Cultural Olympiad: the Game’s Afoot

SallyB2
By SallyB2 Last edited 186 months ago
Cultural Olympiad: the Game’s Afoot
2609.tate.jpg

This weekend sees the beginning of the Cultural Olympiad, the £40m marketing drive by the government to persuade us all that the Olympics are good and hey-you-don’t-even-need-to-be-sporty-to-benefit. Cynicism aside, the idea is really sound. At worst it means that we all get a bit of extra art/theatre/music, but if all goes according to plan it will serve to lift the whole Olympic thing into a nation-affirming revelation.

Today’s launch saw former Olympic medallists, including Dame Kelly Holmes and 2012 supremo Lord Coe, running at Tate Britain as part of Martin Creed’s installation - an imaginative if puzzling blend of sport and art.

There are a vast number of events during the weekend. A meander by Londonist threw up the rather jolly sounding Big Bang Lab, a workshop at the ICA on Sunday afternoon which aims to recreate music from the silent movie era, a boxing demo at the London District TA and Army Boxing Club (that’s from 9am tomorrow), special marionette performances of The Sleeping Beauty at the Islington’s Little Angel Theatre, and a day of free storytelling at London’s Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square. We should stress that these are but four of more than a hundred such events across the capital – this is a huge enterprise. It would be really sad if you don’t manage to check at least one of them out.

Running man from Shakespearesmonkey’s Londonist flickr stream.

Last Updated 26 September 2008