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The two sides of a gold medal made for the 1948 Olympic Games which were held in London. Medals for artistic achievement were first awarded at the 1912 Stockholm Games and continued until 1948.
LONDON -- A gold medal for poetry? How about one for singing, painting, etching, or even city planning? It might sound comical, but these were all once competitive Olympic events.
And the cultural side of the Olympics still continues with the London 2012 Festival of more than 12,000, mostly free events across the U.K.
Art, comedy, acrobatics, music, drama, film and fancy hats are all there for those in need of a little entertainment, artistic stimulation or simply a break from the sight of too much physical exertion.
It's just that they no longer hand out medals to those deemed to be the best.
More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com
But Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad of which the London 2012 Festival is the main event, said they had thought about bringing back competition to the arts.
"We did actually look at it. The [London] mayor, Boris Johnson, ... was interested in this idea of reviving the medals," she told NBCNews.com.
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But she added the International Olympic Committee was "not enthusiastic and, I guess, in the end neither was I."
"Artists love winning prizes, but there isn't an Oscar for third-best female actress," she said.
'New audiences'
Mackenzie said London 2012 had sought to boost the amount of culture associated with the Games to more closely reflect the Olympic movement's three pillars of sports, arts and education.
"I view this as a chance really to aim high ... and introduce new audiences to new artists," she said.
She enthused about a whole string of the events, including concerts featuring the likes of Jay-Z and Rihanna and the River of Music event; the modern dance of U.S. choreographer Elizabeth Streb and company, who created a human waterfall in London's Trafalgar Square; more than 70 productions of works by Shakespeare in 40 languages; and U.S. artist Zach Lieberman's project to light up Hadrian's Wall with illuminated balloons.
Dikaia Chatziefstathiou, an expert on the Olympic movement and its history who is based at the U.K.'s Canterbury Christ Church University, told NBCNews.com that the cultural side of the Olympic movement was now "only at the periphery" because of the high profile of the sporting events.
She praised the "extremely rich and diverse” program of events in London so far, but added that "on the negative side … still the average person in the street doesn't really know" what the Cultural Olympiad is all about.
The idea that the Games is about more than sport dates back to Ancient Greece -- when the best sculptors were honored -- and the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, she said.
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"It says a lot about Coubertin and how he understood aesthetics and how he valued the concept of beauty. He thought you can see beauty in sport and you can also see beauty in art, and those two shouldn't be separated, they should be linked," she said.
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Medals for artistic achievement were first awarded at the 1912 Stockholm Games and this continued until London 1948.
Team USA did particularly well at the 1932 Los Angeles Games, with three first prizes, four second prizes, one third prize and seven honorable mentions, according to page 764 of that event's official report. A watercolor entitled "Rodeo" -- pictured in the report -- by Lee Blair of the United States was among the winners.
Coubertin himself was one of the first artistic Olympians, Chatziefstathiou said.
"He wrote a poem called Ode au Sport [Ode to Sport] … in the 1912 Games. He submitted this poem with a pseudonym -- Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, as if it was by two people -- and he won the gold medal," she said.
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London 2012 organizers posted a video on YouTube summarizing the kind of events being held at the festival.
One eye-catching artwork is the aMAZEme installation by Brazilian artists Marcos Saboya and Gualter Pupo at London's Southbank Centre, which is a maze made out of 250,000 books with walls of up to 8 feet high. The layout of the walls is based on the fingerprints of the late Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges.
Luke Scully / aMAZEme
The 'aMAZEme' installation at the Southbank Centre in London. "I think the arts is something so important for our evolution and for our life-meaning," Brazilian artist Marcos Saboya said.
Saboya told NBCNews.com that when the maze, which has a Facebook page, is dismantled the books will be given to the charity Oxfam to help tackle global poverty and disease.
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He said arts and the Olympics had been “always associated … since the beginning of the concept of the Olympics.”
“I think the arts is something so important for our evolution and for our life-meaning,” Saboya said, saying he hoped people visiting the installation would be inspired to read or reread some of the books.
In the shadow of the Games, London celebrates
The London Hatwalk has seen famous statues in the city get a makeover. Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square, William Shakespeare in Leicester Square and 18 other statues can all be seen wearing designs from sone of Britain's top milliners such as Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Beau Brummell's statue in London's Jermyn Street wears a new hat designed by Noel Stewart for 'Hatwalk' on July 30. Londoners and visitors have been invited to visit some of the U.K. capital's most iconic statues which are now adorned with bespoke head wear.
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"I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the heritage of British millinery and its contribution to our fair city than by dressing our most noble of statues, including our most heroic son, Nelson in creations dreamt up by our leading visionaries," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.
Many of the events are taking place outside London, including Prometheus Awakes by the Graeae Theatre Company and La Fura dels Baus in Stockton-on-Tees in northeast England Thursday.
Their version of the Greek myth about the human who stole the secret of fire from the gods promises the audience will "feel the earth move and the sky explode as a ten-meter-high (32 feet) Prometheus arises from the ground and creates fire and humanity in defiance of the God Zeus."
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Leave a Comment:
Well, it the poets get a medal, how about the prose. Maybe the best author should get medal too. But none of this requires any physical skill. I know! We should make twitter an Olympic event. We could use a standard poem and measure the fastest tweet.
Great idea, but how would you pick the judges?
Pick me! Pick me!
Pick me! Pick me!
said the nose to the finger.
How's that for poetry?
It does too "require physical skill." Isn't your brain "physical?" And it requires concentration, focus, creativity and time. It's quite demanding--unless it's your bliss--and then there is no time. You are outside time. It's heaven on earth.
"Cultural Competitions" have caused enough damage already. Lets stick with objective sports.
Not an award winning entry, Bruce.
Nevertheless I think you have potential.
Work harder.
Blame it all on Descartes and the schism he created with his mind-body dualism!
M'Lady Pandora -
Descartes made his thoughts plainly in Synopsis, but even this is based on St Thomas Aquinas.
What he realy meant was "mind-body-separatism".
Descartes is not very original.
Poets and writers already have their own Olympiad. It's called the Nobel Prize.
Mario, I don't necessarily relish being put in the position of defending Descartes, but Rene would probably turn over in his grave if he could hear your criticism. Some have called him "the father of modern philosophy" and "the father of analytical geometry" because his Cartesian coordinate system allowed the union of algebra and geometry. "Not very original"? The Scientific Revolution wouldn't have been the same without him.
There are a number of events that don't require much physical skill and some that don't even leave the performer struggling to catch their breath. Most of the shooting events come to mind as being not physically strenuous at all but do require a great deal of focus, talent and dedication. Some of the gymnastic events are more artistic than physical. I was going to say absolutely no to the idea of gold medal for writers and poets but considering that apparently they were once a part of the games helped me to be a little more open minded about it. Maybe a little more competition would be beneficial to authors to spur their creative side. A silly though: how cool would it be to pick up a book and instead of seeing an Oprah book club sticker on the top corner you'd see "Winner of the 2020 Olympic gold medal in satirical fiction." Publisher would love that too haha.
Torch on
Fields of gold,
Bought and sold
Of worlds made of canvas.
Silver lined clouds
Of skies renowned
Seeping sunlight
On skin made bronze.
Torch off.
O O O
_O O_
Lightning from my paper,
Thunder from my pen!
High hurdles of phrases with deep meaning,
An ode to training at Webster's Gym.
I will make my country proud,
My muscles towned from pencil lifting.
With sentences, I'll win the race!
The words from God's own gifting.
"THERE ONCE WAS A MAN FROM NANTUCKET..."
Real poetry rhymes!
Haiku is not poetry, it's just math with words. Anyone can do it. 5, 7 and 5. Easy!
Poetry need NOT rhyme.
Yes, poetry DO need to rhyme!
If it don't rhyme it's just words.
Edgar Allan Poe,
was a Poet who could rhyme,
and he was so good
he rhymed all the time!
And besides, POEtry was named after him.
Now THAT is POEtry! And it rhymes. Unlike this...
Now that is crap. It doesn't rhyme at all, and what's more, it doesn't make any sense! And I know Scott personally!!!
p.s. I also know POEtry is not named after Edgar Allan Poe. That was just a joke. Get it? Funny stuff. Lighten up okay? But, the fact remains that MOST poetry that doesn't rhyme really is crap.
Bruce -
"'Tis an inquistor," I muttered, "knocking down my chamber door--
Mario and nothing more."
Did you really mean "inquisitor" rather than "inquistor" ?
Finger on right hand slipped on the keyboard.
Poetry doesn't need to rhyme, it needs to flow. Just like it doesn't need to have a rigid meter, but has to have some kind of rhythm. I have read great poems that rhyme, and awful poems that rhyme, I have read great poems that don't and I have read great peoms that don't. Admittedly, almost all of my rhyming poetry comes out while about one-third to two-thirds of the non-rhyming poetry works, but I also write a much greater quantity of non-rhyming poetey.
One popular interpretation of Poe's "The Raven" is that the raven is a symbol of the narrator's growing insanity. I hope this isn't a Freudian slip, Mario.
Bruce -
Your poetry, you sent it:
Everybody's doin' it
doin' it
doin' it
Pickin' their nose and
chewin' it
chewin' it!
How's that for poetry?
VERY, VERY BAD.
Real art takes time and to me no matter what it takes talent and it isn't always phyical work but it is mental and to me that is even harder but that is the way I feel.
Well said.
So is a psychosis!
I heard some news on the radio this morning that was bittersweet. I did not know that medal winners also received a cash prize. For gold, I believe it was $25,000, silver-$15,000 and bronze-$10,000 (I may be off on those amounts, but you get the idea). I thought this was great. Now comes the bitter part. Not only are U.S. medal winners expected to pay a 35% income tax on their winnings, PLUS they pay that tax on the value of the medal. They mentioned the gold medal, which is actually silver, plated in gold is worth about $650.00
When I think of the hard work and money spent on the training, at their own cost, to represent this country in the Olympics, I find this tax appalling.
I don't see why some people are so appalled at paying taxes on their earnings. I pay my taxes without complaining. You can pay yours with whining and moaning if you want. Tax rates are at historic lows, and I don't remember people complaining this much in earlier eras, but I guess people were less selfish and more civic-minded back then. But go on and be appalled that people have to pay taxes to live in such a great country.
You're right to be appalled, Fricsaid. Thank you for this info.
And yet the ultra "rich" pay less than 15% tax -- on simply making $. It IS appalling.
Mitt was right about culture being important. Why not promote it in the USA? I KNOW promoting the arts could not be anything BUT positive and constructive to our society. *sigh*
And speaking of Mitt, since you brought him up in this topic...
Here is a POEM I wrote, using the theme song to Gilligan's Isle as my meter...
(to the tune of Gilligan's Isle, written by Bruce-1628250)
What do you think?
GOLD - SILVER - BRONZE
Obama says they didnt win those medals.
Now now peanut, let's be HONEST here!
It wasn't President Obama who said the Olympians didn't win those medals by themselves. It was Mitt Romney, and here is the PROOF!
Now don't YOU feel SILLY peanut?
Mitt appropriately qualified it with "solely." Mitt as adding credit. Obama was taking it away. Big difference.
Excellent poem Bruce. Go for the gold!
I would say a tax on the value of the medal is definitely going too far! As for the other prize funds, they would only pay 35% on income above a certain threshold, like anyone else. I would also think a deduction for any training expenses (including travel) would be appropriate.
Bruce -
You are a very poor song thief.
Filk thyself, not others.
Thanks RevSpinnaker!
Mario, I stole nothing! Go filk yourself if you can't accept the truth.
Rev.. sorry for the harsh language! Forgive me.
This is a joke right ??
I sure hope that thisi a JOKE. The orginal olymics contenters would probably give it a great laugh.LOL
No joke. Think outside the box. It could be the "missing link" we so desperately need in the USA right here right now.
No, but "Joke Telling" could be the next event. All countries are allowed to enter one chicken, the winner being the one who crosses the road first.
Eight badminton players walk into a bar...... ;)
peanut, that joke might be better if it went:
Cut the crap and go back to your mint tea and the dictionary and look up the definition of sport. First Dodge ball and now the Olympics.
Why don't youse go back to the Boogie Down Bronx already, So. Bx Johnnyboy, and f'get about it!
Well, they have horses and PING PONG so why not poetry and painting? If it's barely a sport, it's in the Olympics.
The arts are FAR to SUBJECTIVE to be judged this way. Yes, there are subjective judgements in sports but they are always combined with some quantitative physical skill (hitting a landing, length, time etc etc)
As much as I love the arts and believe they can be used in competition (I compete in public speaking myself) you are one hundred percent correct about the subjectivity of judging any sort of artistic effort.
Artistic competition and prizes is fine, but not in the Olympic venue.
I can see it now "full contact painting".
How about "Synchronized Rhyming"?
That's called rap. The "C" is silent.
peanut I AGREE with you on Rap. Rap is NOT poetry. 3/4ths of the word CRAP is made up of RAP!
RAP is CRAP!
Synchronized Rhyming is better known as Harmony.
If it is in the Olympic venue, the medals should be separate (different design) than the athletic medals, and not included in the same medal totals.
Eric -
The arts should be in a separate venue, NOT the Olymics.
Mario, now I know you don't know what the hell you are talking about, because rhyming, synchronized or otherwise, and harmony are not at all the same. You failed at trying to make yourself look intelligent! Epic Fail! Sorry old chum!
I think poetry would be awesome, besides whats wrong with having people compete with their brains? Besides they have dancing horses in the olympics.
Morlack, is that some kind of sideways crack about Ann Romney's $77,000 tax deduction, Rafalco?
How about this New Romney Campaign Song.
Gold - Silver - Bronze? You be the judge!
Bruce -
This is still not a prize winner.
Steal better stuff.
eg: "Yo Mama" rhymes with: ".........."
Mario, I wrote this stuff, myself. I don't need to steal other peoples parody songs. I have talent of my own to share and spare. Sorry if that make you jealous.
I can see there is no news today.
So, go back to the Boogie Down Bronx already, and f'get about it!
.
Lost Poet, your WORDS got lost!
No news, no coment.
Here's a radical proposal. Not only would I not award medals for artistic anything, I think the Olympics needs to eliminate all events where artistic interpretation is involved in the scoring. That blows away figure skating, gymnastics, diving, several others, etc. The reason is simple.
In archery you can measure to the mm. just where the arrow hit. The style and form of the athlete is irrelevant. Ditto skeet shooting. How many did you hit? Period. End of inquiry.
Track comes out fine because the fastest person, the highest jumper and the longest thrower would win. . If Bowling ever becomes an Olympic event it would pass the "Bob" test. Nobody cares who the athlete bowled 299. He or she simply did. My proposal also gets rid of uber nationalism in the judging of "artistic" tyoe events, which used to be more rampant when there were Soviet block nations. It is best when there is a clear winner, even if by 1/100th of a second in some events. The American shooter blasted what, 99 out of 100 targets? The Korean blind archer was unbelievable. There are many similar examples you can name. What's your favorite get rid of an artistic sport candidate?
The commentators.
Did anybody seen any coverage of the rings? I saw it in the background. Wazz up?
That would be unfair to the many great athletes involved in sports like figure skating and gymnastics, which are also among the more popular events.
People nowadays are as dumb as a fence post, and therefore, as poetically insensate as a rock. What point would there be in reciting world-class poetry to a bunch of animals?
Shandril, I was just joking with you below, so don't take offense okay?
But seriously, do go up to comment #3.4 and read my friend Scott's poem, and tell me that isn't crap. Okay?
Shandril, you are absolutely right. American schools trash the arts and people get most of their culture from tabloid Hollywood. Even the movies are set up as a winner-loser competition. The question is not which film is best, but which banks the most at the box office.
Ms. Shandril -
If you did, Mr. Bruce could learn something useful.
Please try.
And the representative from the Planet Arrogance has been heard.
Thank you!
All bow down to the Great and Magnificent shrill Shandril!
Dr. Seus says:
(p.s. Some people think that Dr. Seus passed away in 1991, but that's not really true. Like Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and herpes, Dr. Seus shall live on forever and keep writing great verse like the one above. Actually, this was written by Bruce-1628250 while channelling Dr. Seus.)
I am not a supporter of Mitt Romney myself, but you could probably cut back just a little on the semi-poetic bashing, particularly since this isn't a political article.
Poor Old Mitt Romney
A political parody of The Beatles song: Eleanor Rigby,
written by Bruce-1628250
Bruce -
You continue to steal from poor poets, and filk them badly.
Rhyme and scansion are limp.
Mario, I do not steal anyone else's material. Like Weird Al Yankovic, I do parody other songs, which is all perfectly legal and acceptable. So, are you saying John Lennon and Paul McCartney were poor poets? If so, there are literally millions of people around the world who would say you are jealous and full of schMITT!
p.s. I'll bet you're really a Romney fan and that's why you have a problem with my songs. Go ahead, you can admit it.
Bruce -
Simply, you are a poor poet and song writer.
Your only message is insulting others.
Bruce:
You're a poet,
and you don't even know it.
But your feet show it,
because they're Longfellows.
Size eight and a half narrow. They only look long.
Romney-crat Concession Song
(A political parody song written by Bruce-1628250, based on Elton John's song: Honky Cat)
Bruce -- Funny stuff, but I don't see a Nobel Prize in your future. Poetry that doesn't rhyme is referred to as free verse -- kind of like Robert Frost, or Nobel Prize winner William Butler Yeats. Also, nice move, humiliating your "friend" Scott by posting his poem as an example of bad poetry.
shilodance, Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. I wish this were a hotter topic, because it is a fun one.
As regards my friend Scott Cairns, I haven't seen him in years and years and years, because he is off actually making big money with his "poetry!" No kidding! He makes money on that stuff. He's published several books of it. I still think it's crap, but I'm not paying him for it so what do I care.
You take care now, y'hear!
Bruce -
Find something other than insults to communicate on Newsvine.
Your content is empty.
If they have an event for spanking the monkey, i am so there, lmao
I have always wondered why they do not have roller skaters in the Olympics!! Our son Graham was a champion just by doing it for fun, but he could have definitely been in the Olympics if it was possible when he was younger. He could do many tricks that were unbelievable! Our younger daughter, Nici, also was very good at it! I believe that the officials should make this possible, because it is definitely a sport and there are some who are really excellent at it! What can be done to request this to be in the Olympics? It is one of the most beautiful and entertaining sports of all. At our city, where our Son would always go on the weekends to skate, there were many people who would come to the rink, just to watch........him.......skate!! Genie