Art and Sport at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics: A Conversation with Živa Škodlar

One of my fondest memories from my year of teaching art in Slovenia in 2024 was meeting Živa Škodlar, art historian and director of Visconti Fine Art. During my time living in Ljubljana, I was exploring the intriguing intersections between art and sport. Do athletes and artists think in similar ways, or are their approaches entirely opposite? Can sport be celebrated through art? And can art be used to support athletes’ wellbeing before big tournaments?

It was a serendipitous moment that led me to explore these questions further. While walking through Ljubljana—I stumbled across a small gallery opening with a large poster “Art and Sport.” Up the stairs, I entered a room with high ceilings and original Andy Warhol pieces adorning the walls. Floor-to-ceiling books lined the entrance. I asked the receptionist, a local art student, if I could meet the gallery owner, after a quick phone call to the upstairs apartment Živa Škodlar walked in.

I was immediately struck by the depth of her knowledge. Over the course of our initial chat, she shared stories and photographs from decades of curating, alongside her husband Lazo Vujić, one-man shows for some of the most iconic artists of our time. Their archive included encounters with Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, David Hockney, Henry Moore, Robert Rauschenberg, Tom Wesselmann, Vladimir Veličković, and Dušan Džamonja. As an art teacher, I experienced second-hand starstruck moments—here I was speaking to someone intimately acquainted with the very artists I teach to my Year 7 students.

During our interview a week later one of the most extraordinary discoveries was the collection of prints in front of me, curated by Živa herself, from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. This “Art and Sport” project brought a significant cultural and artistic dimension to the games, featuring graphic prints by internationally renowned artists, including Warhol, Hockney, and Cy Twombly. Each piece interprets the Olympic spirit and the dynamism of sport through a unique artistic lens.

Our conversation lasted over two hours, and we recorded our discussion while I soaked in the atmosphere of the gallery. Afterwards, I was invited upstairs to their apartment, where I enjoyed a traditional Slovenian meal, exchanging stories about art and british humour. The videos from that day are archived and will be made into a short film.

Thank you, Živa, for welcoming me into your world and your home. Meeting you and experiencing Visconti Fine Art has left a lasting impression, deepening my understanding of how art and sport can converse, inspire, and coexist.

https://viscontifineart.com/