London 2012 : Cultural

Cultural Olympics

The Games are a perfect opportunity to see some British achievements of a cerebral kind too.

Running alongside the Games, the London 2012 Festival, which begins on Midsummer's Day (June 21) and carries on all the way until the end of the Paralympic Games (September 9), is billed as the most ambitious cultural program to take place in our lifetime.

On top of what London already has to offer, the 12-week program brings together more than 1,000 arty, musical, theatrical and cultural events.

It features live music sets and the silent films of Alfred Hitchcock, exhibitions from leading artists including Damien Hirst, new theater commissions and free performances with Damon Albarn, Cate Blanchett, Tracey Emin, Jude Law, Mike Leigh and Leona Lewis all set to appear in various guises.

Below is a pick of the best of what is on offer as part of the London 2012 Festival. Full details of each event and booking information can be found at www.london2012.com.

Damien Hirst Exhibition

Does 1991 still count as "modern"?

The artist who gave the world a cow's head being eaten by flies is to have his work -- which now spans 20 years -- showcased at the Tate Modern.

The exhibition will include iconic sculptures from his Natural History series, including The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, in which he suspended a shark in formaldehyde.

April 4–September 9, Tate Modern, £13.50-£15.50, www.tate.org.uk

Festival of the World

Festival of the World-Rainbow Park, a multicoloured sand installation by Adam Kainowski.
Festival of the World opens just in time for the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend and continues until the final day of the Paralympic Games.

Inspired by the cultural vision of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863–1937), founder of the modern Olympic movement, the Southbank Centre will be transformed into an international learning site to include art, music, comedy, markets and free events.

June 1–September 9, Southbank Centre, www.world.southbankcentre.co.uk

The Yoko Ono Exhibition

Installation "Play It By Trust."
Her first exhibition in a London public institution for more than a decade, Ono will present new and existing works, some of which have rarely been shown in Britain.

These will include installations, films and performances, as well as architectural alterations to the galleries.

June 19-September 9, Serpentine Gallery, free, www.serpentinegallery.org

You Me Bum Bum Train

Weird title, great show.

Award-winning interactive show "You Me Bum Bum Train" is returning to London as part of The Barbican’s contribution to the Cultural Olympiad.

In previous shows participants have sparred in a boxing match, delivered a church sermon and burgled a house.

Last year’s event, which was staged at the LEB building in Bethnal Green, won the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer.

June 21-August 26, Secret location in Canary Wharf, £20, www.bumbumtrain.co.uk

The Genius of Hitchcock

The horror auteur examined and explained.
Alfred Hitchcock’s early British movie masterpieces will be restored to their former glory and presented in a series of one-off screenings across London with live music.

As part of the London 2012 Festival, Hitchcock's surviving silent films will be screened with new scores by composers including Nitin Sawhney and Daniel Cohen.

June 28–July 21, Wilton’s Music Hall/BFI, free, www.explore.bfi.org.uk

Shakespeare Exhibition

Big Bill as you've never seen him.

Providing a unique insight into both the playwright and his adoptive city of London, the British Museum invites visitors to step back in time to 1612 and experience life as Shakespeare and his contemporaries would have known it.

July 19- November 25, British Museum, www.britishmuseum.org

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

A simple tale told beautifully.
Adapted for the stage by award winning playwright Simon Stephens, the production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" at the National Theatre retells the story of autistic 15-year-old Christopher Boone, who sets out to solve the mysterious death of Wellington, his neighbor's large black poodle.

The production is directed by Marianne Elliott and features a cast of well known actors, including Una Stubbs.

July, National Theatre, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk