Cortina 1956: Olympic Memory, Archives, and Contemporary Art.The Story of Fondazione Dompé

In 1956, Cortina d’Ampezzo became the center of the world with the Winter Olympic Games—an event that left a lasting mark on Italy’s cultural and visual history. More than a sporting competition, the Games represented a moment in which Italy projected a new image of itself: modern, internationally minded, and capable of weaving together nature, architecture, graphic design, and communication. Seventy years later, that experience continues to be reinterpreted not only by sports historians, but also by the art world, which sees Cortina 1956 as an archive of forms, ideas, and symbols that remain strikingly relevant.

Within this atmosphere of intense cultural energy, one of the less visible yet meaningful protagonists was Dompé Farmaceutici, then a young Milan-based company. Its presence in Cortina reflects a vision of sport as a space for research, care, and attention to the individual—values that emerge clearly today through the materials preserved by Fondazione Dompé. Photographs, documents, and historical testimonies speak not only of competitions and athletes, but also of an Olympic Games experienced as a collective moment, in which the human body became a symbol of balance, progress, and beauty.

Today, this historical heritage enters into dialogue with the present through a renewed cultural commitment that views contemporary art as a tool for interpretation. As part of the Cultural Olympiad program, Fondazione Dompé presents exhibitions, talks, and a new sculpture that does more than celebrate the past—it transforms it into an opportunity for reflection. Conceived as a permanent work, the sculpture draws inspiration from the Olympic spirit to explore movement, time, and memory, demonstrating how sport can become an artistic language and a source of visual inspiration.

Revisited through archives and art, Cortina 1956 thus ceases to be merely a historical date and becomes a living narrative—one that spans generations and brings together sport, enterprise, and creativity. In this interplay between past and present, art finds a privileged space to make visible what often remains unseen: the human and symbolic value of sport as a shared cultural heritage.