Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership

Godiva Awakes Artists Taking the Lead

Imagineer Productions will bring to life the extraordinary journey of Lady Godiva by recreating this Coventry icon as a 10 metre high puppet which will travel from Coventry to London.

Godiva Awakes will push the boundaries of carnival puppetry to new levels. Built from aluminium and carbon fibre, she will be a moving, breathing monument - a potent symbol of equality, fair play and justice. Godiva will be dressed, for her new journey into the 21st century and beyond, in a coat crafted by artists and communities from across the region that chronicles the West Midlands’ industrial and engineering heritage.

A spectacular performance will mark the ‘awakening’ of Lady Godiva. Powered by 50 cyclists, she will join 2,000 dancers, actors, aerialists, musicians, pyrotechnicians and carnivalists in a processional performance with young performers at its heart.

On the last day of Coventry’s Godiva Festival in July 2012, Godiva will leave Coventry and journey to London. She will seek sanctuary overnight at various towns along the route who will each welcome her in their own, distinct way. Finally she will arrive in London, her journey completed in time for the opening of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Coventry and the wider region will be proud to send Godiva to London as its ambassador, representing fairness, social justice and self sacrifice, at this unique point in London and Britain’s cultural and sporting story.

For more information please visit: www.imagineerproductions.co.uk

World Shakespeare Festival

The World Shakespeare Festival, led by the Royal Shakespeare Company, will celebrate Shakespeare as international property and the British as international people, through an unprecedented World Shakespeare Festival, centring on exchange and collaboration.

It will focus on the relationship between the many communities of the world’s diaspora represented in the UK and will include major collaborations between leading UK and international theatre companies, artists and large-scale premieres of international Shakespeare productions.

Major UK partners already include the National Theatre and the Shakespeare’s Globe, which will be producing its own Shakespeare project as part of the Festival.

The Festival will empower young people at home and abroad through ownership of Shakespeare and the challenge and fun of performance and it will collaborate with the huge non-professional theatre movement in the UK.

Schools and communities across the UK will be linked with their peers in other countries, culminating in live performances at regional festivals.

The main hubs will be Stratford-upon-Avon, London and Newcastle, with further regional centres for community and schools performances, as well as touring and online activity worldwide.

The Festival will run from Shakespeare’s birthday on 23 April 2012 until the start of the Olympic Games on 27 July 2012. 

For more information please visit: www.london2012.com

Live Sites

The 2012 Live Sites concept is built upon a five-year experimental project to develop the UK’s Public Space Broadcasting infrastructure…a network of all-year-round permanent screens.

During the experiment, the screens have created many special moments for audiences through their coverage of high-profile National and International events (e.g. Live8, Wimbledon, the RBS 6 Nations Championships and Proms in the Park). As the network has grown, its potential for reaching untapped audiences has been recognized and they have featured exclusive screenings of networked initiatives such as Royal Opera House performances of ballet and opera.

The role of each screen has developed way beyond original expectations as a result of each community warming to the concept and the creative outlet it provides for them. They are no longer seen as just a big screen; communities now regard them as offering:

• A digital city centre focal point and meeting place.
• A 21st Century public news and information point - improving public awareness of local issues, developments, initiatives and activities.
• A hi-tec showcase for educational and community activities.
• A high profile outlet for visual arts, digital innovation and local filmmaking.
• A new and innovate dimension to assisting urban regeneration and public realm by encouraging people to feel positive about their city centres and to enjoy shared experiences and memorable occasions in less sterile urban spaces.

As of September 2009, working with the BBC and London 2012 there are 20 Live Site screens up and running in cities across the country.

Funded through the National Lottery, by the Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), Coventry has now been selected by the Olympic Lottery Distributor as a location for the London 2012 Live Site network, subject to planning permission and approvals, installation will be completed by May 2011.

West Midlands 2012

As part of the West Midlands Region, Coventry and Warwickshire is proud to support regional London 2012 activity.

Led and co-ordinated by Advantage West Midlands (AWM), our sub-region is represented at regional level via the WM 2012 Executive Advisory and Leadership Groups, which report direct to London 2012 through the Nations and Regions structure.

For all information on what the West Midlands is doing to engage in London 2012 please visit www.wmfor2012.com