Following last night’s spectacular Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the London 2012 Festival is today beginning an 11-day showcase of its ground-breaking commissions by disabled and deaf artists that will run throughout the Paralympics.
The wide-ranging season at London’s Southbank Centre builds on the key themes of the ceremony, of challenging perceptions and celebrating the empowering possibilities of ideas, science and creativity, through which everyone can realise their full potential.
The 29 works featured cover dance, visual arts, music, comedy, circus and theatre. They were each commissioned for the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad Unlimited programme – the largest ever celebration of disabled and deaf artists that has been running since 2009 and highlights their work on an unprecedented scale across the UK.
Ruth Mackenzie the director of London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad said: “The Unlimited programme is unprecedented, offering more commissioning for disabled and deaf artists than any Cultural Olympiad or festival to date.
“We are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with world-class artists who have created brilliant work that will inspire and change perceptions when we welcome the world to London during the London 2012 Paralympic Games. I hope this will be one of our most important legacies for future Games and for disabled and deaf artists both in the UK and internationally.”
For more details on the programme, to download the London 2012 Festival official guide and to sign up for information www.london2012.com/festival
Pictured: Creating the Spectacle by artist Sue Austin - an original piece of work in which the artist ‘dances’ underwater in a specially adapted, self-propelled wheelchair, allowing her the freedom and joy to move gracefully and un-hindered. (Osprey Leisure Centre, Portland, 29 August & 1 September 2012). A film documenting the performances will also be shown. (FREE, Southbank Centre, London, 31 August – 9 September; ICCI 360 Dome, Weymouth, 1 – 9 September)
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