Catherine Ugwu

Catherine Oliaku Ugwu MBE (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

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

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.^{[2][3][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,^[4] and was a producer of the Manchester Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in 2002.^[41][42]

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,^[41][42] 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

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]