Pablo Picasso, the iconic “Artist of the 20th Century,” died fifty years ago. A major exhibition commemorating his work begins at the Albertina in Vienna on Friday 17 March. We …
Our weekly English-language bulletin featuring our pick from European print and one of our top articles from our weekly Přítomnost.
The Russian question
If the collective sacrifice during the Second World War cemented Russian identity in the absence of consensus, then the attack on Ukraine does the same but to a different end. …
Peace talking versus peace making
Ukraine denial is the root cause of Putin’s genocidal war. Since he is unwilling and unable to abandon this ideological obsession, talk of negotiations by western ‘peacemakers’ looks like an …
I hate, therefore I am or about the necessity of Ukrainian Russophobia
The New Yorker, a prominent liberal weekly, hosted a freewheeling debate in its pages about how the war aggression has transformed Ukrainians’ relationship with Russians. Among other things, it raised …
There will be a period of a softer Tsar, perhaps the Russians will wake up
He has been following Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine up close for a year. Martin Dorazín (54), a recent recipient of the prestigious Ferdinand Peroutka Journalism Award, has been in …
Saving testimonies from ruin
One year on from the escalation of Russia’s invasion and there’s no sign of conflict resolution in Ukraine. While controversy abounds over political negotiations, constructive discussions about bearing witness to …
The Russians don’t belong in the Olympics, they would be advertising their war
Can Russian athletes just compete with others in the world when the Russian army has been killing civilians and destroying homes in Ukraine for a year? How many Russian athletes …
Extinction internet
Measures such as ‘ethical AI’ and ‘good data’ will not bring about social justice, end racial capitalism or forestall climate disaster. How to channel discontent and counter-hegemony into an actual …
The sound of resistance
From pop and rock to rap, metal and electronic: popular music in Ukraine has been a part of the national awakening since 2014. Now, once again, Ukrainian musical culture is …
The Russians don’t belong in the Olympics, they would be advertising their war
Can Russian athletes just compete with others in the world when the Russian army has been killing civilians and destroying homes in Ukraine for a year? How many Russian athletes …
Humouring imperialism
Since the Cold War, western literary and educational establishments have reproduced Moscow’s chauvinist view of Ukrainian culture as a derivative of Russian. That attitude is now politically and morally untenable. …
Trump is back – more extreme than before
Donald Trump is spreading the Qanon delusions and other half-truths and lies on his network. Now he is returning to mainstream social networks, where extremism is hard to avoid. But …
Teaching diary
How public education reached its breaking point in Hungary Teachers in Hungary are on a wildcat strike and pupils are demanding their pedagogues be paid. Public education has long been …
Pelé – The Artist
Sometimes chance pulls many into a tight time loop. On December 18th in Qatar, Argentine midfielder Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup over his head and a wave of social …
Surrounded by enemies
Generations of Russians schooled during and after the Soviet Union were taught that Russia’s imperial expansion took place peacefully. In this version of history, Russia was always reacting to western …
Erasmus of Hungary – a test of Orbán’s power
The European Union has stopped paying for Hungary’s student exchange. But the Erasmus project was very popular with young people, will this shake Viktor Orbán’s power? Viktor Orbán’s Hungary …
Andrej Babiš – a psychological profile of a “deprivant” and his voters
Getting to the position of a high-ranking politician requires a lot of effort. But in the case of many politicians, their success is based on unfortunate personality and psychological characteristics …
What my internet looks like, after researching online fake news for six years
How does disinformation overwrite the imagination and beliefs of those who consume it? With this half-serious programmatic manifesto for a deadly serious issue, Romanian journal Scena9 sets out to explore …
The Artist in the Snares of Power
On New Year’s Eve, Russian state television aired a programme that represented the height of tastelessness and kitsch; compared to it, the former Engerian “cauldron of entertainment” Ein Kessel Buntes …