I am in Rio this week presenting the results of our one year UK-Brazil research collaboration to explore the immediate legacy of hosting the Rio 2016 Games on the reputations of Rio and Brazil as cultural and creative centres. We have received much media interest in Brazil around our core finding: that the most dominant…
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…
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…
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…
On August 5th 2015, Rio marked its final year to go to the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games. The Cultural Olympiad team was in charge of staging the day’s official ceremony, offering a careful mix of contemporary (Olympic) and vintage imagery about the city. Access below the visual reportage I developed on the main…
I am in Brazil during the first week in August 2015 to meet with key figures behind Rio’s 2016 Olympic Games preparations, as part of my assessment of the event’s cultural legacy. With one year to go until the opening ceremony, I am meeting with Carla Camurati, Director of the Rio 2016 Cultural Olympiad; the Secretary of…