijing took over Olympic Flag at closing ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games 2004
The Olympic emblem is the most authoritative symbol of the Olympic Games. The Winter Olympic Games also has its own emblem, which always takes the Olympic flag or the flag of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) as background and has distinctive patterns of winter scenery or winter sports. On December 15th, 2017, the emblem of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics was launched in Beijing. The inspiration of the emblem design comes from the Chinese character for winter –”冬”. A stylized, calligraphic rendition of the Chinese character, which infuses Chinese culture with contemporary artistic elements, projects a new image of China in a new era, demonstrating the country’s commitment to a successful Winter Games. It also heralds the realization of China’s Winter Olympic Dream, namely, to encourage more Chinese people to take part in winter sports, to build China into a sporting power, and to promote winter sports and the Olympic Movement around the world.
Emblem of the Athens 1896 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Paris 1924 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Emblem of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games
Winter Dream and Flying, Emblems of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Respectively
Emblem Launch Ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games
Sports Logo of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Sports Logo of the 2022 Winter Paralympics
Mascot was originated from Provencal Mascotto, which was not collected in French dictionaries as Mascotte until the late 19th Century. It refers to people, animals and things that can bring good luck. The first Olympic mascot was born at the Grenoble Olympic Games in 1968. This mascot, named “Schuss”, was a little man on skis with a huge head and strong body. It represented the attribute of resistance and tenacity. Olympic mascots are always designed on the basis of distinctive animals of the host country. For instance, Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, official mascots of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics respectively, were inspired by giant panda (China’s national treasure) and lantern (a widely accepted Chinese symbol).
Mascot of the Grenoble 1968 Winter Olympics
Bing Dwen Dwen, Mascot of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Shuey Rhon Rhon, Mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics
Waldi, Mascot of the 1972 Olympic Games
Misha, Mascot of the 1980 Olympic Games
Syd, Millie and Olly, Mascots of the 2000 Olympic Games
Athena and Phevos, Mascots of the 2004 Olympic Games
Fuwa, Mascot of the 2008 Olympic Games
Vinicious, Mascot of the 2016 Olympic Games
Schneemann, Mascot of the Innsbruck Winter Olympics
Roni, Mascot of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics
Hidy, Mascot of the Calgary Winter Olympics
Magique, Mascot of the Albertville Winter Olympics
Miga and Quatchi, Mascots of the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Soohorang, Mascot of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
In addition to emblems and mascots, the Olympic Games also has posters, which are used in advertisements and promotion. The history of Olympic posters dates back to the Paris Olympic Games in 1900. Posters always feature athletes with certain gestures. For instance, the poster of the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games, designed by the Swedish artist Olle Hjortzberg, depicted athletes waving flags. Such a style was imitated by Olympic poster designers in the following twenty years. After the late 1940s, posters became more implicit, a style represented by the poster of the 1948 London Olympic Games designed by Herz. However, the 1960s witnessed the reverse of poster style back to heavy colors. Later, designers always take Olympic emblems as part of posters, and employ photos and pasteups to show the passion, dynamics and charm of the Olympic Games.
Poster of the 1900 Paris Olympic Games
Poster of the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games
Poster of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games
Poster of the 1948 London Olympic Games
Poster of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games
Poster of the 1960 Rome Olympic Games
Poster of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
Poster of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games
Poster of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Poster of the 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics
Poster of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics
Poster of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
Poster of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
The 14 key words will be published one by one. Look forward to your interest and participation in the Beijing Biennale.
