Category: Olympic Games

Why festivals & special events matter now more than ever

Article written for the Arts and Humanities Research Council After a year of on-and-off global lockdowns the need to gather and experience collective joy feels more urgent and pressing than ever. Festivals and outdoor cultural experiences offer us the chance to connect and feel part of a community in positive and inspiring ways. In this…

What Future for Festivals? Report

Final report of the Salzburg Global Seminar I co-curated in 2020, asking the question ‘What future for Festivals?’ The seminar involved weeks of intense discussion with festivals leaders and scholars from around the world. It was an intense and tough process as this event was supposed to take place in Salzburg in March of 2020,…

Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad

In Paris responding to a day workshop on the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. I will be talking to key local stakeholders across la Ville de Paris and the rapidly developing and newly redefined boroughs (établissements public territoriales) surrounding the Olympic Park site in Seine Saint Denis. Plenty to discuss as France gets ready for the…

Tokyo 2020 Cultural Olympiad

Tokyo’s Cultural Olympiad: youth, heritage, empowerment and nationwide celebration Article published by Net TAM (Toyota Art Management) In English | In Japanese The Cultural Olympiad has been an essential component of every edition of the Olympic Games since 1912. Despite its long history, the Olympic cultural programme is one of the least well known dimensions…

Impacts 18 Symposium Highlights

Find below highlights from our 10 year anniversary symposium, launching Impacts 08 ~ 18 | #Impacts18, the major research programme I have directed since 2006 on the impacts and long term legacy of hosting a European Capital of Culture. The Symposium opened a global conversation about the value of being a ‘‘#cityofculture’ after 30 years of…

Pyeongchang 2018 | Culture Diary

Two days into the Winter Olympic Games, my Cultural Olympiad hightlights are as follows: Dual cultural programming: Cultural Olympiad / Culture 2018 Plus Dedicated transport: Cultural Olympiad Shuttle Dedicated colours: Hot pink branding for culture Korean fun: K-Pop Festa Art + Sport links at Games info points   Cultural Olympiad / Culture 2018 Plus Cultural…

FIELDWORK | Pyeongchang 2018 Cultural Olympiad

I am on my way to my eleventh Olympic Games edition, this time in Pyeongchang, South Korea. I will be observing the staging of the Cultural Olympiad and reporting on the Games cultural dimension as an IOC-accredited journalist, based at the Main Press Centre. The focus of my observations will be the official cultural programme,…

PROJECT | Brands, Myths, Stories post Rio 2016

Reimaging Brazilian cities | Urban images and cultural narratives in the wake of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games The British Academy has allocated a Newton Fund grant for a year-long project collaboration between Dr Beatriz Garcia and a team of researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, led by Professor Paulo Nassar. The project assesses…

DEBATE | On the need for both ‘black’ and ‘white’ narratives around mega-event impacts.

We need to acknowledge both the black AND the white (plus some grey, also)   As academics, we have no choice but to jump onto the sound bite bandwagon if we want to remain relevant in the era of the 140 character statement. Punchy headlines and short articles (“800 words max, please”) have become important vehicles for…

PROJECT | What counts as #OlympicArt during the Rio 2016 Olympics?

I am in Rio throughout the Olympic Games, as I have done since 1999 across eight Olympic cities (nine if I include the memories of my hometown, Barcelona in 1992). I’ll be documenting and reporting on the Olympic cultural programme or Cultural Olympiad. Highlights so far: The first IOC funded Artist in Residence programme, featuring…

PROJECT | Building bridges between Olympic cities and the Olympic Movement

I have been awarded one of only six Advanced Olympic Research Grants by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), for a research project titled ‘The value of global cultural policy-making: Building bridges between Olympic cities and the Olympic Movement through transnational cultural narratives’. The project will document the testing and implementation of the first IOC Cultural Action Plan…

My research trajectory since 1999

I have interrogated cities and event-led cultural policy-making since 1999. I started by revisiting the cultural legacy of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games to inform my work on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festivals. This was followed by research on the legacy of Glasgow 1990 as European Capital of Culture; the experience of Cultureshock – cultural programme for…

Linking memory, knowlege & communication in Rio 2016

  On my way to Sao Paulo to share insights regarging the most powerful cultural legacies of previous Olympic and Paralympic Games. I will present a keynote at the Fórum permanente de gestão do conhecimento, comunicação e memória, a Forum dedicated to discussing the connections between knowledge, communication and memory in order to explore how stories can transform businesses…