They were few critical voices, mainly on a national or local level, but they got lost in a sea of cele­bration. Those were new times in Europe: Berlin had just resur­rected itself after the reuni­fi­cation, and the Cold War was over – or was at least taking some breathing time.

Original script for the opening ceremony of the 25th Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

At the same time, my own country was collapsing. Yugoslavia, that was about to plunge into a Civil war, was not allowed to take part in the games due to United Nations sanc­tions. And while Europe’s new begin­nings were cele­brated in Barcelona using the motto Amigos para siempre (Friends forever), Yugoslavia was dying.

Anticipatory advertisements from the local press and critical leaflets distributed before the games in Barcelona.

25 years on, things have taken a different turn. Spain as many other coun­tries in Europe are faced with resur­facing fears con­cer­ning multi­cultu­ralism. Questions of how multi­national a state should be, are back on the table. A friendship that supposed to last forever didn’t last so long.

In 1992 the organizers of the Olympic Games commissioned 59 different posters designed by famous Spanish designers and artists (Antoni Tàpies, Josep M. Trias, Javier Mariscal, Enric Satué, etc.) at that time, to offcially represent the Games and reflect their open-minded character in their art work.

Original documents (e.g. the official application, design development, guidelines for press and the opening ceremony) from the Olympic archive at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

The abstract shapes, in the Olympic colors (red, blue, yellow and green), are based on the official corporate identity of the games, which was designed (back then) by the most famous graphic designer Javier Mariscal from Barcelona.

The visual concept of the Olympic Games was consi­de­red as pro­gres­sive light-headed and uncon­ven­tio­nal, in con­trast to the previous designs, which were often per­ceived as hard shaped and symmetrical.

We used to be friends was created during my stay in Barcelona in 2017, as part of the artist residence homesession.

In 1992, Barcelona shone in a new light. The whole world saw it as the ultimate open-minded, free and modern city that brought us fantastic Olympic Games, repre­sen­ting a new European era.

They were few critical voices, mainly on a national or local level, but they got lost in a sea of cele­bration. Those were new times in Europe: Berlin had just resur­rected itself after the reuni­fi­cation, and the Cold War was over – or was at least taking some breathing time.

I remem­ber watching the opening cere­mony on TV as a child and being comple­tely under the spell of the Olympic Euphoria.

At the same time, my own country was collapsing. Yugoslavia, that was about to plunge into a Civil war, was not allowed to take part in the games due to United Nations sanc­tions. And while Europe’s new begin­nings were cele­brated in Barcelona using the motto Amigos para siempre (Friends forever), Yugoslavia was dying.

25 years on, things have taken a different turn. Spain as many other coun­tries in Europe are faced with resur­facing fears con­cer­ning multi­cultu­ralism. Questions of how multi­national a state should be, are back on the table. A friendship that supposed to last forever didn’t last so long.

In 1992 the organizers of the Olympic Games commissioned 59 different posters designed by famous Spanish designers and artists (Antoni Tàpies, Josep M. Trias, Javier Mariscal, Enric Satué, etc.) at that time, to offcially represent the Games and reflect their open-minded character in their art work.

In addition to the normal print run there was a limited edition in silk-screen signed by the authors, which the Olympic Committee used as prestige gifts for the VIPs who visited Barcelona.

I  reinterpreted this ambitious project by silk­screening  59 different posters and adding a question to each of them – reflecting and challenging current issues relating to the definition of nations and nationality. The questions are not meant to be answered, rather to challenge our premature generalisation of nations and their behaviour.

The abstract shapes, in the Olympic colors (red, blue, yellow and green), are based on the official corporate identity of the games, which was designed (back then) by the most famous graphic designer Javier Mariscal from Barcelona.

The gallery space where the exhibition took place was briefly converted into a screen printing workshop.

The visual concept of the Olympic Games was consi­de­red as pro­gres­sive light-headed and uncon­ven­tio­nal, in con­trast to the previous designs, which were often per­ceived as hard shaped and symmetrical.

We used to be friends was created during my stay in Barcelona in 2017, as part of the artist residence homesession.