The 2012 Cultural Olympiad was a programme of cultural events across the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
that accompanied the
2012 Summer Olympics and
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
.
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
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Gov ...
shall organise a programme of cultural events which must cover at least the entire period during which the Olympic Village is open."
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 million
with funding provided by
Arts Council England,
Legacy Trust UK and the
Olympic Lottery Distributor.
Those involved in the festival, which ran from 21 June to 9 September 2012, included
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
-winning actress
Cate Blanchett, director
Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...
, musician
Damon Albarn, artists
David Hockney
David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...
,
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
,
Rachel Whiteread, and writer
Toni Morrison
Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...
.
Twelve British artists were commissioned to design posters for the games:
Martin Creed,
Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France.
Early life and education
Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, Londo ...
,
Rachel Whiteread,
Chris Ofili
Christopher Ofili, (born 10 October 1968) is a British Turner Prize-winning painter who is best known for his paintings incorporating elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists. Since 2005, Ofili has been living and working in T ...
,
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
,
Bob and Roberta Smith,
Anthea Hamilton,
Fiona Banner
Fiona Banner (born 1966), also known as The Vanity Press is a British artist. Her work encompasses sculpture, drawing, installation and text, and demonstrates a long-standing fascination with the emblem of fighter aircraft and their role within cul ...
,
Michael Craig-Martin
Sir Michael Craig-Martin (born 28 August 1941) is an Irish-born contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is known for fostering and adopting the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, '' An Oak Tre ...
,
Gary Hume
Gary Stewart Hume (born 9 May 1962) is an English artist. Hume's work is strongly identified with the YBA who came to prominence in the early 1990s. Hume lives and works in London and Accord, New York. ,
Sarah Morris
Sarah Morris (born 20 June 1967 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England) is an American and British artist. She lives in New York City in the United States.
Personal life and education
Morris was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, in south-east England, on 20 Ju ...
and
Howard Hodgkin.
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.
The
Bandstand Marathon
The Bandstand Marathon is a cultural event that began in 2008 and sees a range of free live music concerts take place simultaneously at bandstands and other outdoor venues across the United Kingdom. In 2012 the Bandstand Marathon became an offi ...
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
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
to perform their 2008 single "
Viva La Vida
"Viva la Vida" (, ; ) is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008). The lyrics to the song contain historical and Christian refe ...
" simultaneously at 2pm to celebrate the end of the games.
Artists taking the lead
Artists taking the lead consisted of 12 major
Arts Council funded
public art
Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...
projects one for each of 12 UK regions. Each project received £500,000 funding.
Paralympic Cultural Festival – Unlimited
Alongside the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...
, 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'. 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); artists included
Simon McKeown.
The Unlimited commissions drew much mass-media and popular attention, 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
Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music.
Biography
Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...
,
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
Jason Yarde (born 1970) is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, producer and music director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and music ensembles, including Denys Baptiste, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hil ...
and Wonderbrass.
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. Programming themed around the plays of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. This festival began on 23 April 2012 and finished in November 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
at Shakespeare's Globe). Shakespeare also featured in the
...