What We Carry
Museion presents What We Carry, an exhibition that interweaves contemporary art with the core values of the Milano Cortina Cultural Olympiad 2026: inclusion, sustainability, and legacy. Featuring newly commissioned works and research by Sonia Leimer and Christian Kosmas Mayer, together with a landmark collection of 43 Olympic torches (1936–2024), the project explores how the design and symbolism of the torches intersect with questions of power, visibility, and cultural legacy. What We Carry evokes the way these values are passed from hand to hand—like the torches themselves—creating a living legacy where art meets sport.
With the exhibition Museion joins the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol in its mission to strengthen the region’s cultural identity and role as a hub for international exchange.
At the heart of the installation, Sonia Leimer’ expansive setting unveils a 50-meter infinity-shaped sculpture that refers to a running track and doubles as a pedestal for 42 of the Olympic torches, on loan from the Olympic Aid and Sport Promotion Project. This dynamic sculptural display transforms the torches into a powerful reflection on continuity and change, and the evolving values of the Olympic Games. Known for her sculptural and video work, Leimer often explores how physical spaces and everyday objects reflect shifting social narratives. In this project, she brings those concerns into the exhibition space, inviting viewers to consider how we engage with objects and how their meanings evolve over time.
One of the torches—the first Olympic torch from 1936—is displayed in a dedicated room within Christian Kosmas Mayer’s sculptural installation, part of his long-term research project The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson’s Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival. Commissioned by the Nazi-controlled German Olympic Committee for the inaugural torch relay of the modern Olympic Games, this torch is placed by Mayer in dialogue with the story of African American high jumper Cornelius Cooper Johnson. Despite winning gold in Berlin, Johnson was denied recognition: dismissed in Nazi Germany and excluded in his own country. After his return from the Games, he planted his “Olympic oak”—a tree awarded to all gold medalists—in Los Angeles, where it still stands today. Rediscovered decades later by Mayer in Koreatown, its seedlings now form part of the installation: living witnesses that carry the tree’s story across political, social, and ecological ruptures. In dialogue with the torch, the oak embodies a striking contrast: the fleeting fire of propaganda versus the enduring rootedness of lived history.
Finally, the new video Solar (2025) by Sonia Leimer revisits the ceremonial origins of the Olympic tradition through a quiet study of landscape, light, and gesture. The work captures the parabolic mirror in Lausanne, which was once used to ignite the Olympic flame using the sun’s reflection and the parabolic mirror in Athens that is still in use today for this purpose. A personal narrative weaves through the film, adding a subjective layer to the overarching theme of the sun and its influence on our living environments.
Statements
Bart van der Heide, Director of Museion
“The title What We Carry reflects a double meaning. On the one hand, it recalls the symbolic gesture of carrying the torch during the Olympic Games, a powerful act of continuity and connection. On the other, it points to the broader themes of heritage and legacy that the Games embody and transmit across generations. At Museion, cultural heritage is understood as a living, dynamic force rather than something fixed in stone. What We Carry highlights how art and sport intersect in the ongoing transmission of values that continue to shape our shared present and future.”
Stefano Podini, President of Olympic Aid and Sport Promotion Project
“This exhibition marks a unique moment where art meets sport, highlighting the values we share: inclusion, sustainability, and legacy. By presenting the Olympic torches as design objects within an artistic context, we underline not only their historical significance but also their role in inspiring future generations. Since antiquity, torches and flames burning beside the fields of competition symbolized peace, a sacred time during which wars ceased, and humanity gathered under the spirit of harmony. In this same tradition, our collaboration with Museion demonstrates how the Olympic spirit can extend beyond the Games themselves, entering society through culture and reinforcing the universal message of resilience, diversity, hope and peace.”
About the artists
Sonia Leimer works with film, sculpture and installation to interrogate categories of space and time. Leimer participated at the Industrial Art Biennale in Kroatia (2023), Venice Biennale for Architecture (2021), the Vienna Biennale for Change (2021), and the Vladivostok Biennale for Visual Arts (2017). She took part in the Moscow Biennale, Russia (2013 and 2015), and the Manifesta 7 Rovereto, Italy (2008).
Christian Kosmas Mayer, born in 1976 in Sigmaringen, lives in Vienna. Mayer’s art combines historical research with multimedia forms of expression. His works examine cultural memory and future visions. He participated in numerous exhibitions and was the recipient of several awards, including the Outstanding Artist Award.
Olympic Aid and Sport Promotion Project
The Olympic Torch Collection Project brings together one of the world’s most extensive ensembles of Olympic torches, spanning from 1936 to the present. The collection is dedicated to preserving the design and history of these iconic objects while supporting cultural and educational initiatives that promote the values of sport.
Collateral program
What We Carry
Exhibition13.11.2025 – 29.03.2026
