Sport
Challenging the Body
Exhibition - from saturday 01 nov 2025 | to sunday 22 mar 2026
Fabrizio Ferri, Untitled #4 (serie ERA), dicembre 1995. Courtesy l’artista Crediti fotografici: Fabrizio Ferri
Antonio Canova, "Damosseno", 1794-1806 Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno (TV), inv. 55 Crediti fotografici: Museo Gypsotheca Antonio Canova, Possagno (TV), Ph. Lino Zanesco
Fortunato Depero, "Sci e Dolomiti", 1952, Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Fondo Depero
Giovanni Testori, "Pugile I", 1969, Collezione Associazione Giovanni Testori Crediti fotografici: Archivio Associazione Giovanni Testori
Bicicletta da pista di Fausto Coppi, fine 1945, Collezione Paolo Amadori Crediti fotografici: Ediciclo Editore
Tullio Crali, "Le forze della curva", 1930, Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Deposito a lungo termine
Adalberto Libera, "Tennista 1", s.d. Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Donazione Eredi Adalberto Libera
Mimmo Jodice, "Atleti, Villa dei Papiri di Ercolano, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Napoli, Italia (dalla serie Mediterraneo)", 1990-1995, Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto Collezione “i Cotroneo”
Robert Mapplethorpe, "Derrick Cross", 1983, Ph credit: © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission
- When
- from saturday 01 nov 2025 | to sunday 22 mar 2026
- Cost
- General admission €15, discount admission €10 (ticket valid for all current exhibitions)
- Credits
- Curated by Antonio Calbi, Daniela Ferrari.
As part of the Milan Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympics and Combinazioni_caratteri sportivi, Provincia Autonoma di Trento.
- Where
- Mart Rovereto
- Type
- Exhibition
On the occasion of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the Mart presents Le sfide del corpo [Challenging the Body].
Through hundreds of works of art and archival materials, the exhibition Sport. Le sfide del corpo explores the way that the visual arts have represented the human body in sports.
While sport is the mass phenomenon par excellence, art has definitely contributed to the iconography of the myth.
From Myron’s ‘Discobolus [Discus Thrower]’ to contemporary legends, the exhibition highlights how the narrative of the body performing various sports defined the origins of heroes and heroines, whether classical athletes, wrestlers or present-day icons.
While there are relevant references to antiquity and the origins of myths, the project gives modern and contemporary works special attention.
Following the multidisciplinary approach that has always characterised the Mart, paintings, sculptures, photographs, posters, illustrations, comics, publications, fashion, objects, tools, trophies and memorabilia will be on exhibit. Prestigious loans from public and private collections will interact with masterpieces from the museum’s collections.
There are eight themed sections: Le origini, Corpo a corpo, In squadra, Oltre il limite, Nell’acqua, Corpi volanti/corpi danzanti, Correre, Al freddo [Origins, Hand-to-hand Combat, Teamwork, Beyond the limit, In the Water, Flying Bodies/Dancing Bodies, Racing, In the Cold].
Examples of artworks are the famous series of photographs that Mimmo Jodice dedicated to athletes, but also the ‘pugili [boxers]’ by Marini Marini, Carlo Carrà or Piero Pompili, the footballers by Maurizio Cattelan, and the wrestlers by Tullio Crali. Also featured in the exhibition alongside these extraordinary works from the Mart's collections are those by Fortunato Depero, Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Adalberto Libera, Fausto Pirandello, Massimo Campigli, Mario Sironi, Giulio Paolini and many others.
The exhibition is part of the cultural project Combinazioni_caratteri sportivi, conceived and promoted by the Department of Culture of the Autonomous Province of Trento to bring together local museums around a common theme.
The exhibition Sport. Challenges of the Body is supported by Radio Monte Carlo, Media Partner.