Aquatic Chernobyl Gusztáv Kostolányi The devastation of the Tisza River has had appalling consequences for the wildlife and ecosystems that reply upon it. But, the Tisza is much more than just a river to most Hungarians, it is a unifying thread that runs through Magyar history, literature and culture.
The Blond is Dead Ida Miro Kiss The release of toxic chemicals into the Tisza River has left an appalling wake of destruction behind it which has affected many countries in the region. As the costs of the spill are calculated, and blame assigned, riparian communities mourn their losses.
Gold and Cyanide Catherine Lovatt The cyanide spill into the Tisza river has had immediate and obvious environmental consequences. Romania's bid to enter the EU may also have been affected.
A U S T R I A:
The Haider Phenomenon Lonnie Johnson Politically or rhetorically downgrading Austria to the status of a semi-democratic state with a neo-fascist government is unfair and for most Austrians an insult. Neither dictatorship nor civil war are on the horizon.
C O M P E N S A T I O N:
Nazi Slave-labor Talks Stall Karen M Laun Negotiations in Berlin have failed to resolve the stalemate over the payment of compensation to Nazi slave-laborers. Despite the USD 5 billion in the offing, there are concerns that some survivors will be excluded from compensation or paid only negligable amounts.
Gusztáv Kosztolányi CER begins a new series of regular essays with this in-depth look at how Hungarians view themselves, how they view the world and how these views are changing as EU entry approaches.
Kinoeye:
F O R G O T T E N C L A S S I C S:
Un mensonge que dit la verité...: The cinema of Vitaly Kanevsky Niobe Thompson Kanevsky was one of the most extraordinary figures in Russian cinema to emerge from the glasnost period, making two films with a highly personal cinematic language and complex use of setting to evoke a not-so-innocent childhood in Stalinist times.
THE KINOEYE ARCHIVE Resources on Central and East European cinema.
Newly Revised and Updated!
CER's Regular Columnists:
AMBER COAST:
Politicking over Paedophilia Mel Huang Political bickering in Latvia hit a new low over the past week when several high-ranking government officials were linked to a paedophilia scandal.
BALKAN ENCOUNTER:
Books of the Damned Sam Vaknin As the hope of a fully functioning independent media recedes in Central and Eastern Europe, where can the people of the region look to for objective information?
ČULÍK'S CZECH REPUBLIC:
Roma: The Debate Continues Jan Čulík The discussion of Roma in the Internet daily Britské listy has now attracted the attention of Czech police. There is also an alternative view of events from journalist František Roček.
Karel Teige (1900-51) was one of the most significant cultural figures of his day. His theoretical writings on avant-garde art influenced a whole generation of Czech poets and artists, but he was also an accomplished artist and typograper in his own right, and a major theoretician of modern architecture.
E X H I B I T I O N:
Avant-Garde Typography and Surrealist Collage Sue Bagust Teige published his ideas prolifically, but few of his surrealist collages appeared in print before his death, and they remain both intensely private works of his inner erotic feelings and reflections on bleak political realities. CER visits the London Czech Centre's exhibition of these personal works.
A R C H I T E C T U R E:
An Independent Modernist Juan Gomez-Guterriez Despite being a committed modernist and a socialist, Teige foresaw the social and political problems in Stalin's urban planning, rejected Le Corbusier's then fashionable ideas and struck his own independent path in architecture with his Minimal Dwelling.
C O L L A G E:
Photomontaged Dreams Mark Hearld Teige's collages have an authority as a medium which he could not have acheived in painting. Using notions of the female landscape, Teige created a powerful inner world. Nevertheless, the female nude for him was just as much an expressive means as an end.
B O O K R E V I E W:
Karel Teige/ 1900-1951 Sue Bagust This sumptuous tome presents Teige's own writings alongside scholarly essays on his work. But this thorough approach does not intimidate the general reader, particularly as the layout fulfils Teige's aesthetic of a book as a source of visual pleasure.
Books and Literature
S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Book Shop:
Books about Central and Eastern Europe Have a look at CER's list of books on the region - all available from Amazon.com. The updated list is spread across several pages and contains many new offerings.
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