The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and the North West

14th November 2011

Arts Council England is the lead agency for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the North West.

Over 1.7 million people have already taken part in the Cultural Olympiad in the North West since it launched during the 2008 Open Weekend. The North West's contribution over three years has already included 1,340 public events, 940 workshops involving 15,000 participants, 268 new commissions, 545 partnerships and 2,800 artists.

London 2012's launch event last week announced some of our programme for the London 2012 Festival which will take place from 21 June-9 September 2012. There is much more to come and further announcements will be made throughout the next few months about how the North West will contribute to the London 2012 Festival and the UK Cultural Olympiad

The London 2012 Festival is the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. It will shine an international spotlight on artists from all over the world as well as from the North West. Anthony McCall's Column, which is the North West's Artists taking the lead commission, will be welcoming in the Festival and the Olympic Year. Column is a vertical, spinning column of cloud rising into the sky from the surface of Wirral Waters. Several kilometres tall, it will be visible across the North West and beyond. Watch a short interview with the artist here.

The Cultural Olympiad programme for London 2012 is founded on the values of internationalism, inspiring young people and leaving a legacy for our arts and culture sector.

National projects already underway in the North West as part of the Cultural Olympiad include Unlimited. Laurence Clark has just won an Unlimited commission forDemotivational Speaker, a show which will question what it means to be inspirational. The show can be seen next summer at the Edinburgh Fringe, DaDaFest in Liverpool and the Bloomsbury Theatre London.

The North West's four year programme for the Cultural Olympiad centres on digital innovation, excellence in outdoor arts and culture and sport participation.

Inspired by 2012 to send the statement of 'WE PLAY' around the North West and the UK, the programme is designed to elaborate on the way we think, to stimulate new experience and to provide opportunities for everyone to be a great 'player' through creative, physical, social and intellectual activity.
The programme reflects a North West output like never before and sets a standard for collaboration and the development of cultural activities.
Its series of annual programmes, collaborative projects and new commissions seek to leave a legacy of partnerships across different sectors, of a new cultural infrastructure in the North West and of artworks and events which have a life beyond 2012.

Abandon Normal Devices, Lakes Alive and Blaze are its three main projects, principally funded by Legacy Trust UK and Arts Council England. These three annual programmes have been gathering momentum and public interest over the last three years, ensuring that in the Olympic Year, our North West programme is outstanding.

Abandon Normal Devices is an annual festival of new cinema, digital culture and art at the frontier of new thought and research practice. It provokes reaction, creation and experimentation between and across different disciplines and geographical locations. Its programme in 2012 will see one of its life science projects, Pigs Bladder Football, by artist John O Shea, growing a football out of living cells and will feature the UK premier of Andrew Kotting's film Swandown.

Blaze is a youth-led culture and sports programme involving young people from across Lancashire in creating new work which makes links between culture and sport. In 2012 Blaze will be part of a new regional partnership with Brighter Sounds to present Blaze Festival North West, the North West's first youth inspired and produced festival of culture, sport, music and art.

Lakes Alive is a festival of outdoor performance and street arts across Cumbria. It has already grown into a programme of national and international reputation and reach, establishing the North West as a centre of excellence in street arts. The North West is proud that Lakes Alive has been commissioned by the London 2012 Festival to produce a new large-scale show by the French street arts company Les Commandos Percu for the first night of its opening weekend.

WE PLAY is the North West's emblem of collective identity and the WE PLAY Challenge is the North West's campaign for the Cultural Olympiad. It will actively encourage people to get involved in the Legacy Trust funded projects and it will include official Cultural Olympiad events. Launching in March 2012 and running through until September, the WE PLAY Challenge equates taking part in the Cultural Olympiad programme of events to a multi sports event contest, such as a triathlon or decathlon. North West residents can sign up to the challenge, take part in the events, record their activity and discuss their London 2012 experiences with other members of the WE PLAY Challenge. They will also get the chance to take part in the making of an artwork which will be unveiled in Preston during the closing weekend of the Paralympic Games.

Over 30 cultural projects in the North West have gained official Olympic recognition as part of the London 2012 Inspire programme. Encompassing geographical and social diversity, these events for the Cultural Olympiad form a coherent body of work, curated around the 'WE PLAY' statement and the North West's programme themes of digital innovation, outdoor arts and culture and sport participation.

In addition, the North West programme has led on the development of new creative collaborations between regional and international artists and has formed international co-productions and commissioning partnerships for these projects. Our programme has formed collaborations with the Cultural Olympiad in the North East, the South West, Northern Ireland and Scotland and co-commissioning relationships with the Pre Games Training Camps programme in the North West and the London 2012 Look programme for Old Trafford and Greater Manchester.

One example is The Moment When..., a first time collaboration between Cheshire Dance and Walk the Plank, and a commissioning partnership between Arts Council England and Local Authorities in Cheshire and Warrington to deliver a series of three spectacular performance and participation events in iconic and historical locations involving regional and national artists and Upswing. The first event on 29th May at Chester Race Course will welcome the arrival of the Olympic Torch into the North West as well as launch the Big Dance programme in the region.
With the final chapter of London 2012 fast approaching, we would also like to announce that the North West is developing a WE PLAY Expo at Preston Guild 2012, the North West's Closing Event for the Cultural Olympiad. Hosted by Preston Guild 2012, a unique festival that takes place every 20 years, this once-in-a-lifetime 2012 celebration invites everyone in the North West to come to Preston and connect for the closing weekend of the Paralympic Games.

Debbi Lander, North West Creative Programmer for London 2012 said: 'Inspired by 2012 to send the statement of 'WE PLAY' around the region and the UK, our North West programme illuminates the powerful and unique way in which art and culture can elaborate on the way we think, can generate new experience and provide opportunities for everyone to be a player through creative, physical, social and intellectual activity. It reflects a North West output like never before and sets a benchmark for collaboration and the development of cultural activities. The legacy of our participation in the Cultural Olympiad will last well beyond 2012.'

Sarah Maxfield, North West Regional Director of Arts Council England said: 'The North West has an exhilarating programme of astonishing events on offer throughout 2012. The Olympic year will provide the springboard for some very special once in a life time opportunities for people living in, and visiting the region - and much of it free.

'Art in the outdoors features very strongly with Lakes Alive international street arts in Cumbria, dance and spectacle in unusual places in Cheshire through The Moment When.... and the Artists taking the lead project, Column, by artist Anthony McCall, on the Mersey Waterfront.
'Young people are at the forefront of designing and delivering their own art in the Blaze programme in Lancashire and there is a cutting edge digital offer with Abandon Normal Devices.

'In addition, there will be a whole host of cultural activities linked to visiting athletes from around the world and further opportunities for everyone to celebrate the games locally as the Torch makes its way through the region. 2012 will truly have something for everyone.'