Blog

Vitalism: art celebrating sport, bodies & nature

Health, youth and strength in Scandinavian and German art
Illustration from The Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la Cité des Dames) depicting two scenes. In the first scene, on the left side, a woman (the author) sits at the desk with books on it; in front of her, three women (three Virtues) are standing wearing crowns. In the second scene, on the right side, the female author is helping one of the Virtues (called Lady Reason) build the external walls of the titular City of Ladies.
Beguines and literature in the Middle Ages

13th century female semi-religious orders who created and transmitted vernacular literature
black and white photograph, wheelchair user athletes parading in a stadium in front of large crowd
Histories of the Paralympic Games

Evolution of the games for athletes with disabilities
What the White House could have looked like

The story of George Washington and the competition to design the residence of the President of the United States
colour painting depicting a woman reading at a table, while two children and a servant are talking
China for bookworms

Summer reading tips inspired by the Land of the Dragon
black and white photograph of a Latvian football team
11 vilki: the early history of Latvia's national football team

Playing for two decades in the 1920s and 1930s
painting portrait of a young woman, who wears a white cloak / dress with a detailed red collar, her hands are crossed and she holds white gloves
Migrants: portraits of figures who moved to Sweden

Summer exhibition at the Swedish National Portrait Gallery
colour photograph of a silver medal with pink and yellow ribbon on which is word 'Friendship'
The Gay Games

Friendship through Culture and Sports
colour photograph of a white and red lighthouse against a bright blue sky
Life on the rocks

Films about the histories of lighthouses across Europe
black and white poster showing Anna May Wong with the text Świat nocy
The Dragon Lady

Caught between history, fiction and stereotype
black and white photograph of a number of horses and jockeys jumping fences
Steeplechase: the Irish roots of the first race

Racing horses between two churches
black and white photograph, three young women, one of whom is eating an ice cream cone
The history of ice cream in Sweden

When ice cream travelled north
black and white photograph, group of men playing quoits, one quoit is flying through the air
Quoits - a traditional game still played in the Yorkshire Dales

Still going strong in the north of England
A souvenir from China

Chinese export paintings: testimonies of global trade
colour photograph, group of people at an air show looking up
Jaakko Julkunen, Finnish photojournalist

Capturing life in Finland in the mid-20th century
black and white photograph, male athletes running a race in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic stadium
The 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam

Remembering an Olympics of firsts

Cropped image of Saint Benedict. In one hand he holds the staff with the holy water brush, in the other hand a Bible with a chalice
Pray and work: The Rule of Saint Benedict

6th century guide for communal religious life
vintage colour postcard with a sailing boat and rowing boat on a lake in front of a number of buildings and trees
The Blue Ribbon Regatta on Lake Balaton

History of an annual sailing race on the largest lake in Central Europe
colour photograph, a group of people walking along a road
Vierdaagse: the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen

World's largest multiple day marching event
Black and white print after an oil painting by Konstantin Makowsky,
Hajj and the remarkable story of the Mahmal

Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to the sacred city of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. Discover the longstanding tradition of offering intricately produced textiles to the holy shrines.