The ball will be rolling again on 11 June.

On this day, Mexico, one of the three host nations, will kick off the FIFA World Cup with a match against South Africa. Taking this global sporting celebration and a donation from Rolf Dieterich as its inspiration, the Heidenheim Art Museum is dedicating an exhibition to World Cup posters. Around 50 posters will be on display, providing a striking illustration of how the design of football posters has evolved over time.

The first room of the exhibition, located in the small temporary exhibition gallery, displays promotional posters from current and past World Cups: from the first tournament in Uruguay in 1930, through the 1970s tournaments in Mexico, Germany and Argentina, to the city posters for this year’s tournaments, including those for Mexico City, Miami and Toronto.

Here, one can trace the development of aesthetics, visual language and graphic trends, and see how national identity is linked to global thinking.

The second room focuses more on the connection between the visual arts and sport. A particular highlight are two complete portfolios of posters designed by renowned artists: for the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. These editions bring art and sport together in a unique way and demonstrate the diverse ways in which different artistic styles can interpret the theme of football. The exhibition features leading figures from the international art scene, whose works blur the boundaries between commercial art and fine art. Well-known names include Norbert Bisky, Pol Bury, Eduardo Chillida, Andreas Gursky, Joan Miró and Rosemarie Trockel.

The exhibition is complemented by works by the artist Fritz Genkinger, whose oeuvre has frequently explored the themes of movement, dynamism and sport. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Heidenheim invites visitors to view football from a different perspective – not as a game played on the pitch, but as a cultural phenomenon that is also reflected in the visual design of its posters.

Posters 2006 by:

Tim Ayres, Norbert Bisky, Luo Brothers, Michael Craig-Martin, Andreas Gursky, Toyin Loye, Markus Lüpertz, Jess MacNeil, Beatriz Milhazes, Sarah Morris, Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah, Tobias Rehberger, Hisashi Tenmyouya, Rosemarie Trockel

Poster 1982 by:

Valerio Adami, Pierre Alechinsky,Eduardo Arroyo Pol Bury, Eduardo Chillida, Gudmundur, Erró, Jean Michel Folon, Jiří Kolář, Joan Miró, Jacques Monory, Antonio Saura, Antoni Tàpies, Gérard Titus-Carmel, Roland Topor, Vladimir Velickovic

Other Posters:

Fritz Genkinger

Designers 2026

Rubem Robierb, Matt Cliff, Cuemanche (Mario Cortés), Stephanie Leal, Rich Tu

Designers other posters

Bouthayna Al Muftah, Ney Damasceno, Henri Desmé, Guillermo Laborde, Nathalie Le Gall, Annie Leibovitz, Mandatos Internacionales, Peter Max, Horst Schäfer, WE DO communication, Werner Weiskönig, Lance Wyman