ICC Director to observe Cultural Olympiad up close as part of Pyeongchang 2022 fieldwork
Added on Wednesday, February 7th, 2018
For the next week, ICC Director, Dr Beatriz Garcia, will be in Pyeongchang to observe the staging of the Cultural Olympiad and to report on the cultural dimension of the Winter Olympics in her capacity as an IOC-accredited journalist.
Based at the main press centre, the object of Dr Garcia’s observations will be the official cultural programme, as presented via the Pyeongchang 2018 website, but also as discussed by leading cultural stakeholders across Korea and within the Olympic movement.
Specific aspects of the cultural programme that this fieldwork will focus on include:
- The way the official Games cultural narrative re-connects with the narrative presented at the time of the Seoul 1988 Games
- Ways in which the official cultural programme deals with the North-South Korea cultural heritage and identity questions
- Ways in which official cultural programming presents a thread between the three consecutive Asia-based editions of the Games: from South Korea (Pyeongchang 2018) to Japan (Tokyo 2020) and China (Beijing 2022)
- Ways in which the Cultural Olympiad acts as a platform to present contemporary Korean culture and creativity – how do the Games relate to the rapid evolution of Korean Creative City networks, the national creative industries strategy and ongoing reflections on cultural heritage and traditions?
- Finally — and following on from work on Rio 2016 — how the rapidly evolving IOC-led cultural programme manifests itself in Pyeongchang. What is the 2018 version of the Olympic artist-in-residence programme? How does this contribute to shaping notions of ‘Olympic culture’ and ‘Olympic art’?
This will be the eleventh Olympic Games edition for which Dr Garcia has conducted research in the field. You can keep abreast of all the latest developments here on the ICC website, as well as on the Culture @ the Olympics blog and via Dr Garcia’s own personal website.
