'We stopped counting at four million' : South East Cultural Olympiad Arts and The Games Walk

 The quote refers to the total amount of people who participated in the South East's Inspire Marked programmes.

'We all punched above our weight.' Was another extract from the speech about the output by the organisations from the post show drinks reception.

The quality and diversity of the work produced by South East arts ventures for the cultural Olympiad stretched beyond the capacity of the sole arts organisation. It was only when I was stood in a room among them did I (after a year and a half of working on one such project) even have the ability to realise what such a collection of people could create.

My contribution to the Cultural Olympiad was the Firestation Centre for Arts and culture's Games Walk project. The Games Walk is an interactive Arts Trail which now exists on and under the bridges and water way structure that line the Thames Path National Trail between Eton and  Dorney Lake (the host for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Rowing and Canoe Sprint Regattas), where we held also the Games Walk Performance Festival; a 12 day event that brought emerging performance talent to the 25,000 daily attendees of the two regattas. 


The works were about 3 years in the planning ever since the Olympic Deliverance Authority (which preceded LOCOG) declared that it wanted to do all possible to promote healthy and sustainable transport routes to and from Eton Dorney for the Games.

Our (the Firestation's) response to this came through conversations with The Environment Agency and was to create a series of installations and commissions for artists to work with local residents and school children to invent unique interactive and location relevant works that would become permanent additions to the region. As if that wasn't enough work, we also held a performance festival onsite at Eton Dorney and in our own in house venue offering the change for aspiring and emerging performers to use the Firestation for free and perform to the 25,000 crowds that came to the Olympic Venue each day.


But from attending the collective Thank You from ACE, the most interesting thing to come from the event was seeing the Arts Council and a significant representative of the South East's arts organisations for what they are, a group of very experienced people who used the significance of the Olympics coming to London to propel themselves off the Inspire Mark shaped spring board provided by LOCOG and into a world of ambitious, community driven, inclusive and accessible cultural events and works of Art. As previously said, the numbers seem to speak for themselves as to how well we all did.

I also saw the Arts Council on a personal level, which made me rethink my belief that they are not this omnipotent mechanical force who's face is too far above the height of the average or aspiring cultural contender, but a group of highly experienced professionals who have worked in the South East and culture for long enough to feel they are doing the best work to try and protect and promote it.

We all did pretty well by the accounts heard that day. It is amazing how sitting at a computer two days a week sending emails and forging spreadsheets means you forget what you did for the whole, what we all did, what it took and why.