Vancouver 2010: The Legacy is in the Follow Through

All that remains of the 201o Olympics is to determine the winner of the ultimate prize: the hockey gold, in a few hours, and then set upon the surely gargantuan task of debriefing, evaluating and pontificating.

The games have been great for the athletes and a smashing success with the public, at least on the surface and running pretty deep for that matter, at least in Canada. There are undercurrents of discontent, of course. Mostly from people who have problems with either the corporate elitism and waste/expense of the games or from the extreme Quebec nationalists, who cringe at the very sight of their youth draped in red and white, being wildly applauded by Vancouver audiences.

I would like to pontificate about one specific aspect of the Olympics. I am talking, to give it a sports spin, about the follow through.



I'm not so much talking about the immediate economic impact, such as drawing a few more tourists to B.C. for the next year or two, as the video implies. I'm talking more about the lasting effect.

All Canadians now have a chance to think about what legacy these games can have. I have heard many people say that there has been no other event as spectacular and unifying as these Olympics in Canada since Expo '67. Neither the Calgary Olympics nor the '76 Montreal Olympics really seemed to have the nationwide, gut-stirring power that these games have had.

In fact, these games have probably been more unifying than Expo '67, and in the same postal code in terms of their power to inspire and empower Canadians and grab the imagination of the country. Another thing that Vancouver 2010 had, that Expo didn't have, even in the '60s, was a substantial and formidable opposition to the hype. This, also, is a part of the Canadian psyche, a part commonly known as a conscience - and the games have given it its largest stage ever. This movement needs to be nurtured and given wings, just as the games' successes.

Unfortunately, after Expo '67, the follow up did not live up to the promise. "Man and His World" was not capable of being the sequel to the Expo dream. If we could have had a suitable follow-up program, designed to reconfirm Montreal's position as a place of creative substance, rather than of disposable pavilions, Canada might have had a different future entirely. That said, I wonder whether the Cirque du Soleil would have ever come about if it had not been for the festive and creative legacy of Expo '67.

Now, the challenge is to do something with the 2010 legacy.

The Harper Conservatives have already announced they will be ditching the controversial $110 million "Own the Podium" program immediately. A very wrong first move but nothing definitive.

To give greater meaning to the games and give them every chance of achieving good in the long run, a lot of people will need to think outside the box. It is not only about the massive grandiose mega-projects, it is also about individuals across the country, who can somehow find a way to leverage these Olympics in a way to project their dreams onto an international screen...

Is Canadian Visual Art the equivalent of the Jamaican Bobsled team?

Ha-ha! Brings back memories... what a great film this was!

The whole idea of promoting visual art in Canada truly does bring to mind the Jamaican bobsledders, though, as alluded to in the previous post.

Or, I think of a guy I knew a few years back at the curling club who used to go around with a super fancy curling jacket with "England" written across the back in big embroidered letters. He had been living there a number of years ago and was able to knock off all comers and win the right to curl for England! This guy was not a bad curler but give me a break - there were numerous curlers in our club who beat him or outcurled him regularly

Pretty cool, nonetheless. I forget what event he had curled for England in. I don't think it was Olympics.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), Canadian visual art is in somewhat the same circumstances.

With all due respect to Emily Carr, Jean-Paul Riopelle and the "Group", we simply do not have any visual artists who have attained world renown. Amongst contemporary artists, we have Jeff Wall and, to a lesser degree, maybe Rodney Graham and a few others who have a detectable pulse on the world stage - but we are talking top 100 or 300 - not top 10.

i.e. - there is an opportunity here, folks.

Beating the bushes to figure out how to promote Canadian art

Starting from a position so far in the rear of most G8 or even many G20 countries in terms of cultural influence (especially visual art), Canadians need to look for ways to jump up the stairway two steps at a time, if not faster. We need to build followings, we need to create buzz, we need to extend our reach and so forth. One way to build up a following of course is to start a Facebook group. This is something we have done just recently.

Initially Canada was one of the more connected countries on the internet. I have heard that, of late, our leadership position has weakened quite a bit.

However, this is something that can be corrected, at least as long as Canada remains in a position of some economic advantage in comparison to the vast majority of countries in the world.

In terms of visual art, it just so happens that most of the countries that are head and shoulders beyond us in terms of influence and prestige, are also the ones that are pretty much on a par with us economically, such as Germany, the U.S., France and the U.K.

We can look for advantages to exploit... for example, one advantage is that we speak English in Canada. This gives us a built in marketing advantage, even though most "competitors" in non-English speaking countries strive to master their English and are very often successful in impressive fashion. In addition to this, a lot of Canadians also speak French - so that could be another advantage to explore.

But what else is there?

OK, let's try to make a list:

* we have access to a "little pond"; beginning Canadian art marketers can test the waters in the smaller Canadian market
* we are close to the U.S. and have other commonalities
* we are very diverse culturally and ethnically
* there are no dominant, overbearing powers in Canadian art overshadowing everything else
* or... you almost have the Jamaican Bobsled phenomenon in Canadian visual art
* apart from that, I'm not sure, but I guess one of the keys would be to use all of these angles to best advantage by applying social networking and other web techniques

Anyway, this is the assignment in a nutshell.