A national five-year arts project is being launched 24 August to mark the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics.

The project, called Imagination Our Nation (ION), is being led by london-based international arts company Kinetika and will consist of yearly themes that will be expressed through regional carnivals, street art, music, theatre and the digital arts.

A spokesperson from Kinetika, said: "We want to work with groups around the country to creatively explore issues around identity, citizenship, Britishness and cities of the future. We will do this by a series of performative, outdoor arts events culminating in a grand finale in 2012."

The performances will be created by the project's partners, which include the Tower Hamlets Arts Team, London; The Northcott Theatre & Respect Festival, Exeter; Stockton Carnival; The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Imagineer Productions, Coventry; the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth and The Thames Festival, London.

The performance, which will be carried out by Kinetika and groups from Stockton, Nottingham and Fulham, will celebrate the achievements of local Coventry and Warwickshire Olympians from past games.

The flagship performance, which will include 12-foot tall mechanical 'Goddess' figures, is being organised and funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership and CV One, Coventry's management and promotion centre.

Following GermiNation, ION will be co-produced by performance companies Walk the Plank and Lanternhouse International. Kinetika is in talks with a number of agencies as how best to take the project forward after 2008.

Other themes include FascinNation – Seeing the world for the first time in 2009, PolliNation – Exploring many worlds in 2010, lllumiNation – Understanding the world around us in 2011 and in 2012, ImagiNation – The Vision of the future, celebrating the new way ahead.

Details: www.kinetika.co.uk

Photo credit: Ali Pretty