London unveils 2012 Cultural Olympiad events

David Hockney's art, Damon Albarn's music, theatre from Cate Blanchett and a specially commissioned Mike Leigh film are among the first offerings of the London 2012 Festival, the country-wide arts and culture event that will run alongside the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Organizers unveiled on Tuesday an extensive initial lineup for the cultural festivities and shared their goal of attracting three million people to the more than 1,000 free and ticketed events planned for the approximately three-month span, which will mark the grand finale of its overall Cultural Olympiad program.

"Artistic talent from the U.K. and every continent will be part of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration," said London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe.

The festival will officially run from June 21, 2012, through Sept. 9, 2012, though some events are slated to begin slightly earlier.

British visual artist Hockey, who along with Lucien Freud will be featured in exhibitions during the festival, completed a painting to help promote the 2012 Games. In the still life painting, which shows a mug placed next to a window that overlooks snow falling onto a bare tree, a folded card reads: "See you in 2012. That's twenty twelve."

Blur frontman Albarn is among the musical artists in the spotlight, and will unveil a newly commissioned work created with his Gorillaz collaborator Jamie Hewlett and theatre director Rufus Norris.

Leigh and other filmmakers will create short films to be screened during the Olympiad, while Blanchett will bring her Sydney Theatre Company to London to present a new adaptation of the German play Gross und Klein (Big and Small).

Other highlights will include:

• Atravelling Shakespeare Festival produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• An exhibition celebrating the Bard at the British Museum.
• The Desdemona Project, in which acclaimed U.S. writer Toni Morrison collaborates with Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traor on a theatre piece in response to the 2009 Peter Sellars' production of Othello.
• Anew installation by Scandinavian artist Olafur Eliasson.
• Aperformance of the Philip Glass and Robert Wilson work Einstein on the Beach.

Several regular British festivals and events, including the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festivals, will also hold events tied into the London 2012 Festival.

"2012 will be a magical summer and the festival will play a huge part in ensuring everyone can be part of the greatest show on earth," Coe said.