Lady Godiva's Giant Doll

£2.8 million 'Lady Godiva Awakes' project involved a journey of a giant Lady Godiva puppet from Coventry to London accompanied by artistic events, music and parades of dancers. It was a festival moving from one town to another and Midland's contribution to the Cultural Olympiad - a creative part of the London Olympics.

As the legend puts it, Lady Godiva was a wife of a greedy English aristocrat. Once she asked her husband to lower the taxes and make his people's life more bearable. He agreed under one condition. His beloved bride was to go around Coventry on a horseback... naked. But the people were kind and grateful and didn't look at her disgrace. As a result of that taxes got smaller, Lady Godiva kept her pride and became a colourful element of the Midlands' history. 

'Lady Godiva Awakes' attracted a range of recognized artists including Zandra Rhodes, who designed custom made underwear and garments for the puppet. On longer distances the doll rode in a horse carriage put into motion by a large group of cyclists.
 
Rugby's part of the celebrations took place in front of the Art Gallery And Museum where a stunning decoration made by the local communities was set up. Kate Morris - an artist and a community worker - was selected by the council to run a range of workshops at schools and daily nurseries. A few months of her work with children and adults resulted in the creation of a few hundred meters long bunting which became the focal point of 'Lady Godiva Awakes Rugby' celebrations.

Each piece of the bunting was made precisely and individually and represented something that Rugby is proud of. It was an educational lesson, as Kate shared a bit of inside knowledge about local inventions and achievements. And so, if you didn't know, Lewis Carrol wrote 'Alice In Wonderland' in Rugby, hologram was invented here and it is of course the place where rugby games started. The drawings which appeared on the buntings were inspired with the town's history.

The crazy and brave concept of creating a huge puppet and making it travel a few hundred miles from Coventry to London actually worked quite well. What more can I say? It brought people together and it was fun to be there!
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Text: Maya Persson 

Links:
Lady Godiva Awakes: http://www.imagineerproductions.co.uk/ 
Lady Godiva Rugby: http://godiva-awakes-rugby.yolasite.com/ 
Kate Morris: http://katemorris.carbonmade.com 
Zandra Rhodes' fashion for Lady Godiva: http://london2012.cswp.org.uk/news?title=international-fashion-designer-joins-godiva-awakes 
Cultural Olympiad London: http://festival.london2012.com/about/culturalolympiad/cultural-olympiad.php

Animation Celebration

II Kracow Summer
Animation Days
Krakow, Old Town, Poland

This weekend in Kracow at Mały Rynek there are outdoor open animation presentations:

II Kracow Summer Animation Days. It is the 2nd year they are organised. They start at 21:30 and end around 01:00. They are for free. This night is dedicated to Japanese animations, tomorrow's - to Brasilian. It's really worth comming. I help a bit during the shows and have a VIP label! Cool, isn't it? ;-D But I have to carry chairs and pick up empty plastic bottles after all ;-D. Fame comes with a prize!

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Animation and short films celebration

Yesterday International Film Festival "Etiuda&Anima" began in Kraków, Poland. I was a bit late, to I'm not any professional snobbish judge. I will tell you of films which impressed me in yesterday's selection.

Arsy-Versy- Miro Remo, Slovakia, 2009

Unfortunately there is just a trailer of this Slovakian short available online. It's a stroy of a 50 year old man who lives in a village with his mother. He doesn't work, doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend, but he is very fascinated with bats and is actually a great photographer. People think he is crazy and he is undoubtely different. But in another surrounding he could as well have been a great artist. It is a funny, but warm story.






Treasure Seakers - Agnieszka Bak, Poland, 2009

It is a stroy of 2 men from Poland who take their old car and go to Lvov - the capital of Ukraine. One of the men used to live there as a child. His father told him he hid a treasure there. After many years he wants to find the treasure. The guys buy a metal detector and take a long journey to experience an exciting and funny adventure. It is a documental story, like Arsy-Versy.

Schautag - Marvin Kren, Germany, 2008

It is a spooky and thrilling sory in which you get really surprised and shocked by the end. I can't tell you anything more.