Mr. Serge Abou, head of the European Commission Delegation to China, and Mr. Marjan Cencen, Slovenian ambassador to China, cut the ribbon for the inauguration.

By Patrick O'Donnell & Hou Xiaoying
China.org.cn correspondents reporting from Beijing

The exhibition, which runs from June 21 to July 4 at the Beijing Art Center in the Gehua Tower, is a collection of 250 photographs and three films from 19 member states of the European Union (EU). Most depicted the Olympic Games throughout their history.

Ambassador Serge Abou, head of the delegation, said over 6,000 photographs were submitted before being culled to 250. In a press release, the European Commission said the photographs express Olympic "philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind."

Abou said that the EU, unlike individual nations, has no Olympic Committee, but the organization still wanted to make a contribution to the upcoming Beijing Games. The photography exhibition was one way of doing it.

Mr. Serge Abou, head of the European Commission Delegation to China, addresses the audience during the inauguration of the exhibition.

"We think it's particularly important, in this Olympic year in Beijing, to host such an event, that marries art and sport through the medium of photography," he said.