Qatar Museum Authority’s (QMA) Qatar Olympic & Sports Museum (QOSM) opened the largest exhibition of its kind three weeks ago on both the ancient and the modern Olympic Games, narrating the history of the Olympics in ancient Greece and their reestablishment in modern times.

Organised in partnership with ExxonMobil Qatar and on display until June 30, at Alriwaq Doha exhibition space, the ‘Olympics – Past & Present’ exhibition includes two different sections highlighting the ancient and the modern Games.

“Our tour guides have been exploring the exhibition with different school classes every day discovering the stories of Olympia and the Olympic Games. The students especially enjoy the physical activities such as trying out the ancient disciplines or competing against each other in the once Olympic discipline of tug-of-war,” explains QOSM education manager Hamda al-Mohannadi.

In addition, gallery talks for teenagers and adults are offered once a week allowing visitors to experience the exhibition from a specific perspective. Topics such as “Olympic Rituals” or “Athletes as Heroes” were presented to the audience in the past weeks.

The events programme kicked off with the theater production Medea, a co-operation between Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, Northwestern University Qatar and the Youth Company.

Upcoming events include “Hit the Building”, a visit of the Williams F1 Team and a conference on the history of doping and anti-doping. “Hit the Building” is a fun afternoon on Friday between 2 and 6 pm when participants get the chance to splatter Alriwaq Doha with balloons filled with paint and enjoy performances by a DJ, an Arab rap band and BeatBox.

On Monday the Williams F1 Team will visit the exhibition. The original Formula 1 car will be on display and the drivers Pastor Maldonado, Valtteri Bottas and Susie Wolff will available for photographs and autographs. The conference organised in cooperation with the Anti-Doping Lab Qatar will take place on May 6-7, 2013 at the auditorium of the Museum of Islamic Art and explore the historical, cultural and scientific aspects of doping.