The Festival is the finale of the Cultural Olympiad – a 12-week UK-wide cultural celebration from 21 June – 9 September 2012 featuring leading artists from all over the world, including Plan B, Toni Morrison, Olafur Eliasson, Miranda Hart, Deborah Warner, Mike Leigh, Leona Lewis and Damon Albarn.
People can sign up now at www.london2012.com/festival to be first in line for information about the Festival.
London promised that culture, with sport and education, would be a key pillar of the Games, and to mark one year to go to the London 2012 Festival LOCOG Chair Seb Coe joined Cultural Olympiad Director Ruth Mackenzie to announce the 12 world-leading artists who have been chosen to design official Olympic and Paralympic posters for the London 2012 Games. They are: Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Anthea Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris, Chris Ofili, Bridget Riley, Bob and Roberta Smith and Rachel Whiteread.
The posters will be shown in a free exhibition at Tate Britain as part of the London 2012 Festival. The posters and limited edition prints will go on sale this autumn. People who sign up at www.london2012.com/festival will be the first to hear how to purchase the prints when the London 2012 Festival tickets go on sale in October.
Today Cultural Olympiad Director Ruth Mackenzie was joined by the founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley to announce that tickets go on sale for the Peace One Day concert in London on 21 September 2011 and Eliza Doolittle is the first artist confirmed for the bill. This is one of three Peace One Day concerts being organised in conjunction with the Cultural Olympiad, which also includes the already announced concert for the London 2012 Festival in Derry~Londonderry on 21 June 2012.
Over seven million people will have the opportunity to enjoy free events during the London 2012 Festival. This includes already announced events such as the BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend on the opening weekend of the festival, Big Dance involving communities across the UK for the first time, and Tino Sehgal’s commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall.
New programme announcements today include a free light and fire spectacular by Les Commandos Percus on the shores of Lake Windermere for Lakes Alive; The 2012 Reading Challenge which aims to reach one million children across the UK; a special comedy season at the Hackney Empire; an immersive theatre show for Doctor Who fans by Punchdrunk created in collaboration with the Manchester International Festival and the BBC; a free spectacular by internationally acclaimed outdoor performance specialists Walk the Plank in Chelmsford; specially commissioned film events from the BFI; and a De La Warr Pavilion commission by Richard Wilson based on the iconic final scene of the film ‘The Italian Job’.
A partnership with Edinburgh’s Hogmanay – the New Year's Eve celebration – is also being announced today, which will be one of a number Countdown events leading up to the London 2012 Festival. These include exhibitions of Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Music Nation announced by the BBC and World Shakespeare Festival.
Tickets for the London 2012 Festival will be available from October 2011. Tickets for a number of Festival projects are already on sale, including a Pina Bausch retrospective and Philip Glass's 'Einstein on the Beach', taking place at Sadler's Wells and the Barbican respectively.
Cultural projects inspired by the Games are already taking place across the UK. This year’s Open Weekend (22 – 24 July 2011), supported by BP, will see people across the UK attending over 1,000 events to celebrate one year to go to the Games, including special screenings of Tate Movie Project at Live Sites in Trafalgar Square and in cities across the UK. Young people are being given the chance to take part in film workshops through Cultural Olympiad project Film Nation:Shorts – the short film competition with presenting partner Panasonic, which closes for entries on 15 August. The next NPG / BT Road to 2012 exhibition, 25 July – 25 September, will feature new portraits of Team GB medal hopefuls and key figures behind the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. When the final Road to 2012 exhibition opens in July 2012, the 100 portraits on display will be part of the cultural legacy of London 2012.
Principal funders of the London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the London 2012 Festival and Panasonic are the Presenting Partner of Film Nation: Shorts. The British Council will support the international development of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects.
Sebastian Coe, London 2012 Chair, said: ‘We always said that the culture program would be part of the London 2012 experience. What you can see today is even more evidence that the London 2012 Festival programme for next year will showcase the incredible creative talent we have here in the UK. Millions will be able to get involved all across the UK, the vast majority for free; it will be a fitting finale for the Cultural Olympiad.’
Tony Hall, Cultural Olympiad Chair, said: ‘With one year to go to the London 2012 Festival, I’m incredibly excited that the climax of the Cultural Olympiad will be an event that will provide a summer of celebration for millions of people across the UK. With thanks to our funders, partners, and the cultural community across the UK, I’m sure that when the greatest show on earth comes to London and the eyes of the world are on us, we will deliver a cultural celebration like never before.’
Ruth Mackenzie, Cultural Olympiad Director, said: ‘Sign up now at www.london2012.com/festival to be the first to know about the new commissions and projects for the Festival. We would love to share the creation of the UK's largest ever festival as we work towards the October programme launch.’
Eliza Doolittle said: ‘When I heard about Peace One Day, what they have achieved and what they are now going for, a Global Truce on Peace Day 2012, I had to become involved. You can too. Come to the concert on 21 September this year and go to www.peaceoneday.org to find out more. POD is a ground breaking initiative and I’m proud to be a part of it.’
London 2012 is also working with partners including the British Council and Rio 2016 to develop special collaborations between London and Rio de Janeiro, the Host City for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Speaking from Brazil on 21 June, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt said: ‘The London 2012 Festival will be an incredible part of London's Olympic and Paralympic Games, enjoyed by people across the country. With one year to go to the opening of the London 2012 Festival, exciting plans are already in place and many more will be revealed in October.
‘A key part of the London 2012 Festival will be a link to Rio 2016, where we hope our legacy will be to make culture a key pillar of the Olympic movement alongside sport and education. I am currently in Brazil meeting the key cultural figures who are working with LOCOG and UK creative industries and artists to build creative and cultural links between the Olympic cities.’
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London said: ‘A year from today, on Midsummer’s day, the festivities will begin with the launch of the London 2012 Festival. The capital will be alive with extraordinary music, art, poetry, performance – a festival on a scale never before seen to celebrate the greatest sporting show on earth. And to mark the 12-month countdown Open Weekend will provide surprises, thrills and just a little bit of magic to whet your creative appetite.’
The London 2012 Festival is the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. Since the Cultural Olympiad started in 2008, over 14 million people all over the UK have participated in or attended performances as part of Cultural Olympiad programmes inspired by London 2012 and funded by our principal funders and sponsors. Over 155,000 people have attended more than 8,000 workshops as part of the Cultural Olympiad programmes.
This includes over 660,000 visitors to the National Portrait Gallery to see the annual National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 and BP Portrait Award exhibitions including participants in the new BP Portrait Award Next Generation project; 2.4 million participants in Open Weekend since 2008; and five million participants in Big Dance since 2010.
Over 9,000 children aged 5-13 have attended Tate Movie Project workshops around the country, whilst the Tate Movie Project website has had more than 500,000 page views, with 22,111 children signing up to be movie crew members and sending in 57,242 ideas for the film so far.
More than 1,800 14-25 year olds have attended Film Nation: Shorts workshops presented by Panasonic, and there are now 2,000 young curators working in museums across the UK as part of the Stories of the World project.
Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England said: ‘The London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad programme is a marvellous opportunity to showcase the extraordinary artistic talent that thrives in the UK. With so much artistically excellent work on show, I hope people all across the country will take advantage of the festivals, carnivals, concerts, commissions and events in their area. It will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting cultural celebrations the nation has ever seen.’
Dugald Mackie, Legacy Trust UK Chair, said. ‘Legacy Trust UK is delighted to be a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival, and it is a testament to the projects that we fund, such as Tate Movie and Big Dance, that so many of them will play an official part in the cultural celebrations of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Trust was set up to create a lasting cultural legacy from the Games across the UK and the London 2012 Festival will be an exciting and inspiring end to the Cultural Olympiad, which is creating fantastic cultural opportunities for communities across the country.’
Rt Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva DBE, Chair of The Olympic Lottery Distributor said: 'Funding from National Lottery players is supporting cultural events all around the UK as part of the Cultural Olympiad and we are delighted to see how this support has also helped create such an exciting range of events which culminates in the London 2012 Festival.'
Peter Mather, Regional Vice President, Europe, & Head of Country, UK, BP, said: ‘BP is delighted to be a Premier Partner of the London 2012 Festival. Since 2008 the Cultural Olympiad has produced some truly world-class cultural projects and we look forward to celebrating in 2012 with this fantastic and fitting finale.’
Suzi Williams, Director, BT Group Marketing and Brand, said: ‘We're proud to be a Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. In our role as the official communications services partner for London 2012, we want to help tell the story of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Our three year collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery is a fantastic way to do this, engaging thousands of people with the cultural legacy of the Games.’
- Ends –
For further information please contact:
Paul Woodmansey the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100, paul.woodmansey@london2012.com or visit the website at www.london2012.com. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012
Or
Erica Bolton, Bolton & Quinn Ltd
Mobile: 07711 698 186; Office: 020 7221 5000; Email: erica@boltonquinn.com
Notes to editors:
Images
• Images from the launch of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Poster Artists are available here from 1.30pm.
• Images of posters from previous Games are available to download for media use here.
• An image of Eliza Doolittle, appearing at the Peace One Day Concert in London on 21 September 2011, can be downloaded for media use here.
London 2012 Festival events already announced include:
FREE
• Adain Avion: Marc Rees, Wales
• BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend 2012, London
• Big Dance, UK Wide
• BP Portrait Awards: Next Generation, National Portrait Gallery, London
• BT Road to 2012, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Carnival Crossroads, Luton and touring
• Column: Anthony McCall, Birkenhead
• Olafur Eliasson, new commission
• English Flower Garden: Paul Cummins, UK wide
• Forest Pitch: Craig Coulthard, Selkirk
• Games Time, Northampton, Derby and London
• Max Giwa & Dania Pasquini, UK wide
• Global Alchemy: Rachel Gadsden, Cambridge and London
• Hang on a minute, lads, I’ve got a great idea: Richard Wilson, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
• Hogmanay, Edinburgh
• Irresistible: Jeremy Colbourne, Mind the Gap
• Leaving-Limbo-Landing: Caroline Bowditch, London
• Les Commandos Percus: Lakes Alive, Lake Windermere
• London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Posters, Tate Britain, London
• Metamorphosis: Titian 2012: Wayne McGregor, Royal Ballet, National Gallery-, London
• Motion Disabled: Simon McKeown, UK wide
• The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games, Royal Opera House, London
• Personal Best: Chris Tally Evans, UK wide
• The Reading Challenge, UK wide
• River of Music, London & UK wide, 21-22 July 2012
• A Room for London: Artangel, London & digital
• Sparks Will Fly: Walk the Plank, Chelmsford
• Speed of Light: Angus Farquhar, NVA, Edinburgh
• Tate Movie, UK wide
• Tino Sehgal, Tate Modern, London
• Deborah Warner, UK wide
• Rachel Whiteread, Whitechapel Gallery, London
ART
• Adain Avion: Marc Rees, Wales
• A Bigger Picture: David Hockney, Royal Academy, London
• BP Portrait Awards: Next Generation, National Portrait Gallery, London
• BT Road to 2012, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Caution: Sinead O’Donnell, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
• Column: Anthony McCall, Birkenhead
• Martin Creed, UK wide
• Olafur Eliasson, new commission
• English Flower Garden: Paul Cummins, UK wide
• Forest Pitch: Craig Coulthard, Selkirk
• Lucian Freud, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Global Alchemy: Rachel Gadsden, Cambridge and London
• Hang on a minute, lads, I’ve got a great idea: Richard Wilson, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
• Damien Hirst, Tate Modern, London
• Anish Kapoor, Olympic Park, London
• London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Posters, Tate Britain, London
• Metamorphosis: Titian 2012: National Gallery, Wayne McGregor, Royal Ballet, London
• Tino Sehgal, Tate Modern, London
• Rachel Whiteread, Whitechapel Gallery, London
CARNIVAL
• Carnival Crossroads, Luton and touring
• Games Time, Northampton, London and Derby
COMEDY
• Comedy, Hackney Empire, London
DANCE
• Pina Bausch retrospective, Sadler’s Wells & Barbican, London
• Big Dance, UK wide
• Boundless: David Toole, Lucy Hind, Birmingham
• Branches: Constanza Macras, National Theatre of Wales, North Wales
• CandoCo Unlimited, London
• Fusional Fragments: Marc Brew, London
• Leaving-Limbo-Landing: Caroline Bowditch, London
• Ménage à Trois: Claire Cunningham, London
• Metamorphosis: Titian 2012: Wayne McGregor, Royal Ballet, National Gallery, London
• Private Dancer: Janice Parker, London
• Unleashed: Boy Blue, Barbican, London
FILM, TV & DIGITAL
• Max Giwa & Dania Pasquini, UK wide
• Motion Disabled: Simon McKeown, UK wide
• Personal Best: Chris Tally Evans, UK wide
• A Room for London: Artangel, London & digital
• A Running Jump: Mike Leigh, UK wide
• The Story of Film: Mark Cousins, UK wide
• Tate Movie, UK wide
HERITAGE & MUSEUMS
• BP Portrait Awards: Next Generation, National Portrait Gallery, London
• BP Shakespeare's Theatre of the World: British Museum, London
• BT Road to 2012, National Portrait Gallery, London
• Golden Threads: Bradford Museum, Bradford
• Local Global: Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton
• London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Posters, Tate Britain, London
• The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games, Royal Opera House, London
LITERATURE
• Poetry Parnassus, Southbank Centre, London
• The Reading Challenge, UK wide
MUSIC
• Africa Express, UK wide
• BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend 2012, London
• Dr Dee: Damon Albarn, Manchester 2011 & London 2012
• Einstein on the Beach: Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, Lucinda Childs, Barbican, London
• Hogmanay, Edinburgh
• James McMillan, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry
• Jazz at Lincoln Centre residency, Barbican
• Music Nation: BBC, UK wide
• The Nest: Brian Irvine and John Mcllduff, Belfast
• Peace One Day Concert, September 21st 2011, London
• Peace One Day Concert, June 21st 2012, Derry/Londonderry
• River of Music, London and UK wide, 21-22 July 2012
• Swing Symphony: Wynton Marsalis, Barbican, London
• The Trojans: Hector Berlioz, Royal Opera House, London
• Weltethos: Jonathan Harvey, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham
THEATRE & PERFORMANCE
• Box of Frogs: Stumble danceCircus
• The Crash of the Elysium: Punchdrunk, Manchester & touring
• Gross und Klein: Martin Crimp, Luc Bondy, Sydney Theatre Company, Barbican, London
• In Water I’m Weightless: Kaite O’Reilly, National Theatre of Wales, Cardiff
• Mad Gyms and Kitchens: Bobby Baker, London
• The Ugly Spirit: Fittings, Liverpool
• You Me Bum Bum Train, London
World Shakespeare Festival, which is produced by the RSC, includes:
• Coriolan/us: National Theatre of Wales, Bridgend
• Cymbeline: Ninagawa Company, Barbican, London
• Desdemona: Toni Morrison, Rokia Traoré, Peter Sellars, Barbican, London
• Romeo & Juliet: Iraqi Theatre Company, Stratford-upon-Avon and London
• Two Roses for Richard III (working title), Companhia Bufomecanica, Brazil: Stratford-upon-Avon and London
• What country, friends, is this?: Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon and London:
o Pericles
o The Comedy of Errors
o The Tempest
o Twelfth Night
• 1612: Shakespeare’s Theatre of the World British Museum
Visit www.london2012.com/festival to sign up for information.
Olympic and Paralympic Posters
History
Since 1912 each Olympic host city has commissioned one or more posters to celebrate the hosting of the Games and since the first Paralympic games was held at Stoke Mandeville posters have also been commissioned for the Paralympic games. Over the course of the last century a body of iconic work has been created and previous artists who have created a poster include David Hockney, Andy Warhol and RB Kitaj.
For London 2012
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has worked with Tate and the Plus Tate Group (a group of 19 regional galleries across the UK), who together compiled a long list of over 100 artists for consideration. This long list was then reduced to a final list of 12 by a panel comprising Nicholas Serota (Tate Director), Tamsin Dillon (Head of Art on the Underground), Judith Nesbitt (Tate - Head of National/International Initiatives), Carl Freedman (Counter Editions) Ruth Mackenzie (Director, Cultural Olympiad) and Greg Nugent (LOCOG Director of Marketing and Brand).
Counter Editions will be producing and selling the limited edition prints of the Olympic and Paralympic posters. These collectable fine art prints will be available via www.countereditions.com.
Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival Funders and Partners
Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. They support a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. They believe that great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, they will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and a further £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity whose mission is to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and which will leave a lasting legacy in communities throughout the UK. The Trust is funded by a £40 million endowment from the Big Lottery Fund, Department for Culture Media and Sport and Arts Council England, and is a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival. Find out more at www.legacytrustuk.org
The Olympic Lottery Distributor is investing National Lottery money to fund the London 2012 Games. It is providing £16.6 million to support the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival and up to £1.8 billion for the infrastructure of the Olympic Park and other Olympic facilities across the UK. It also providing £3.4 million to fund the network of Big Screens across the UK. For further information about the Olympic Lottery Distributor visit www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk.
BP’s support for arts and culture goes back more than 30 years and includes long-term partnerships with the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Opera House and Tate Britain. More than 2.5 million people across the UK attended a BP supported event in 2010 and as a Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, BP is helping to showcase the UK’s cultural excellence and diversity to an even wider audience.
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services, operating in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale. In the year ended 31 March 2011, BT Group’s revenue was £20,076 million with profit before taxation of £1,717 million.
BT is the official communications services partner for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and a Premier Partner of the Cultural Olympiad. British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York. For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt
LOCOG
As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-five domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster and Trebor.
There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one domestic Tier Three Paralympic Supplier, Otto Bock.
The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.
