Thoughts on Programming for the Olympics

What work is appropriate for large scale cultural programmes? What if this programme is for the world’s largest mega sporting event with a TV audience of over 4billion for its opening and closing ceremonies? Does this mean only the mega and mainstream can work? I was pondering this question as i witnessed street arts work in Kendal, for Mintfest which is part of Lakes Alive – one of our projects for the Olympiad in the Northwest.

Outdoor work is good because it provides spectacle, it reaches people, it takes art to the community, its about celebration that is communal, public and collective – all the things that an olympic games is about. And of what type of outdoor work? Lets take Salamandre as one example which was one of the events that i saw at Mintfest last night.  In their work was athletism – of the body in motion, human power – of the body in performance and play with fire – the  symbol, of unity and of the earth. This piece embodied natural forces and struck me as a clear and relevant focus and theme for any olympic programme – the notion and expression of natural forces is at the heart of the enjoyment of sport, of both the doing and the watching. It is also the root of humanity and therefore part of culture and for expression by artists. Which leads me on to the view that programming  street arts for the Olympics promotes the LIVE,  the NATURAL and  the SOCIAL experience of life – essential natural forces.  When you play with  sculptural forms (like dance and installation) and fire and let them do the talking you get a very human form of expression  which is tribal. Simplicity should not be underestimated and for an Olympics programme, its a very nice strand of practice to present – tribal arts (?)

to be continued…..

A true olympic experience in Kendal

The opening night of Mintfest – Kendal’s International festival of street arts – literally set the streets alight with fire. If you were not in love with street arts before seeing Salamandre and Carabosse you will be now.

A troupe of fire artists (Salamandre) weaved their way through the high street of Kendal with their bodies and sticks, in tribal dance, generating beauty in the motion of their wanderings. The crowd of families lined the high street, watching in awe and wonder as Salamandre embraced and evoked magic with their dance theatre and play  with fire. A powerful public peformance and perfect opening spectacle for Mintfest with a delicious twist – Salamandre literally threw fire down the street, again and again, to the amazement of the audience. I heard ‘How did they get away with that?’ I am so glad that they did. Salamadre remind us of the primeval force of fire in our soul, our connection to our ancestory, and sadly, how safe public life has become. Lets not let it.

Not being able to get enough and wanting to continue my evening on the fire theme, i went to see Carabosse who had installed their fire garden project in Noble’s Rest Park . The fire garden was a magical, sensory experience – beautiful in the extreme, and so simple in its construction. Fire sculptures from the small to large scale, the static to the moving were placed all around the park, in trees and along pathways and enveloped in haunting and seductive live music.  I am not sure i have ever seen something quite so evocative of our heritage in such a simple way. Emphemeral, transient and beautiful. I could live for ever in this world of fire and peace. I wished to go to Burning Man Festival in Black Rock USA.

As I walked around, mostly alone as this was how I needed to experience it,  i imagined the opportunity of commissioning the development of this project as a community initiative involving the creation of  204 fire sculptures by and to represent the 204 olympic nations as an Olympic Truce Project for 2012. Using the methology for the Welcoming the World Flags project with Carabosse as the artistic leaders, this could be a proposal for London 2012 and the Olympic Park. The French are so good at alchemy – i wonder what other nations are like?

Artists taking the Lead – NW proposals selected

The five northwest projects selected to go forward to the second stage for the Artist Taking the Lead strand of the Cultural Olympiad are:

Ben Long – A brass bandstand -  sculptural object and useable piece of architecture  to inspire people to actively participate in a cultural celebration and grasps at the possibility of recreating a golden age of communal interaction

Anthony McCall – Projected Column (FACT/Biennial) – tallest sculpture in the world and first of its kind and self sustaining artwork producing enough energy to run itself. Made out of air and water – a sinuous, spinning, helical column of air with an outer skin of cloud.

Mark Thomas – Transmissions (Soup Collective/Salford Quays Committee) – a series of reflective and forward looking narratives on theme of’ analogue sunset – an era on the cusp of full digital revolution’. Transmissions will plot a course from the maritime beginnings of radio transmission to the nationwide shutdown of analogue television signals through to our ever widening digital existence. Events will combine live performance, choreography, film, animation and arhive material using the waterfront skyline adjacent to MediaCity as an evolving projected backdrop.

Tony Trehy – The Language Olympiad -a festival featuring many of the worlds leading lingustic, conceptual and concrete poets and artists, sound and media artists, bringing together ma ny languages, poetics and artistic styles. The largest ever celebration and dialogue of language in the arts.

Kully Thiarai and Philip Osment- Requiem for Change – epic visual narrative using the ancient form of the requiem mass to tell a universal story for our time. Combining elements of opera, Greek Tragedy, gospel music, quawalis, choral singing and dialogue, we want to create a haunting, : uplifting, large scale performance piece – laying to rest visions of youth as dangerous, evil and out of control.

Which project would you give £500k too?

200 Cumbrian people, 8 artists, 10 groups, 100 giant flags

Its Thursday 27th August and I am in Kendal for the launch of Welcoming the World – the display of 100 giant flags – generated by 200 cumbrian people, 8 artists and 10 groups. Created for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, and truly inspired by the landscape, like never before, people were asked to create flags which celebrated their place in Cumbria. The result was a truly modern and contemporary take on identity, citizenship and place and a creative community united by a shared endeavour which involved people of all ages and backgrounds in expressing their self and their environment. To quote Bob Sutcliffe of the Lake District National Park Authority: ‘The flags, made in this unique and diverse county which is seeking World Heritage Status for its incredible landscape, will leave a legacy, they can be used again and again and we want to use them to promote what is special about Cumbria, its National Park and its people. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see one or even better all 100 flags as part of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Opening ceremonies in 2012? Personally i think it would be good to see the scale of this project expanded further and wider – to the whole of the Northwest region and to the whole of the Uk. Not 100 flags but a 1000 flags. Now that would be something for the ceremonies  + even better if they could be walked in procession – the procession accompanying the torch relay on its travels through the Uk to London.

Abandon Normal Devices – 23rd – 27th September 2009

FACT, Folly and Cornerhouse are gearing up for the launch of Abandon Normal Devices – a regional festival of new cinema and digital culture on scale never before seen in the Northwest.  AND is a major international festival that will start its journey on 23 September in Liverpool with 15 new commissions, over 25 film screenings, 6 UK premieres and over 10 exhibitions across more than 14 venues and public spaces throughout its 5 days. AND offers plenty of opportunity to inspire, debate, create and experience new artwork. Make sure you check it out.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.