ACQUISITION POLICIES

Witnesses to different Olympic eras, our patrimonial collections form a unique heritage, which the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage strives to expand, preserve and share. The artefact collections are developed with a consistent approach, based on the financial and logistical capacities of the Foundation. Most of our acquisition efforts and financial resources are devoted to rare or underrepresented objects: sports equipment from before 1984, athlete uniforms from before 1964, ceremony costumes from before 1988, and objects from the first Games of the modern era or linked to Presidents Demetrius Vikelas and Avery Brundage.
Every two years, during and after each edition of the Games,  the acquisition priority is collecting iconic objects: winners’ medals, official posters, mascots, athletes’ equipment, objects which illustrate the Olympic values, and those related to the ceremonies, Olympic legacy and the promotion of the host country’s culture.

Priority is given to donations. These are sought in particular from athletes at the various editions of the Olympic Games. For their part, the audiovisual collections and historical archives are added to mainly by what the IOC produces itself.

Any donation proposal concerning photographs or audiovisual documents is welcome, and will be studied by our teams on the basis of our acquisition policy criteria.

For more details about our artefact collections policy, click here.

Fanny SMITH (SUI), bronze medallist at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter OG, signing the ski cross suit she donated to the Olympic Museum.