Shaping up to 2012

The Cultural Olympiad may be all well and good, but, asks Kelly Mullan, do disability arts and sport make comfortable bedfellows

Shape Arts has commissioned two disabled artists and two disabled-led companies to develop work that responds to the themes of the Cultural Olympiad. The artists’ new humorous, sometimes cynical, works are being showcased this summer at London’s Southbank.

The spirit of fun imbuing the Shape artist commissions has been apparent since the launch event last year when a panel of giggling artists revealed their puzzlement at sport. Deaf artist Aaron Williamson asked why all the Deaf athletes don’t just win everything at the Paralympics, and Shape’s Tony Heaton quipped that it’s because they don’t hear the starting gun.

After such an auspicious start the resulting art work has been hotly anticipated. One thousand people saw the first three Showcases on a sunny bank holiday Monday. There was plenty to see for both children and their chin-stroking cultured parents.

Running with scissors as an Olympic sport may not catch on, but Kazzum Theatre Company rolled up to Southbank with a mobile newspaper stand and got watching kids to help use Chinese paper cutting to tell the smaller tales within the big Olympic story.

As the diversely proportioned dancers of Stop Gap Theatre Company took to the stage, a mother in the audience shouted at her child: “How would you like it if you had no legs?” Challenges to perceptions of disability were overheard and boxes were ticked.

Stop Gap’s Tracking is all thundering beats, high energy street dance and cool costumes. Looking at Britishness and identity, Stop Gap use 70’s kitsch, hide like spies under umbrellas, queue (energe­tically), and host their own Games.

Inside, away from the family fun in the sun, Aaron Williamson’s film, 100 Metres Gold Handicap (King Midas) was showing to a gaggle of more serious looking viewers pondering the joke as comment. In King Midas, the mythical Greek figure is attempting the 100 metres. He should be the perfect Olympian as everything he touches turns to gold but he has turned himself to gold and is heavily handicapped.

The strange bedfellows of sport and art are producing some quirky and entertaining offspring. Seb Coe has blessed the union saying: “Our Cultural Olympiad will widen the experience of 2012 beyond sports participation. It will enable those with talents in other areas to share the magic of having the Olympic and Paralympic Games in their own country.” We certainly won’t be the first wedding guests to take bets on how long it will last whilst still enjoying the party.

The next Showcase will be on 13 July when sit-down comedian Liz Bentley unveils her wares, and the artists will be on the festival circuit throughout the summer.