By Gina Baldivieso |
La Paz, May 13 (EFE).- The emotion of the goals, the tension of the penalty shootout, the outburst of emotion upon finding out that they were world champions and the celebrations in Qatar, Buenos Aires and La Paz are reflected in a photographic exhibition inaugurated in Bolivia whose protagonists are Lionel Messi, ‘la Scaloneta’ and their passionate fans.
“Images of Passion” is the title of the exhibition organized by the Embassy of Argentina in La Paz and installed in the National Museum of Art (MNA) with nearly fifty images that reflect the preamble, development and outcome of the final of the soccer World Cup played in Qatar in 2022 in which the Albiceleste were crowned champions for the third time.
“What we want to highlight in this exhibition is how soccer is intrinsically linked to life,” the director of the MNA, Iván Castellón, explained to EFE.
Castellón quoted the Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano, “an unforgettable writer and a self-confessed soccer devotee” who said that “soccer is a cultural fact that should be in the history of our peoples, and unfortunately it is not.”
In an effort to diversify the artistic expressions that it presents to the public, the museum exhibits works in different formats, “and in this case photographs about soccer” in an exhibition that pays “homage to the players and fans,” he said. .
For the director of the MNA, the players are “some artists who develop ‘performances’ in the stadiums” which, at the same time, are like “giant museums where people go.”
“And these people, the fans, when they celebrate the plays and the goals that make the public explode, also carry out ‘performances’”, he said.
Genesis of the exhibition
The idea of holding an exhibition to commemorate Argentina’s victory in the final against France arose “almost instantly” on December 18 after the celebration at the Argentine residence in La Paz and which later took to the streets, he told EFE. Argentine ambassador to Bolivia, Ariel Basteiro.
The diplomat hosted dozens of Argentine and Bolivian fans at the residence to watch and support the Albiceleste in all the games they played in Qatar, during which some photographs were taken, he explained.
To these images were added others made by officials from the embassy in Buenos Aires when the people poured into the streets en masse to receive their champions and then negotiations were made with Argentine sports photojournalists to include others recorded in the Qatari Lusail stadium, where played the final.
“So with all that photographic capital that the embassy had, we decided to make a sample and not just leave it locked up in the areas of our embassy or in an imminently Argentine setting, but to be able to share this with the Bolivian people,” Basteiro said.
Argentines, said the ambassador, “usually express everything with a lot of passion” and soccer is no exception, so the photographs chosen for the exhibition reflect precisely that.
“You can see the passion, the joy, the laughter, the crying in some cases, all linked to what was that sporting triumph that in Argentina fulfills an almost natural equation,” he said.
The protagonists
The sample is a linear journey that begins with the preview of the fans to the expectation of the match, which was finally defined in favor of the South Americans 4-2 in the penalty shootout, after equalizing 3-3 after extra time. .
Then the shots of some plays, the celebrations of the goals of Messi and Ángel Di María in regulation time and the dispute of balls with the French players stand out.
The emotion of the goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez who is going to hug Paulo Dybala and the expectation of ‘la Scaloneta’, the squad led by Lionel Scaloni, during the penalty shootout, the celebration on the pitch after the final whistle and Messi raising the cup are also part of the exhibition.
In addition, there are photos of the tremendous reception of millions of Argentines to their heroes in Buenos Aires and the euphoria of the fans who celebrated the victory in the streets of the Sopocachi neighborhood of La Paz.
The photographs are complemented by the projection of videos of some plays and the exhibition of some shirts.
The exhibition will be open until June 6 and will also coincide with the Long Night of Museums scheduled for May 20.