2012 Cultural Olympiad

February 2025 The 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a programme of cultural events across the United Kingdom that accompanied the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. It included 500 events nationwide throughout the UK, spread over four years and culminating in the London 2012 Festival. The Cultural Olympiad's programmes included: Artists Taking the Lead, Discovering Places, Film Nation: Shorts, New Music 20x12, Stories of the World, World Shakespeare Festival, and the BT River of Music. Background The Olympic Charter, the set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games and for governing the Olympic Movement states that "The LOCOG shall organise a programme of cultural events which must cover at least the entire period during which the Olympic Village is open."Olympic Charter http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Olympic%20Charter/Charter_en_2010.pdf International Olympic Committee 6 May 2011 80 11 February 2010 London 2012 Festival The London Olympic Games' Cultural Olympiad included 500 events nationwide throughout the UK, spread over four years and culminating in the London 2012 Festival. The cost of the events was over £97 millionCultural Olympiad 2012 reaches the critical masses Mark Brown 12 March 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/mar/12/cultural-olympiad-2012-critical-masses 27 March 2012 London The Guardian with funding provided by Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor.Cultural Olympiad http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/cultural-olympiad/index.php London 2012 website 6 May 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110428104744/http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/cultural-olympiad/index.php 28 April 2011 dead Osborn Michael Why we have a Cultural Olympiad https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7598013.stm BBC News 6 May 2011 4 September 2008 Those involved in the festival, which ran from 21 June to 9 September 2012, included Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett, director Mike Leigh, musician Damon Albarn, artists David Hockney, Lucian Freud, Rachel Whiteread, and writer Toni Morrison.Cultural Olympiad reveals celebrity line-up https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11934812 BBC News 6 May 2011 7 December 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20110520153159/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11934812 20 May 2011 liveBrown Mark Cultural Olympiad's London 2012 festival lines up arts world A-list https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/dec/07/cultural-olympiad-london-2012-festival 6 May 2011 The Guardian 7 December 2010 Twelve British artists were commissioned to design posters for the games: Martin Creed, Bridget Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Bob and Roberta Smith, Anthea Hamilton, Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris and Howard Hodgkin.London 2012 Olympic posters bring best out of BritArt Jonathan Jones 4 November 2011 https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/nov/04/london-2012-olympic-posters-britart?INTCMP=SRCH 27 March 2012 The GuardianPosters http://festival.london2012.com/about/posters/posters London 2012 27 March 2012 The Cultural Olympiad comprised a number of programmes including: Artists Taking the Lead, Discovering Places, Film Nation: Shorts, New Music 20x12, Stories of the World, World Shakespeare Festival. Many of these involved public participation; for example, Discovering Places encouraged people to explore their local environment and identify 2012 species, Film Nation was aimed at young people making short films, and Stories of the World involved young people working with 50 museums across the UK.Cultural Olympiad http://www.london2012.com/cultural-olympiad London 2012 27 March 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120321172831/http://www.london2012.com/cultural-olympiad 21 March 2012 Numerous fringe projects took place around the Cultural Olympiad. Notably Timothy Ellis (for Hybrid Arts) project Extraordinary Cycles, which saw the pairing of choreographer Junior Cunningham (Motionhouse) with Flatland BMX Champion Keelan Phillips. Flatland riding was seen by Ellis as 'dancing on a bike' - a graceful, daring routine of moves balanced upon a BMX cycle that takes place without the rider touching the ground. The trio devised a new choreography for Flatland as a pilot for a larger project, which sadly wasn't then fully funded. The project did however earn Ellis the accolade of Arts Champion. The Bandstand Marathon on 9 September 2012 was the closing event of the London 2012 Festival, and saw live music events take place at more than 200 locations across the UK. Participating bands were invited by Coldplay to perform their 2008 single "Viva La Vida" simultaneously at 2pm to celebrate the end of the games.http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/news/articles/marathon-music-mark-the-end-the-london-2012-festival-and-the-games.html Bands across the UK to perform Coldplay hit in closing event of the London 2012 Festival 7 September 2012 Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012 5 October 2012 dead https://archive.today/20130103213102/http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/news/articles/marathon-music-mark-the-end-the-london-2012-festival-and-the-games.html 3 January 2013 Artists taking the lead Artists taking the lead consisted of 12 major Arts Council funded public art projects one for each of 12 UK regions.http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/our-priorities-2011-15/london-2012/artists-taking-the-lead/ https://web.archive.org/web/20111224204921/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/our-priorities-2011-15/london-2012/artists-taking-the-lead/ dead 24 December 2011 Artists taking the lead Arts Council 26 March 2012 Each project received £500,000 funding.Newcastle floating artwork turns river into music Mark Brown The Guardian 21 March 2012 27 March 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/mar/21/newcastle-floating-artwork-river-music London thumb|right|150px|Nowhereisland by Alex Hartley being towed to Weymouth Bay, 25 July 2012. RegionProjectArtistDetailsEast On Landguard Point Pacitti Company A series of outdoor events, forming a community feature film East Midlands Lionheart Project Shauna Richardson Three giant hand-crocheted lions recreating Richard the Lionheart's three lions crest London Bus-Tops Alfie Dennen and Paula Le Dieu 30 LED screens on the roofs of bus shelters displaying works created by the public North East ~Flow Owl Project and Ed Carter Electro-acoustic musical machinery powered by the River Tyne North West Column Anthony McCall A 100m vertical column of steam [not realised]https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/artist-anthony-mccalls-olympic-column-for-merseyside-scrapped-wasting-500000-arts-council-england-cash-8575348.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/artist-anthony-mccalls-olympic-column-for-merseyside-scrapped-wasting-500000-arts-council-england-cash-8575348.html 1 May 2022 subscription Jonathan Brown Artist Anthony McCall's Olympic 'Column' for Merseyside scrapped The Independent 16 April 2013 29 June 2017 South East Boat Project Gregg Whelan, Gary Winters A 30 ft vessel made from donated wooden items South West Nowhereisland Alex Hartley A floating island nation West Midlands Godiva Awakes Imagineer Productions A 10-metre-high carnival puppet of Lady GodivaYorkshire Leeds Canvas Brothers Quay Overworlds and Underworlds, a month-long series of interventions and art ambushes with film, music and movementScunthorpe Cycle Song Opera Proper Job Theatre Company Outdoor opera starring Richard Stuart, celebrating Scunthorpe's olympic cycling hero, Lal White Northern Ireland Nest Brian Irvine, John McIlduff A creation made from donated objects and a large-scale music and choral eventScotland Forest Pitch Craig Coulthard A full size football pitch hidden within a forest Wales Adain Avion Marc Rees A mobile art space created from the wreckage of a DC-9 airplane Paralympic Cultural Festival – Unlimited Alongside the 2012 Summer Paralympics, the Paralympic Cultural Festival (or Unlimited Festival) brought hundreds of deaf and disabled artists together, and Unlimited featured 29 new commissions, including artist Sue Austin's film documenting her performances in a self-propelled underwater wheelchair, and Paul Cummins' 'English Flower Garden'.Southbank Centre. Paul Cummins. The English Flower Garden. Ticketed events were held at the Southbank Centre, as part of the London 2012 Festival, featuring the debut performance from the Paraorchestra. The place widely regarded as an inspiration for the modern Olympic games, Much Wenlock, also featured with a May Day event called M21: From the Medieval to the 21st Century in collaboration with DASH (Disability Arts in Shropshire);http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/m21-brought-disabled-artists-much-wenlock-over-may/ https://web.archive.org/web/20130110014425/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/m21-brought-disabled-artists-much-wenlock-over-may/ dead 10 January 2013 M21 brought disabled artists to Much Wenlock over the May Day weekend – Arts Council 10 January 2013 artists included Simon McKeown. The Unlimited commissions drew much mass-media and popular attention,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18787268 Disabled artists launch festival BBC News 10 July 2012 as did the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony called Enlightenment, featuring Stephen Hawking. New Music 20x12 New musical works commissioned from 20 composers performed around the UK and at the Southbank Centre, London. Artists included Howard Skempton, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Irene Taylor Trust, Luke Carver Goss, Joe Cutler, Graham Fitkin, Mark Prescott, David Bruce, Aidan O'Rourke, Emily Howard, Conor Mitchell, Sheema Mukherjee, Michael Wolters; Oliver Searle, Aaron Cassidy, EXAUDI, Richard Causton and Jason Yarde and Wonderbrass.New Music 20x12 London 2012 http://festival.london2012.com/about/culturalolympiad/new-music-20x12.php 26 March 2012 World Shakespeare Festival Most of the programming was part of a strand titled the World Shakespeare Festival, which included translations, adaptations, and re-workings of Shakespeare's plays.https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/london-2012-festival-drama-on-display London 2012 Festival: Drama on display – Features The Stage 14 October 2012Maev Kennedy https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/sep/06/shakespeare-festival-straddle-london-olympics?INTCMP=SRCH Biggest Shakespeare festival ever will straddle the London Olympics | Culture The Guardian 6 September 2011 14 October 2012 Programming themed around the plays of William Shakespeare was a major part of the London 2012 Festival. It was produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and sponsored by the Arts Council, BP and Lottery with about 60 participating organisations including the BBC, British Museum, National Theatre, the Barbican Centre, the Almeida Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15240406 10 October 2011 World Shakespeare Festival tickets go on public sale BBChttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012-festival/8915818/London-2012-Festival-Top-10-guide-br3.-The-World-Shakespeare-Festival.html London 2012 Festival Top 10 guide: 3. The World Shakespeare Festival The Daily Telegraph Neil MacGregor 29 November 2011http://yearofshakespeare.com A project documenting the World Shakespeare Festival, the greatest celebration of Shakespeare the world has ever seen Year of Shakespeare 14 October 2012 This festival began on 23 April 2012 and finished in November 2012.http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/about/ https://web.archive.org/web/20111128195106/http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/about/ dead 28 November 2011 About the Festival | World Shakespeare Festival 2012 Worldshakespearefestival.org.uk 14 October 2012 It included approximately 70 productions related to Shakespeare's plays, over half of which were performed in a language other than English (particularly those which formed part of the Globe to Globe Festival at Shakespeare's Globe). Shakespeare also featured in the BBC's "Shakespeare Unlocked" 2012 season (particularly The Hollow Crown and in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.Minard Jenny https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16761126 BBC News – London 2012: How Shakespeare's Tempest shapes the ceremonies BBC 2012-01-27 14 October 2012 The World Shakespeare Festival also included the Worlds Together Conference, an international interdisciplinary conference exploring the role of Shakespeare and arts learning in young people's lives.http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/education/workshops-conferences-training/worlds-together.aspx Worlds Together | World Shakespeare Festival 2012 Worldshakespearefestival.org.uk 2012-09-08 14 October 2012 https://archive.today/20121224104325/http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/education/workshops-conferences-training/worlds-together.aspx 2012-12-24 dead At the grass roots and with the support of the performers' union, Equity, many events occurred around the country, not least the première of a new play entitled Shakespeare's Queen Elizabeth the Second, which was also performed in Stratford-upon-Avon and open air celebration of Shakespeare in, literally, John O'Groats and many locations south. Equity-backed events also occurred in London, for young people and school children, every two months from 2010 to 2012. Poetry Parnassus Poetry Parnassus was a week-long series of events at the Southbank Centre at the end of June, featuring poets from around the world in what has been described as "the biggest gathering of poets in world history", with one poet representing each of the 204 competing Olympic nations.Flood Alison https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/17/poetry-parnassus-poets-olympic-nation Poetry Parnassus to gather poets from every Olympic nation The Guardian 12 April 2012 Led by artist-in-residence Simon Armitage, it was a festival of readings, performance, and debate that attracted an audience of more than 13,000 people."World Poetry Summit at Poetry Parnassus", British Council. The opening ceremony for the event included a Rain of Poems where 100,000 English translations of the 204 poets' poems were dropped from a helicopter.Neil Curry A deluge in London, but this time it's raining poems https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/showbiz/britain-rain-of-poems/index.html 22 February 2021 CNN 28 June 2012 en Tales from the Bridge Tales from the Bridge was a vast poetry soundscape (among the largest ever created) commissioned by the Mayor of London for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.http://www.atomictv.com/TFTB.html Tales form The Bridge atomictv.comhttp://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/from-tales-from-the-bridge/ *from* Tales from the Bridge – the Poetry Societyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53hX3DTrlvM Tales From The Bridge – Martyn Ware KitmonstersTV 1 August 2012 YouTubehttp://illustriouscompany.co.uk/news/2012 News 2012 – Illustrious Company illustriouscompany.co.uk 21 May 2021 23 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210423000450/http://illustriouscompany.co.uk/news/2012 deadhttp://www.kitmonsters.com/blog/tales-from-the-bridge KitMonsters – Tales From The Bridge The project was "installed for eight weeks along the entire length of the Millennium Bridge and experienced by an estimated four million people".https://www.bl.uk/events/happy-hour-tales-from-the-bridge 'A soundscape meditation on the history of the Thames' [The British Library] 21 May 2021 24 October 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20211024132121/https://www.bl.uk/events/happy-hour-tales-from-the-bridge dead Collaborators for the project included Martyn Ware (The Human League) and Eric Whitacre, whose composition prefaces the piece. The flowing narrative of the main section drew on "the fascinating history of the Thames and the people, stories, life and times on both banks of the river", providing "a contemplative auditory platform that links the City of London in the north with the Southbank and vice versa".https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases-4836 Mayor of London press release 29 July 2012 Composed as a complex overlapping hybrid prose poem, and performed using subtle sonic textures and multiple interleaving voices, the text was conceived, written and vocally choreographed by Mario Petrucci. The project was shortlisted for the 2012 Ted Hughes Award.https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/ted-hughes-award/ Ted Hughes Award – the Poetry Society BT River of Music The BT River of Music was a series of free events, with music from every country participating in the Olympics performed on five stages down the Thames. There were artists from 204 countries who performed six concerts.Denselow Robin BT River of Music, Africa and Americas stages – review The Guardian 23 July 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/23/river-of-music-africa-americas 28 October 2024 The stages were located as follows:Marchal Nahéma BT River of Music: festival preview The Guardian 17 July 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/jul/17/bt-river-music-festival-preview 28 October 2024 Asia Stage, Battersea Park Europe Stages, Trafalgar Square and Battersea Park Americas Stage, Tower of London Oceania Stage, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich Africa Stage, London Pleasure Gardens The Oceania Stage featured music from the Pacific region, including a special commission from in Indigenous Australian theatre company The Black Arm Band as well as Wantok's SingSing.BT River of Music- London Olympics Turning World 13 October 2017 https://turningworld.com.au/project/bt-river-of-music-london-olympics/ 28 October 2024 Aboriginal Australian musician Frank Yamma also gave a performance.Biography Frank Yamma https://www.frankyamma.com/biography 27 October 2024Vincent Peter Frank Yamma: a fire that burns brighter The Sydney Morning Herald 14 October 2014 https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/frank-yamma-a-fire-that-burns-brighter-20141014-115sfg.html 27 October 2024Sullivan Mitch Frank Yamma – World Music Series NQ Music Press 20 September 2016 http://www.nqmusicpress.com/news/interview-news/frank-yamma-world-music-series/ 28 October 2024 Other performers included: Scissor Sisters, Staff Benda Bilili, the Noisettes, Matthew Herbert, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Roberto Fonseca, Beverley Knight, Mariza, King Sunny Adé, Angélique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Markitos Mikolta, Quantic, La Bottine Souriante, and many others. See also All The Bells See No Evil (artwork) References TESTIMONIES. An Olympics legacy in a digital age External links 2012 Cultural Olympiad official website Unlimited, the 2012 Paralympics Cultural Festival World Shakespeare Festival