Derby Cultural Diversity Arts Network

There is a period of four years based on the Olympics where the country that is hosting the games also organises a festival of cultural activity. This is called the Olympiad, and it comes to the UK this August.

Some key dates:

• 6 April 2008: Beijing Olympic Torch will arrive in London
• 24 August 2008: Beijing hands over the Olympic Games to London
• 17 September 2008: Beijing hands over Paralympic Games to London
• 26-28 September 2008: The Cultural Olympiad launch weekend
• 27 July 2012: Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games
• 12 August 2012: Closing Ceremony for the Olympic Games
• 29 August 2012: Opening Ceremony for the Paralympic Games
• 9 September 2012: Closing Ceremony for the Paralympic Games

Paul Brookes is the Cultural Coordinator for the Olympiad in the East Midlands region. He is responsible for organising the programme of culutral activity that will be connected with the Olympiad. Paul spoke about the main plans for the region and how we could get involved.

The Cultural Olympiad has four core themes:

1. Welcoming the world to the UK
2. Celebrating our internationalism and diversity
3. Share with, engaging and inspiring young people
4. Leaving a legacy beyond 2012

There is an official background document available and well worth reading.

Projects should try to connect with these themes where possible. The projects do not have to be about sport. A project connected to the Cultural Olympiad will benefit from extra marketing and profile, but not necessarily money: interested groups or individuals would have to find more funding for larger projects.

The Olympic Torch is handed over from Beijing to London in the last week of August. At that time, everywhere in the UK will get an eight-minute slot on BBC television, which must be filled with some form of celebration. The BBC is looking to create a show for its Big Screen in the Market Place.

Although the Cultural Olympiad has some money, most projects will probably require more funding from (for example) Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund or New Deal for Communities. These organisations are likely to look at projects connected to the Olympiad more favourably.

Projects that involve working in partnership with others are morke likely to attract support. It is important to remember that the Cultural Olympiad will last for four years, so if an area were to produce a high quality programme of activity with good partnerships across communities or around the region, it would be a strong contender for support.

For young people in the East Midland Region, the theme is "Past to New", which aims to inspire young people about historical culture. East Midlands also exploring doing something like the Three Cities initiative.

There is a sum of money to commission a large piece of work from artists that have a national or international profile. An announcement for this will be made this summer.

The network has a lot of members from diverse communities and a collaborated programme could be proposed to the Cultural City Executive in Derby City Council.