Installation shot of CHAMPS, 2023. Courtesy: the artist and Granville Centre Art Gallery, Sydney.

Sport in all its glory has been part of our history since time immemorial, from Olympia where Zeus was honoured by a festival, to the Chinese football type game called ‘Tsu Chu’, to our modern-day Commonwealth or Olympic games. Competition, perseverance, strength, bodies, strategy and teamwork have all driven our passion for sport.

For better or worse, the art of sport is a part of most people’s everyday lives. Sport can create a sense of community or be used to improve our mental and physical health, but it can also have its downsides. Because sport is such a part of life, it is not immune to the outdated structures that we live within. Politics, racism and exclusion are also rife within it, however we cannot deny its importance.

Prior to the formation of Cumberland City Council in 2016, the former Auburn City Council area included the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, hosting the main venues of the 2000 Summer Olympics. Using this local connection as a starting point, CHAMPS brings together a group of artists who explore the dynamics of sport and how we can relate to or debate it. Through works that look at slogans to the movement of unconventional bodies or the anxieties and pressures put upon athletes, each artist in the exhibition provides their own point of view on why sport is so revered and heavily debated.

Featured artists include: Tracey Moffatt, Ans Westra, Min Wong, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Frances Barratt, Billy Bain, Elisabeth Pointon, Darcell Apelu, Samia Sayed and David Prichard.