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Background information about the Cultural Olympiad
The Cultural Olympiad
The Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are about more than sport.
Host cities must also stage the Cultural Olympiad - a series of events to
showcase the city's arts and culture to the rest of the world. For the first
time ever, London has won the right for culture to play a central role in
the 2012 Games.
The Cultural Olympiad will be launched on the weekend 26 – 28
September 2008. It will be a four-year celebration on a scale never before
seen in Olympic and Paralympic history, designed to enable the widest
range of people across the UK to take part.
London 2012 is opening up its culture programme as never before by
inviting not-for-profit organisations throughout London and the UK to
submit ideas and projects for the Cultural Olympiad.
Selected projects will be able to use a new official badge, the London
2012 Inspire mark which is a first for any Olympic Games and Paralympic
Games. Details were released on 11 March 2008 about how cultural
organisations can apply to take part. Further information can be found at www.london2012.com/beinspired
A team of Creative Programmers with people in every region of England
and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has been appointed to
manage the process.
The London 2012 Inspire mark will form a key part of the Games lasting
legacy and will be awarded to innovative, non-commercial projects and
events inspired by the Games across sport, culture, education,
environment and volunteering. Each cultural organisation’s project will be
evaluated and assessed, and can take place anytime between 25 August
2008 and 9 September 2012. Each project will be evaluated against three
core values established last year for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
(see Core values, below).
LOCOG and Arts & Business will be working together over the coming
months to explain the opportunities offered by the new Inspire mark, as
well as the guidelines for its use. A series of seminars and special
meetings will be mounted in various parts of the UK.
The process of building up the programme will begin this year, with at
least some events planned for this autumn, and then developing in pace
and scale as 2012 becomes closer. Once established London 2012’s
ambition is for the scheme to expand significantly over the four years
towards 2012.
Culture will be at the heart of the London 2012 Games and the Cultural
Olympiad will provide an opportunity to try something new, to encourage
community involvement, to think differently about the Olympic Games
and Paralympic Games, and to showcase Britain’s creativity to the rest of
the world.
“The Olympic Games is the wedding of sport and art.”
Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937)
At the heart of the Olympic Movement is the desire for world peace and
unity between sports, culture and education. Pierre de Coubertin, the
founder of the modern Olympic Movement mirrored the classical Greeks
in maintaining that the purpose of the Olympic Games was to celebrate
mind, body and spirit.
A celebration known as the Cultural Olympiad was established to include
all cultural events of the Olympic Movement. This Olympiad is a period
when artists from around the world showcase their work in the lead up to
the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Until 1948 medals were awarded for sculpture, music, literature and art.
The role of the arts in the Olympic movement has increasing importance
as young people seek to achieve excellence and explore their role in the
world through all creative fields. Core values
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is for everyone. It will:
- Celebrate London and the whole of the UK welcoming the world, our
unique internationalism, cultural diversity, sharing and understanding Themes
The Cultural Olympiad will focus on the following themes:
- Bringing together culture and sport
These themes emerged from discussions with the arts and cultural sector.
It is expected that every project in the Cultural Olympiad will have to fully
display the first three core values and adopt at least three of the themes.
Focus in these areas provides a strong identity and coherent purpose for
the 2012 culture programme.
Creative Programmers
The Creative Programmers are the regional representatives of the London
2012 Culture team and will lead on bringing the Cultural Olympiad to life
in each region and nation.
Creative Programmers are the first point of contact for people outside
London, giving information and advice on how to join in with the Cultural
Olympiad. They will work alongside cultural agencies, producers and
individuals and brokering partnerships.
Contact details for the Creative Programmers are available at www.london2012.com/beinspired
How to participate
Anyone with an idea or a project, which they believe fits the values of the Cultural Olympiad, should first approach the Creative Programmer in their region who will be able to advise on whether a project is likely to fit with the values, the supporting themes and creative vision of the Cultural Olympiad.
LOCOG cannot fund projects which want to apply to be part of the Cultural Olympiad. If you are looking for funding for your project, you might find the following documents useful:
Full information on how to apply to be part of the Cultural Olympiad is on the London 2012 website: www.london2012.com/beinspired
After a modest start, the aim is that the number of projects joining the programme could grow significantly towards 2012.
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- Inspire and involve young people
- Generate a positive legacy: for example through cultural and sports
participation, audience development, cultural skills, capacity building,
urban regeneration, tourism and social cohesion and international
links.
- Encouraging audiences to take part
- Animating public spaces – through street theatre, public art, circus
skills, live big screen sites
- Using culture and sport to raise issues of environmental sustainability,
health and wellbeing
- Honouring and sharing the values of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games
- Encouraging collaborations and innovation between communities and
cultural sectors
- Enhancing the learning, skills and personal development of young
people by linking with education programmes
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Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.