Context of event in relation to Cultural Olympiad
The Kent Campaign for the 2012 Games is, largely, thematically focused, on the eight sectors identified on the home page of the Kent 2012 website
For certain projects being developed through the Campaign, however, the focus necessarily becomes more geographical, and so our ambition to welcome the Olympic Torch has led to concentrated effort being made within the Dover District area.
Dover provides the iconic images that underpin how the World perceives the UK: the gateway white cliffs; royalty and heraldry represented by Dover Castle; an Island demonstrated by Dover’s coastal setting and vulnerability, the remnants of which scatter the coastline; the ethnically rich communities; Dover’s position on the edge of Britain, facing outwards, connecting with the wider world.
We have strong and robust rationale (set out in 'Your Olympic Torch Campaign' webpage) for Kent and more specifically Dover being the location for a “dazzling, ceremonial, creatively and impeccably staged” Olympic Torch arrival event. We also have the engagement and support of a range of international, regional and local partners.
We in Kent have always been clear that to be given the opportunity of being the welcome point to the UK of the Olympic Torch would be a great honour.
We have also been clear that the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are a celebration of sport, but are also about more than sport. Indeed, ‘Culture’ is at the heart of all Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Whether it is used to connect the host nation with an international audience, whether it is used to build links between and among our own communities, or whether it is used to challenge, encourage and inspire our own cultural sectors, culture is one of the three pillars of a modern Games.
Included within the International Olympic Committee’s expectations of the London Games’ so-called ‘Cultural Olympiad’ are the Opening and Closing ceremonies, Medal ceremonies, and most importantly for the purposes of this aspect of the Kent Campaign for the 2012 Games, the Torch ceremonies (arrival into country, relay and role within Opening Ceremony).
Our efforts around becoming the welcome point for the Olympic Torch when it arrives into the UK therefore have been to ensure not only that London 2012 sees a Torch arrival that truly welcomes the Torch to the UK through its natural gateway, but also locally;
- develops a more interesting and challenging cultural environment in East Kent inspired by the Games
- raises awareness of creative opportunities amongst the cultural sector in East Kent
- raises Dover’s profile generally at this critical time as it embraces a new wave of cultural regeneration opportunity, marked by the successful application to the CABE Sea Change programme
- repositions Dover and East Kent for visitors and local residents as an imaginative and inspiring place.
The Visioning Event of 20 March 2009 was the latest in a series of events and efforts to make the case and build community ownership of a potential Olympic Torch arrival. Other key events have been;
