Drawing on the Legacy from the London 2012 Games, many in Japan see the 2020 Tokyo Games as an opportunity to celebrate culture alongside sports, not just in Tokyo but on a national scale. On 13 March 2015, the British Council hosted a forum inviting four speakers from the UK who played key roles in the delivery of the highly acclaimed London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Looking forwards to 2020 and the cultural programme for Japan, the forum covered topics such as: setting a united vision for a nationwide programme; design of the legacy; delivery of cultural programmes in regional towns and cities; and international programmes that connect the UK with countries around the world.
Video recordings and presentations from the forum are available at the bottom of this page.
Speakers
Graham Sheffield
Director Arts, British Council
Nick McDowell
Director for International, Arts Council England
Francesca Hegyi
Senior Advisor: Sponsors & Stakeholders, LOCOG
Director of Partnerships & Development, UK City of Culture - Hull 2017
Paul Kaynes
Chief Executive, National Dance Company Wales
West Midlands Creative Programmer, London 2012
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto (Facilitator)
Director of Center for Arts and Culture, NLI Research Institute
Overview
Event name: Forum: From London to Tokyo, sharing the Cultural Olympiad legacy
Date: Friday 13 March 2015
Time: 14:30-16:30
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Organised by: British Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs
About the Cultural Olympiad
The Cultural Olympiad that ran alongside the London 2012 Games was the largest cultural programme of any Olympic and Paralympic Games. Running from 2008, four years in advance of the Games, cultural programmes were hosted right across the whole of the United Kingdom. During this time, around 43 million members of the public took part in one or more of the approximately 180 thousand activities that ran across a range of art forms. 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. The nationwide programme meant that impact was not limited to London, and many benefits to tourism and energizing of local communities were felt across the whole of the UK.