Catherine Ugwu Explained

Catherine Ugwu
Honorific Suffix:MBE
Nationality:British
Occupation:Executive producer, creative director, consultant for ceremonies, large-scale events
Years Active:1986–present
Notable Works:London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies

Catherine Oliaku Ugwu (born 1964)[1] is a British executive producer, artistic director, and consultant working in large-scale ceremonies and events, including for the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Summer Paralympics, the Asian, European, Islamic Solidarity, and Commonwealth Games, and the Millennium Dome.

Ugwu began her career as a live arts curator, writer and editor, working in the main at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) with Lois Keidan.

She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Career

Live arts

Ugwu first became involved in the area of performance and related practice in 1986, working freelance with a range of arts organisations and companies, including the Albany Empire Theatre, the Cheek by Jowl theatre company, the Black Theatre Co-operative, Chisenhale Dance Space, the National Review of Live Art (NRLA), and the Islington International Festival.[2] [3]

She joined the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1991, working with Lois Keidan as Deputy Director of Live Arts, and holding programming, curatorial, and commissioning responsibilities.[4] The platform they created at the ICA is considered to have contributed to the growth of live art (as an artistic practice distinct from theatre or visual arts) in London and the UK during the 1990s.[5] [6] [7] [8] In a 1994 article contributed by Bernardine Evaristo to the black arts listings magazine Artrage, Ugwu described live art as "a way of examining cultural and ethnic identity and its effectiveness as a means of constructing and deconstructing identities and representations of ourselves".[9]

While at the ICA, Ugwu compiled and edited a book of artworks and essays titled Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance[10] that included contributions by bell hooks[11] and Paul Gilroy,[12] and an essay of her own.[13] It was "the first book to offer detailed analysis of black live art in Britain"[14] and, as a "response to the absence of black live art history", the publication has been described as a "landmark collection",[15] and "path-breaking".[16] It received an Honourable Mention from the Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award Committee of the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) in 1998.[17] As a writer, Ugwu also contributed to the Iniva/ICA exhibition catalogue Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire on the work of Frantz Fanon,[18] [19] and the Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture.[20]

In 1997, Ugwu and Keidan left the ICA to form Keidan/Ugwu, "a company dedicated to locating time-based performance within a critical framework, but outside the institutional context".[21] In 1999, Ugwu co-founded the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) with Keidan, serving as co-director until 2000.[22] [23] [24] LADA has been described as "the most significant catalyst for the development of the Live Art sector in London and the UK more widely".[25] Ugwu and Keidan also worked as curators and consultants at international festivals around the world,[26] including the 1999 Festival De Beweeging in Antwerp.[27]

Artists that Ugwu and Keidan collaborated with, both at the ICA and independently, include Forced Entertainment,[28] La Ribot,[29] [30] Marina Abramović,[31] ORLAN,[32] Stelarc, Ron Athey,[33] Ron Vawter,[34] and Guillermo Gómez-Peña.[35]

Ugwu was also a combined arts, dance and drama advisor for Arts Council England and the Londo-n Arts Board, chaired the boards of the intercultural arts organisation Motiroti (1996–1998), The Showroom gallery (1996–2000), and the Talawa Theatre Company (1998–2000),[36] [37] and contributed to UK and international conferences on issues of cultural diversity and live arts practice.[38] [39]

Ceremonies and events

Ugwu produced the Millennium Dome Opening Ceremony, held on 31 December 1999.[40] [41] [42] In 2000, she left her position as co-director of the Live Art Development Agency to work as an independent producer on large-scale international events, and was a producer of the Manchester Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in 2002.

A Senior Producer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and for the strategic phase of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Opening, Victory, and Closing Ceremonies, Ugwu went on to work as Executive Producer of the Glasgow Handover Ceremony at the Closing Ceremony of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.[43] [44]

In 2010, Ugwu was appointed Executive Producer – Production of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies, alongside Stephen Daldry (Executive Producer – Creative) and Danny Boyle (Artistic Director of the Olympic Opening Ceremony).[45] [46] The Olympic Opening Ceremony was widely praised by the media:[47] The Times described it as "a masterpiece",[48] while The Daily Telegraph called it "brilliant, breathtaking, bonkers and utterly British".[49] Ugwu was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for her work on London 2012.[50] [51]

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the writer of the Opening Ceremony, revealed that the London 2012 cauldron designed by Thomas Heatherwick was codenamed "Betty" after Ugwu's dog, in order to maintain secrecy.[52] A portrait of Ugwu with her dog Betty, taken by the photographer Jillian Edelstein, was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, London for its "Road to 2012: Aiming High" exhibition and primary collection.[53]

In 2013, Ugwu founded her own production company, Betty Productions.[54] [55]

Ugwu executive produced the Save the Children "IF" Campaign in 2013, with the involvement of Danny Boyle, Bill Gates, Tamsin Greig, and Myleene Klass,[56] and a live film event for Goldfrapp in 2014 – a 30-minute anthology film inspired by their album Tales of Us, and live performance at Air Studios in London, both transmitted into cinemas across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.[57] [58]

Ugwu was Director of Ceremonies for the Baku 2015 European Games,[59] for which she was awarded the "Dostlug" Order of Friendship by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.[60] The Opening Ceremony was an Olympic-scale stadium show that reportedly cost twice as much as that of the London 2012 Olympics.[61] Directed by Dimitris Papaioannou, who also created the Opening Ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games,[62] the Baku 2015 Opening Ceremony included a performance by Lady Gaga that was coordinated by Ugwu.[63]

Ugwu served once more as Director of Ceremonies for the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, and was also Executive Producer of the Baku 2017 Ceremonies.[64]

Ugwu was the Lead Consultant for the Baku World Expo 2025 Bid, vying against three other candidate cities: Osaka, Paris, and Yekaterinberg.[65] Ugwu also served as a Dubai World Expo 2020 Ceremonies Consultant.

In 2019, Ugwu was both Artistic Director and Executive Producer of the Official 48th UAE National Day Celebration in Abu Dhabi, a large-scale show held at the Zayed Sports City Stadium.[66] [67] [68]

In 2020, Ugwu was appointed to the Education, Culture and Wellness Commission of the Global Esports Federation (GEF).[69]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Catherine Ugwu . Companies House Register . UK Government . 6 May 2020.
  2. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance . 1995 . ICA & Bay Press . London & Seattle . 0-941920-33-X . 223 . 1 May 2020 . Notes on Contributors: Catherine Ugwu.
  3. Book: Bailey . David A. . Kobena Mercer . Catherine Ugwu. David A. Bailey . Kobena Mercer . Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire . 1995 . . London . 978-0-905263-84-7 . 112 . 2 May 2020 . Notes on contributors: Catherine Ugwu.
  4. Web site: LADA – Past Staff – Catherine Ugwu . Live Art Development Agency (LADA) . 5 May 2020.
  5. Book: Chatzichristodoulou . Maria . Maria X . Chatzichristodoulou . Maria . Live Art in the UK: Contemporary Performances of Precarity . 2020 . Bloomsbury Academic . London . 978-1-474-25770-1 . 4 May 2020 . Live Art in the UK: Shaping a Field.
  6. Book: Heathfield . Adrian . Adrian Heathfield . Live: Art and Performance . 2004 . Routledge & Tate Publishing . London . 978-0-415-97239-0 . 2 May 2020.
  7. Book: Bailey . David A. . David A. Bailey . Donnell . Alison . Alison Donnell . Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture . 2002 . Routledge . London & New York . 0-203-19499-3 . 429–435 . 14 May 2020 . Visual and Plastic Arts.
  8. Spackman . Helen . Campbell . Patrick . Minding the Matter of Representation: Staging the Body (Politic) . . 2000 . 10 . 3 . 5–22 . The Body in Performance . RoutledgeFalmer . London & New York . 10.1080/10486800008568593 . 9781134431854 . 191574449 . 1048-6801 . 5 May 2020.
  9. Evaristo . Bernardine . Bernardine Evaristo . Going It…Alone: Solo Performers – The Art and the Ache . Artrage . November 1994 . 14–15.
  10. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance . 1995 . ICA & Bay Press . London & Seattle . 0-941920-33-X . 1 May 2020.
  11. Book: hooks . bell . bell hooks . Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance . 1995 . ICA & Bay Press . London & Seattle . 0-941920-33-X . 210–221 . 1 May 2020 . Performance Practice as a Site of Opposition.
  12. Book: Gilroy . Paul . Paul Gilroy . Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance . 1995 . ICA & Bay Press . London & Seattle . 0-941920-33-X . 12–33 . 1 May 2020 . '…To Be Real': The Dissident Forms of Black Expressive Culture.
  13. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Ugwu . Catherine . Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance . 1995 . ICA & Bay Press . London & Seattle . 0-941920-33-X . 54–83 . 1 May 2020 . Keep On Running: The Politics of Black British Performance.
  14. Book: Goddard . Lynette . Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance . 2007 . Palmgrave Macmillan . London . 978-1-349-54083-9 . 154 . 8 May 2020 . Solo Voices: Performance Art, Dance and Poetry – Performance Politics.
  15. Book: MacDonald . Claire . Heddon . Deirdre . Klein . Jennie . Deirdre Heddon . Histories and Practices of Live Art . 2012 . Palmgrave Macmillan . London . 978-0-230-22973-0 . 169 . 5 May 2020 . All Together Now: Performance and Collaboration . In response to the absence of black live art history, the curator Catherine Ugwu commissioned a landmark collection of essays, Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black Performance..
  16. Book: Ponnuswami . Meenakshi . Aston . Elaine . Reinelt . Janelle . The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights . 2000 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 0-521-59533-9 . 223 . 5 July 2020 . Small Island People: Black British Women Playwrights.
  17. Arts Council of the African Studies Association – Arnold Rubin Outstanding Publication Award . ACASA Newsletter . 52 . August 1998 . 9–10 . 5 May 2020 . The Arts Council of the African Studies Association.
  18. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Bailey . David A. . Mercer . Kobena . Ugwu . Catherine . David A. Bailey . Kobena Mercer . Catherine Ugwu . Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire . 1995 . ICA & Iniva . London . 978-0-905263-84-7 . 82–96 . 2 May 2020 . Live Art.
  19. Web site: Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire Exhibition . Iniva . Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) . 4 May 2020 . London . 11 May 1995 – 22 March 1996.
  20. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Donnell . Alison . Alison Donnell . Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture . 2002 . Routledge . London & New York . 0-203-19499-3 . 14 May 2020.
  21. Sierz . Aleks . Aleks Sierz . Performance worries in Blair's nursery . Realtime . 1998 . 25 – June–July 1998 . 34 . 3 May 2020 . Open City Inc. . Sydney . 1321-4799.
  22. Book: Keidan . Lois . Schmidt . Theron . AGENCY: A Partial History of Live Art . LADA & Intellect Books . London & Bristol . 978-1-783-20990-3 . 1 May 2020 . Foreword: Twenty Years and Counting. 12 April 2019 .
  23. Book: Jones . Amelia . Amelia Jones . Jones . Amelia . Adrian Heathfield . Adrian Heathfield . Perform, Repeat, Record: Live Art in History . 2012 . Intellect & The University of Chicago Press . Bristol & Chicago . 978-1-84150-489-6 . 425–432 . 3 May 2020 . Timeline of Ideas: Live Art in (Art) History, A Primarily European-US-based Trajectory of Debates and Exhibitions Relating to Performance Documentation and Re-enactments.
  24. Harradine . David . Art at the Edge . Total Theatre . 1999 . 11 . 2 – Summer 1999 . 7–9 . 4 May 2020 . 0960-6106.
  25. Book: Chatzichristodoulou . Maria . Maria X . Chatzichristodoulou . Maria . Live Art in the UK: Contemporary Performances of Precarity . 2020 . Bloomsbury Academic . London . 978-1-474-25770-1 . 4 May 2020 . Live Art in the UK: Shaping a Field – Live Art Development Agency (LADA).
  26. News: Orujova . Nigar . Baku 2015's perfect ingredients for opening ceremony . 7 May 2020 . AzerNews . 9 June 2015.
  27. News: Peeters . Jeroen . Ongenaakbaar maakbaar . 7 May 2020 . . 27 October 1999 . Dutch.
  28. Book: Etchells . Tim . Tim Etchells . Certain Fragments: Contemporary Performance and Forced Entertainment . 1999 . Routledge . London & New York . 0-415-17382-5 . 6, 199 . 7 May 2020.
  29. Web site: La Ribot . María . María La Ribot . Wilson Le Personnic . La Ribot: J'ai toujours considéré la danse comme un territoire sans limite . MA Culture . 7 May 2020 . French . 19 December 2019.
  30. Book: Keidan . Lois . La Ribot: Occuuppatiooon! [Tanz Im August – retrospective exhibition catalogue] ]. 2017 . . Berlin . 978-3-9818316-1-0 . 31–41 . 8 May 2020 . La Ribot: Distinguished Artist – An Introduction.
  31. Web site: Weaver . Lois . Lois Keidan . Lois Weaver . Lois interviews Lois . Are We There Yet? – A Study Room Guide on Live Art and Feminism . LADA & Queen Mary University of London . 8 May 2020 . London . 2014.
  32. Daniel . John . Invaded Bodies . Total Theatre . 1996 . 8 . 2 – Summer 1996 . 10–11 . 6 May 2020 . 0960-6106.
  33. Book: Tolentino . Julie . Julie Tolentino . Johnson . Dominic . Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey . 2013 . LADA & Intellect Books . London & Bristol . 978-1-78320-035-1 . 110–117 . 8 May 2020 . The Irreplaceable Bodies: Resistance Through Ferocious Fragility.
  34. Web site: Ron Vawter's Roy Cohn/Jack Smith – A Screening and Conversation . Live Art Development Agency . 8 May 2020 . 2017.
  35. Book: Hill . Leslie . Paris . Helen . Performing Proximity: Curious Intimacies . 2014 . Palgrave Macmillan . London . 978-1-137-32829-8 . x-xi . 6 May 2020.
  36. Web site: Catherine Ugwu . Iniva Directory . Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) . London . 3 May 2020.
  37. Web site: Catherine Ugwu . Companies House Register . UK Government . 2 May 2020.
  38. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Performance: The Project Papers . 1998 . Project Arts Centre & Dog and Bones Publishing . Dublin . 9781872493114 . Planes, Trains and Performance Art: Internationalism and Cultural Production.
  39. Book: Ugwu . Catherine . Catherine Ugwu . Lavrijsen . Ria . Global Encounters in the World of Arts: Collisions of Tradition and Modernity . 1998 . . Amsterdam . 9789068322811 . 5 May 2020 . The Art of Conflict.
  40. Book: King . Oona . Oona King . House Music: The Oona King Diaries . 2007 . Bloomsbury . London & New York . 978-0-7475-9093-4 . 4 May 2020 . Millennium Eve – what a way to end a 1,000 years.
  41. Web site: Ceremonies Explorer – Executive Team . Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies . 3 May 2020 . 2012.
  42. Web site: Senior Leadership Team . Betty Productions . 1 May 2020.
  43. News: Team appointed for Games handover . 6 May 2020 . . 5 October 2009.
  44. News: Glasgow on countdown to 2014 Commonwealth Games . 6 May 2020 . BBC News Online . 14 October 2010.
  45. Web site: London 2012 announces Ceremonies team . Olympic.org . International Olympic Committee (IOC) . 3 May 2020 . 18 June 2010.
  46. News: Danny Boyle to direct 2012 Olympics opening ceremony . 8 May 2020 . BBC News Online . 17 June 2010.
  47. News: Media reaction of London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony . 6 May 2020 . BBC News Online . 28 July 2012.
  48. News: Danny Boyle wins global praise for Olympics Opening Ceremony . 6 May 2020 . IndieLondon . 2012.
  49. News: London 2012: breathtaking, brash and bonkers...an utterly British Olympic opening ceremony . 6 May 2020 . The Daily Telegraph . Gordon. Rayner. 27 July 2012.
  50. Web site: New Year Honours List 2013 – London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games . UK Government . 5 May 2020 . 31 December 2012.
  51. News: New Year Honours: arts and heritage . Nancy. Grove. 6 May 2020 . . 31 December 2012.
  52. Web site: Frank Cottrell-Boyce . Frank Cottrell-Boyce . Secrets of the Opening Ceremony Revealed . . 3 May 2020 . 29 October 2012.
  53. Web site: Catherine Ugwu . National Portrait Gallery Collection . . 3 May 2020 . 30 October 2011.
  54. Web site: Betty Productions Ltd. . Companies House Register . UK Government . 6 May 2020.
  55. Web site: Betty Productions . 6 May 2020.
  56. Web site: Save The Children – IF: Inst-allation 2013 . Betty Productions . 6 May 2020.
  57. Web site: Tales of Us Unique Film Event . . 15 May 2020 . 20 January 2014.
  58. Web site: Goldfrapp announce a unique Tales of Us cinema event followed by exclusive live performance broadcast from Air Studios on 4 March . . 15 May 2020 . 2014.
  59. Web site: Inaugural European Games Torch Relay is coming . EOC News . . 6 May 2020 . 20 April 2015.
  60. News: President Ilham Aliyev awards BEGOC employees – List . 3 May 2020 . Azeri-Press Agency (APA) . 29 June 2015.
  61. News: European Games ceremony cost over $95M, minister says . 4 May 2020 . Associated Press (AP) . . 13 June 2015.
  62. Web site: Baku 2015 European Games – Ceremonies Volunteer Performers Wanted . EOC News . . 6 May 2020 . 6 October 2014.
  63. News: Lady Gaga hidden in hotel for days before games show . 6 May 2020 . Associated Press (AP) . AP News . 13 June 2015.
  64. Web site: 4th Islamic Solidarity Games kicked off with solemn Opening Ceremony at Baku Olympic Stadium . . 6 May 2020 . 13 May 2017.
  65. Web site: Tomorrowland: Baku's imaginative bid to be the host of World Expo 2025 . Baku Magazine . . 6 May 2020 . London . 5 November 2018.
  66. Web site: 48th UAE National Day Celebration . Betty Productions . 8 May 2020.
  67. Web site: Scott-Mitchell . Michael . Stephen Curtis . Grand Visions: Interview with Michael Scott Mitchell . Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) . 6 May 2020 . March 2020.
  68. Web site: 48th National Day, Abu Dhabi: Flying moons for a spectacular ceremony . New Substance . 25 May 2020.
  69. Web site: #WorldConnected Driven by Foundation Pillar of Education, Culture and Wellness . Global Esports Federation (GEF) . 6 May 2020 . 20 April 2020.

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