COMPETITION is the concluding chapter of the “Interconnecting Rings” (Anelli di congiunzione) exhibition trilogy, developed for one of the world’s most unique exhibition sites, the Gallerie di Piedicastello (Trento Tunnels), in support of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics by the Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino in collaboration with the Olympic Museum of Lausanne. It follows on the heels of Records (2024) and Performance (2025).
All three “rings” are exhibitions in which I was involved in the concept development, art direction, and curatorial oversight, in addition to crafting much of the exhibition narrative and (in the case of Competition), the recorded voice overs. The splendid installation design and graphics are by Daniele Ledda and his talented team at XYcomm (Milan).
The exhibition explores the emotional dimensions of sport by means of immersive installations and interactive experiences that highlight the ways in which athletes experience, express, and share the emotions prompted by competition on the world stage. At the heart of the exhibition, an installation entitled “Words of Olympians” allows visitors to listen to 24 medal‑winning athlete interviews from the Olympic Museum’s Oral History archive (which encompasses more than 900 testimonies from 123 countries). The show takes the visitor on a journey inside the mind of athletes in an exploration of what transpires BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER a competition.
The exhibition in numbers
– the Black Tunnel is 280 meters in length
– the exhibition space measures 2,820 square meters
– there are two interactive workstations
– an immersive kaleidoscope serves as the entrance to the exhibition
– there are over 25 exhibits
– there are 40 monitors
– there are 30 large projections
– there are 12 VR stations
– there is one interactive digital gym
– 400 videos and images from the archives of The Olympic Museum (IOC) are featured in the exhibition itinerary
Competition will run through the end of 2026, well beyond the completion of the Milan Cortina games.