14.1

Introduction to the 2012 Edition

by Andy Miah & Beatriz Garcia

14.2

Cultural Olympiads & the Creative Industries:
Local Engagement in Torino and London

by Ilaria Pappalepore & Julia Westermann

This paper focuses on the creative industries, clustering of creative firms and their role in local development around Olympic Games planning and delivery focusing on Torino 2006 and London 2012. We argue that the role of such organizations has increasing value and importance for an Olympic programme, which reflect their growing importance in society more generally.

14.3

Artistic Freedom at the Olympic Games

by Ana Adi

This article analyses the contractual limitations for artists working around the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, from the perspective of a corporate sponsor for the Olympic arts. In so doing, it draws on various semantic interpretations and links them with wider arguments about artistic freedom and corporate or governmental sponsorship. The role of financial contributions to artistic freedom and freedom of expression will also be discussed. The crucial issue at stake is the future of artistic freedom within Olympic programmes

14.4

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad: A Model for a Nationwide Cultural Legacy

by Beatriz Garcia

The London 2012 Games mark precisely 100 years since the first official commitment to presenting cultural and artistic activity, alongside sport, as a core dimension of the Olympic hosting process. This centenary year provides a useful moment to reflect on what culture and the arts have brought to the Olympic Games and what has been London’s distinct contribution in this area.

14.5

Twenty Twelve vs. The Games:
The Art of Olympic Satire

by Andy Miah

In March 2011, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launched a new comedy called Twenty Twelve, inspired by the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. It received critical acclaim but also received criticism from the producers of an Australian comedy show called The Games, which was a similar undertaking leading up to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This article considers their differences, common ground and value within the context of Olympic cultural programming.

14.6

The London 2012 Social Media Olympics

by Andy Miah

By the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games, one medium had brought news to people’s attention and it wasn’t the rights holding broadcasters or the accredited press, it was social media. This article considers how social media overtook the news agenda during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

14.7

“This is for Everyone”:
The London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony as a Cultural Celebration

by Andy Miah

Within the Organizing Committee of an Olympic Games, Ceremonies, Culture and Education are often under the same umbrella, but the Ceremonies occupies a distinctly prominent place within the national and international positioning of the Games and within their political staging.

14.8

How Do You Infuse Culture with the Olympics?

by Andy Miah

One of the big questions to confront Olympic Games cultural producers is how to infuse cultural activity with Olympic values, without diminishing the credibility of the art and without just playing lip service to Olympic values and ideas. So what can be learned from London 2012 in terms of how to make this possible?

14.9

Beyond the Slogan:
There are many ways to Inspire a Generation

by Emma Rich

By their very nature, slogans are both constrained by and operate through brevity and, in this sense, ostensibly provide an opportunity for each individual Games to communicate something unique about their staging of the world’s largest sporting and cultural festival.