Exhibit focus in on global allure of soccer
Laura Rheinheimer
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
With the soccer World Cup less than two months away, a photo exhibit in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joint Library attempts to show the global importance of the sport.
"The World Language of Soccer" is a collection of photos and art exhibits displaying soccer from around the globe.
One photograph shows a man sleeping with a soccer ball as his pillow on a beach in France.
Another photograph shows a man playing with a ball in the courtyard of a mosque in Egypt.
"(Soccer) is omnipresent in everyday life, and this exhibition really shows that," said Romey Sabalius, coordinator of the German program, who organized the show.
The exhibition also displays a soccer ball, jerseys, cleats and a table game called Subbuteo.
The soccer ball and cleats are Sabalius's own, with original dirt on them. He said the photographs show how soccer is played across nations, cultures, religions, genders and ages.
"I think it's cool that these people don't have much in common, but they could all get together and play soccer," said Andrew Schwartz, a senior majoring in political science who was visiting the exhibition.
Soccer is the most widely practiced sport in the world, although it is not as popular in the United States as it is in other countries, Sabalius said. He equated soccer's global importance to the importance of football, baseball and basketball combined in the U.S.
The Goethe Institute in San Francisco, an organization that promotes German culture, put the exhibit together as part of the World Cultural Program, which promotes the World Cup and soccer in general.
This year, the World Cup will be held in Germany starting June 9.
Dominique van Hooff, chair of the department of foreign languages, said the department wanted to show the common language of soccer across cultures.
"It shows that it's not just a local thing; it involves everyone," van Hooff said. "This is a world event that we want to support because it gets people from all different cultures together."
Some of the exhibition's visitors said they were reminded of playing soccer as children. Sabalius said that one person commented in the guest book that the exhibition reminded her of growing up in Iran.
"It brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people of their childhoods and their homelands," Sabalius said.
The opening for the event, held on March 7, included opening remarks by San Jose State University President Don Kassing and was attended by the consulate generals of Germany and of Switzerland.
Sabalius said there was intense interest in the exhibition from the moment it was put up. He said it seemed to appeal to the cultural diversity on campus.
"Everybody was very enthusiastic about it," Sabalius said. "It has been great."
"The World Language of Soccer," will be taken down April 28.
"The World Language of Soccer" is a collection of photos and art exhibits displaying soccer from around the globe.
One photograph shows a man sleeping with a soccer ball as his pillow on a beach in France.
Another photograph shows a man playing with a ball in the courtyard of a mosque in Egypt.
"(Soccer) is omnipresent in everyday life, and this exhibition really shows that," said Romey Sabalius, coordinator of the German program, who organized the show.
The exhibition also displays a soccer ball, jerseys, cleats and a table game called Subbuteo.
The soccer ball and cleats are Sabalius's own, with original dirt on them. He said the photographs show how soccer is played across nations, cultures, religions, genders and ages.
"I think it's cool that these people don't have much in common, but they could all get together and play soccer," said Andrew Schwartz, a senior majoring in political science who was visiting the exhibition.
Soccer is the most widely practiced sport in the world, although it is not as popular in the United States as it is in other countries, Sabalius said. He equated soccer's global importance to the importance of football, baseball and basketball combined in the U.S.
The Goethe Institute in San Francisco, an organization that promotes German culture, put the exhibit together as part of the World Cultural Program, which promotes the World Cup and soccer in general.
This year, the World Cup will be held in Germany starting June 9.
Dominique van Hooff, chair of the department of foreign languages, said the department wanted to show the common language of soccer across cultures.
"It shows that it's not just a local thing; it involves everyone," van Hooff said. "This is a world event that we want to support because it gets people from all different cultures together."
Some of the exhibition's visitors said they were reminded of playing soccer as children. Sabalius said that one person commented in the guest book that the exhibition reminded her of growing up in Iran.
"It brought back a lot of memories for a lot of people of their childhoods and their homelands," Sabalius said.
The opening for the event, held on March 7, included opening remarks by San Jose State University President Don Kassing and was attended by the consulate generals of Germany and of Switzerland.
Sabalius said there was intense interest in the exhibition from the moment it was put up. He said it seemed to appeal to the cultural diversity on campus.
"Everybody was very enthusiastic about it," Sabalius said. "It has been great."
"The World Language of Soccer," will be taken down April 28.
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