Football is a vital part of Italian and Scottish national histories and cultures and at the same time is part of a shared culture, as an exhibition at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden Park, home of Scotland’s national team, was able to show.
The exhibition “Strikers & Stickers – Football stories between Italy and Scotland”, which runfrom the 6th of February to the 12th of March, celebrated the connections between the football cultures of the two countries exploring the stories of teams and male and female players and featuring a quintessential Italian football icon: the Panini stickers.
The original material on display was part of Gianni Bellini’s private collection, considered the world leading collector of football cards, a product that has changed through the years to become a form of historical and cultural entertainment. Simone Ferrarini‘s illustrations instead evoked a graphic language once used in the newspapers, now offering romantic suggestions.
At the exhibition – presented by the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh in collaboration with Mo’ Better Football, the Scottish Football Museum, Panini and the Consulate General of Italy for Scotland and Northern Ireland – visitors had the chance to relive unforgettable moments, savour the joy of a victory or softly recall the sting of a defeat. Adult visitors were invited to reconnect with familiar faces and characters that evoke memories of their youth or other significant times; younger guests were introduced to an unknown imagery full of surprising charm.
“This exhibition – Chiara Avanzato, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh, said – aims to highlight that football is a vital part of Italian and Scottish national histories and cultures and at the same time is part of a shared culture; regardless of the colour of the jersey, of where and at what level it’s being played, football can embody the positive values that sport can represent and that we want to promote”.
LaRedazione
