Pok-ta-pok
Sporties is my graduation project as part of my Academie Minerva illustration degree. In my project I relive historical sports and illustrate the characters that used to play them. My fascination starts with the rapid development of Sports in human culture, in the last 100 years or so. What used to be a way of recreation became a business and a culture of it's own. With the social development came the visual development of Sports. Jersey design, sport accessories, stadiums, televisions and marketing captured the sports we love to play and watch. But what about sports before the fame and glory?
One of the earliest examples of an organized game that required physical activity and teamwork is the ritual of “Pok-ta-pok” that was played by many Mesoamerican civilizations – Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacan, etc. The earliest evidence of it dates to 1400 BC. If we try to imagine what the game looked like in its most popular moments - we would see two teams matched against each other, composed only of the best warriors in town, in a ballcourt with stands filled with spectators accompanied by prayers and offerings for the gods. Each team was near a vertically placed ring and there was no contact between the two teams. The goal of the game was to keep the rubber ball in play using only your hips and eventually make it go through the ring. The game served more of a religious purpose, which is why sacrificing the players to the Underworld was a pretty common end to the game.
original sketch
Thanks for viewing!
