The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has acquired the original drawing of the famous tongue logo of the British rock band The Rolling Stones for the sum of 92,500 dollars (63,000 euros) at an auction in the US. The Italian daily La Repubblica comments: "Many believed the red mouth with the protruding tongue which has been the Rolling Stones' trademark for 37 years was created by [pop art icon] Andy Warhol. ... Who could have done a better job of giving the rock rebellion synthesised visual expression than Warhol. Yet it was not Warhol but a 24-year-old student at London's Royal College of Art named John Pasche. Now the tongue is hanging in a museum, and this is only fitting considering the advanced historicalisation and museumisation of the rock culture. Nowadays the original texts, musical instruments, clothing, and everything the rock stars touched are all fetish pieces and have become objects of desire for private collectors and, more recently, public institutions." (03/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Exhibitions / Museums, » Music, » United Kingdom
All available articles from » Gino Castaldo

Philosopher František Novosád regrets in the liberal weekly newspaper Týždeň the comparatively minor influence of Slovakian intellectuals on daily life: "In the 20th century the elites here were all but completely replaced every twenty years. There was no continuity. ... The intellectuals in Poland or Russia have a firmer foothold. No matter what the regime did to Russian intellectuals, they always had Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in their minds and so they saw the world with different eyes. ... In addition, Slovakian intellectuals see it as their duty to be extremely critical and to destroy all the myths they encounter. They have an extremely destructive nature. That is because of the discontinuity. A university, for example, needs 50 or 60 years to function well. And it needs three or four generations of professors who can build on the work of their predecessors." (03/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Philosophy, » Slovakia
All available articles from » František Novosád

The daily Latvijas Avīze expresses surprise at the dimensions the language dispute in Belgium has taken on: "One could say the so-called linguistic border is the EU's most closely monitored internal border. In certain hotly disputed areas the authorities have no qualms about using methods that are entirely out of place in a civilised Europe, for instance the decision by the city fathers of Vilvoorde to ban non-Flemish citizens from council flats. ... One can only conclude that not even the most complex state structure in the world can replace a consciousness of national unity. And while Belgian politicians are the most vocal in calling for European integration they are bringing about the division of their own country." (02/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Public Culture, » Integration, » Minorities, » Belgium
All available articles from » Uldis Smits

In Poland, public funding for the film 'The Mystery of Westerplatte', which tells the story of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, has been withdrawn. Politicians and the media were unhappy because in their opinion the script failed to depict the soldiers as heroically as they deserve. The daily Gazeta Wyborcza criticises the withdrawal of the funding. "The atmosphere is as tense as if the [warship] 'Schleswig Holstein' were firing at the Polish bases once more. Once again we see that it is impossible to talk about the past ... without stirring up emotions in Poland. ... What kind of historical cinema does Poland need? [Does it need] films commissioned by politicians to mark anniversaries that simply reflect the interpretation of history supported by the politician in question, or films that are not defined by the calendar and political agreements but by the passion and curiosity of their makers? Films that sometimes raise dangerous questions about our past. ... The question is whether viewers will pay for this." (30/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Film, » History, » Germany, » Poland
All available articles from » Roman Pawłowski

The Finnish daily Turun Sanomat looks into the question of which foreign languages children should learn in school, and the importance of Swedish in Finland today. "The older generation speaks German. Some schools concentrated on French in the past, and Russian was also better taught than it is today. ... Nowadays schools focus on two languages, ... English and Swedish. ... In fact no one needs Swedish, but bilinguality is prescribed by the law. ... There is no doubt that in our country the most important language is Finnish. ... The problem is that the Swedish-speaking inhabitants do not accept the fact that they are in the linguistic minority. ... Certainly, we cannot know in advance what languages we and our children will need. Nevertheless the alternatives should be presented in such a way .. that they are advantageous to Europe." (01/09/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Education, » Finland

In view of the success of electronic devices for reading books such as Amazon's "Kindle", the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asks whether "the printed book, our culture's most important medium, is menaced. ... So far only one thing seems certain: anyone who has anything to do with books, be it writing, printing, binding, publishing, transporting, selling or reading them, will be affected in one way or another by the new technology. ... It is not just the economics of the book market that will change. An unprecedented upheaval is threatening to radically alter the long-standing profanation of the written word. ... The cult of the book has its oldest and deepest roots in religion. The process of Enlightenment and secularisation has not destroyed this cult, but simply given it new roots. Anyone who picks up Amazon's e-book reader cannot fail to be impressed in the first hours and days by the technical possibilities offered by the device. Then when he goes back to his bookshelf, the aura of the book appears to him as tender and vulnerable as the wings of a butterfly." (29/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Audiovisual Media, » Publishing houses, » Global
All available articles from » Hubert Spiegel

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, has announced that the digital archive "Europeana", which is to make the European cultural heritage accessible on the Internet, will go online in November. The daily NRC Handelsblad takes a critical view of the project: "It sounds good, but it is all just for show. ... Art is being trodden underfoot in being treated like a practical application. ... Literature can be copied because the book itself is not the artwork. But the reproduction of a painting gives a mere impression of the original, no more. A sculpture is unique. Someone who wants to experience it must take the time to go see it. Reding suggests that the virtual reality of her 'Europeana' is the same as the tangible reality. She is wrong. The Internet is practical. It is suitable for making contacts. It is amusing as entertainment. It is perverse when abused. It is educational when used creatively. But virtual reality can never replace the authenticity of a painting, a sculpture, a building or a performance." (28/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Cultural Policy, » Online media, » Europe

German author Juli Zeh discusses German antimilitarism In Le Monde newspaper: "Anyone in Germany who wants to write a book or shoot a film about the army has to opt for humour. The screenplay should not be too dramatic, and the end must not be too tragic! ... The American G.I. ... represents the fantastically-equipped superpower. The German private, by contrast, is always a comedian. Why? Because satire is the only way we have of understanding the military in today's Germany. For the large majority of artists, writers and intellectuals, the army remains taboo. ... When I was at school, antimilitarism was de rigeur. ... Only dummkopfs did military service. ... Anyone who went to grammar school was an 'intellectual', and anyone considered an intellectual was a Leftist, and being a Leftist meant being against the army. ... I have now passed the age when it is enough just to be for world peace. In contrast to when I was at school, and after visiting Bosnia, I can no longer see any sense in fulminating against the army, which is ultimately a constitutional institution, and a tragic one at that. Which does not mean I think all foreign deployments are immune to criticism." (26/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Film, » Literature, » Weltanschauung, » Germany
All available articles from » Juli Zeh

The 65th Venice Film Festival begins today. The daily La Repubblica takes this as a peg to comment on German news magazine Der Spiegel's accusations that the selection of films chosen by the Italian organisers of the event was biased towards Italian movies and film magazine Variety's complaints about the high cost of the event: "The oldest film festival is under attack. This evening it will present itself in a family holiday mood, without the presence of all the major international film distributors, as it has done for some years now, ever since it was rele gated to a ceremonial but comparatively poor position among the international film festivals." The newspaper writes that the screens on the Venice Lido are not only under attack from the media but are also under siege from a host of new film festivals "like the gigantic Toronto festival that starts in a few days' time with ten new screens, the South Korean Pausan Festival that caters to the entire Asian market and the newest and most richly endowed Dubai Festival." (27/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Film, » Italy
All available articles from » Natalia Aspesi

La Repubblica comments on the changes which are shaking up the international art market and causing US collectors and gallerists to fall behind. The developments are also being felt by European art, the paper writes: "To understand the concern felt by Americans over the weak dollar and the new rich from Russia, China and Saudi-Arabia, one need only take a stroll through the Rockefeller Center, a deeply symbolic building and home to Christie's auction house. .. The auction market is flourishing, however no longer in New York but in Dubai and Hong Kong. The buyers are the same ones buying up British football clubs, Manhattan skyscrapers and villas on the Italian Costa Smeralda. ... The king is Russian magnate Roman Abramovich. ... [And yet] the revolution in the art market which is so worrying America can also be an opportunity for European art." (22/08/2008)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fine Arts, » Trade, » Russia, » Asia, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Mario Calabresi