London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation Executive Summary 25 April 2013
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LONDON 2012 CULTURAL OLYMPIAD EVALUATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 25 APRIL 2013 By Dr Beatriz Garcia Head of Research, Institute of Cultural Capital Senior Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Liverpool With Tamsin Cox Head of Policy and Research, DHA A STRATEGIC RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation TABLE OF CONTENTS EVALUATION TEAM Introduction 05 What is the Cultural Olympiad? 07 Dr Beatriz Garcia, Research Director Tamsin Cox, Lead Research Collaborator The Cultural Olympiad in numbers 11 Stephen Crone, Research Assistant Summary impacts and achievements 15 1. Raising the bar for cultural programming 16 WITH SPECIALIST SUPPORT FROM 2. Engaging audiences and communities 21 Kate Rodenhurst, Case Study Research 3. Developing tourism 25 Prof Andy Miah, Digital Media Research 4. Governance and partnership approach 27 Dr Peter Campbell and Dr Philippa Hunter-Jones, Themed Research 5. Placing culture at the heart of the Games 31 James Milton, Editing 6. Conclusions 35 Technical note 39 IMAGE CREDITS Prof Andy Miah FUNDING London 2012 Cultural Olympiad stakeholders University of Liverpool London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation INTRODUCTION THE UK BID FOR THE 2012 OLYMPIC AND THE FINALE OF THE The promises inherent to the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival PARALYMPIC GAMES PROMISED THAT CULTURAL OLYMPIAD WAS THE LONDON 2012 FESTIVAL, vision have translated into the largest cultural programme of any Olympic and THE LONDON 2012 PROGRAMME WOULD A CURATED UK!WIDE FESTIVAL Paralympic Games and a programme, CHAMPION CULTURE AND EDUCATION SHOWCASING THE BEST OF on a geographical scale, unmatched THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD by any previous UK cultural festival. ALONGSIDE SPORT, WITH A CULTURAL AND COMMISSIONING OR An additional promise was a legacy OLYMPIAD TO INSPIRE YOUNG PEOPLE INVITING WORK FROM for those who participated, and this is WORLD!LEADING BRITISH reflected in the enduring life of many AND CELEBRATE THE COUNTRY’S UNIQUE AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS. of the new partnerships, festivals and INTERNATIONALISM ALL OVER THE UK. commissions that continue to serve The London 2012 Festival promised ‘once- audiences beyond 2012. Amongst the in-a-lifetime’ commissions to match up to partnerships, the special relationships with THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD WAS the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Games experience, Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture with a commitment to serving communities 2013, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth LAUNCHED IN 2008 AS A FOUR!YEAR, throughout the UK in partnership with Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic and local, national and international partners. Paralympic Games allowed work to be UK!WIDE PROGRAMME, DEVELOPED BY The London 2012 Festival also promised premiered in the London 2012 Festival AND FOR COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY to foreground the UK’s creative industries and for these partnerships to be built and commission innovative work to upon for the years following 2012. YOUNG PEOPLE, AND INCLUDED highlight hot spots for cultural tourists, SPECIAL PROGRAMMES TO CELEBRATE as well as offering free participation opportunities for local communities. DEAF AND DISABLED ARTISTS, THE UK’S DIVERSE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES, ITS HERITAGE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS, AND WORLD ICONS SUCH AS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. This report summarises key findings from the Institute of Cultural Capital evaluation of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. These findings are organised into five main areas, which broadly correspond with the main promises highlighted above: RAISING THE BAR FOR CULTURAL PROGRAMMING ENGAGING AUDIENCES AND COMMUNITIES DEVELOPING TOURISM GOVERNANCE AND PARTNERSHIP APPROACH PLACING CULTURE AT THE HEART OF THE GAMES This Summary is complemented by a Full Evaluation Report and dedicated Case Study reports, available at: www.culturalolympics.org.uk/volume/vol-15-2013 Garcia et al. | Institute of Cultural Capital | April, 2013 6 London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation WHAT IS THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD? A Cultural Olympiad is a required element of MAIN PROGRAMMING COMPONENTS any Olympic and Paralympic Games and is part of the International Olympic Committee’s AND CHRONOLOGICAL MILESTONES ambition to present the Games as the In 2008, the Cultural Olympiad launched was the largest blending of ‘sport, culture and education’.1 > Stories of the World > Sounds was an umbrella as a series of Major Projects inspired youth participation programme ever name for a series of flagship The London 2012 Games Candidature File by the London 2012 bid proposal and undertaken by museums in the UK. international music projects. presented its cultural programme proposal two distinct engagement programmes: Thousands of young people were The term ‘Sounds’ was never Open Weekend and Inspire. These recruited to reinterpret museums’ promoted as a single umbrella, in 2004 as part of the chapter dedicated programmes adopted an open source collections and co-curate exhibitions. to ‘Culture and Olympism’. The chapter approach to maximise multiple-ownership, but its components became included the vision for the Games Opening empowering local communities to > Somewhereto_ created a network flagships in their own right: make art and link with the Games. of spaces enabling young and Closing Ceremonies, the Torch Relay, people to pursue their creative > Youth Music Voices: a vocal ensemble a network of big screens (Live Sites), an > The Inspire programme and sporting passions. of 100 young people auditioned across Education Programme and a four-year Cultural allowed organisations to carry the UK and performed throughout the Cultural Olympiad in diverse venues, an ‘Inspired by 2012’ mark to > Film Nation engaged young people Olympiad starting at the end of the Beijing as artists and producers of film. including the Olympic Velodrome 2008 Olympic Games. The main vision associate cultural, sporting and and the Houses of Parliament. educational activity with London behind the Cultural Olympiad was sustained > Discovering Places explored 2012. 564 projects were licensed > Music 20x12: a commissioning during delivery, while the programme’s key heritage and open spaces in built under the culture label and took and natural environments throughout programme of 20 contemporary components expanded considerably and place between 2009 and 2012. the UK, emphasising less well- 12 minute compositions by UK included a diverse range of programming Some of them also became part known (or hidden) places. composers in collaboration with orchestras and musical groups. strands, partners and funders. Find opposite of Cultural Olympiad strands, and a few were included in the > Artists Taking the Lead invited an overview of the main milestones over time. final London 2012 Festival. artists to present a ‘big idea’ to > Music Nation: a weekend of live celebrate the Cultural Olympiad. music events involving a nationwide collaboration of the UK’s orchestral > Panels of local artists selected one Open Weekend was an annual, and music-making communities. UK-wide three-day event proposal from every nation and region for a major commission. running from 2008 to 2011, > BBC Hackney Weekend: a music counting down to the start > Unlimited was the largest ever festival bringing together the of the London 2012 Olympic UK commissioning programme for biggest names in popular music Games. It included thousands of excellent art by Deaf and disabled for the first time to a deprived projects and aimed to maximise artists. It developed throughout community in East London. cultural sector involvement the Olympiad and culminated in the lead up to 2012. during the Paralympic Games. > BT River of Music: six stages of free music across classic and emerging iconic sites on the Thames > The Major Projects were > The World Shakespeare Festival demonstrated the international riverbank throughout London, designed to highlight distinct presenting work from all 204 nations Cultural Olympiad themes appeal of Shakespeare and fostered exchange and collaboration competing at the 2012 Games. and values. Ten projects were between UK and international originally presented, of which theatre companies. It incorporated > BBC Proms: the world-famous eight developed into the Cultural Globe to Globe, the performance classical music festival. Olympiad programme. These of Shakespeare’s 37 plays by 35 projects were described by countries, in 37 different languages. delivery partners as follows: 1 IOC (2012) Olympic Charter. Lausanne: International Olympic Committee. 7 Garcia et al. | Institute of Cultural Capital | April, 2013 Garcia et al. | Institute of Cultural Capital | April, 2013 8 London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Evaluation ark P Art in in Art the N et VAL ites S DO S elay orch orch N et 2012 2012 R T resents ducation ESTI London London G 2012 2012 eremonies Mayor of of Mayor P Live LO E F C In 2009, Legacy Trust UK (LTUK) > The London 2012 Festival was a This evaluation covers all events that announced four national projects and 12 curated programme, which included were part of the Cultural Olympiad, new programming strands, one for each a range of projects developed in including the London 2012 Festival. UK region and nation, complementing the earlier years of the Cultural Where relevant, specific mention is regional programmes being developed Olympiad (e.g. a large proportion made of London 2012 Festival data and by a network of dedicated Creative of the original Major Projects) as distinctions are made between Festival A I Programmers and local authorities,