Imagining the Future - A Shared Vision for the Cultural Sector -
The Cultural Olympiad that ran alongside the London 2012 Games was the largest cultural programme of any Olympic and Paralympic Games. From 2008, it delivered a nationwide programme of the UK’s best arts and culture during the four years leading up to the Games, and culminated in the London 2012 Festival. During the programme, approximately 18 million activities across a range of artforms took place, inviting the participation of over 43 million members of the public.
The Cultural Olympiad not only provided an opportunity for wider public engagement in the arts and culture, but acted as a catalyst for the creation of new creative partnerships and collaborations as well. These partnerships were not limited to cross-organisation partnerships within the cultural sector, but included cross-sector partnerships with the private sector, educational organisations and local authorities. This recent experience in the UK has shown that hosting the Olympic Games can be used to great advantage, as leverage to accelerate change, or to attract attention and funding.
The 2020 games in Tokyo is a tremendous opportunity for the cultural sector in Japan, a chance to co-create the future and to bring about change and create new values. As a first step towards creating a shared vision for the future of the cultural sector in Japan, the British Council, together with Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) will host a workshop facilitated in the Future Session style. During the workshop, three UK guest speakers who were instrumental in the planning and delivery of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad will share the UK experience of how hosting the Olympic Games can be used to great advantage, in order to accelerate change, to boost international profile or attract investment. Bringing together practitioners from the arts and cultural sector, businesses, government ministries and the third sector, we hope to inspire the creation of new cross-sector, cross-genre relationships and collaborations, as well as a shared vision for the future of the cultural sector, towards 2020 and beyond.
Date: Friday 14 February 2014
Time: 18:00-21:00 (registration opens 17:30)
Venue: 3 x 3 Labo (3rd Floor, Fuji Building, 3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-0005 Japan)
Audience: Arts/cultural practitioners, government ministries, private sector and the third sector
Organiser: British Council, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Support: Ecozzeria
Guest Speakers
Ruth Mackenzie CBE
Director, London 2012 Cultural Olympiad
Curator, London 2012 Festival
Artistic Director, Holland Festival
Director, The Space
Ruth Mackenzie CBE is the Artistic Director Designate for the Holland Festival, Amsterdam’s prestigious international arts festival, with her first festival being June 2015. She combines this with working as the Interim Launch Director of The Space, a digital arts platform created by the BBC and Arts Council.
She was most recently the Director of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, and Curator of its finale, the London 2012 Festival. This official cultural programme for the Olympic & Paralympic Games was the largest UK Festival in the country’s history, involving over 25,000 artists from every country participating in the Games, and over 20 million attendances, 80% of which were free. She was General Director of the Manchester International Festival and Scottish Opera; Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, Executive Director of Nottingham Playhouse, Head of Strategic Planning for the South Bank Centre. She has also been Consultant Dramaturg to the Vienna Festival, Consultant to the BBC, Tate, London Symphony Orchestra, British Film Institute amongst others and Expert Adviser to 5 Secretaries of State for Culture, Media & Sport in the UK Government. She is currently working for the BBC, Arts Council, Imperial War Museum and the British Council in Israel and Palestine.
Moira Sinclair
Executive Director, London and South East, Arts Council England
Moira Sinclair is a member of the Executive Board for Arts Council England. As Executive Director, London and South East she oversees a portfolio of 322 funded organisations. As a Board member, Moira contributes to national policy development with a particular focus on the resilience and sustainability of the cultural sector and workforce development. She played a key role in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and continues to support its legacy. Before joining Arts Council in 2005, Moira was Director of Vital Arts. She has previously worked in local government, and in theatre and production management. A graduate of Manchester University where she studied drama, Moira became a Clore Fellow in 2004/05. She is also Vice Chair of Look Ahead Social Care and Housing.
Justine Simons
Head of Culture, Mayor of London
Justine has worked for the Mayor of London for eleven years as the Head of Culture and is currently Acting Deputy Mayor for Culture. She has responsibility for the Mayor’s Cultural Strategy leading the Mayor’s creative industry investment programme which covers film, fashion, design. As well as overseeing City Hall’s work across music, theatre, international cultural exchange, visual arts, cultural policy and arts in the public realm. She is the Director of the Mayor’s flagship public art commission for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
She took a lead role in the development and realisation of the cultural programme for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - both as lead for the Mayor of London and Associate Creative Producer for London Festival 2012. Justine also founded the World Cities Culture Forum - a major global initiative on culture and the future of cities. It is a celebration of the importance of culture in the public and political life of 22 of the world’s most important cities. Prior to the Mayor’s Office, Justine worked in the field of contemporary dance for ten years with a variety of leading venues. Justine is currently Vice Chair of the Thames Festival, a board member of Artichoke, a member of the British Film Commission National Advisory Board, the London Design Festival Advisory Board, The British Fashion Council Board, the Platform for Art Steering Group (which is a London Underground public art commissioning programme ) and she is the Chair of Big Dance.
Facilitator
Takahiko Nomura
President, Future Sessions Inc.