FIFA Museum presents new exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game"

By Xinhua Published: Oct 13, 2023 03:22 PM

A staff member introduces exhibits during the press preview for the new exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" at the FIFA Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023. The FIFA Museum in Zurich presents the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" from Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

People visit the FIFA Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023. The FIFA Museum in Zurich presents the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" from Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

A staff member introduces exhibits during the press preview for the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" at the FIFA Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023. The FIFA Museum in Zurich presents the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" from Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

People visit the FIFA Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023. The FIFA Museum in Zurich presents the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" from Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

People walk down the stairs with a pattern featuring football at the FIFA Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2023. The FIFA Museum in Zurich presents the exhibition "Designing the Beautiful Game" from Oct. 13, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

The FIFA Museum in Zurich is showcasing a new exhibition, "Designing the Beautiful Game", originally from the Design Museum in London, and called the exhibition "the next milestone in its history".

The exhibition, which debuted in London last year, is the first major exhibition focusing on the design aspects of football, and the FIFA Museum has incorporated additional objects from its own collection to create a special experience for fans.

From the boots of Pele to the shinpads of Lionel Messi, the exhibition aims to explore the past 150-year football history with the first FIFA World Cup heavy leather balls in 1930, the distinctive green goalkeeper's kit from the 1930s, the first sports whistle used in 1886, etc.

Tim Marlow, Director of the Design Museum in London, said at an opening ceremony here on Thursday, "Pele described football as 'the beautiful game', so we thought that's the exhibition title, which is the first exhibition ever to look at football in the last 150 years through the lens of design."

The exhibition, set to open on Friday, has three main sections - performance, identity, and crowds. Each facet approaches the game from its own unique perspective through objects, photos, films, and sound clips, bringing design's crucial role to the forefront of the understanding of football history and development.

"I think technologically football has evolved. The quality of pitches, quality of boots, quality of balls, and the people which are combined with medical, science and the design means at the highest level, it's a faster, more skillful game. It's a highly involved sport at the lower levels. It's about all the things that you remember about play, enjoyment, fitness and tribalism," Marlow said.

"I would love this show to come to China. I think it's an extraordinary thing to do, particularly as China is now embracing football," Marlow added.