Football as Sacred Representation: Mucem Marseille Exhibition

The Mucem in Marseille presents 'Nous sommes Foot', an exhibition exploring football as a cultural phenomenon. Curated by Gilles Perez and Florent Molle, the show challenges French elitism that disdains popular passions, framing football as a language with poets and prose writers, as Pasolini wrote. The exhibition examines football's iconography from street games to commercial negotiations, featuring objects like baby tracksuits, hero posters, sticker albums, scarves, and even tombstones commemorating stadium attendance. Works include Daniele Segre's 'Ragazzi di stadio' (1977) and 'Il potere deve essere bianconero' (1979), Giorgio Moroder's graphic video for Italia 90, and Paulo Ito's mural 'Starving boy with football' (2014). A Dolce & Gabbana 2006 campaign with half the Italian national team is shown alongside historical World Cup trophies and remnants of the old Maracanã. The final section advocates for a return to solidarity, accessibility, and educational football, though it lapses into rhetoric. The exhibition runs until February 4, 2018, at Mucem, 7 promenade Robert Laffont, Marseille.