According to Eda Kauba writing in the Hospodářské Noviny, a Czech and head of jury at the "Best of European Design and Advertising Awards" festival taking place in Barcelona, the most creative designers and copyrighters come from Germany: "The Germans are well organised, disciplined and have no sense of humour. … Anyone who believes that is clinging to an ancient cliché. When I tell people that the Germans are the funniest people in advertising and the most creative designers they're always surprised. German and creative? Yes, and they have been for a long time now. At the festival in Barcelona the Germans won in 16 of the 23 categories. And they deserved to. … The campaign for the Hornbach [DIY chain] won the grand prix. This ad works in any country. And yet the supermarkets ad category is normally the one that produces the most boring ads. … It would be good if we took a closer look. We can profit from the short distance to Berlin." (03/07/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Consumers, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Eda Kauba

The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung comments on the enormous success of the Love Parade, the techno demonstration that took place in Berlin from 1989 to 2006: "The Parade's victory march began - not by accident - on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm, right where the former West was at its 'Westest'. Far from wanting to anticipate anything, techno culture was fundamentally against anticipation. But putting it like that also fails to hit the mark because it implies a direction, whereas the whole movement was about the timelessness of ecstasy, the joy of repetition, about interiority, concentrating on the moment and your own body. ... [With rave culture] everything merged together in the present, an endless moment with neither past nor present, without extension, an eternal loop. All that suits the atmosphere of the divided metropolis of West Berlin to a 'T', like the calm in the eye of the hurricane. The culture of the Love Parade blends technological advancement with a disinterested attitude to progress, the joys of the mass with absolute indifference to the power it could have. It was all about living the ready-made urban idyll, a cultural technology for which the old West Berlin offered the perfect preconditions." (02/07/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Public Culture, » Germany
All available articles from » Jens Bisky

Owing to the construction of a bridge across the Elbe the German city of Dresden has lost its status as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The daily Lapin Kansa can understand why the UN organisation made this decision: "The reason for this very unusual step is the bridge which the German city has decided to build across the picturesque Elbe valley. There was strong opposition to the bridge not only from the city's residents but also from writer and Nobel Laureate Günter Grass and many other German intellectuals. Two-thirds of those who govern the city were nonetheless convinced of the need for a bridge. And no compromises could be found, even though they were sought right until the last moment. … The Dresdeners and all Germany have both cause for healthy pride and great shame. Unesco had no alternative. A destroyed landscape and mutilated natural environment cannot remain on the World Heritage List." (30/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Architecture / Cities, » Germany

The Slovakian town of Levoča with its medieval town centre has been added to Unesco's World Heritage List. The liberal daily Sme says it deserves this honour but criticises the way the country treats its cultural heritage in general: "In the neighbouring Czech Republic there is a man like Václav Havel who has the courage to say that the protection of Czech landscapes must be a top strategic priority, even more important than Nato membership. Who would say such a thing here in Slovakia? Instead we are witnessing how our landscapes are being systematically taken apart. … Thanks to the lack of culture of our political representatives our admirable cultural landscape is becoming a landscape of unculturedness. … As a result our natural, cultural and historical values are more threatened than in the times of the two world wars and more than they ever have been since the industrialisation and collectivisation of the 1950s. Our landscapes are being turned into building sites, cement tracks, logistical centres, billboards and waste disposal sites." (29/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Architecture / Cities, » Cultural Policy, » Czech Republic, » Slovakia
All available articles from » Mikuláš Huba

Pop singer Michael Jackson died suddenly on Thursday at the age of 50. In an obiturary in the daily Dziennik, musician and composer Marcin Staniszewski says that although the man may have passed away, the artist is immortal: "It's true, Michael Jackson didn't record a single album in the past decade that could come close to his legendary 'Thriller' [of 1982]. But there's no doubt in my mind that with him the world has lost the man who - aside from the Beatles and Elvis Presley - exerted the most profound influence on popular music. Musicians of almost every genre trace their roots to Michael Jackson. From [US soul singer] Beyoncé ... to the next generation of young musicians. ... Michael Jackson not only combined rock and blues with funk and pop in an explosive mix that promted other musicians to carry out their own experiments. ... Along with that, his inimitable dance style is unforgettable. ... I don't know if I'll miss Michael Jackson. But I do know that like Elvis, he'll never die." (26/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Poland
All available articles from » Marcin Staniszewski

A Spanish talk show recently featured a discussion between a bestselling author and a worstselling author – in other words an author whose books have barely sold. Laura Freixas complains in the daily La Vanguardia that too often quality is only judged on the basis of sales figures: "[TV presenter Andreu] Buenafuente came up with the Machiavellian idea of inviting [best-selling author Ildefonso Falcones] to appear on his show alongside a writer called Carlos Jiménez Arribas, whose book 'Journey into the Eye of a Horse' has only sold 112 copies. 'Let's see if some of [the success] rubs off', said Buenafuente jokingly in the assumption that it was Falcones who would be teaching Arribas a few things about writing books. Could it not be that the latter's is the better book from a literary point of view? Or is it not even worth an opinion or even reading it because all that matters are the sales figures? It was all a sadly eloquent show of condescension that says something about the values that prevail nowadays." (25/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Audiovisual Media, » Spain
All available articles from » Laura Freixas

The Romanian Orthodox Church is exerting a growing influence on theatres in the country, writes the daily Gândul: "Two young actors recently announced their resignation from the National Theatre in Bucharest, a stage where most Romanian actors can only dream of playing. Prior to their resignation the two actors' confessor had seen a play they were supposed to act in. It isn't clear what their confessor said. Perhaps he was unhappy because one scene shows a funeral service. What is certain is that the young actors announced their resignation, and in so doing seriously compromised their very promising careers. Such occurrences are by no means the exception. A growing number of actors have long been speaking out about their relations with the church and their need to talk with their confessors about the plays they act in. It doesn't happen every day, but as an alarm signal it should be taken seriously." (23/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Stage, » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Romania
All available articles from » Cristina Modreanu

The daily I Kathimerini criticises politicians and journalists for their excessive praise of the newly opened Acropolis Museum in Athens: "Have we lost all sense of proportion? Are we exaggerating the value of a building so that we ourselves will seem the greatest, [although] we attend this inauguration only by coincidence and did nothing special to bring it about. ... If it's so important to inaugurate a museum that not all archaeologists and scientists agree is good and necessary, what to make of the Parthenon? With what words should we honour the Parthenon when in our lack of moderation we've already used up all the words fitting to describe it in other speeches of praise?" (21/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Exhibitions / Museums, » Greece
All available articles from » Pantelis Boukalas

According to a Polish survey conducted by the Public Opinion Research Center (CBOS) on people's attitudes towards the communist People's Republic of Poland, a large section of the Polish population does not want a major final reckoning with the socialist dictatorship. "For years the People's Republic was on a downwards slide in all the opinion polls. And during this period there was at least a critical distance towards it. There were also proponents of the idea of opening the secret files [of the state secret service]. And now all of a sudden this change in trend. Slightly more Poles (44 percent) assess the People's Republic as positive rather than negative (43 percent). In the preceding survey eight years ago 47 percent took a critical view of the People's Republic. … What lies behind this change in trend? When it comes to the general assessment of the People's Republic one can simply say that the economic crisis which is depriving people of their security is also strengthening the sense of nostalgia for those times when … employment was guaranteed." (19/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » History, » Remembrance culture, » Poland
All available articles from » Piotr Skwieciński

An exhibition centre of St. Petersburg's famous Hermitage Museum was opened this week in Amsterdam in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Queen Beatrix. The left-liberal daily De Volkskrant writes: "In a dazzling show of old-fashioned Dutch entrepreneurial spirit, a small dwarf has managed to coax a giant into opening its storage depots and lending out a few of its treasures. ... Another stroke of radical entrepreneurship was shown by [Dutch museum director Ernst] Veen when in just a few years he managed to find sponsors and government funds not only to entirely rebuild the former retirement home, but to do it within budget and on time. This demonstrates once more that such matters must not be entrusted to bureaucrats, city councillors, ministers, commissions or even museum directors lacking the proper experience." (19/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Exhibitions / Museums, » Netherlands, » Russia