6.3 more than a game: arts programming can increase local participation, pp.35-40

8/14/2019 6.3 More than a Game: Arts programming can increase local participation, pp.35-40.

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www.culturalolympics.org.uk

Culture @ the Olympics, 2004: vol. 6, issue 2, pp. 8-34

COCulture @ the Olympics

issues, trends and perspectives

Athens Olympic Games 2004

Research diary of the British Academy project

Andy Miah and Beatriz Garca

Between the 2nd and the 23rdof August 2004, we werebased in Athensundertaking research aboutthe role of non-accreditedmedia centres in promotingthe culture of the hosts ofthe summer OlympicGames. This project wasfunded by the BritishAcademy and is describedin C@tO (vol.6, issue 1). The

following pages present ourinformal research diarynotes.

2 August

On Route to AthensThe flight from Glasgow waswith British Airways. We hadexpected to see a reasonable

amount of Olympic branding,since BA is the UK official carrier.However, there was very little onour journey that indicated wewere on our way to the Olympichost city or that the Games wereabout to begin in just over aweek.

3 August

Welcome to AthensArrival in Athens at 3.30am local

time. We have been travellingsince 3pm UK time the day before(Monday). We sleep in the airportuntil 7am. Just over one weekbefore the Games begin, the newairport is looking very tidy andspatious. It was an early flight -arriving around 5am - so wedidn't really get to test the airportat its busiest, but all was smooth

in any case. We decided to try thebus system into the city, whichwould drop us off near to ouraccommodation.

Athens looks completely transformed bythe look of the Games


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Miah and Garca, 2004: Research diary 9

The bus actually seemed quickerthan other times we have had totravel from the Airport into thecity. It had been just under a yearsince either of us were last inAthens and, on the bus ridealone, it seemed like a differentplace.

We spend a lot of this day gettingre-acquainted with our hosts. Weare staying in area called NeaSmyrni, which is not far from thenew tram route from the citycentre, south towards the port,where some of the coastal sportsvenues are located. It is a niceneighbourhood 15min away fromAthens city centre and other 15mfrom the coast, the FaliroOlympic complex etc.

First priority was to purchase anew SIM card for the mobilephone! Easily done, but only ifyou have a Greek friend or canspeak a little yourself. This wasnot the city centre and the areahas a very local, community feelto it.

4 August

The Zappeion Media Centre

Our fears of being deniedaccreditation at Zappeion PressCentre (ZPC), the AthensOlympics non-accredited mediacentre, are soon dispersed. It isvery easy. They have our cardsready on arrival and the place is

just great. There is plenty of spaceto work, free broadbandconnections, a wide range of

display areas with informationabout Greek culture, theenvironment, events andbusiness.

One of the comfortable press workingrooms at the Zappeion Press Centre

6 August

Pre-Olympic Congress inThessalonikiThe International Council ofSport Science and Physical

Education (ICSSPE) Pre-Olympiccongress is the largest Sport-related congress on the calendar.This year it is taking place inThessaloniki, the second largestcity in Greece at the border withMacedonia.

We have a very nice train ridefrom Athens with views of the

changing Greek landscape,including mount Olympus andthe sacred hills of Meteora.

We get a nice first impression ofThessaloniki, one of four Olympiccities around Greece hosting thefootball tournament. The city isfull of Olympic banners, but has a


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very different feel to Athens. Theair is cooler, the buildings have amarked Turkish and Macedonianinfluence and there is not thechaos of Olympic preparationsthat pervade in the capital. Thetrip from the train station to thehotel is very straight forward.Upon arrival we met one of theCongress delegates in the stationand both proceed to ask forinformation from the unaffiliatedinfo stand. Hotel very pleasant,even a small glimpse of the oceanand not too far from the Congressvenue.

Thessaloniki, Olympic city 2004

The congress opening ceremonyis around 6pm and includesMANY welcomes from officials,including Patrick Schamash, theIOC representative for Jacque

Rogge and high priests from theGreek Orthodox Church comingfrom Olympia, the birth place ofthe Ancient Olympic Games. Thelong and elaborated ceremonyoffers a first glimpse at Greekprotocols which are going to becontinued at length throughoutthe Olympic fortnight all aroundthe country.

The evening ends with a range ofcultural presentations and finally! some nice Greek food.

Greek dances at the opening of the Pre-Olympic congres, Thessaloniki 2004

7-8 August

Congress in progressWhat is most noticeable about thePre-Olympic this year is thepresence of social science andhumanities research. There are a

lot of papers discussing the lawand philosophy of sport, whichwere not quite so present inBrisbane 2000. However, Brisbanewas an important stage towardsthis presence and the role of JohnNauright in 2000, who was ableto put a lot of social science onthe programme, was greatlyappreciated. It is encouraging

that some of the sport sciencecongresses are now opening up tothe less hard sciences. The ECSSmeeting is also a good indicationof this and its numbers are alsoquite staggering around 1800 in2003.

In the evenings we have thechance to explore a bit of the city.


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Thessaloniki has great food tooffer, very different from theexcessive touristy bias that tendsto predominate in Athens mostpopular spots (there is not reallya Plaka here, but rather plenty oflittle squares full of localunpretentious flavour).

9 August

Back to AthensAfter the conference, we tooktrain back to Athens and haddinner there with a friend fromUniversity of British Columbia,Canada. The city is thriving andrestaurant prices roaring!!

We do not get home until 1am,after taking a metro to Dafni andthen getting into a taxi with adriver that tries to scam us bytaking unnecessary long turns in

the area. We jump off at the firstopportunity but then feel we arein the middle of nowhere. A bitscary considering that we arecarrying laptops and all thematerial gathered during theCongress.

The tram services that are to runlate every night during the

Olympic fortnight are not yetfully operational. As it is commonin most Olympic host cities in thefinal days before the Games,travelling at night is a bit messybut we end up managing well.We find a nice old lady in one ofthe lonely streets who offers someuseful directions in English!

11 August

Museum momentsThe morning is a little coolertoday, helped by getting out ofthe house by 9.30am. Wemanaged to catch the bus toDafni within seconds of arrivingat the stop. This was helpful asthe last two times we have had towait around 20minutes for thebus to arrive. At first, we hadtrouble asking for tickets in Greekand finding a kiosk, but wereassisted by an English speakingGreek woman. This is essentialwhere we are staying, thougheven those who do not speakEnglish try to help.

We arrive in Syntagma squarearound 10am, looking for somebreakfast. At first, we see thefancy caf on the square and sit to

eat, but decide it would take toolong and cost too much. What wewant is a quick, tasty breakfast,or, failing that, just a quick one.

We decide to walk to one of themuseums and on the way grab acroissant and a frappe. Themuseum is just five minutes tothe north west of Syntagma, it is

the Old Benaki Museum. Themuseum is beautiful, full ofclassic items from antiquity andmore recent times. The buildingis four stories high with ornatedecorations and a view towardsthe Panathenaiko stadium. Wespent at least 40 minutes there.There were few people attending,but we saw at least one female


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athlete walking around on herown.

Accreditations and securityOne of the problems withwearing any form of accreditationis that you do not really know ifpeople change their approach toyou just because you are wearingsomething official. We do notstand out like the fully accreditedOlympic family.

Official cars display their Olympic

accreditations

Our accreditation looks lessofficial and most people probablywould not have heard of theZappeion Press Centre, thoughall Athenians do know theZappeion building, which sits

just inside the park adjacent toSyntagma. The building has a

long Olympic history, havingbeen the headquarters for the firstOlympics in 1896.

It is possible that we look moreofficial, or simply official in adifferent way, as ouraccreditation clearly indicatesZappeion Press Centre. Incontrast, media accredited to the

main press centre or InternationalBroadcast Centre, do not havethis information clearly visible.All officially accredited people athletes, coaches, camera people,presenters, IOC members havethe same kind of accreditationand their specific affiliation is invery small print, too small tocatch unless you have excellenteye sight.

After the museum, we walkthrough the park to Zappeion,taking the route through the zooand the maze of paths thatsurround the building. For thefirst time, the guard seemedinterested to check ouraccreditation, perhaps anindication of the heightenedsecurity, given that the Mayor ofAthens is presenting today.Though perhaps this is just acoincidence. We make it throughthe x-ray machine, following acouple of broadcasters who areworried about their expensivecameras.

Working our way aroundThe ZPC is quite peaceful at thistime. Computers available,though sometimes troubleworking out how to change thekeyboard settings from Greek toEnglish. The facilities areexcellent, though we wonder howmuch busier it will become andwhether there will be enoughspace. The provision of freelockers is a big help to free-lance

journalists. We keep there achange of clothes and every-day


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material, which accumulatesquickly.

After a couple of hours emailingand addressing journalists andinterviewee correspondence,Andy attends the final minutes ofthe lecture from Prof. DavidYoung, Olympic historian. Thelecture is well attended, thoughlacks dynamism and the slideshow is poorly lit. Afterwards,Andy speaks with the PR person,who could not seem lessinterested in him. However,Andy speaks with Prof. Young,who is delightful and pleased tomake contact. We will try to meetagain at the Society of OlympicHistorians AGM in Athens.

At 12.30pm, we take the metroone stop from Syntagma toAkademia, to pick up sometickets for tomorrow nightswelcome torch ceremony. It willtake place in the Odeon theatre atthe Acropolis. Tickets are free toanyone, but the difficult part isfinding that out and thenknowing where to pick up thetickets. It is not clear whether it iselitist, but it seems likely. Thisinformation is not availableeverywhere, though we have notyet fully checked the Ministry ofCultures website.

Press conference with the Mayorof AthensAfter obtaining the tickets, wehead back to the Centre for thepress conference with the Mayor.We arrive an hour before, thoughcannot receive the press packs

until 45 minutes before. We takeour seats early, a few other

journalists are there, thoughmany cameras are already set-up.We speak with a presenter fromUS television in Colorado, whohas a Greek advisor with her.They are both busy constructingthe track for her recording later.

As time goes on, the room fillsup, until eventually the Mayor,Dora Bakoyannis, is escorted in.She is an impressive woman, talland attractive, with a distinctpresence. She is dressed in whitewith a Greek blue Athens 2004 t-shirt. Her hair is immaculate andshe is accompanied by an adviser.

The mayor of Athens, Dora Bakoyannis

The conference lasts for one hour,with first questions from the

main media companies, whoseem to receive special attentionfrom the chair, though this might

just be an impression. Most of thequestions are banal; we reallywonder what journalists thinkthey are doing. Is Athens ready?Of course. Do Athenians want it?Of course. Is everythingwonderful? Of course.


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No surprises here, though shedoes still have a way with peoplethat is playful and yetauthoritative anduncompromising.

Afterwards, a cocktail receptionis held and the Mayor stays for15minutes or so. The Centre isquite busy now, not much roomto find a computer. We checkemail a few more times and thensit for a while in the massagechairs that are provided by one ofthe sponsors. Andy receives aphone call from BBC Five Liveabout his book. Then we head outfor some lunch at around 430pm.We dont seem to get hungry,despite the messy eating times.

Street cycling and gallery walksOn the way to finding food, wenotice Syntagma in a little chaos.The main road was closed and wewondered whether the torch wasabout to arrive. Some policeconfirmed this, though it actuallyturned out to be the time trial forthe road cycling. The bikeswhizzed past, one of them eventaking a photo while peddlingpast the government building.Who says Olympians dont sightsee as well?

We get some food in what hasbecome our usual, unremarkableplace, though the food is ok andit is quick and convenient.Afterwards, we do a little clothesshopping and then findsomewhere else to eat for dinnerat around 9pm.

After dinner, we take a stroll toone of the art galleries, which areopen from 8pm until midnightduring games time. It is all part ofthe organising committee(ATHOC) official culturalprogramme, consisting ofcontemporary exhibits at unusualvenues. The building for this oneis a block of flats and doesntseem too inviting, but theexhibition is beautiful andworthwhile.

The way home, again, is notstraightforward. We take themetro to Neo Cosmos, then thetram, though had to wait around20mins for the tram to getmoving. They seem to be havingproblems with this system. Whenit works, it is excellent, but wehave had difficulties so far.

12 August

Is Athens ready?Just one day to go. It is the firstmorning that we have had thestrength to get up at 7.30am. Weare getting used to the heat.

Athens looks ready as the Mayorof Athens, Dora Bakoyannisemphasised in her press


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conference at the ZappeionCentre yesterday. She lookedconfident and pleased, andprobably she has good reason.The city looks fantastic.

However, some things keepgoing wrong with local transport:the tram is not very reliable at themoment, there are signsindicating how long until the nexttrain, but you get stuck in thelongest 1 minute waits ever. Thescreens never seem to go beyond7min to the next tram, no matterwhether you have to end upwaiting for one hour. On theother hand, the metro and busesseem to work fine.

Olympic cultural programmesWe are particularly impressedwith the cultural preparations.Since the first day we wanderedaround Athens, 4th of August, thefinal touches to an extensivepublic art programme and theamount of information aboutother initiatives throughout thecity have developed at anamazing speed.

Catch the light is a visual artsprogramme consisting of imagesof Greek (or Athenian) people inmedium size boards hangingfrom the gates of the NationalGardens, plus enormousbillboards showing stills of sportsand creative views on Greekculture and related endeavoursthat cover full buildings atdifferent points of the city.

Catch the light bright boards at theNational Gardens

It is an effective programme that

achieves a difficult balancebetween being creative andattractive and blending with theenvironment. It is a far cry fromthe in your face flashy sportyimages, heavy on official logosand sponsor recognition thatwere common in Sydney and SaltLake.

Information also abounds on theother, additional cultural events,that range from happenings (orimpromptu performances) inOlympic venues andsurroundings to concerts inpublic squares, national parades,free theatre and other arts relatedshows organised by theMunicipality of Athens and

ATHOC.

There are many other, payingevents, organised as part of theCultural OIympiad and theAthens Festival. In fact, it isconfusing to realise who is incharge of what, and this, at times,

jeopardises the value of cultural


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guides that may include certainbut not all activities taking place.

ATHOCs programme is the mostclearly dedicated to highlight theOlympic experience. It takesplace in and around selectedOlympic venues, in the OlympicVillage, and as end of the daycelebration to the torch relay inevery night-stop of the touraround Greece. The programmealso includes an interesting visualarts programme, with the beaconexhibit Monument to Now, adaring proposal of contemporaryart organised in collaborationwith the DESTE foundation.Interestingly, ATHOC has alsocoordinated a gallery walk thattakes you through the little streetof Athens, from Psyrris, Plakaand Monastiraki to Kolonaki andas far as Kifisia.

The Municipality of Athens haslaunched its A Celebration allover the City programme, whichis all free and, as in the case ofATHOC, focuses on the period ofOlympic sport competition. Theprogramme is heavily focused onentertainment but has a greaterlevel of cultural endeavour and ismore unique to Athens than theLiveSites! in Sydney.

The Cultural Olympiad hasstopped its performanceprogramme during the Games,only leaving a collection ofinteresting exhibition atprestigious venues and a reducednumber of free events that are

often by invitation only in rare

venues. Special performances andevents will continue inSeptember, once the sportingcompetitions are over.

The Athens Festival is also in fullswing, with top cultural eventstaking place almost daily at thebeautiful Odeon of HerodAtticus, the most spectaculartheatre in Athens. The events areoften pricy, but welcomed byvisitors interested in the arts andaware of this prestigious festival.

A further myriad of activities aretaking place under the wings ofseveral foundations, culturalcentres etc. There is not clearcoordination of all of this wealthof cultural offerings, but it isobvious that Athens exudes itand this makes the experience of

walking around the cityparticularly provocative, enticingand memorable.

City initiatives: real prices &volunteeringWe also observe some otherinteresting initiatives. TheMunicipality has issued a realprices list for visitors to ensure


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they do not get ripped off byoverly entrepreneurial retailers.

The diversity of volunteerprogrammes is also remarkable.In contrast to previous Olympichosts, where most volunteering ismanaged through the officialOlympic organisers, in Athens,the Municipality has madeparallel arrangements, amongthem, the may I help youprogramme. The transportauthorities have also created theirown follow me campaign toguide visitors and locals throughthe constantly changing publictransport schedules. The onlydifficulty is knowing what to askto which person and when!

Patras, European Capital ofCulture

In the Zappeion on the 12th

wesee the Symphonic Chorus ofChildren from Patras. Manyefforts are made byrepresentatives from this city toensure a strong presence in theZappeion. They are promoting itsprogramme as European Capitalof Culture 2006. We have beenimpressed by the dedication and

the amount of activities on show.These include extensiveinformation materials, puppetand shadow theatre and chorusperformances among others. It isclear that the initiative has a highprofile in Greece.

Interviews with cultural playersBeatriz interviews GeorgiaIliopoulou at the Hellenic CultureOrganisation. It is a pleasantmeeting, though brief. Theinterview is useful to get a firstunderstanding of the structure ofthe Cultural Olympiad and itsrelation to the Hellenic Ministryof Culture and ATHOC amongothers.

We also meet withJude Kelly,the chair of Culture andEducation at the London 2012Olympic Bid. She is extremelyopen with her views and veryinterested in our work. Sheinvites us to attend a lunch withTessa Jowel, UK Secretary ofState for Culture, Media andSport and head of DCMS. Thiswill take place tomorrow.

The flame arrivesYesterday we got free invitationsto attend the special party towelcome the torch to Athens. It isin the beautiful Odeon of HerodAtticus. It is a full house, so ittakes a while for people to get totheir seats in this ancient opentheatre. In the meantime, thetorch is being carried aroundAthens towards us, footage ofwhich is being projected over thewall of stone behind the stage.


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One of the many Olympic torch bearerspassing by the city neighbourhoods

As the torch passes the Odeon, itis carried by former Olympicchampion Carl Lewis. The torchis finally taken up the Acropolisand there is a special ceremony at

the Parthenon, where the torch isto rest at night. We have followedall of this through videoprojections on the Odeons stone,which create a strange andmemorable effect.

Impressive light projections at theOdeon of Herod Atticus to celebrate thearrival of the torch to Athens

The city mayor, the head of theHellenic Culture Committee, theGreek Prime Minister and thehead of ATHOC all makespeeches at the Parthenon and,after this, come to join us at theOdeon for a concert. The concertis also attended by the King ofGreece and the rest of top Greekpersonalities. It is a beautifulconcert, in particular, the secondpiece, with title Slow Motion, bya Greek contemporary composer.

There is also a funny situationduring the third piece byShostakovich. The solo pianiststops playing of a sudden in arage and seems about to leavedue to being disturbed by loudnoise in the background thatspoils the quiet moments of thecomposition. This is the downside of having the whole ofAthens celebrating! The orchestradirector manages to convince himto stay to the relief of the concertorganisers and front rowpersonalities. In the way out ofthe concert we have the chance tosay hello to Kostas Georgiadis,the dean of the InternationalOlympic Academy, who, asalways is half-smiling and happyto see us.

Unfortunately, we end upmissing the special culturalactivities organised by ATHOC tocelebrate the opening of theirCatch the Light programme inthe Keramikos area. Our grouphas grown unexpectedly and wemust accommodate and go to

Plaka for a most needed dinner.


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13 August

Let the Games begin!Oddly, today is a public holidayin Athens. The day of theOpening Ceremony and everyonegets a holiday, as if all the work isdone. Actually, we thought thiswas supposed to be some rewardfor the city, but we seem to findout that it was just a coincidence.

The streets are empty and weleave home at around 9.30am breakfast on the go. Spend timein the ZPC until 11.4pam, tryingto find out about arrangementsfor the ceremonies. The difficulttask was finding out about publicspaces, where we could watch ascreen showing the ceremony a

900 ticket for the actualceremony just didnt fit into ourbudget! However, nobody can

tell us of any clear venues wherepeople could gather. There wassome suggestion of big screens,but the May I help you peopledeny this.

Lunch with the British OlympicAssociationWe depart the ZPC at around12.30pm for our meeting with

Jude Kelly at the British OlympicAssociation villa. The area wherewe needed to arrive is Psychikoand buses did not seem obvious.We are fortunate enough to havesome advice from some localsand make it there on time. Thebus passes by the Hilton IOChotel, very impressive, with

cameras everywhere waiting tospot a VIP.

The lunch was really informativeand a great opportunity to talkwith London 2012 bid committeemembers, among others. It washosted byJude Kelly, butinvitations were on behalf ofTessa Jowell, MP. Some timethrough the lunch, we were toldthat Cherie Booth, the UK PrimeMinisters wife, would join us, asshe was soon to be announced asa new ambassador for the bid.This was also a great opportunityto have a discussion aboutOlympism, which is preciselywhat took place. It was a smallgathering and included Ric Birch(executive producer for theceremonies at Sydney2000,Barcelona92 and LA84), NigelShort (British Chess champion),Marco Balich (executive producerof the ceremonies in Torino 2006)and the British Council Directorbased in Athens.

Opening ceremonyAt 4pm, we leave and take a busto the area of the Hilton Hotel,where we visit one of the ModernArt Gallery exhibitions TransCultures, part of theCultural Olympiad programme.We then try to find out more onthe Opening Ceremony, but stillno information available. It isamazing that we know nothingand that, with all our contacts,nobody can confirm anyarrangements. We wonder whatvisitors will be doing probablywatching the television!! Around


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7pm, we arrange to meet a friendfrom ATHOC, who has been toldof a big public screen at OmoniaSquare. We all walk down thereand nothing is happening, so it isback to the ZPC to watch theevent at a big screen that has beeninstalled within the perystile.

The Olympic flame is finally lighted atthe main Olympic Stadium, signallingthe end of the Opening Ceremony andthe start of the XXVIII Games.

14 August

BBC interviewsWe depart the flat around 9.40amand take the bus to Sygrou Fix,where the tram is nowterminating, due to the roadcycling track arrangements in thecity. From hereon, the tram doesnot leave from Syntagma Square

for the rest of the Games.

Andys first task is an interviewfor the BBC Today Show radioprogramme at one of the BBCposts nearby the PanathenaikoStadium. He also records ageneric for the BBC and talkswith the journalists about theZappeion Press Centre.

They have not had a very goodimpression of the facilities,though this seems largely due totheir expectation to access sportsinformation, for which the ZPC isnot set-up.

Olympic truce eventWe both meet at the ZPC at12.15pm awaiting informationabout the Olympic Truce pressconference. There is nothingavailable yet, so we check emails,etc. At 12.40pm, Cathy Freemanturns up with her Samsung-sponsor entourage. We spendsome time watching the mediafrenzy and get a sense for whyshe is there. We are given theopportunity to interview her, butdecline seeing how tired shelooks and given that this is herlunch time!

Cathy Freeman pays a visit to the ZPC

Nevertheless, her associates seemto know which media is worthgiving specific time to; we areasked just because we havealready begun to make friendsthere. Stelios Korkidis, GreecePress Counsellor in Beijing andpreviously Sydney, spends a bit


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of time talking to us and at 2pmwe leave the ZPC just in time tocatch the cyclists whiz by for theroad race. We then try to find oneof the Cultural Olympiadexhibitions, but find it difficult tolocate the venue, despite askingadvice from the local police.Actually, we get the impressionthat a lot of the police on thestreets have been brought in fromelsewhere.

At around 315pm we arrive backin the ZPC for the Olympic Truceconference, due to take place at4pm. What we were led to believewould be a low-profile meetingturns into the highest profilemeeting of the entire schedule forthe ZPC. It is not completelychaotic, but certainly no mediawere getting into the officialmeeting. All press were lined upready to take photographs ofguests, but only the select few mainly international news wirereps such as Associated Press were allowed into the meetingroom, where the IOC president

Jacques Rogge would introducethe Truce.

The IOC president arrives at the ZPC

We arrived and managed tosqueeze to the front of the pressline, increasingly frustrated atwhat was happening. Truce isone of our major interests and wethought we had planned for thisevent. But, here we were beingsqueezed out of the mainmeeting. Admittedly, we had noentitlement to be there, as welearned once the guests startedarriving.

Among the VIPs were Tony Blairand Cherie Booth, Juan AntonioSamaranch, Prince Albert ofMonaco, Queen Sofia of Spainand many, many more. So herewe were, missing the entireevent, only to see people arriveand walk into the adjoiningroom. We just werent havingthis. We quickly needed a plan B!

Andy protested at our exclusionto one of the ZPC staff, whoclearly did not have anyinfluence. So, he tried someoneelse who seemed a little morecentral to the proceedings. Thiswoman, as it turns out, wascoordinating the event. Hequickly explained that we are


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university professors and thatthis was central to our researchand, by the way, could we get in.

Andy also tried to play the wemet Cherie Booth yesterday andarranged to see her here card,which seemed to workreasonably effectively, though herPA was clearly not overwhelmed.Could it be for the fact that hewas in beach wear and lookingnot much like a professor? Whatcan we say?

We did not expect this to beanything like the event it turnedout to be. Anyway, perhaps itwas because this woman wasfrom the UK, but, she let us inand we were able to get areasonable position on thespeeches. At the close of themeeting, one of the initiativeswas the Truce wall, where guestswere asked to sign their supportfor the initiative. Beatriz nearlyrugby tackled Tony Blair on theway out, but everything wentfine enough.

The Olympic Truce function was a highprofile event aimed at generating somemedia headlines about this poorlyrecognised but important initiative

Afterwards, we had a chance tospeak with Stelios and alsoforeign press counsellors StavrosStathulopulos (Germany) andNikos Papaconstantinou (Londonand Egypt). We have somerenewed kudos from having beentwo of the few to make it into themeeting. Hehe. It is a very fruitfulconversation, about the ZPC, howit emerged, who was pushing forit and what were its expectations.

After the main guests had left,everything calmed downconsiderably and it was back tothe real work. We sent a couple ofemails to inquire about access tothe International BroadcastCentre and the Main PressCentre, and Monday seemedpossible.

Then we took a walk to theAcropolis and Monistiraki, wherewe had a drink. The restaurantwhere we ate that night had anOlympic theme a 5 coursemeal, each course representingone of the rings and the foodeven corresponded to the colourof each ring. ZPC again at the endof the day and home by 1am.

15 August

Beach VolleyballToday was our first sportingevent, Beach Volleyball. It wasabout time we found out how the

journeys to Olympic venuesfunctioned and what kind ofexperience visitors hadthroughout the process. We had


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to leave at 7am, walking first the10mins to the tram and thentaking it south to the watervenues in the south of the city.First problem the tram isdelayed and both we and one ofthe volunteers for the beachvolleyball venue have to give up.She advises us to take the bus,which is just arriving. At the endof the line, we change to Tram 2,which takes us north along thecoast.

One among many volunteers helping

direct people to the enormous coast-sideOlympic venues

Arriving at the beach volleyvenue, the surroundings lookunfinished, but it could be thatthese spacious areas look strangewhen there are few peoplepresent and they are reallygeared up to deal with big

crowds at peak times.There were no queues at thevenue, we could easily havearrived much later. The food anddrink was not overly expensiveand it was easily accessible at thistime of day (around 8.30am).

The stadium was less than halffull, so we are able to sit

anywhere we like within oursection. We easily access the frontrow and have a great view for theentire morning.

If you ignore the fact that theambiance of beach volley is alittle masculine note the fungirl dancers at time-outs thereis a cool, relaxed feeling about theplace.

The competitions take place withmusic throughout and a DJ. Thematches went well. Spain wonthe final match, which pleasedBeatriz!

The session finished around1250pm and we then walkedacross to the sponsor park (theWater Plaza), where Swatch hada range of stands, including

serving spots, where you couldserve a volleyball and see howfast your serve is. Other sponsorswere also visible, particularly theVisa ATM machines oh yes, ifyou are visiting the Olympics,dont forget that official retailoutlets only take VISA cards orcash. If you want to use any otherplastic, you will struggle!


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Sponsor spacesAcross from the beach volleyvenue was the Water Plaza,another sponsor spot, with arange of spaces of activity. This isthe first time we see a bigscreen, like the LiveSite! Screensin Sydney. Apparently, they wereopen for opening night, but fewwere present. One of the majorspaces here is the Coca Cola pintrading area, an enormous roomshaped like a coca cola bottle.

It also included sport spaces,where you could have a go atarchery, weight-lifting, karate,baseball, fencing and shooting.Great idea, though seemedpoorly placed quite empty too.Hyundai cars also had space andwould take photographs ofguests in front of their cars,drawing people in with the bigfluffy ATHOC mascot people,with whom you could take yourphotograph. They also offered afree bus back to Athens, but wedidnt think too much of theschedule seemed few and longwait time between them.

Olympic park and gymnasticsWe took the tram and metro backto the centre on our way up to themain Olympic stadium OAKA where the rest of the day wouldbe spent watching the artisticgymnastics. It takes a while to gofrom north to south, but we makeit in time, fitting in some self-service food before hand andpopping in to the ZPC forupdates.

OAKA was calm, no enormous orlong queues and the gymnasticswas also easily accessed andquite enough that we could sit inseats that were more expensivethan our ticket price. It pays towatch the heats!

The artistic gymnastics isamazing. The tv only conveys onesection at a time. Watching theevent live is so very different, somuch is happening at any onetime and the athletes fall a lot!

16August

City scenesWe arrive at ZPC at 11.30am onlyto find out that our Main PressCentre accreditation application

has been declined. The ZPCofficials are clearly not thatinfluential when it comes toATHOC accredited buildings.

We go to the New BenakiMuseum, another CulturalOlympiad venue; an impressiveexhibition of clothing from arange of locations called


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Ptychoseis=Folds+Pleats. This isdefinitely one of the mostextraordinary exhibitions duringthe Games.

We then venture over to theTechnopolis venue, an extensivecomplex of cultural centres andactivity. There were few peoplearound and the guard seemeddesperate to talk to someone. Oneof the exhibits was a video ofOlympic history, which includedinterviews with Olympic veteranacademics John MacAloon andNorbert MXXller.

Back at the ZPC at 7pm to findout about a Torino 2006 functiondue to take place that night. Noinfo is available, which ruins theplan for that evening.

Instead, we take the evening tohave some sushi and find some ofthe Catch the Light events.However, there was noinformation available about thisat Syntagma square and thepeople handing out leaflets aboutit at Korai Square were almostinvisible.

At around 10pm, one of the ticketbooths happened to be closingand we saw an argumentbetween a visitor and anemployee, the former of whichwas protesting at their closing soearly. A fight very nearly brokeout! The volunteers are sovulnerable sometimes and justget too hard a time from visitors.

The Olympic volunteers look cheerfuland relaxed regardless of the heat andpressures from some Olympic visitors

17

August

Athens by artDepart home around 9.15am,Beatriz meets Nelly Kyriazi,Director of the Municipal Galleryof Athens. She is meeting her totalk about her role as curator ofthe Athens by Artcontemporarypublic art programme being

presented throughout the cityduring the Olympic fortnight.Andy was at the ZPC until1230pm, conducting the dailyarchival work.

The Athens by art programme brings arefreshing look at the city by placingcontemporary public art withinotherwise traditional environments


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ZPC eventsLater that day, the Expo 2008Thessaloniki bid committee gavea presentation about their aims.That night, we would prepare forone of the ZPC culture events, anevening of Greek cuisine. We hadhoped for a table with ZPCofficials and it more or lessworked out, except for anunusual Frenchman who decidedto sit with all of us and show usphotographs of him with, amongothers, the Pope!

The magnificent Zappeion perystile isused to host daily cultural events

This was a truly bizarre evening,with somewhat seriousconsequences. The meal wassupposed to be the one occasionwhen colleagues from the ZPCcould sit and have some relaxing,

together time. Well, while we hadbeen invited to join their table, hehad not and he was taking thelast seat. Ultimately, the boss ofthe ZPC group dealt with it veryprofessionally, but we did feelsorry for them!

Anyway, the food was great, butnot sufficient for the many

hungry guests, so it was a quickMcDonalds later. We stayed atthe ZPC all night tonight, sincetomorrow was the 4.30amdeparture to the ancient stadiumof Olympia for the Shot put. Thiswill be the first time thevenerable stadium hosts aprofessional sports event sinceancient times.

18August

Olympia or bustAt 3.45am, we walk over toSyntagma to catch the mediacoach down to Olympia. This wasnot provided free and wasactually quite expensive. Theirluxury coach was far from beingluxury and we did feel sorry forsome of the media, many ofwhom were big guys with bigequipment. The 5hr journey

down to Olympia cannot havebeen easy. Most of the journalistswere from the Main Press Centreand it was full.

We arrive in Olympia at 9am andthe route was quite differenttowards the end. Olympia hadgone through some dramaticchanges in recent months. Andy

was last here in June 2003. Uponarriving, we discover thatdeparture is not until 8pm wehad been told it was 1pm, afterthe shot put finished. This spoilsour plan to be back in Athens forthe Cultural Olympiad eventtonight at 9pm, so new planswere necessary.


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The tour guide assures us she willfind out about other possibilities,so we watch the event and relax alittle. It is amazing how they havetransformed the walk fromOlympia down to the stadium,though there are nearly no waterkiosks and certainly no foodanywhere.

We feel privileged to be part of thecrowd at the ancient stadium ofOlympia, hosting its first professionalsport competition in almost threemillennia.

At around 12.30pm, we rush tothe restaurant to see if we cangrab a bite before learning thatwe need to take the 1pm trainback to Olympia to ensure wemake it there for the evening. It isa shame, since it would havebeen good to talk more with the

journalists, one of whom said that

being in Olympia is the highlightof his career. So much for beingcynical about sports media

journalists. Here we were in theheart of where sport began and itactually managed to touchsomeone in a very importantway. How reassuring.

The train back to Athens was notmuch fun. First leg was packed inlike chickens. The second legbegan in a nice first class carriage,until we were moved and had towalk through a raining carriage air conditioning leaking into thetrain and into our less air-conditioned, but dry carriage.

It took around 6.5 hours to getback and we were exhausted bythe end of it.

Still, just enough time to getcleaned up for the CulturalOlympiad function at the ZPC.

Stamatis Mavros, President of theHellenic Culture Company presents hisvision of the Cultural Olympiad


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20 August

Research intensiveA full research day for both of us.Andy spends time in the ZPCworking on new archivalmaterial, promotion for thepublic communication of ourwork, articles for newspapers andsubsequently visits thearchaeological site in Athens.Despite it being summer andGames week, it is relativelyempty.

Beatriz has to go through a realmarathon of interviews at theHellenic Culture Organisation(HCO) headquarters. This is thegroup in charge of the CulturalOlympiad on behalf of theHellenic Ministry of Culture. Themeetings start at 1pm and do notfinish until practically 6pm.

She receives great support fromTakis Panagiotopoulos, HCOpresident advisor.

The first meeting is withAmaryllis Frangou, the directorof communication. She is a verystraight forward person whooffers very useful informationabout the evolution of the

Cultural Olympiad marketingand promotional campaigns. Sheshows videos of the CulturalOlympiad TV campaign from2002 onwards.

It is also helpful to learn aboutthe progress of the logo and thenotion of a brand that issupposed to survive the end of

the Games and becomeestablished as a permanentCultural Foundation with a basein Greece.

The next interview is with LizaTsaliki, director of internationalcollaborations. It is excellent tomeet her and it will be definitelybe worth keeping in touch. Shehas an academic background incultural and media studies and isgood friends with Prof. Neil Blainfrom Paisley University inGlasgow, who happens to be thehead of Andys school. Theinterview provides detailedinformation about the Olympiadwider (and complex!) politicalcontext and the difficulties insecuring a broad internationalprojection.

An unexpected meeting withElias Vergidis, manager of thenew Athens Culture Guideproves very useful as well. TheGuide is rapidly becoming a keyreference point of Athens culturalagenda. It is by far the best guideto get an impression of the widerange of cultural activityhappening in Athens during theOlympics, including not onlyATHOC and Municipalitycultural activities, but also theCultural Olympiad, the Hellenicfestival programme and a rangeof alternative offerings. The guideis supported by the HCO and hasbeen set as a long term project.

The final meeting is with GeorgeLiontos, director of the

department of programme


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the city were prices are high butservice is truly excellent. We arelucky and have an uneventfulpublic transport return to our flat.

21 Aug

Olympic park - athleticsA full day at OAKA today for theathletics. We depart at around730am, missing our bus and,thus, taking around 40mins to getto the tram. We arrive at OAKAaround 915am and are, again,able to sit where we like. So weget some near front-row seats towatch the Heptahlon long jump.

Denise Lewis pulls out withinjury, though looked good in theperformance. A strongperformance from Team GBsKelly Sotherton. We also see the100m heats, which include

Maurice Greene, Kim Collins andGreg Campbell, though the sprinttrack is on the other side of thestadium, so we dont really seemuch more than small dots ofpeople and the television screensin the stadium.

We took some time to get toknow the OAKA complex. Someparts look a bit desert-like, sandon the ground, seeminglyunfinished, though it would bepossible to pass it of as atraditional Mediterranean dryand dusty landscape!

There are some beautifullyarranged water areas as well, andthere is where most of the visitorsgather to escape the heat. Despitethe many warnings not to getinto the water, there are few ofus that can resist the example ofthe many children who arealready enjoying it!

The OAKA complex is a grand venuethat looks a bit unfinished in parts butdazzling in others. The water areas arethe perfect venue to relax from the heat

Sponsor branding is not toooverwhelming, though it isclearly present in the serviceareas. There are many Kodak andCoke stands and the McDonaldsrestaurant is bursting at theseams. Water and food arereasonably priced throughout.


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At 12pm we take the metro toNea Ionia to see the DESTEfoundation exhibit Monument toNow. Well worth a visit, thoughthe volunteers around the areadid not know about its existence.

22 August

Visa Olympians meeting centreAfter a big breakfast with ourhosts, we get to the ZPC andspend some time taking

photographs at the OlympicTruce stand. We will use these forour university press release andto distribute information aboutthe Truce more widely.

We also go to the Panathenaikostadium to take somephotographs while it is empty. Itis such a beautiful and

memorable stadium. Later ontoday we will come here to seethe end of the womensmarathon.

The line for the women marathon whichfollows the ancient route from Marathonto the centre of Athens

After lunch, we go to the VisaOlympians Meeting Centre toattend the International OlympicAcademy ParticipantsAssociation (IOAPA) reunion. Itis a good chance to catch up withold Olympic circle friends.Amongst the best surprises isseeing Thomas Kaptain, who is inexcellent shape and funny as

ever. We also see KostasGeorgiadis and his wife. NorbertMuller and Manfred Messingfrom Mainz University are alsothere. As is Holger Preuss fromthe same university with whomwe have a brief chat.

We also have a chat with ourfriend Evi, and a quick hello to

Elisabeth Hanley who makes aspeech to congratulate LaurelIversen for her dedication to theIOAPA. We see Bob Barney, JohnLucas and Cesar Torres but haveno chance to say hi.

We meet a UN culture and sportofficer working in Kosovo whoknows Ana Belen Moreno (from


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the Olympic Studies Centre inBarcelona). Ana Belen wasworking with him the year shewent to Kosovo. He is aninteresting person with a veryinteresting job. To be followedup. As always a bit of surprise as,in the end, we do not know somany people within the IOAworld!

The longest time is spent withNoemi Monin from theMuseum/OSC, now in charge ofSummer Games Coordination apost briefly held by Nuria Puig,who is now back at the OSC inLausanne. She will be working onthe Beijing links. We discuss ourviews about the Athens culturalprogramme. Few people knowsabout the cultureguide and areoften confused about thediversity of activity on offer.

We share most of the afternoon/evening with Berta and Chris(from the Centre for OlympicStudies in Barcelona), who havehad the chance to see some eventsthrough IOC support. They havecollected lots of material (25kg)mainly through the Main PressCentre, where they were based.They also visited the ZPC andfound it very useful andaccessible.

Radcliffes Greek tragedyWe go to the Panathenaikotogether to see end of WomenMarathon. The entry is a bitchaotic, with contradictingdirections being given entry bythe stadium, where tickets are

still distributed at the officialboot, or through a specialentrance at the National Gardens,linked to stadium through awalled corridor.

At the entrance there are lots ofpeople waiting, then we are toldto move away, as we cannot getin without tickets. Most of ushave them, so it is a uselessremark that confuses people. Ittakes a while to make it throughthe corridor constantly stoppedto be checked out, with lots ofpolice. We catch a glimpse of twoGreek philosophers at a benchbehind the fences, in the park,looking in on us. (Isnt alcohol abanned substance at the Games?)

Most of the crowd are Britscarrying flags. Every Britishperson in Athens seems to behere, benefiting from the 10 euroticket.

British fans at the women marathonfinal in the Panathenaiko stadium

It is not difficult to get good seatsnear the finishing line thestadium is large and we are early.We are just next to the media


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seats, which are indeed alwaysthe best (better than the VIPsdesignated area on the side).

While we sit, we see BridgetMcConnell and her husband thefirst Minister of Scotland JackMcConnell. A happy coincidence.We had a chance to say hello tothem both.

With them is the well knownformer British athlete Dame MaryPeters, creating a fuss as fans askher for a signature. Japanese fansdo not know what is happening(they ask us who she is) but alsoask for a signature.

The stadium is in full swing withthe British fans dancing andflashing their flags. A smallercontingent of Japanese fans is alsovisible. The race starts and PaulaRadcliffe is leading, which bringscheers around the stadium. Butshe stops, unexpectedly, in the 23mile mark just 3 miles to go. Sheis in tears, and the stadium indisbelief.

The Japanese runner wins therace, with all Japanese of asudden getting prominence. Weall cheer for the runners as theyarrive, especially for Liz Yelling.When she arrives, Andy spots herhusband Martin, an old friendfrom Bedford, and has a chanceto talk with him.

It is nice to stay until the very end the race started at 6pm and thefinal runner arrives around

9.45pm almost 10pm. It feels

like this is the real Olympic spirit.It is inspiring to see the reactionsand appreciation of the runnerswho arrive exhausted and stillhave the strength to smile or sendkisses to the crowd while theyrun the final lap.

British media (Sue Barker) at thefinishing line of the women marathon

Several of them collapse after thefinishing line and must be takenout in a stretcher. The Japanese

winner, though, after a momentof rest, is unstoppable, runningaround everywhere, carrying the

Japanese flag, talking to themedia and then, after receivingflowers one hour or so afterwinning running up and downthe seating area, mingling withthe fans that follow her around.Andy manages to shake her

hand.

It is so funny! Like a Benny Hillshow, says Chris, as we look atthe Japanese running aroundafter her, some of them in funnycostumes, a group of them alldressed in bright pink. What astrange sight, in this so beautifuland solemn stadium! It is a nice


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6.3 more than a game: arts programming can increase local participation, pp.35-40

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