Dream, Achieve, Inspire
The above three words comprise the motto for the 2010 Arctic Winter Games. I must admit that although it might be a bit too direct as a mantra, I like it an awful lot better than “I believe,” which merely feeds into our cultural mania that insists belief is all that is required for success (not hard work, or talent, or resources, or opportunity). At least “dream, achieve, inspire” implies steps in the process, and addresses both self and spectator. I also like it a lot better than “own the podium,” which, as Dr. Bruce Kidd, sports hall of famer, Olympian, and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education at the University of Toronto, put it during his speech at Bodyworks Symposium, “translates into: come to my home so I can beat the shit out of you.”
Actually, there is a great deal to admire in the cultural programming side of the Arctic Winter Games, a number of initiatives that would be worth exploring for implementation in larger competitions, such as the PanAm Games, Commonwealth Games, or Olympics. First of all, each competing team also brings along an artistic team as part of their contingent. These artists perform daily at various venues around the city over the lunch hour, at gala events, and inside the athlete village. The artists are encouraged to meet and learn from each other’s practice, thereby mimicking the athletic experience. Artist mentorship programs have also been instituted to encourage youth art-making, the results of which are, and will be, displayed in galleries alongside the professional art. There is even an “Art of the Spectator” component: art supplies are distributed at various sports venues and spectators are invited to offer their own artistic interpretation of the games.
On Saturday, I visited the Creative Arts Centre and the Montrose Cultural Centre (which houses the Prairie Art Gallery), taking in four exhibitions: art responding to the official games motto by city and county residents; a GP photography association exhibit; “Machines at Play” by Jean-Pierre Gauthier; and “Capturing Momentum,” an exhibition of sport art. In the two exhibits inspired specifically by the games or athletic activity, a variety of mediums and materials were employed: oils, acrylics, stained glass, watercolour, sculpture, digital photography, shadow boxes, ink, pencil, collage. Northern Lights represented as stained-glass by Neil Kolacz was striking, as was “Reach for the Sky” a photograph capturing the dizzying feeling of staring up at tall, skinny trees, sprouting small leaves on top. In the “Capturing Momentum” exhibit, a variety of sports were represented: dog-mushing, volleyball, skiing, pole-vaulting, shot put, golf, hockey, bowling, javelin, football, skating, and cycling. Egon Bork’s “Speed Skate” accentuated the blurring of arms and limbs and landscape as skaters chase each other across the ice, and Sylvain Voyer’s cyclists in “25 mile cycle race,” a photograph hung as a diagonal frame, resemble cars at night ominously approaching a turn. Jean-Paul Gautier’s exhibit, of kinetic machines, several designed to draw (some named after creatures like cockroach or spider), while not actively responding to sport, offered another entry point for thinking about sport in terms of the science of movement and the development of equipment.
Unlike at the Olympics, where the artistic and cultural aspects of the games seem relegated to the opening and closing ceremonies, and where the official Cultural Olympiad seems a separate series of artistic performances and exhibitions with little engagement or dialogue with the games themselves, here the cultural programming is a crucial component of the overall sport experience, intersecting with the athletes, the spectators, and encouraging exchanges and understanding between cultures. For those who are a bit shy, pin-trading is an activity that can help break the ice. A pavilion dedicated to pin-trading has been erected for people to meet each other, tell the stories behind their pins, and trade, but I’ve also seen a lot of pin-trading going on among the athletes as they wait to warm-up for events (they spread their pin-scarves along benches for group inspection).
I was also impressed by the opening ceremonies, which included a fantastic boy’s choir that sang five national anthems, glow-in-the-dark dancers, and a mix of local traditional and modern talents (a Ukrainian dance troupe and a punk-rock bank). Most of all, it was invigorating to watch the parade of youth enter the Crystal Centre. For many, this is their first trip outside their regions or countries. They were cheering, jumping up and down, leaping on the shoulders of friends. Youth clad in black, designated as mischievous “Ravens”, danced and high-fived and squawked. Greenland athletes threw red and white caps to competitors and into the crowds, techno and metal music blaring. The energy was booming. Oh yes, that’s another thing I appreciated: the music reflecting the energy of competition and the excitement of what is to come. Do we really think any athlete listened to the “I Believe” song to rev up before their event?
