Olympic Park 2012

On July 27th 2012 the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony will be held in London, as the Olympic torch relay arrives from Olympia in London’s east end. We won’t know until 2011 where the torch will go on its way to the site, but it will probably come down the A11 through Tower Hamlets to the Olympic park in Stratford.

So, with a thousand days to go the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) took the opportunity to celebrate. If you were in central London last night you might have seen the light show at the BT Tower, which was also on TV during the lottery programme. If you missed that and you are in London, you can still see celebratory art at the National Portrait Gallery :

“To celebrate 1000 days to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Sebastian Coe launches the National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 Project, a three-year collaboration between the National Portrait Gallery and BT, the official communications services partner for London 2012. It will create 100 world-class photographic portraits celebrating the people around the UK, both high-profile and those behind the scenes, who collectively are making the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games happen.” – National Portrait Gallery

Or around the UK, the Inspire Programme is encouraging activities locally, and e.g. in England the Arts Council is “challenging artists to use the nation as a blank canvas” in Artists Taking the Lead.

“The successful commissions will be developed across 2010 and 2011, and all 12 will take part in a final unifying celebration before the opening of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.” – Artists Taking the Lead