CULTURE AND EDUCATION

As Chapter 1 indicates, Pierre de Coubertin’s vision for Olympism was for it to become a broad, far-reaching ‘philosophy of life’, of which an integral part should be the pursuit and celebration of other human endeavours, not just sport. Indeed, the first ‘Fundamental Principle’ of the Olympic Charter stipulates that Olympism blends ‘sport with culture and education’, seeking ‘to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles’ (IOC 2010a). This alerts us to the idea that, while the Olympic Games is often regarded to be the most important sports event in the calendar, it should also be a vehicle for cultural expression and educational development. Indeed, it reveals that this commitment is as much a part of the Olympic programme as the sports events themselves. A requirement to host a cultural programme is even built into the host city contract. For example, in the case of London 2012, the contract states:

However, in contrast with other Games programmes, there are no technical manuals for culture and the Olympic Charter does not specify how these commitments should be made manifest. This creates a challenge for both an OCOG and the IOC. In the case of the former, local organizers are left uncertain about how much investment in cultural and educational activity is expected by the IOC, while the latter must find a way of making culture and education part of the Games programme without jeopardizing the local host’s ability to deliver safe and efficient sport competitions. One of the explanations for this lack of precision is that the ter-

minology used within the Charter is open to interpretation, with the concepts of sport, culture and education being very broad categories. Additionally, there are philosophical challenges in the use of these three concepts. Thus, sports may be seen as cultural manifestations and educational practices in themselves and as vehicles for understanding the body and for creating new leisure-based, social configurations. As Coubertin says,

Alternatively, cultural activity – for instance, an art exhibition of sports photography – can be understood as an educational and intellectual endeavour, or as a way of making sense of sport’s role in

society. This problem of definition and boundaries between these three concepts is made apparent in the report of the IOC 2000 Reform Commission, which, upon recommending investment from the IOC in culture, states that:

Despite the lack of strict guidelines, the implementation of cultural and educational activities has taken on quite precise characteristics and Coubertin’s vision sets some precedents for their operationalization. To help explain their application in the modern Olympic context, we know that Coubertin’s vision distinguished between sport and athletics, the latter of which he considered to be more closely aligned with his vision for how the Olympics could foster the ‘perfect human’. Thus, sports were merely one aspect of this development, though of course they have become the locus of activity for the Olympic movement. It is also apparent that Coubertin wanted the Olympic Games to champion artistic excellence, as a form of cultural expression distinct from sport. Indeed, early instances of the Games included arts competitions, as well as sports contests. Thus, artists contributed works of literature, visual art, architecture, performing arts and music all competing for medals in parallel to the athletes. Moreover, the medal winners were originally supposed to make defining contributions for the Games, from becoming the official design for the Olympic stadium (architecture) to the defining Olympic musical composition. While this aspect of the Games no longer exists in such a form,

art and culture remain a core part of the Olympic experience and it would be untrue to say that competitions, of a sort, no longer take place in these disciplines. Indeed, at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, there was an Olympic Fine Arts exhibition, which was one of the highest-profile cultural events of the Games, attended by both former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and current President Jacques Rogge, and which had involved a competitive selection process of international artworks. More generally, the

Olympic Games involves a series of creative competitions – though of an admittedly slightly different fashion – to design certain elements of the Games, from public art installations, to venue architecture, to the OCOG emblem, Olympic torch and graphic design components of a Games. Nevertheless, there is no formal awarding of Olympic medals for these types of competitions. Instead, as noted earlier, Olympic cities are required by the IOC to produce a cultural programme of some kind, the guidelines for which have remained loose in contrast with the tight regulations and extensive support manuals that exist for other Olympic components. As a result, OCOGs have often struggled to retain the cultural programme as a high delivery priority compared with other well-known (and closely supervised) Olympic programmes, and the general public has remained largely unaware of this dimension of the Games. As well as having a strong cultural and artistic undercurrent,

Coubertin’s original vision was also intimately tied to pedagogic progress and, as Chapter 1 explained, the principles of Olympism were forged through the philosophy of educational institutions. Coubertin himself was an educator. In present times, this commitment is implemented through extensive educational exchanges between schools to develop an understanding of Olympism, a process that tends to take place under the supervision of National Olympic Academies or, in their absence, the NOCs. However, the continuity of such programmes is quite uneven around the world and, while some countries have created long-term commitments to pursuing Coubertin’s vision, or a contemporary version of what has been termed Olympic education initiatives, most countries tend to limit activities to the periods leading up to specific Games editions in coordination with respective OCOGs. Indeed, OCOGs have varied in their level of dedication to the education programme and their capacity to make it visible and relevant to Games audiences and related stakeholders. Despite these challenges, the education and cultural programmes

remain critical cornerstones of official Olympic principles and values. As such, one should view the Games as a cultural festival and a platform for educational reform, within which the sports competitions are only one dimension. On this basis, we next consider some of the critical developments in cultural and educational programming around the Games and emerging opportunities in

view of the growing demand for the Games to be both sustainable and community-led. We begin by outlining some of the key mechanisms for cultural expression in the Olympic Games programme, before discussing examples of cultural artefacts that have been as historically relevant as the breaking of world records. The chapter concludes with an overview of the Olympic educational infrastructure, which reveals how scholarship and intellectual inquiry provide a crucial foundation for the Olympic movement.