Culture
What to do in Brussels when you're young, gifted and insanely connected
You exhibit in unusual places and crank up the electronic music - just ask the boys and girls from Plastic. Snippet from the Brussels cafebabel.com blog
Cinema horror in Europe: happy yucky Halloween
In light of the ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ upcoming Halloween on 31 October, we propose three of Europe’s best horror movies at the moment from Serbia, France and Holland, with a running commentary from Franco Calandrini, director of the Ravenna nightmare film festival
culture, cinema, netherlands, civil society, europe, serbia, france
Che Sudaka: 'Barcelona was what it was and, sadly, is not anymore'
This is the story of a six-piece Barcelona-based band composed entirely of South Americans. We chart their journey from illegal street buskers to successful European band in Paris
culture, barcelona, brunch, solidays, europe, music, latin america
Why a Norwegian fashion brand calls itself ‘Anti Sweden’
The rebellion is turning Swedish flags upside down and burning Swedish jeans, in a warped recognition of their elevated status in the fashion industry. Creative director Kjetil Wold, 37, co-founded the black jean collection in April 2009 with Kenneth Pedersen, 36 – making sure everyone on the Scandinavian continent knew they were there from the get-go. Interview
Film review: terrorist comedy ‘Four Lions’ by Chris Morris
The Brit’s satirical debut feature film follows a group of jihadists from the northern city of Sheffield, struggling to make an impact. To coincide with its final European release dates, another reflection on how and why Morris pokes fun at the delicate issue just five years after the 7/7 bombings
culture, cinema, jihad, great-britain, london, bombings, youth
Elisabeth Badinter: are you a mother or a woman?
The French philosopher is back to theorise that women are increasingly unable to be both a woman and a mother at the same time. How to reconcile both roles?
Are Balkan women more promiscuous?
It's official: more women are approaching men in the dating stakes and a recent book in Serbia reveals a more liberal attitude. So is the Balkan woman moving towards a western, less conservative European model? We hear from Balkan guys and girls
culture, parity, literature, psychology, balkans, sex, men and women
Communism perspectives: 'discontinuous history of art in eastern Europe'
3 October marked twenty years after the fall of the communist regime. One exhibition in Paris this summer asked the central question: is there any value in the question of 'east-west’ opposition today?
culture, exposition, paris, communism, poland, albania, romania
European day of languages: cat got the European tongue
The concept of ‘lost in translation’ isn’t really a valid one anymore. Why learn languages if French and Czechs are communicating with each other in English at any random conference in Madrid or Krakow? Why stuff your brain with vocabulary, young Brits ask themselves, if at the end your German degree doesn’t get you high up on the job ladder? And why try and understand your neighbour, if the Belgian melting pot hasn’t even worked out – today the country is threatening to split into French and Flemish parts. Even an EU commissioner from Luxembourg is criticised in the media for addressing a message to France in English whilst in Brussels. Language is the smallest common denominator of mutual understanding and integration. The European Day of Languages promotes each 26th of September for consistent language diversity on the old continent
- Read the special edition European day of languages: cat got the European tongue
- Romain Galati: 'In ten years people will be speaking more languages'
- Brief status of sign language in Europe
- Luxemburg: three languages, one nation
- Belgium: a linguistic laboratory
- ‘Learning German is pointless’: British students abandon foreign languages
- Portmanteau words: Denglisch in Europe
Claire Ruppli: ‘Erasmus generation have to create Europe now’
The lovemaking Swiss theatre actress is taking on a one-woman stage interpretation of a haunted figure in Prague on Parisian floorboards. She talks getting into theatre, Europe and passion
culture, contemporary art, paris, prague, czech republic, theatre, france
Theatre: French director Pierre Notte’s Bidules Trucs in Paris
A variety of characters from every corner of the world have come to life in French theatre director Pierre Notte’s fairytales. Rendezvous: the Theatre La Bruyère in Paris
culture, animals, culture calendar, pierre notte, family, theatre
[TRANS] - Attenti al gatto: la letteratura europea finisce nel cassonetto
Ha raggiunto in un lampo i 43mila membri, il gruppo su Facebook che ha permesso di identificare la donna che ha gettato senza motivo un gatto in un bidone dell’immondizia a Coventry, in Inghilterra, qualche settimana fa. Il video, girato dalla telecamera dei proprietari del gatto, ha fatto il giro del mondo e la donna, preoccupata per eventuali ritorsioni degli animalisti (e non solo), ha chiesto protezione alla polizia. Pentita? Nel dubbio, le ricordiamo quanto è stata importante l’immagine del gatto per la letteratura europea e quanto abbia contribuito al nostro immaginario comune.
culture, literature, reading, animals, europe, culture calendar, european tour
Bosnia-Herzegovina cinema: Jasmila Zbanic's 'On the Path'
Four years ago the Bosnian director unexpectedly won the golden bear at the Berlin international film festival with her debut film. Her new work 'Na Putu' also has controversial potential, handling themes of islamism and a couple's alienation in modern-day Sarajevo
culture, film, jasmila žbanič, film review, culture calendar, islamophobia, bosnia and herzegovina
Sise delle Monache: no toplessness nor religion behind Abruzzo's domed cakes
Yes, you've just sunk your teeth into 'nun's tits' - albeit made of sponge and cream. The name behind this regional Italian speciality hovers between mountain peaks and nun's habits
culture, italy, lifestyle, yum nyam, cooking, regions, traditions
Puerto Guesing in Munich: close it all down
The economic crisis brought about the shutting down of many firms, companies and chain stores. The former department store Hertie in Munich took example from the Tacheles squat in Berlin and transformed itself into a cultural centre: Puerto Giesin has revolutionised the bourgeoisie image of the Bavarian capital
culture, money, munich, tacheles squat, germany, economical crisis, society
Esma Redzepova: 'Roma are cosmopolitan'
A mother of 47, a career spanning 20 albums and 40 years and songs in Serbian, Macedonian and Romany. At the Sin Fronteras festival in France, the Macedonian 'gypsy music queen' brings a bit of Roma culture to a country which is planning to export large numbers of its gypsy population 'back' to Romania and Bulgaria by the end of the month
culture, paris, brunch, greece, nobel price, music, candidate countries
French duo John & Jehn: 'in England, no-one cares about boundaries'
On 29 March a duo like none of the other new faces on the French music scene released their second album, 'Time For The Devil’. Fans of Joy Division and The Velvet Underground, the couple live and compose in London, which might be why their album exudes the feel of the British new wave
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