Never before have there been so many private collectors making extensive acquisitions of contemporary art. Are they the real key figures of a global art business?...
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Die Welt | Rue89 | The New Republic | Gazeta Wyborcza | Prospect | L'Espresso | Przekroj | The New York Times
Die Welt 05.08.2008 (Germany)
The German newspapers are today full of articles about the death of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. For writer Victor Erofeyev, despite some criticism, he is still a giant. "My feelings for him are very animated – I have strong and contradictory emotions. For me, he was above all the writer of 'The Gulag Archipelago', this memoriam of all victims of Stalinism. With this book, he was not only able to bring together the testimonies of hundreds of victims of repression, but he managed, as a writer using derision and ridicule, to awaken a shocked Russia. That is a heroic deed for a writer. It caused political upheaval of European magnitude. 'The Gulag Archipelago' destroyed Euro-Communism: he dispelled the 'left's' illusions of a 'shining future'. But Solzhenitsyn didn't just see himself as the liberator of Russia. He carried with him the image of Leo Tolstoy as a teacher. He wanted to be a new Tolstoy and create his own artistic world to transfigure the Russian language. He didn't succeed in that. His book 'The Red Wheel' (an endless historical epic from the start of the 20th century), written in the spirit of 'War and Peace', didn't go anywhere, and remained uncompleted. The novel's hero turned out to be a stillborn child. His linguistic experiment with few words and folkloric expressions was painful on my ears. It is very fake and distasteful."
Rue89 02.08.2008 (France)
After centuries of the remorseless centralisation process which saw birchings dealt out to Breton children who didn't want to speak French, France has now placed its regional languages under the protection of the constitution, considering them part of the "national heritage". Whilst Elisabeth Cestor does support this decision, she also looks in dread at the situation in neighbouring Spain: "Whilst the debates about integration and official recognition of regional languages were going on in France, the Spanish government won a legal case against the Catalan government meaning that in Catalonia's primary and secondary schools, three hours of Spanish-language teaching instead of two are now obligatory, because teaching should not be exclusively in Catalan."
The New Republic 13.08.2008 (USA)
In the last few years, without anyone noticing, Chicago has become almost European, observes Alan Ehrenhalt with dismay: "In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be 'demographic inversion'. Chicago is gradually coming to resemble a traditional European city - Vienna or Paris in the nineteenth century, or, for that matter, Paris today. The poor and the newcomers are living on the outskirts. The people who live near the center - some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white - are those who can afford to do so."
James Kirchick presents the 'Devil's Advocates' - the lobbyists who work for Africa's despots in Washington. For example the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Mervyn Dymally, briefly represented Mauritania, a country where slavery is still practised. The most infamous of them all was Edward von Kloberg III ("Shame is for sissies"!), who worked for Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceausescu and was even caught in a sting operation by the satirical magazine Spy, in which a writer disguised as a neo-Nazi leader of a group advocating the German annexation of Poland wanted representation.
Gazeta Wyborcza 02.08.2008 (Poland)
In search of Poland's lost lefties, Joanna Derkaczew speaks to the young theatre directors Monika Strzepka and Pawel Demirski. The pair are not thrilled by the realities faced by their generation: "My father, an intellectual, started up a company after 1989, which came to nothing. He couldn't understand it as he did everything the way he was told to. That's what most people our age do too – they do everything one is supposed to do: training, courses, work experience. And a couple of years later when they realise that nothing has changed, they panic. For they retain the belief that if they just make that little bit more effort, then everything will work out. But even if everyone were equally talented and made the same effort, it's not enough for everyone. That is one of the biggest traps of neoliberalism", states Demirski.
Anna Bikont praises Joanna Wiszniewicz's book about the "March Generation" – Polish Jews who had to leave Poland after the 1968 campaign of anti-Semitism. Many never really settled in their new homelands and struggle with their Polish-Jewish identity: "Wiszniewicz doesn't comment on anything and tries not to make generalisations. She allows her heroes to tell their story. It is an excellent piece of 'oral history' which is still a historical methodology viewed with distrust in Poland where there is more belief in documents, amongst those the documents of the Communist Secret Police, than in the spoken word. The book is also simply excellent literature.."
Prospect 01.08.2008 (UK)
To talk of "good character" is just not fashionable any more. But the British are now rediscovering character. Not as a bundle of innate qualities, but as something that can be created. Richard Reeves explains: "Since character is an unfashionable concept, it is important to be clear what it means in this public policy context. The three key ingredients of a good character are: a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one's own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification. Progressives are realising that, thus defined, character is intimately linked to many of their social goals—and also that it is unevenly distributed. Indeed, inequality of character may now be as important as inequality of economic resources."
Other articles: If the Fareed Zacharias and Thomas Friedmans of this world had less prejudices and would just open their eyes, they would recognise that George W. Bush has led an extraordinarily successful foreign policy, writes Edward Luttwak. Andrew Keen is worried about American newspapers which are taking a hit from publications like the Huffington Post. Stephen Chan describes the tragedy of Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has unfortunately contributed much to Mugabe's success.
L`Espresso 31.07.2008 (Italy)
Italy is sending two boxers to the Olympic Games: Clemente "Tatanka" Russo and Domenico "Mirko" Valentino. Both train in Marcianise, not far from Naples. Roberto Saviano transforms them into the ambassadors of their angry homeland in his report. "In their punches, there is the built-up rage of this region. In the streets of Marcianise they are all asking: 'When are we going to Beijing?' They don't ask 'When are you going?', but 'When are we going?' Because nobody here is merely an individual, but they are rather the sum of the many. This support gives a boost. And so only one thing is demanded of the two guys: bring back to this area that which has been taken away and show everyone what lies hidden away back here – rage, loneliness and the emptiness of the evenings. Clemente and Mirko are cut from the same cloth which doesn't exist anywhere else. They are so hungry to become something and to achieve something and emancipate themselves."
Przekroj 30.07.2008 (Poland)
The Polish magazine devotes its lead story (with a nice cover picture and the title "Europe's Ringleader"!) to Nicolas Sarkozy, "who heals his own complexes with the help of big-stage politics", but who is also "the most reputable French politician since de Gaulle". The "Telepresident" has recently raised a lot of attention for his foreign policy initiatives, above all the Mediterranean Union summit. "Looking more closely at the successes, it becomes evident that the visionary initiatives are often of cyclical nature and that Sarkozy is as much statesman as he is showman, and that his biggest ally of recent times has been pure luck."
Jarek Szubrycht looks back at 40 years of heavy metal, which was just born in the hippy year of 1968. The most interesting part of the history is that of heavy metal's reception by communist Poland – from its difficult beginnings to the silent toleration in the 1980s. To illustrate, there is the example of the band Imperator, who once had to confront the censors before a concert: "It was about the verse 'The beast comes from the deep.' The official screamed: 'What's that about?! Is it perhaps about Solidarnosc?' The musicians answered, truthfully: 'It's about Satan.' - 'OK then, you're in luck, you're allowed to play it.'"
The New York Times 03.08.2008 (USA)
"A powerful, brilliantly researched and deeply unsettling book" is how Alan Brinkley rates "The Dark Side - The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals" (excerpt here) in the lead article of the Sunday Book Review. The book by New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer compiles all the facts from the darkest chapter of recent American history: the advent of torture in the "War on Terror". "There is no happy ending to this sordid and shameful story. Despite growing political pressure, despite Supreme Court decisions challenging the detainment policy, despite increasing revelations of the once-hidden program that have shocked the conscience of the world, there is little evidence that the secret camps and the torture programs have been abandoned or even much diminished."
RSS
The New York Times investigates the new hunger for reality. In Salon, Andrzej Stasiuk sees only individual realities. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, the ethnologist Tomasz Rakowski describes the reality of the Polish poor mines. Sometimes you can turn reality on its head, El Pais reads in the Financial Times. Le Monde diplomatique gives the low-down on the ACTA talks. And the New Yorker dreams of less polish and a bit more grit.
In Magyar Narancs Agnes Heller demands more civil courage of the Hungarians. Mohammed Ali Atassi explains in Qantara, why conservatives in Egypt see women as candy: either wrapped or covered in flies. Oliver Roy outlines in Resetdoc, why's there not so much as a hair's breadth between the Christian right and the secular left. In Magazin, the philosopher Ludwig Haslar tells the Swiss that if they want mediocrity today, they cannot expect the superman tomorrow. Jonathan Safran Foer tells Prospect why he neither wants a chicken in his bed nor on his plate. The NYT embarks on a human-flesh search and finds a kitten killer.
The New Yorker tells the story of how corrupt podiatrists almost brought down the US health system. In Polityka, the Kapuscinski biographer Artur Domoslawski explains how he thinks the legendary reporter should be read. In Tygodnik, Zygmunt Bauman calls for more understanding for Kapuscinski. Magyar Narancs celebrates the ban on Holocaust denial in Hungary. In Le Point, Jorge Semprun asks whether Claude Lanzmann is the only person who's allowed to talk about the Holocaust. Wired describes how Google learned how to tell the difference between a hot dog and a poached pooch.
In Eurozine, the Transylvanian-Hungarian-Armenian writer Kinga Kali tells the story of a "virgjinesha". Prospect celebrates the next art superstar, Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. The Gazeta Wyborcza explains how young people use the web. The New Yorker sends out a message to the depressed: stay away from psychiatric literature. Outlook Indian learns to play Carnatic music online. The London Review swims with the salmon sages.
The Atlantic finds out why the Chinese are not enemy number one in cyberspace. Elet es Irodalom asks why no one in Hungary is interested in former informers. In New Statesman, Tariq Ramadan can't tell us what a moderate Muslim is. The Guardian hearkens to the ticking bomb in Emily Dickinson's bosom and links it to the shards of crockery on the floor. And if it can't smoke, El Pais Semanal wants everything painted black.
In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
OpenDemocracy explains why a novel called "Paranoia" suddenly disappeared from Belarussian bookshops. Prospect fears that a ban on Islam4UK could undermine British democracy. The Gazeta Wyborcza explores Polish-Jewish relations. Le Monde diplomatique watches the carving up of Africa. In El Pais Semanal, maths whizz Marcus du Sautoy explains the sex appeal of suduko. And Gerhard Richter manages to surprise the Nation.
The New Yorker buries itself in the Arab novel. In Le Monde, Bernard-Henri Levy heaps scorn on the state-run caricature of a debate. Qantara points to the person responsible for all the misery in the Arab world: Daddy. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco takes a pin to the overblown daily paper. The Nation has earmarked 30 billion dollars to save journalism. In Tygodnik Powszechny, the writer Wojciech Albinski explains what makes Poland exotic. And the Spectator waves a tear-stained old hanky as shabby chic fades into the past.
In Merkur, art historian Wolfgang Ullrich defines a new type of artist: the contractor. In Nepszabadsag, writer Peter Nadas considers the crisis in Hungary and how it might end. In NouvelObs, Francis Ford Coppola explains why DVDs should be free. Eurozine introduces Lithuanian literature. In the New York Review of Books, Wyatt Manson asks why Pleiade is omitting Celine's anti-Semitic trilogy from the collected works. In Express, Philippe Gavi reminds us that Mohammed was not a crazed killer. A Californian marvels in NZZ Folio, at the reincarnation of an Indian factory worker. And confronted with the recent proliferation of literary cuddling, the New York Times yearns for a bit of Philip Roth.
Wired tracks James Cameron's 32-year quest to out-Lucas Lucas. In Nouvel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut and Alain Badiou tear each other apart over immigration and national identity. Tygodnik Powszechny introduces the pioneering artist Miroslaw Balka. Andras Bozoki asks why Hungarians are undermining democracy. In The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry explains why the bombing of Coventry was an inspiration to the British Air Staff.
Vanity Fair goes in search of a superpartner. Elet es Irodalom reads a new collection of essays by Imre Keresz. Outlook India complains about journalistic corruption. The New Yorker reads a new Koestler biography. Nepszabadsag foresees the next French revolution. Rue89 wonders about the provenance of prawns. And in the New Republic, Moshe Halberthal celebrates the sublime humility of Amartya Sen.
In Wilson Quarterly, the economist Tyler Cowen sings an ode to multitasking. Prospect has seen the monsters of the left. The Boston Globe follows James C. Scott to the new Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. Weltwoche is up in arms about the criticism of Switzerland's anti-minaret vote. In the Novel Obs, Pierre Nora applies his mind to the bestseller. New Criterion knows why the Pop art bubble won't pop. NZZ Folio examines the chicken nugget. Al Ahram asks what political Islam wants. The Walrus mourns for the first victim of the C-58. In Resetdoc, Joseph Massad explains why Arab homosexuals are an invention of the West.
Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak argues for a fusion of cultures in Eurozine. Umberto Eco agrees in Le Monde. The Nation portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, who himself explains in Babelia why 200 years after independence there's nothing to celebrate in a number of Latin American countries. Polityka lies Poland down on the couch. La vie des idees reads a book on Jews and the resistance in France. Americans read more than Europeans, writes historian Peter Baldwin in Merkur. And in The New York Review of Books Robert Darnton makes two bold proposals for a new Book Settlement.