Miah, A. (2009) 'body & Economy', Report For The Northwest Cultural Olympiad 2012


 


&
 
 The
Network
Report
 for
Cultural
Olympiad
in
the
North
West
 November
2008
 
 Curated
by
Dr
Andy
Miah,
University
of
the
West
of
Scotland
 Fellow,
FACT,
Foundation
for
Art
and
Creative
Technology,
Liverpool


Initial
ideas
from
Debbi
Lander
on
B&E
strand





This
document
arises
from
an
Open
Forum
for
a
network
of
interested
parties
 within
the
North
West
on
the
Body
&
Economy
strand
of
the

 Cultural
Olympiad
for
the
Northwest.
 
 The
Forum
was
held
in
July
2008
in
Liverpool.
It
was
co‐hosted
by

 Culture
Northwest
and
FACT
with
financial
support
from
the
Legacy
Trust
UK.

 Report
elements
enabled
by
http://www.wordle.net/





1


TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
 VISION
FROM
NW
CREATIVE
PROGRAMMER
 PROGRAMME
OUTLINE
 KEY
PROGRAMMING
DIRECTIVES
 WHAT
“BODY+ECONOMY”
MEANS
TO
US
 PARTICIPANTS’
DISCUSSIONS

 CONCLUSIONS

 NEXT
PHASE
 PARTICPANTS
LIST
 


2


VISION
FROM

 NW
CREATIVE
PROGRAMMER
|
DEBBI
LANDER
 
 Initial
programming
thoughts
broadly
describe
the
areas
of
interest
that
apply
to
the
B&E
strand.
 



 


3


PROGRAMME
OUTLINE

 Body
and
Economy
is
one
of
the
three
programme
strands
of
the
Cultural
Olympiad
in
the
Northwest.
 This
programme
strand
explores
our
bodies
and
their
relationship
between
biology,
technology
and
the
 emerging
economy
of
human
enhancement.
The
network
created
for
this
strand
met
in
July
2008
to
 define
the
framework
for
this
theme
within
the
context
of
the
Olympics,
elite
sports
and
new
media.
It
 considered
such
questions
as:

 • How
are
technological
cultures
redefining
what
it
means
to
be
human?

 • What
is
the
contribution
of
elite
sports
and
new
media
to
this
redefinition?
 • With
human
enhancement
being
one
of
the
big
themes
of
the
21st
Century,
what
do
we
mean
by
the
 values
of
fair
play,
respect
and
excellence?
 The
Forum
explored
opportunities
for
regional
engagement
and
collaboration
with
regard
to
developing
 the
Cultural
Olympiad
programme
in
the
Northwest.
Key
local
development
questions
included:

 • What
relevant
regional
practice
is
taking
place
that
is
distinctive
to
the
region
and
of
 national/international
significance
to
the
theme?

 • How
can
2012
be
harnessed
to
develop
enduring
cross
sector
and
inter
disciplinary
collaborations?
 • Which
public
agendas
call
for
cultural
commentary
and
attention
through
the
Cultural
Olympiad
in
 the
Northwest?





4


KEY
PROGRAMMING
DIRECTIVES
 
 • Gather
information
to
assist
the
programming
of
relevant
content.
 • Provide
clarity
to
regional
cultural
agencies
on
programming.
 • Establish
the
theme’s
scope–
e.g.
from
science
to
new
media,
or
interdisciplinary,
guidelines
for
 programming.
 • Establish
a
resource
and
community
list:
related
projects
in
regions,
relevant
organizations,
 opportunities
for
partnerships
(and
development
objectives).
 • Identify
relevant
policy
stakeholders
who
can
assist
in
facilitating
the
Northwest’s
vision
for
its
 contribution
to
the
UK
wide
Cultural
Olympiad.
 • Develop
a
cross‐sector
approach
to
programming
that
allows
the
fostering
of
partnerships
within
the
 community
around
the
Cultural
Olympiad
programme
in
the
Northwest.
 • Assist
community
to
understand
formal
mechanism
of
participation.
 • Use
the
forum
as
a
developmental
tool.





5



 
 
 


WHAT
“BODY+ECONOMY”
 MEANS
TO
US
 





6


WHAT
BODY
MEANS
TO
US..


. 



 7


7
 


WHAT
ECONOMY
MEANS
TO
US...
 
 






 





8


8
 



 



 DISCUSSION
SUMMARIES
 Participants
at
the
workshop
were
asked
to
outline
their
ideas,
priorities
interests
 and
concerns.
The
following
pages
outline
their
conversations,
much
of
which
are
 summarized
in
the
preceding
narrative.
Participants
were
divided
into
4
groups. 





9
 9


GOLD
 
 











10


RED








11


SILVER
 
 



 








12


GREEN





13


CONCLUSIONS
 THE
NORTH
WEST
BOASTS
A
THRIVING
BIOTECHNOLOGY
 SECTOR,
COMBINING
EXCELLENCE
AND
COMPETITIVE
 ADVANTAGE
ACROSS
HIGHER
EDUCATION,
TISSUE
 ENGINEERING
AND
THE
CREATIVE
INDUSTRIES.
 Delegates
were
offered
presentations
from
Olympic
expert
Dr
Andy
Miah,
Head
of
FACT
Liverpool
 Professor
Mike
Stubbs,
pioneering
wheelchairbound
artist
Ann
Whitehurst
and
film‐maker
Adam
Tallon,
 to
engage
with
a
wide
range
of
ideas
related
to
B&E.
The
BBC’s
Head
of
Regional
Programmes,
Tamsin
 O’Brien
was
invited
to
chair
the
proceedings
drawing
the
community
into
discussions
about
the
role
of
the
 media
in
working
with
the
Cultural
Olympiad.
Chief
Executive
for
Culture
Northwest
Libby
Raper
 introduced
the
speakers,
also
providing
a
context
for
discussions.






14


The
leading
edge
of
sport
culture
needs
to
be
addressed;
where
emerging
and
alternative
sports,
 integrated
with
digital
gaming
technology
expresses
the
future
of
sport
for
some
young
people.

 
 Connecting
the
Olympics
and
Paralympics
requires
specific
new
attention;
recognizing
the
important
role
 of
DaDa
Fest
in
the
Northwest.
A
discussion
point
was
the
advancement
in
prosthetic
devices
acting
as
a
 catalyst
to
the
Olympics
and
Paralympics
merging
programmatically
by
2012
and
therefore
what
issues
this
 raises
in
terms
of
greater
visibility
for
the
Paralympics,
but
potential
loss
of
support
for
its
Movement?
 
 Connecting
culture
and
science
was
identified
as
a
key
opportunity
for
the
B&E
strand,
specifically
in
the
 context
of
regional
distinctiveness
i.e.
drawing
on
and
promoting
our
pioneering
status
–
as
the
birthplace
 of
the
industrial
revolution
and
the
leaders
in
areas
of
biotechnology
and
therefore
the
biological
 revolution
of
our
future.

 
 Leveraging
expertise
in
anti‐doping
through
the
communications
opportunities
around
the
Cultural
 Olympiad.
Partnerships
could
be
formed
to
build
a
critical
mass
of
attention
around
the
harms
of
doping
 and
the
way
that
emerging
technologies
might
change
the
capacity
and
values
of
anti‐doping.
Linking
to
 the
wider
social
context
of
substance
abuse,
opportunities
to
programme
and/or
drive
development
of
 youth
led
projects
using
arts
and
culture
to
raise
issues
of
substance
abuse.
 
 Drive
debate
around
healthy
living
and
elite
sports,
particularly
the
space
for
young
people
to
engage
 with
the
Olympic
values
and
the
recognition
of
the
significant
health
challenges
in
the
Northwest.






15



 Dance
was
discussed
as
a
toy,
tool
and
container
for
expressing
the
identity
of
youth

culture,
sub
cultures
 and
also
humanity.
Dance
in
all
its
forms
from
contemporary
to
street
connects
art
and
sport
and
 embraces
both
the
competitive
and
co‐operative
elements
of
body
based
cultural
practices.
It
offers
 opportunities
to
debate
image
and
identity,
connect
culture
to
the
health
agenda
and
to
connect
culture
to
 the
Olympic
context
through
the
art/sport
link.

 
 The
Olympic
Truce
provides
an
integrated
opportunity
to
develop
partnerships
towards,
for
instance,
 conflict
resolution
and
development.

 
 A
step‐change
in
participation
and
engagement
is
central
to
discussion
about
the
role
of
the
arts
and
 cultural
sector
in
providing
excellence
of
engagement
opportunity
and
inclusion
commitments
through
the
 Cultural
Olympiad.
It
was
noted
that
the
Northwest
is
a
diverse
area,
but
that
there
is
work
to
be
done
in
 integrating
communities
further,
celebrating
their
differences
through
the
common
endeavour
of
the
 Cultural
Olympiad.
Understanding
the
process
of
involvement
was
critical
to
participants,
particularly
given
 the
complex
branding
issues
that
surround
the
Games.
 
 Knowledge
transfer
can
be
achieved
through
the
Cultural
Olympiad,
by
connecting
regional
research
 projects
which
relate
to
the
Body
and
Economy
and
the
using
the
Higher
Education
sector
to
facilitate
 debate
around
the
theme.

 





16


NEXT
PHASE
 In
February
2009,
the
Northwest
will
launch
its
cultural
 legacy
project,
WE
PLAY
and
in
March
2009
there
will
be
a
 trailblazer
for
the
major
legacy
programme
linked
to
the
 Body
and
Economy
Stand
–
the
new
Northwest
festival
of
 film
and
digital
culture,
AND
(Abandon
Normal
Devices).

 
 This
will
provide
a
further
opportunity
for
stakeholder
 dialogues.





17


PARTICIPANTS
LIST
 
 Max
Alder
University
of
Liverpool

 Philip
Birtles
Outside‐Centre
 Cathrina
Bourke
FACT
 Jackie
Brennan
Regional
Public
Health
Group
 Mardi
Brown
Culture
Northwest
 Tim
Brunsden
Artist
 Neil
Chester
John
Moores
University
 Heather
Cochorane
FACT
 Gareth
Cross
Sport
England
 Gina
Czarnecki
artist
sole
trader
 John
Devine
North
West
Development
Agency
 Laura
Drane
Laura
Drane
Associates
 Alayna
Ellis
North
West
Disability
Arts
Forum

 Abigail
Gilmore
Culture
Northwest
 Maggie
Graham
Mencap
 Sam
Gray
Manchester
Metropolitan
University
 Chris
Guthrie
University
of
Salford
 Julia
Hanna
Liverpool
Culture
Company
 John
Hunt
University
of
Liverpool
 Rebecca
Johnson

young
person,
FACT
 Alison
Jones
NWDAF
 Maureen
Jordon
Arts
Council
of
England
North
West
 Julia
Keenan
Arts
Council
England
North
West






 Tom
Kelly,
young
person,
FACT
 Debbi
Lander
London
2012
 Peter
Mearns
North
West
Development
Agency

 Sam
Meech

Artist
 Andy
Miah
FACT/University
of
the
West
of
Scotland
 Pascale
Moyse
moves
 Amy
Mullen
young
person,
FACT
 Tamsin
O
Brien
BBC
North
West
 Bren
O
Callaghan
BBC
Live
Sites

 Erinma
Ochu
Manchester
Beacon
for
public
engagement
 John
O'Shea
The
Meat
Licence
Proposal
 Jim
Parry
Leeds
University
 Steve
Parry
Ambassador,
UK
Sport
 Libby
Raper
Culture
Northwest
 Mark
Remarkable
Performer
 Mike
Stubbs
FACT
 Josie
Sykes
Museum
of
Science
and
Industry
 Mary
Tabbon
Freelance
Events
producer
 Adam
Tallon
filmmaker
 Kate
Taylor
FACT
 Ann
Whitehurst
Outside‐Centre
 Brian
Wynne
Lancaster
University
 


18