Works by renowned contemporary artists paying tribute to soccer have been brought together in the Ball in Art exhibition. The exhibition at Zariadie park, near the Kremlin, brings together more than 60 works from 20 different artists, including pioneering Spanish video artist Antoni Muntadas.

Three videos created by Muntadas are projected in a separate room in the 560-sq.-mt. (6,028 sq. ft.) facility that houses the exhibition.

“The sphere of spectacle is reflected upon in three Muntada´s works based on football, investigating topics such as mass events, identity, violence and sport. They belong to the series On Translation which analyses the concept of ‘translation’ from wide-ranging perspectives, tackling linguistics, as well as economic, political and cultural issues. Football has become one of the biggest mass media spectacles in the world followed by millions of viewers, feeding the lucrative sports business. There are various packaging and rules for the way in which the ‘spectacle’ is presented by the producers and managers, to send messages to the audience. In international competitions played by national teams, there is the ritual of singing the national anthem at the beginning of the match.  On Translation: Hinmes discloses the different social behaviours of the players during that moment in order to reflect on patriotism, colonization and globalization.

One of the most exciting moments in a football match is when a goal is scored. On Translation: Celebracions makes manifest a chain of such reactions and rituals, reflecting on the personal, intimate and almost erotic reactions between the players as well as on the universal phenomena of interaction between the player and the sports fans. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is responsible for the organisation of the international tournaments and their rules. On Translation: FIFA 2014 is a mural of different images related to football, presented during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, where advertising, fanaticism, violence and control point to the flip side of ‘spectacle’.” Carolina Grau

Ball in Art also brings together works by other renowned artists such as Dario Escobar, from Guatemala, Marco Marin, from Brazil, and Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu, whose works pay tribute to the extraordinary goals scored by Argentine legend Diego Maradona. A light and sound concert by German artist Karsten Winkels will also be presented in Moscow during the World Cup.