Press Release #3
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PRESS RELEASE | October 2026
From Olympic Heritage to New Creative Experiences: The REEVALUATE project Explores Music and Digital Reuse
EU-funded project combines Olympic artefacts, historical musical instruments and public participation to explore new possibilities for immersive exhibitions and creative reuse.
Project developments covered: January–June 2026
What do Olympic medals, historic musical instruments and traditional sounds have in common? Through its Olympic Games and Music pilot, the EU-funded REEVALUATE project is exploring how these different forms of cultural heritage can come together to inspire new audiovisual experiences and museum storytelling.
The pilot brings together the Olympic Museum of Thessaloniki and the ethnomusicological collections of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SMB/SPK), with contributions from technology and creative-sector partners.
By combining digitized Olympic objects, musical heritage and public participation, the initiative supports the development of The Olympic Experience, an immersive exhibition concept exploring the relationship between sport and music from antiquity to the present.
Figure 1: Digitized sporting artefacts from the Olympic Museum of Thessaloniki, developed as part of REEVALUATE’s Olympic Heritage and Music pilot to support new digital experiences and creative reuse.
Giving the public a voice in heritage digitization
One of the pilot’s achievements is the involvement of audiences in identifying Olympic artefacts of interest.
Through the REEVALUATE Public Sensing Prioritization Enabler, the Olympic Museum organized a social media campaign titled Olympic History Inspires Us: Scroll Through its Artefacts.
The campaign presented 26 historical artefacts, including sporting equipment, medals and archival materials, inviting participants to explore their stories and indicate which objects they found most meaningful.
The activity collected 72 votes, helping the museum prioritize objects based on public interest.
Following the selection process, 26 high-quality digital assets, including 3D models and detailed 2D representations, were produced with the support of project partner 3DR. These assets were subsequently organized in the REEVALUATE Marketplace as an Olympic Collection, providing digital material for contextualization, exhibition planning and future creative reuse.
Connecting Olympic history with musical heritage
Alongside the Olympic Museum’s activities, SMB/SPK contributed digitized musical instruments, recordings and other ethnomusicological materials.
The institution organized four thematic collections in the REEVALUATE Marketplace, including Music and Sport, Trumpet, Marathon and Horo.
The central Music and Sport collection brings together 20 items exploring connections between musical traditions, sporting activities and cultural expression.
Public and expert participation also contributed to the selection of musical materials. One activity asked participants which instrument should announce the opening of the Olympic Games, drawing inspiration from the ancient salpinx and comparing trumpet traditions from different cultures.
These activities demonstrate how Olympic objects and musical heritage can be interpreted together, revealing connections between ceremony, performance, cultural memory and collective identity.
From digital collections to creative experiences
The materials developed through the pilot support two complementary directions: the preparation of The Olympic Experience immersive exhibition at the Olympic Museum of Thessaloniki and an audiovisual creative reuse production involving project partner FFP.
The pilot also tests how the REEVALUATE hub can support the management, contextualization and discovery of heritage assets from different institutions.
By bringing together Olympic objects, historical sounds and expert knowledge, the initiative explores how cultural collections can become resources for new forms of storytelling while maintaining their historical context.
About REEVALUATE
REEVALUATE is a Horizon Europe project developing a collaborative framework for the digitization, contextualization, management and responsible creative reuse of cultural heritage assets. The project brings together cultural heritage institutions, research organizations, technology providers and creative-sector stakeholders to develop and test innovative digital tools across three European pilots.
Project website: https://reevaluate.eu/
Project Coordinator
Dr. Anastasios Drosou (CERTH): drosou@iti.gr
Technical & Innovation Manager
Dr. Anastasia Dimou (KU Leuven): anastasia.dimou@kuleuven.be
Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101132389.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
