Realising the potential of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.
 
The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the  London 2012 Festival, bringing leading artists from all over the world together from 21 June 2012 in the UK’s biggest ever festival – a chance for everyone to celebrate London 2012 through dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, film and digital innovation, and leave a lasting legacy for the arts in the UK. Below are listed some of the national and regional projects and commissions as well as ways for individuals and groups to be involved.

Join the Cultural Olympiad

To find out more about any of the projects, please get in touch with the East of England Creative Programmer liz.hughes@artscouncil.org.uk
 
For listings of regional cultural activity please check the events calendar http://www.risingtothechallengeeast.co.uk/calendar/ 

If you would like to receive regular email updates please email marc.atkinson@artscouncil.org.uk  

Unlimited
 
Through Unlimited, the biggest disability arts commissioning programme in the UK, Dance East has worked with choreographer Marc Brew to commission a new dance work Fusional Fragments with original music from Philip Sheppard and Dame Evelyn Glennie.
 
 
Museums and Galleries
 
Through Stories of the World people of all backgrounds, from every part of the UK, will become 'curators' of the collections and objects held in museums, libraries and archives.
 
Eastern Exchanges is an official part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme Stories of the World which creates exciting new museum exhibitions across the UK, created by young people.
Museums in the East that are involved in the project include the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Norfolk Museums and Archaelogy Service and Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service. In Luton a group of young people decorated a vintage Bedford truck inspired by Pakistani Truck Art as part of the Stories of the World project.
 

Music
 
Aldeburgh World Orchestra Suffolk  2012
The Aldeburgh World Orchestra is a new project under development in which renowned conductor, Sir Mark Elder will bring together 100 of the most talented young musicians (age 18-28 years) from across the globe to create a true „world orchestra‟. Legacy Trust UK funding will extend the reach of this project into local communities. The project is also supported by Arts Council England.

A number of Inspire Mark projects in the East also feature music:
 
Inspire Marked project Sing Up Canvey Island worked with primary and secondary school pupils to create new opera and folk songs. Working with experts from Sing Up and the Royal Opera House, the project focused on developing pupils' singing skills and also supported the establishment of a community choir in the area. Find out more about Sing Up
 

Music will play a big part in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and festival in 2012. Projects within the music strand include 

New Music 20x12 20 new works of music, each of 12 minutes, inspired by the Games 
 

River of Music A spectacular curtain-raiser to the Games along the River Thames 
 
Youth Music Voices  Giving 14-18 year olds the chance to celebrate the Games through song 
 
 
Outdoors and Events The Outdoors and Events strand of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad features a wide range of projects, from Discovering Places to the Inspire programme.
 
Sparks Will Fly May - July 2012
A county wide spectacle will run in Essex from May to July in 2012. Engaging over 100,000 people, it will culminate in a large scale pyrotechnic performance in Hylands Park in early July 2012. Walk the Plank, a highly experienced outdoor performance and pyrotechnic company, will be designing and orchestrating Sparks Will Fly. Sparks will Fly will be delivered by Essex County Council‟s Arts Development and 2012 Legacy Teams, Chelmsford Borough Council Cultural Events Team, local authorities and communities across Essex.

Discovering Places is a UK-wide campaign giving participants the opportunity to discover, explore, be inspired by and benefit from the UK's hidden gems – historic and contemporary buildings, public spaces and natural places in and around the cities, towns and villages where they live and work.
 

Art
 
On Landguard Point Region wide, July 2011 - Sep 2012
Suffolk-raised artist Robert Pacitti is developing a series of large-scale, public outdoor events exploring notions of „home‟, that will become a feature film in 2012. On Landguard Point builds upon the Pacitti Company's international reputation for developing experimental theatre and live art. On Landguard Point is Arts Council England‟s flagship Artists Taking the Lead £0.5 million project for the region.

 
The Road to 2012 project, led by BT and the National Portrait Gallery, celebrates those people who are collectively making the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games happen.  
Road to 2012
 

Theatre, Dance and Comedy

The World Shakespeare Festival, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, will run from 23 April to 9 September 2012, celebrating how the world performs, teaches and engages with Shakespeare. 
 
Film and Digital

The Film and digital strand of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad features everything from a short film competition for young people to individual projects in the Inspire programme.  
 

Screen Team Region wide 2011 - 2012
Screen Team, run by the Cambridge Film Trust, will develop a series of outdoor screenings and events across the region. To support the delivery of these events the Trust has developed an enhanced volunteering programme using its years of experience in programming, marketing and production of film events to offer professional training to at least 45 volunteers from across the region. The project is funded by Legacy Trust UK.

Film Nation Shorts Young people between the age of 14-25 can create their own films celebrating the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the chance to win prizes and screening opportunities.  
 

The Tate Movie Project is the first of its kind – an animated film made by and for 5-13 year olds across the UK.Workshops and screenings took place across the region and their will be more opportunities to see the finished film in 2012. 
   

somewhereto_  is a project that finds young people spaces to do the things that they want to do. There is now a regional co-ordinator for the East elly@somewhereto.com 

London 2012 Festival is the finale of the four-year Cultural Olympiad, taking place from 21 June to 9 September 2012. Complementing the sport events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Festival will be the biggest party the UK has ever seen, with a huge range of events from leading artists from all over the world. Below areprojects in the East that already forms part of the London 2012 Festival 
 
Carnival Crossroads 
Unlimited - Marc Brew Fusional fragments 
Sparks will Fly 
 
Torch Ceremonies In the east the Torch Relay will visit the following locations;

Peterborough Tues 3 July
Norwich Wed 4 July
Ipswich Thur 5 July
Chelmsford Fri 6 July
Cambridge Sat 7 July
Luton Sun 8 July