Adrian Murphy
Europeana Collections Manager , Europeana Foundation
In 2021, we celebrate the welcome return of sport to our summers, with the Olympic Games, the European Football Championships and many more sporting events. Explore how our Sports season will share the story of Europe through our sporting heritage in the past and the present.
Taking 2021’s summer of sport as our inspiration, our sport season explores and celebrates how sport shapes our sense of self, community and Europe, through a variety of remarkable cultural heritage objects that showcase the geographic and cultural diversity of Europe.
Because sport is so much more than exercise - it’s teamwork, it’s cooperation, it’s nationhood, it’s shared experiences, shared successes and failures. It’s an integral part of our cultural heritage.
Throughout the summer and beyond, Europeana will feature digital storytelling about sporting heritage in a number of formats.
Editorials on the Europeana website will illustrate the story of European sporting heritage through a variety of remarkable cultural heritage objects that showcase the geographic and cultural diversity of Europe.
Blogs and galleries will feature a wide range of sports - from football and athletics to less-played sports like futnet and surfing. We will feature the lives of both famous and unfamiliar men and women who have played sports, as well as describing sports you may not have heard of, such as ploughing. All the editorials will be gathered on a specially created page on Europeana.
Beyond the Europeana website, keep an eye on our social media profiles to discover interactive features highlighting sporting heritage. We’re planning regular games and quizzes to engage audiences in new ways, including an email course at the end of the summer. To start, you can follow our alternate arts and culture European Cup tournament, a virtual equivalent to EURO2020 - more information will be available soon on our Instagram.
In the same way that Europeana 1914-1918, Europeana Migration and Europe at Work gathered personal stories from the public, partners in the Europeana Sport project will gather personal stories of sporting activities and achievements.
Events - both in person and online - will take place over the next months. Our partners are planning events in France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Scotland and Spain, in venues such as stadiums, schools, museums and more.
Some events have already taken place - Biblioteca Județeană 'Octavian Goga' in Cluj-Napoca, Romania hosted two collection days in April and May. The next event will take place in EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin later in June. Read more details about these Europeana Sport events.
We invite you to be part of our season and help bring our shared story to life. There are a number of ways to take part:
Share sport heritage stories by writing a blog for the Europeana website. Read more about how to pitch your ideas.
Host a collection day event in your venue or contribute to an online campaign, encouraging your audiences to share their stories of sporting heritage.
Help us identify your content on Europeana or provide new content to Europeana that demonstrates our sporting heritage.
Pioneer new ways to engage audiences digitally - we’d love to hear your ideas.
Spread the word about this season to your networks and audiences.
Please contact [email protected] and / or [email protected] if you are interested or would like to know more about Europeana Sport, or go to our Europeana Sport page on Pro.
