EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Launch of the Cultural Olympiad

12 September 2008

The Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will launch on the weekend of Friday 26 — Sunday 28 September with hundreds of events taking place across the country, including the East of England [listings by county below].

Plans for the Cultural Olympiad, launched by London 2012 include:

•  Four years of cultural celebration, excellence and participation
•  Inspire Marks awarded to five East of England projects [details below].
•  Major national projects

Inspired by the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin’s idea of a marriage of sport and the arts, the Cultural Olympiad is designed to celebrate Olympic and Paralympic values in the cultural field.

Over £40 million has already been earmarked for cultural activities across the United Kingdom that will create a welcome to the world for the 2012 Games. It will highlight the country’s regional diversity by using both culture and sport to create works and events that will bring people and places together, encourage audiences to take part, involve and inspire young people, and create a lasting legacy.

The launch weekend is themed ‘Open Weekend’ with cultural organisations across the country kicking off the celebrations for the Cultural Olympiad with many institutions and organisations offering the public the chance to see or take part in something which is happening as a special event, or that would normally take place behind the scenes.

The weekend is designed to fulfil the commitment that the London 2012 Games will involve and inspire everyone in the UK and across the world. The programme also includes projects which have been awarded the Inspire mark, recognising the quality and diversity of the work of large and small organisations around the country which would otherwise not be able to take part.  This will be a first for any Olympic organising committee, leading the way for other host cities after London to adopt this more national and inclusive approach.

East of England ‘Open Weekend’ is taking place throughout the region with 45 events confirmed, ranging from festivals to local open days. Events include:

• The Essex-Jiangsu Cultural Exchange, celebrating the relationship between Essex and Jiangsu Province in China. Film making, photography and performance in Cambridgeshire.
• The Village Green festival in Southend-on-Sea - a fun day out for all ages, involving more than 200 artists
• Halo, a public art project creating a visual spectacle, illuminating Luton. Fourteen cultural or sporting venues will be lighting up and opening for free or discounted access across Hertfordshire.
• The Body Electric, an ambitious public art project with an artist and  a DJ illuminating Norwich.
• Art inspired by farm animals and landscapes from the local farms in Suffolk.

Central to the Cultural Olympiad are Inspire mark projects and major projects:

Inspire mark projects - The Inspire programme will help to deliver a core strand of London 2012’s commitment to deliver a Games for Everyone.  The London 2012 Inspire mark is awarded to outstanding surprising, exciting and brand new cultural projects inspired by London 2012 and recognised as helping to deliver the Games’ lasting legacy. The first projects to be awarded the Inspire mark in the East of England are:

• Essex-Jiangsu Cultural Exchange by Essex County Council
• Synergy:  The Whitlingham Outdoor Festival, by Norfolk County Council
• Village Green Festival by Metal Culture
• Halo (part of Light Up East) by Commissions East
• The Body Electric (part of Light Up East) by Commissions East
• Home Run by Peterborough City Council
• People’s Record and Literature and Stories — Inspire mark projects led by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council - are both taking place across the region.

The Cultural Olympiad is a partnership between the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), arts and cultural organisations across the UK, and London 2012 stakeholders. There is a Creative Programmer to curate a programme of activities in each nation and region of the United Kingdom. Liz Hughes is the Creative Programmer in the East of England. 

Sebastian Coe, Chair, of LOCOG said: "In our bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, our promise was and still is to make our Games accessible to everyone. To build on the vision of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic movement, by having a Games that inextricably links sport, culture and education. Open Weekend and the cultural programme over the coming four years, shows our commitment to this."

Cllr Stephen Castle, Chairman of Nations and Regions East said: "We are delighted that so many projects in the East of England have been granted the London 2012 Inspire mark as part of the Cultural Olympiad.  This cultural programme, which will gain momentum over the next four years, will inspire young people to get involved in new and exciting activities that they haven't experiened before, and will ultimately help to create a lasting legacy from the Games."

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