The Guggenheim Museum in New York announced today that it would host livestreams of a selection of World Cup matches on Friday afternoons this summer.
The livestreams will take place at Frank Pub’s, a pop-up at the Wright, the Guggenheim’s restaurant. In a release, the museum described the program as a way to create “a space for people to grab a bite, watch the World Cup, and share in the excitement together.” The experience will be free to members and free with that day’s admission ticket to the museum.
Opening an hour before each game begins, the museum will show the following matches: Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 12), US vs. Australia (June 19), Norway vs. France (June 26), Match 88 in the Round of 32 featuring the second place finishes in groups D and G (July 3), and Match 98 in the Quarterfinals (July 10).
Additionally, the Guggenheim will also put on view a football-related work from its collection for the first time: Zidane, a 21st century portrait (2006) by Douglas Gordan and Philippe Parreno. Marking its 20th anniversary this year, the two-channel, 90-minute video follows legendary midfielder Zinedine Zidane, popularly known as Zizou, during a single match that was played in Madrid on April 23, 2005.
“These special experiences,” the release reads, “invite visitors to celebrate the artistry of one of soccer’s most iconic players alongside the collective joy that defines the sport on a world stage without missing a match.”
Zidane is one of 17 unique versions that exists and features footage that Gordan and Parreno assembled from 17 synchronized cameras installed around the stadium to capture the match from various angles. Unlike broadcast coverage of football matches, Zidane remains focused on the footballer even when the game’s action is elsewhere. The second screen shows raw footage from one of the 17 cameras, synchronizing with the edited version at various moments during the hour-and-a-half runtime.
In addition to being one of France’s most revered players, Zidane would also make headlines the following year during the 2006 World Cup final when he headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi. Playing the final match of his professional career, Zidane would be set off when the referee gave him a red card for the action. (Italy would go on to win the game in penalty kicks.) After his playing career, Zidane would become manager of Real Madrid, his former club, for two stints, from 2016–18 and 2019–21.
Zidane will screen in the Guggenheim’s Peter B. Lewis Theater on a continuous loop during museum hours from June 11 to July 19, the run of this year’s World Cup. The exhibition of Zidane is part of the Guggenheim’s ongoing “Collection in Focus” series. In a statement, Nat Trotman, a curator of media and performance at the museum, described Zidane as “a key work in the Guggenheim’s robust collection of video and time-based media.”
He added, “Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno’s remarkable video installation plunges visitors into the world of the soccer player, lending insight into the psychology and the physical experience of an athlete in action. Unlike a conventional broadcast that tracks the movement of the soccer ball, here the artists focus on a single individual, immersing viewers in a complex yet intimate portrayal of skill, celebrity, and sheer force of will.”
