London 2012 Cultural Olympiad: guidance for applicants
If you have a project or event that you would like to be part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, you need to apply through the Inspire programme. The application form is available from your Creative Programmer and we hope these guidance notes will help you tell us what we need to know about your project.
If your application is successful, your organisation will have the right to use the London 2012 Inspire mark for your project or event.
How we select projects to be part of the Cultural Olympiad
There are plenty of interesting cultural projects happening all over the UK, but in order for them to become part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, they need to show us how they:
- Would not have happened if the Games were not coming to the UK in 2012;
- Are “like never before” – in other words, are either brand new and innovative or build on your existing work to take bold new steps forward in the spirit of ‘personal best’;
- Meet all three values of the Cultural Olympiad (see below); and
- Meet at least three of the themes of the Cultural Olympiad (see below).
We are curating a UK-wide programme. We need to make sure the national mix of projects is as varied and balanced as possible for the whole four-year Cultural Olympiad, so we will be selecting the very best projects.
What we mean by ‘cultural’ projects
We take a broad view of culture. Some examples of what we could consider to be a cultural event include, but are not limited to, the following: a carnival, concert, display, exhibition, fete, performance, play, reading, show, workshop or other community event (in a physical or online environment) involving any one or more of the following: architecture, archives, carnival and street theatre, crafts, dance, design, fashion, film and video, food, video games, museums and galleries, music, opera, photography, poetry, science, theatre, the visual arts, books, publishing, the web and landscape.
To be part of the Cultural Olympiad your project can’t be mainly a sporting or educational event, although a sporting or education component is fine. Please talk to your Creative Programmer who will advise whether you should put your project forward for the Inspire programme through a different channel.
The values of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
You need to show us how your project:
- Celebrates London and the whole of the UK welcoming the world, showing our unique internationalism, cultural diversity, sharing and understanding;
- Inspires and involves young people, for example in the design, development and delivery of your project; and
- Generates a positive legacy, for example through cultural and sports participation, audience development, cultural skills and capacity building, urban regeneration, tourism, social cohesion and international linkages.
The themes of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
You also need to show us how your project does at least three of the following:
- Brings together culture and sport
- Encourages audiences towards active participation
- Animates and humanises public spaces (e.g. street arts, public art, circus skills, live big screen sites)
- Uses culture and sport to raise issues of environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing
- Honours and shares the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Ignites cutting edge collaborations and innovation between communities and the cultural sectors and
- Enhances the learning, skills and personal development of young people by linking with our education programmes.
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