from 18. 9. 2024 to 6. 1. 2025, Zasavje Museum of Trbovlje
The Silver Games 1984 in Trbovlje
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia (MNSZS) will host the exhibition The Silver Games 1984, which is the result of a collaboration between the MNSZS and the Sports Museum, in cooperation with the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, and which shows, among other things, the role of Slovenians in the entire Olympic event.
This year, we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the biggest sporting event to have been held in the former Yugoslavia. At the Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo from 8 to 19 February 1984 , Slovenians played an active role in the organisation and staging of the Games. A number of Slovenian sports officials took on key roles the preparation and upkeep of the competition venues. Some of them acted as head coaches of various disciplines in the then Yugoslav national team, the core of which was made up of Slovenian athletes. The Olympic Games were also imprinted in the memory and consciousness of Slovenians by the first Winter Olympic medal, which was won for Yugoslavia by the Slovenian skier Jure Franko. Journalists and other staff from Radio Ljubljana and Televizija Ljubljana also played an important role in the games, helping their colleagues from other Yugoslav republics to bring the sporting events into the homes of Slovenians.
We continue touring the exhibition in Zasavje Museum of Trbovlje from September 18 until January 6 in 2025.
The exhibition takes visitors from the time when Sarajevo was chosen to host the Games to the highlights of the competition days and the events during the Winter Olympics hosted by Yugoslavia. It features more than 300 original objects, photographs, and video content to give the visitor a glimpse of the Olympic atmosphere, events, and behind-the-scenes live of the Games. All this is further enriched by the memories and testimonies of athletes, sports workers, professionals, and officials, which were created in an inter-institutional collaboration between the two museums and the Siol.net website. Apart from the workers and athletes, the focus is also on Meta Hočevar, who designed the sets for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games, and the academy-trained painter Jože Trobec, who created the official mascot of the Games, the wolf Vučko.
Private collector Tomaž Alauf, who has lent much of his collection to the exhibition, says of his love of the 1984 Olympics: “It started with the first plush wolf, a few pendants and badges. Today, the collection comprises more than 4,000 items and, according to conversations with collectors from abroad, it is one of the largest in this part of Europe. It includes not only mascots and memorabilia from the 1984 Olympic Games, but also sports equipment, documents and clothing that were part of the Olympic Games.”
At the opening of the exhibition, a catalogue entitled Silver Games 1984 was published. The short and rounded texts show the sporting and behind-the-scenes events of one of the biggest sport events in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to a brief history of the modern Olympic Games and an outline of life in the 80s in Yugoslavia, the reader gets acquainted with ten more sports represented at the Games (ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, sledding, bobsleigh and Nordic combination). Many Slovenian sports workers who took care of the competition venues within the framework of ZOI, maintained them and took care of the implementation of competitions, a set designer who took care of the opening and closing ceremonies, and the authors of the still popular mascots of the Sarajevo Olympic Games. A special chapter is also devoted to the presentation of the fate and today’s state of once superbly prepared venues. The individual texts are enriched with numerous photos showing sporting events, venues and objects related to games. The last part of the catalogue conjures up a particularly nostalgic atmosphere, because many objects from a private collection are presented.
The catalogue is on sale at the museum.
-
Silver games 1984, opening Zasavje Museum Trbovlje, photo: Edi Hribšek, ZMT -
Silver games 1984, opening Zasavje Museum Trbovlje, photo: Edi Hribšek, ZMT -
Silver games 1984, opening Zasavje Museum Trbovlje, photo: Edi Hribšek, ZMT -
Silver games 1984, opening Zasavje Museum Trbovlje, photo AŠ, MŠ -
Silver games 1984, opening Zasavje Museum Trbovlje, photo: Edi Hribšek, ZMT
Exhibition authors
Exhibition design: Tomaž Perme
Language editing: Jezikovni pregled: Ana Tušek
Translation: Prevajalis, Darja Mevlja s.p.
English proofreading: Paul Steed
Photo editing: Sašo Kovačič, Sarah Poženel, Tomaž Perme
Educational content: Tina Bizjak
Photographs: Nace Bizilj, Egon Kaše, Janez Pukšič, Joco Žnidaršič, Nino Mihalek
PR service: Barbara Kolenc, Barbara Bukovec Mihevc, Andreja Potočnik
Video production: Javni zavod RTV Slovenija, Radio Slovenija, Kino Svečina d. o. o.
Lighting design: Marjan Visković
Printing: Epigram d. o. o., Pegaz International, d. o. o., Artiko d. o. o.
Participating institutions: Slovenski šolski muzej – OE Muzej športa, Olimpijski komite Slovenije
Participating individuals: Meta Hočevar, Jože Trobec, Urška Dolinar, Janez Pukšič, Tomaž Alauf, Saša Marušič, Danica Kaše
Sponsors of the opening ceremony: Sport Media Focus, Olimpijski komite Slovenije, Klet Goriška Brda
The exhibition catalogue has been made possible by: Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Ministrstvo za gospodarstvo, turizem in šport ter Ministrstvo ta vzgojo in izobraževanje ter Gorenje, d. o. o.
Media sponsor: Javni zavod RTV Slovenija, Delo, Europlakat, TSmedia in Sport Media Focus