Berliner Zeitung, 20.07.2005

Birgit Walter und Sebastian Preuss talk with Monika Grütters, deputy head of the conservative CDU parliamentary faction, about CDU cultural policy in the event of an election victory: "Giving stronger emphasis to the cultural business sector and its impact on the job market is a matter of CDU policy. The so-called creative industries are underestimated as an economic factor in Germany. That's why investment programmes should be initiated for young Internet firms and the design and fashion sectors, among others." Asked what that would mean for publicly funded cultural establishments, Grütters answers: "Germany has the highest density of theatres in the world, and others envy us for that. Retracting state financing would be entirely wrong. The essence of culture, its experimental side and the risk of failure, must be protected. Very little money is spent on culture compared with the overall budget, and for that reason alone cutting state funding to institutions is out of the question. It's wrong to think only of today, and ask: Where can we save money? instead we should ask: What can we do for culture and science?" Grütters also speaks out for the creation of a federal cultural ministry. "The Goethe Institutes would be better situated under the federal cultural department, and that would justify the department being promoted to a ministry of culture."


Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 20.07.2005

Bahman Nirumand is concerned about the most recent developments in the case of the dissident Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji. Ganji, like many of his generation, was an initial supporter of the Ayatollah Khomeni's Islamic state, founded 26 years ago, but became critical of its development. Following studies in sociology, he published a paper that addressed the relationship between Islam and the modern state and, after it was prohibited, worked as a freelance investigative journalist, uncovering stories of state murders of intellectuals and regime critics. In 2000 he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. Following a recent 36 day long hunger strike, Ganji was taken to Tehran hospital under – as Nirumand emphasises - very strange circumstances. "The fact that Ganji has been taken to hospital is no grounds for relief: neither his family nor his lawyers are being allowed to visit him and the whole division has been turned into a military zone. That the judge and the director of the Milad Hospital are claiming that Ganji's condition is completely stable and that there was no hunger strike is nothing short of absurd."

Gerhard Gnauck has taken a gander through L'viv (alternatively Lviv, L'wow, Lvov, Lemberg, Leopolis) in western Ukraine, which is gearing up for 750 anniversary celebrations next May. The city is expecting an unprecedented financial boost from the federal government for renovation and beautification projects. Now it must decide which historical tradition to highlight. Over the centuries, the region of Galicia, of which L'viv is capital, was home to Slavs, Poles, Germans, Jews and Armenians; Ukranians formed only the rural majority. Under Habsburg rule, it was the fourth largest city in the Austro-Hungarian empire. The architectural legacy is as impressive as it is in need of preservation. Gnauck accompanies historian Andri Saljuk through the city centre: "He cringes as he shows me the stately homes from the Renaissance to Art Deco that adorn the streets surrounding the market place. In 1944/45, when East Galicia came under Soviet rule, these houses became the preferred residences of the Russian nomenclature. After 1991, they were privatised on the cheap. While there was enough money for television satellites, most of the facades were not renovated."
The only intact historical site in L'viv is the military cemetery, where soldiers from the Polish Ukrainian (1919) and Polish Soviet (1920) wars lie. Having been fully neglected under the Soviets, efforts to restore it began in 1990. Only after the Orange Revolution was the process finally completed. Gauck describes how, at the official opening in June, the state leaders of Ukraine and Poland stood side by side. "As Yushchenko and Kwaniewski paused shoulder to shoulder in front of the wreaths, the Pole's hand suddenly and almost shyly reached out for that of the Ukrainian. Perhaps not as impressive a picture for the history books as that of Kohl and Mitterand in Verdun. But certainly a courageous step."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20.07.2005

Heinrich Wefing visited the exhibition of photographs "Diane Arbus – Revelations" now on display at the Folkwang Museum in Essen. The largest of its kind since the MoMA show 30 years ago, the exhibition contains numerous works never displayed before. While Diane Arbus was strongly criticised for her cold-hearted portrayal of her subjects, notably by Susan Sontag, Wefing takes a different view: "As a rule Arbus handles her subjects with respect. She does not assault them, strip them bare or expose them. At the same time, she does not make them prettier than they are. What she does is place them at the centre of her square photos, taking her time, looking them face to face, and letting them pose for her. In that way she gives them what most of them vainly seek: attention. Almost all of her models use the chance and pose, each in his or her own proud yet helpless way. Teenagers try out nonchalant poses without quite getting them right. Couples clutch one another rather than hug. A puppet-like stripper holds out her breasts to the camera.... Masks, poses, and disguises are donned at great effort, and yet when Diane Arbus presses on the shutter release they are easy to see through, leaving nothing but a deep, despairing loneliness." See In Today's Feuilletons of July 14 for Malte Conradi's take on the show)