Culture news and discussion on TalkFuse.
The beautiful game: revived art prize gives football its creative due once more | Emma John
The revived Football Art Prize is showing that football can inspire a far wider range of art than portraits of famous players or iconic matches. Its return matters because football and the art world have long been seen as separate, despite the sport’s deep personal and cultural significance.
The prize began in 1953, backed by the Arts Council, and helped bring LS Lowry’s *Going To The Match* to public attention. This year’s exhibition, at the National Football Museum after a run at Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery, includes still lifes, documentary photography and satirical paintings; the winning video, Alina Akbar’s *Footwork*, links keepy-uppy with Kathak dance to explore identity and South Asian migration.
In short
- The Football Art Prize has returned with a wide range of work.
- Alina Akbar won with a video connecting football and Kathak dance.
- The exhibition explores football’s personal and cultural meaning.
Explained simply
Football is played and watched around the world, but it has often been treated as separate from the visual arts. Artists have explored it in many ways, from scenes of everyday life to images that question what the sport means to people.
The Football Art Prize was first established in 1953 with support from the Arts Council. It helped bring attention to LS Lowry’s painting Going To The Match, which depicts crowds heading to a game.
The revived prize brings together work including photography, still lifes and painting. Its winning video, Alina Akbar’s Footwork, combines keepy-uppy with Kathak dance, drawing on questions of identity and South Asian migration.
Art Culture Entertainment Europe Football Music Sport World