Cultural news
Thursday June 24th 2021
New York: Roosevelt statue is demolished
The statue of former US President Theodore Roosevelt in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York will be demolished and given to an unspecified cultural institution that deals with Roosevelt’s life. The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously in favor of this. The move follows years of protests and critical media reports that they classified as racist and condemned as a symbol of colonialism. The bronze shows the 26th President of the USA, towering high as a rider, flanked by the nameless figures of a Native American and an African in a serving position.
RTL plans “New stories from Pumuckl”
RTL will re-film “Pumuckl”. This was announced by the media group in Cologne. According to the announcement, filming should begin in Munich in spring 2022. Korbinian Dufter, managing director of the participating production company NEUESUPER, explained that a contemporary entertainment series should be created for the whole family while preserving the “Bavarian soul of the Pumuckl stories”. In the 1980s, “Meister Eder und seine Pumuckl” was one of the most popular children’s series on German television. To this day, the adventures of the red-haired Klabautermann with the voice of Hans Clarin and the master carpenter, penned by Ellis Kaut, are considered a cult.
Wolfgang Koeppen Prize for writer Marcus Braun
One year late, the writer Marcus Braun (“Delhi”, “The Last Buddha”) received the Wolfgang Koeppen Prize 2020 from the city of Greifswald, endowed with 5000 euros. The award ceremony had been postponed due to the corona pandemic. His predecessor as the winner, Christoph Peters, had proposed him. According to Peters, Braun occupies a special position in German literature. “In their obsession with language, the bold cuts while largely dispensing with the certainties of traditional narrative structures, his novels and plays are from the outset committed to the experimental approaches of classical modernism, as introduced by Wolfgang Koeppen into post-war German literature with his” Trilogy of Failure ” “, the city quotes from the reason. The Wolfgang Koeppen Prize has been awarded every two years since 1998.
Churchill painting from Onassis yacht auctioned
A landscape painting by the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was auctioned in New York for the equivalent of around 1.5 million euros. The oil painting entitled “The Moat, Breccles” found a buyer at the Phillips auction house. Churchill painted the picture in 1921. Decades later he gave it to the Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis, who used it to decorate his luxury yacht.
Britney Spears wants to end her guardianship
Pop singer Britney Spears has asked for an end to guardianship for her. Spears first commented at a public court hearing in Los Angeles about the guardianship that has been in control of her life and finances since 2008. Guardianship was abuse, Spears said. She criticized her father James Spears and others who ran it. Spears said she was being forced to use contraception even though she wanted a child. When she criticized the choreography at a show in Las Vegas, she had to take lithium against her will. Guardianship was instituted because Spears suffered from mental health problems in 2008.
Unesco prevents new high-rise buildings in Prague
The World Cultural Organization Unesco wants to prevent the construction of new high-rise buildings in the Zizkov district of Prague. According to Radio Prague, a project for residential buildings in the “New Center Zizkov” has to be completely redesigned. The planned buildings should now be a maximum of 54 meters high; the renowned architect Eva Jiricna designed a height of 100 meters. The original project, which was presented two years ago, provided for around 1,000 apartments with an estimated total price of the equivalent of 236 million euros, according to the report. Prague’s historic old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992.
This threatens to withdraw its World Heritage status because of the high-rise buildings.
Klopstock Prize for writer Annett Gröschner
The writer Annett Gröschner is awarded this year’s Klopstock Prize for New Literature. The State Chancellery in Magdeburg announced that she will receive the prize, endowed with 12,000 euros, for her entire work. With Annett Gröschner, a writer will be honored who has been dealing with the social changes and upheavals in reunified Germany for almost three decades. Your works are characterized by a variety of literary genres, a wealth of forms and precise analysis, said Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister of State and Culture, Rainer Robra. Her multifaceted work ranges from poems, reports and biographies to experimental photo books about the Berlin Wall and novels. Saxony-Anhalt has been awarding the “Klopstock Prize for New Literature” every year since 2015, the state’s highest award in this field. The award is named after Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, one of the most important poets and writers of the Enlightenment.
Harrison Ford injured while filming
Actor Harrison Ford injured his shoulder while filming the new “Indiana Jones” movie. The 78-year-old got the injury during rehearsals for an action scene, as the movie giant Disney announced on Wednesday. No information was given on the severity of the injury. The shooting schedule will be adjusted in the coming weeks if necessary, said Disney. Filming for the fifth and final part of the “Indiana Jones” saga began in the UK in May. The theatrical release of the action film directed by James Mangold is planned for summer 2022. The film project was announced in 2016, but there were always delays. Harrison Ford made his first appearance as the adventurous archaeologist Henry Walton Jones aka Indiana Jones in 1981 in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” directed by Steven Spielberg.
EU Commission gives almost 90 million for culture
In view of the corona pandemic, European cultural workers should be supported with almost 90 million euros from EU funds. As part of the Creative Europe program, 88 million euros will be made available for this year “to support artists, authors and performers in reaching audiences across Europe”, as the EU Commissioner in charge, Marija Gabriel, announced on Wednesday. Among other things, this is intended to support European cooperation projects as well as training and performance opportunities for young musicians. According to the information, applications can be submitted immediately. Depending on the tender, the deadlines ranged from the end of August to the end of September.
Historical school books from Bavaria are available online
The Augsburg University Library makes some centuries-old school books from Bavaria accessible online. One of the most important German special collections on the subject of historical textbooks is now being digitized, the university said. Accordingly, there are around 1,500 primers, reference sheets and calculation tables from the 16th to the early 20th century, which were published in publishing houses in the Free State. School books of various types and subjects would be shown. The first tranche with 300 titles from the places in today’s administrative district of Swabia is already available online. You can call up the works individually in full text, but also in groups according to school subjects.
“Salzburger Stier 2021” goes to young cabaret artists
The international cabaret award “Salzburger Stier 2021” will be celebrated with an audience at the weekend in Karlsruhe. The “Salzburger Stier” is the only international award for German-language cabaret and is awarded by ten broadcasters from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the RAI South Tyrol. The award goes to Moritz Neumeier from Germany, Lara Stoll from Switzerland and Thomas Stipsits from Austria. The prize is endowed with 6,000 euros each and goes to classic cabaret artists, poetry slammers or comedians. Previous winners include Harald Schmidt, Dieter Hildebrandt, Urban Priol, Lisa Eckart and Gerhard Polt.
Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” is complete again
For the first time in over 300 years Rembrandt’s famous masterpiece “The Night Watch” can be seen in full again. With the help of modern technology, the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum reconstructed the missing pieces and presented the painting in its original format. The reconstructed parts are supposed to stay hanging for three months. Rembrandt had completed the painting by the Amsterdam Rifle Guild in 1642. In 1715 the painting, which was more than 20 square meters in size, moved to another building. And because it doesn’t fit in the intended place, pieces were cut off on all sides. On the left side three figures were missing.
Hong Kong Apple Daily ceases operations
In Hong Kong, the pro-democracy newspaper “Apple Daily” is discontinued. She was targeted by the authorities for alleged violations of the controversial security law of the Chinese Special Administrative Region. Several executives from the Apple Daily were arrested last week. According to the police, there is solid evidence that more than 30 articles published in the “Apple Daily” were aimed at persuading other states to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong. Newspaper founder Jimmy Lai had already been arrested in August. The 73-year-old is currently serving a 20-month sentence for inciting unauthorized protests.
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