Central Europe: Retrieving History from Myth and Ideology
Much ink has been spilt questioning the concept of “Central Europe”. Where is it actually? And as a geopolitical entity, does it exist at all? In an influential article published in Paris in 1983, the Czech writer Milan Kundera located it geographically in the centre of Europe, but culturally in the West, and politically (at [...]
At Kunstforum: Eight Hungarians Who Re-invented Modernism
The first two rooms of the Kunstforum’s magnificent exhibition of neglected Hungarian painters explode on the visual consciousness like the first few bars of Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra. This blaze of colour, which characterises both landscapes and dramatically conceived portraiture, documents the Fauvist beginnings of the eight painters in a game-changing and eye-opening show. [...]
Hietzing: Graceful Living Remuddled
One day, just as I was passing the noble portal of Plachutta’s legendary Hietzinger Bräu, an exotic figure emerged with his entourage. “Why, it’s DJ Ötzi!” exclaimed my female companion excitedly. “Wow!” I said, not having the slightest idea who DJ Ötzi might be, but not wishing to appear uncool. Evidently the occasional bunte Vogel [...]
Book Review: The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism, by Colin Crouch
Rewriting Reality: Colin Crouch on Neo-Liberalism Neo-Liberalism is one of those concepts about which people have strong opinions, even if (or because) they are hazy as to its exact meaning. The concept has spawned a generation of step-children – ideas and policies that often seem to contradict the fundamental notions that people definitely do associate [...]
The Ballad of the Wiener Kaffeehaus
(The above video is a reading of the poem “The Ballad of the Wiener Kaffeehaus” by BBC radio presenter Piers Burton Page.) The [ Café ] Central-people are always attracted like the murderer to the scene of the crime, to where they killed so much time, wiped out entire years.” – Alfred Polgar: “Theory of the Café [...]
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