Calgary 1988
The cultural program that accompanied the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary was the
longest that had ever been established up to that point in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. Lasting five weeks,
from January 23 to February 28, 1988,
the Olympic Festival of the Arts presented over 600 performances and exhibitions, in which 2,200
artists participated. The festival attracted 200,000 spectators and millions of others
tuned in to radio or television broadcasts of the events.
The festival program, which focused on the variety of Canadian artistic productions,
also featured numerous foreign productions. It was divided into several sections including
interpretive arts, visual arts, literature and film.
The longest cultural program to that point in the history of the Olympic Winter Games...
In terms of the interpretive arts, dance was certainly much in evidence with, among others,
performances by the National Ballet of Canada, the Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Joffrey
Ballet, the Bandurist Capella, and Ukrainian dancers (the Shumka dancers). Various
Canadian and foreign musical shows were represented, including concerts, operas, and
different types of music such as jazz and folk. Artists from the folk festival,
André-Philippe Gagnon and Michel Lemieux were featured. Over a dozen theatrical
productions were presented, including some by the Alberta Theatre Projects, the Shaw
Festival, the Cirque du Soleil, and The Flying Karamazov Brothers (jugglers).
There were various exhibitions featuring the visual arts. The museum-related exhibition
"The Spirit Sings - The Artistic Traditions of the First Peoples of
Canada," attracted 126,000 visitors. Over 80 collections from 16 different
countries, including Canada, provided 627 Aboriginal, Inuit and European artefacts
and artwork. A series of performances, demonstrations and film screenings also provided
an illustration of aboriginal culture.
In order to publicize the experience of the festival, commemorative artistic posters of
the Games were produced, promoting Canadian art and artists. Seven works of art,
produced using various techniques, were reproduced on billboards and transported to
eight large Canadian cities, including Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. In addition,
three arches symbolizing the olympic spirit were erected in Calgary.
 
The "Mask" exhibition was the most closely related to sports. This exhibition,
which attracted over 60,000 people, presented around 30 photographs of masks of goalies
that had played in the National Hockey League between 1959 and 1985. To announce this
exhibition, which took place in the Olympic Saddledome, a huge fibreglass hockey mask,
four metres in height, was placed outside the location where the events on ice
were to be held.
There were other exhibitions: "Olympex '88" was an exhibition of stamps illustrating
the Olympic Games and winter sports; "On Track" presented works combining art
and technology; "Restless Legacies" was an exhibition featuring the work of
almost 100 Canadian artisans. The exhibition "The Champions: Art and Olympism"
gathered together a Californian collection of 80 official olympic posters created during the
modern Olympic Games. Museums and galleries also presented exhibitions, in particular
"Horizon Alberta 88," which included over 250 works from across Alberta.
The festival of writers and the book fair were the main features of the literary program,
which also included novelists, poets, playwrights and screenwriters.
With regard to film, the Olympic Film Festival presented around 40 works from 21 countries,
and the Olympic Sports Film Festival screened a dozen films.
Some 650 artworks were exhibited as part of the "Winterfest 88" carnival.
National snow and ice sculpture contests were held, and the best cowboys in Canada and the
United States gathered for "Rodeo 88," which was held at the Calgary Stampede.
This was an extremely popular event.
The Olympic Arts Festival of the XV Olympic Winter Games, which mainly featured Canadian
works, was a resounding success.
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