Championnes: the photo exhibition honoring women's sport unveiled at Galerie Roger-Viollet

Victoire is a feminine name... And it's a very good name for women. The galerie Roger-Viollet and the newspaper L'Equipe are devoting a brand-new exhibition to female champions, the sportswomen who left their mark on the inter-war period. The photo exhibition Championnes ! Une histoire du sport féminin dans l'entre-deux guerres is on view from June 13 to September 21, 2024.

This free exhibition brings together some 90 previously unpublished photos from the Roger-Viollet gallery collections and the archives of the Excelsior newspaper (the former French daily bought by L'Equipe).

The First World War and the 1920s accelerated the independence and liberation of women in France. They gradually gained access to fields previously reserved exclusively for men, including the world of sport. The exhibition illustrates these small revolutions, carried out through soccer matches and athletics competitions.

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Swimming, cycling, running or high jumping, soccer, tennis, basketball: women are entering all sporting disciplines, willingly or unwillingly. Competitions are multiplying and becoming increasingly international, attracting more and more spectators and sportswomen. These athletes don't just take on their opponents: they also fight against prejudice, medical misconceptions and misogyny, to impose their will and their ambitions.

These photographs illustrate the emancipation of women, but also theevolution of sports. These images show how basketball baskets have changed, and how sportswear has become more professional. We also discover, with amusement, sports that have now disappeared.

This exhibition is home to even more treasures: photography enthusiasts should be amazed by these beautiful shots, images that captured movement as close to the action as possible, at a time when cameras were cumbersome and rudimentary.

Want even more? Good news: this exhibition continues outdoors. On the gates of Gabriel Pierné square, near the Seine, and right opposite the gallery. There, you'll discover some twenty large-format photographs, the better to admire the exploits of these female athletes.

Let's go and visit this exhibition... And run!