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This folder was produced as part of the Arts and Culture Program for the 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics, an initiative organized by the Montréal 1976 Olympics Organizing Committee (COJO). While modest in form, it played an essential functional role, serving as both an invitation and a point of contact between the Games and Canada’s cultural community.

The Arts and Culture Program was conceived as a national cultural festival running alongside the Olympic Games, but deliberately not apart from them. COJO’s intention was to fully integrate arts and culture into the Olympic experience, encouraging participation not only from visitors, but also from athletes and Games workers. In doing so, the programme positioned cultural expression as a core component of the Montréal Olympics, rather than a secondary or parallel attraction to sport.

The folder’s cover features the multicoloured rainbow sheaf of wheat, the visual symbol developed for the Arts and Culture Program and used across its posters and related materials. Inside, the folder is printed in a solid purple drawn from the official programme palette, reinforcing the consistency and discipline of the broader Montréal 1976 graphic system.

Inserted within is a letter from Yvon DesRochers, Director of the Arts and Culture Program, printed in black on semi-translucent marbled parchment paper. The official Montréal 1976 Olympic symbol appears in red at the upper left margin. Written in French, the letter formally invites the recipient to participate in the programme and outlines the committee’s intent to collaborate in shaping each contribution.

Though simple in construction, this folder is an important artefact of Montréal 1976 — a reminder that the Games’ ambitious design programme extended beyond posters and symbols to the quieter, operational materials that enabled one of the most comprehensive cultural initiatives ever undertaken as part of an Olympic Games.

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