A programme of community celebrations aimed at promoting involvement in the Cultural Olympiad will create "a lasting and meaningful legacy."
Legacy Trust UK today announced the winning projects in its programme of Community Celebrations, which will allow communities across the UK to come together to stage large-scale outdoor celebrations as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Legacy Trust UK is an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Trust has committed £3 million to this national programme, which celebrates the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and aims to create a cultural legacy in each of the successful areas.
The winners are:
Speed of Light: Scotland (managed by NVA)
Games Time: East Midlands (managed by Déda Producing)
Tree of Light: South East (managed by Oxford Inspires on behalf of Thames Art Consortium)
Land of Giants: Northern Ireland (managed by Land of Giants Ltd)
In Scotland, Speed of Light is a remarkable interaction between public art and sport which will be performed on Arthur's Seat during the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival, linking the end of the Olympic Games with the start of the Paralympic Games three weeks later. Regular walkers through to professional athletes will wear specially designed light-generating kits which change colour depending on the movement and pace of the wearers.
Staged in partnership with the Festival, the three-week presentation will promote innovative energy conservation technology and also show how public art and sport can be presented in a new and creative way. In addition, there will be a 275 mile endurance event, 21 x 21, where runners from all over Scotland will be able to take part in a half marathon hill run every day over the three-week period.
Games Time is a series of large scale spectacular events that celebrate London 2012 in the East Midlands. The project will be a high profile, multi faceted event that pushes the boundaries of outdoor work. Games Time will incorporate street performance, fire and pyrotechnic animation, digital projection and installation, and a parallel online experience.
There will be five distinctive phases to Games Time that will take place in four towns and cities in the East Midlands: Skegness, Loughborough, Northampton and Derby. There will also be a London event that will coincide with the hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in summer 2012.
In the South East, Tree of Light involves professional dancers, musicians, visual artists and writers, more than 1,000 participants and focuses on sustainability, creativity and local heritage.
School and community groups across the Thames region will work with environmental scientists and artists to create four artworks in the form of saplings and four local performances, culminating in a grand finale where a tree of light and the saplings, all powered by green energy, will come together. A series of outdoor performances will take place at locations along the River Thames between June and September 2012.
Land of Giants in Northern Ireland takes its inspiration from a number of 'Giants' that are present in Northern Ireland's history both ancient and modern. Special focus will be given to four giants – Finn McCool, the giant who built the Giant's Causeway, Gulliver, whose giant features are outlined in the hills surrounding Belfast, Samson and Goliath, the two cranes which have dominated the Belfast skyline for the past forty years and the Titanic together with her less famous sister ship, the Olympic.
The cultural inspiration of these giants will fuse together in a Giant Party linking to the Olympic values, and the aspiration of Northern Ireland for a 'shared and better future'. The party will be the largest outdoor arts celebration ever staged in Northern Ireland.
There is a possibility for the projects to travel to London and bring elements of their performances to the capital during the summer months of 2012, sharing their celebrations with a wider audience and connect with the Games in different ways. There are few precedents for a project of this scale and ambition and it presents a unique opportunity to celebrate on the streets of the UK like never before.
Dugald Mackie, chair of Legacy Trust UK said: "These Community Celebrations will help spread the magic and excitement of the 2012 Games outside London and leave a lasting legacy across the four regions involved. The Games aren't just for two weeks, and they’re not just for sports fans. Through projects such as this, they will have an enduring impact on many people's lives."
Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for culture, olympics, media and sport said: "Community Celebrations is proof that the Olympics and Paralympics are much more than a sporting event; that culture and community are also at the core of a successful Games. These events will give people across the country the chance to take part and help create a lasting and meaningful legacy well beyond 2012."
Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad said: "I congratulate Legacy Trust UK for giving artists and communities the chance to think big and take artistic risks. The potential for individual and community change and legacy is exciting and we will only understand the full impact in the years after 2012."
Legacy Trust UK is a Principal Funder of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival, and is in a unique position to help communities across the UK gain lasting and life-changing benefits from the 2012 Games. The Trust has allocated £40 million of funding to 12 programmes in each nation and region of the UK and four national programmes.
This funding will act as a catalyst to link grassroots activities across into the Olympic programme, so that people from all walks of life – not just athletes and sports fans – can be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
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