Does it seem counterintuitive to want to discuss the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games without talking about sport?

Perhaps, but then again, the Olympics isn’t just about sport and we should really be starting to plan for something many will see as paramount to the success of 2032.

I’m referring to the Cultural Olympiad that runs up to and alongside the sporting event. The Cultural Olympiad is a program to explore the connections between art and athletics and the values they share – excellence, inclusion, cultural diversity and universalism for example.

The Cultural Olympiad for Paris 2024 is already underway, as it has been since the end of the last Games, and will finish with the Paralympics next year. I guess you would expect Paris to be culturally focused but we should be too.

With that in mind it is time to start thinking about what a Cultural Olympiad will look like for Brisbane and Queensland.

The State Government has already begun and certainly sees 2032 as “an opportunity to honour, embrace and showcase the unique and ancient history of the world’s oldest living cultures”.

So Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their rich cultures will play an important role in the Cultural Olympiad, as they should. A four-year program of cultural showcasing, events and activities for Brisbane 2032 will be developed “to foster celebration and learning from one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures”.

How will that look? We don’t know yet but the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast was a prototype of sorts.

The arts and cultural program associated with that event was brilliant and a boon to the Queensland arts community with a budget of around $20 million. That’s an eye watering figure for the arts and we should expect to spend much more than that for 2032.

Brisbane based artistic director of Circa Yaron Lifschitz was the creative lead for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games arts and cultural program. He worked closely with Gold Coast based Bleach Festival which was then run by now artistic director of Brisbane Festival, Louise Bezzina. I would suggest they would be terrific people to be involved with a Cultural Olympiad here. Their program for 2018 was amazing and inclusive and a model for the future.

Who can forget paraplegic circus aerialist Lauren Watson who was one of the stars of the program performing in her wheelchair, a perfect demonstration of the spirit of the cultural program.

Many Queensland artists and creatives shared their unique talents to an international audience as part of the spectacular Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.

Minister for the Arts Leeanne Enoch said at the time that it was “fantastic to see the arts take its place alongside sport as a major drawcard for visitors as we celebrate the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games”

“Australia’s First Nations cultures were in the spotlight with performances from Queensland’s William Barton, who is recognised as one of the finest traditional didgeridoo players, rapper Mau Power from Thursday Island, Christine Anu, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander modern dance company Bangarra Dance Theatre with its strong representation of Queensland dancers,” Enoch said.

“The inspiring opening ceremony also showcased top Queensland talent with performances from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Youth Orchestra, Brisbane-based Voices of Birralee choir, Bobby Alu, and singers Ricki-Lee Coulter, Emma Dean and Katie Noonan, who served as music director for both the opening and closing ceremony.”

It was stirring stuff. Visual artists also added the “wow factor” with Cairns-based artist Brian Robinson’s incredible design for the athletes’ parade track inspired by his Torres Strait islander heritage.

Delvene Cockatoo-Collins from Minjerribah, North Stradbroke Island, designed artwork featured on Migaloo the whale during the ceremony and also was commissioned to design the gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games.

The Commonwealth Games also featured a 12-day arts and cultural festival on the Gold Coast, Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane featuring more than 3500 performers participating in more than 500 events. Queensland punches well above its weight in the arts and that bodes well for a Cultural Olympiad for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The planning for that needs to start now. It has already begun but is in its infancy and no major announcements have been made yet. But hell, 2032 will be here before you know it so let’s get cracking and cook up a Cultural Olympiad – Brisbane 2032 to be proud of.