A Call to the Games: An Olympic posters exhibition

ARE you ready for the London Olympics, Melbourne? The National Sports Museum is hosting an Olympic posters exhibition to get everyone in the spirit.

The London Olympics is almost upon us. And while there doesn’t seem to be much going on in Melbourne with regards to it, the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is actually exhibiting a collection of rare Olympic posters from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The exhibition, A Call to the Games: Olympics Posters, will feature more than 100 official Olympic posters from all the way back in 1851, right up to ones which publicised London’s bid for this year’s games. Each poster, in addition to being a unique snapshot of its era, reflects how the respective host country had hoped to portray itself to the world.

Some of the posters were in fact designed by renown artists such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, and Victor Vasarely, and worked on by prominent graphic designers like Otl Aicher and Lance Wyman.

The exhibition goes on until September 16. However, each Tuesday at 3pm until then, experts on the subject will conduct Afternoon Exhibition Insights, a guided tour of the posters where they will provide their insights into the creation of the works of art.

Tickets are priced at $20 and $16.00 for adults and concession card holders respectively, and can be purchased at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or online. For more information about the exhibition, visit the National Sports Museum website.