Performance

Ever since Pierre de Coubertin promoted the first edition of the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, athletic performances have steadily increased with dozens of records being broken, often surpassing performance frontiers that were once unimaginable. This competition of the present against precedent and the past has profoundly shaped every aspect of competition, from competition and training, to the lifestyles and habits of individual athletes, sports psychology and nutrition.

PERFORMANCE reconstructs the history of the associated transformations: transformations in athletes (their physical condition, how they compete, and how they train); para-athletics (thanks to constantly evolving prosthetics); sports equipment, sports facilities, and infrastructures. New scientific discoveries have transformed sportswear (with the development of more efficient fabrics), safety (with the evolution of more effective protective gear), and the spectator experience (with fan engagement practices that continuously enhance the fan experience). Artificial intelligence and the use of data represent just the latest frontier in this evolution.

PERFORMANCE is the second of three exhibitions being held in preparation for Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and features an expanded data storytelling installation visualizing all 22,560 athletes who have ever participated in the Olympic Winter Games from its inception in 1924 to 2022. The project was developed and designed by Giacomo Nanni (metaLAB Berlin) and Professors Kim Albrecht (metaLAB Berlin, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf), Dario Rodighiero (Groenenfeld University) and Jeffrey Schnapp (metaLAB Harvard), who art directed both the preceding RECORDS and the present PERFORMANCE exhibition. The installation is on exhibition in the Gallerie di Piedicastello in Trento, Italy, a 6000 sq. meter pair of highway tunnels in Northern Italy repurposed as an experimental history museum, between February 6, 2025 to January 6, 2025.