Connecting War and the Arts
From 16 October 2010, Gallery Berinson in Berlin is presenting 50 impressive photographs by Dieter Keller that he took while being a German soldier at the Eastern Front in 1941-42. There are countless snapshots from the Second World War from many soldiers, but the quality presented at this exhibition may be unique.
Continue reading “Opening: Dieter Keller (1909-1985) – Photos from the Eastern Front”
Since the end of the Second World War, every year on 15 August (the day of Japanese surrender) Japanese members of government visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. But Prime Minister Naoto Kan, elected on 4 June 2010, who some days ago already apologised for the colonial rule 1910-1945 to South Korea, continues his reconciliatory approach: for the first time since 25 years, no member of the government attended the anniversary’s ceremonies.
On 13 August 1935 at around 0330h, the already well-known aviator Elly Beinhorn started in today’s Polish Gliwice (Gleiwitz) for another record flight: within one day, she wanted to fly from Germany to Asia and return; at the end, her famous flight resulted in 3,470 km within nearly 13.5 hours. This record flight, the pilot and her plane – a Bf-108 “Taifun” (Typhoon) – are being honoured by a commemorative stamp, issued on 12 August 2010 by the German postal service Deutschen Post AG.
Design by Klein & Neumann, Iserlohn
Continue reading “Elly Beinhorn’s Record Flight on a Commemorative Stamp”
In today’s issue of FAZ, Germany’s most important newspaper, the Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych (“The Secret”) describes the problematic handling of democracy in his motherland in his article “Bitte beobachten Sie mein Land! – Was soll die Ukraine in Europa?” (Please observe my country! – What does Ukraine suppose to be in Europe?). He also refers to the re-emerging adoration for Stalin (see also our article on the new Stalin memorial in Zaporizhia).
Continue reading ““Mother Motherland” (Kiev) and more works by Vuchetich”
On 10 August 2010, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologised to the Republic of Korea for the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945. Such a move was eagerly anticipated – not just in the ROK – and may be viewed as a different Japanese approach to remembering a dark chapter of its history.
Continue reading “Japanese Prime Minister Apologises for Colonial Rule”
Already on 5 May 2010, a memorial for Stalin was unveiled in the south-Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. While it is of no special artistic importance (it could have been put on this way some 60 years ago; maybe there was even an old bust to be used for a mould?), it is even more so politically.
Continue reading “New Stalin Memorial Unveiled”
A friend called our attention to the works of Peter Sauerer: his wooden sculptures are often in a small scale and address history, celebrities and our memory and imagination. For this, he is often making use of irony if not mockery without trivialising his subjects. The spatially small works condense the issues and commit the viewer to take a thorough look at them.
Continue reading “Peter Sauerer”
The ambitious exhibition “The Third World in World War II” travels to Osnabrück to the Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum. A “forgotten chapter in history” is to be illuminated, according to the curators.
Continue reading “Opening: The 3rd World in World War II (Osnabrück)”
From 28 January 2010, the Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum in Osnabruck presents with “Hunde im Krieg – Hunde als Waffe” (Dogs in Wars – Dogs as Weapons) an exhibition that addresses quite a specific subject: the use of “man’s best friend” in wars.
Continue reading “Opening: Dogs in Wars – Dogs as Weapons (Osnabrück)”
In the German news magazine Spiegel, Sven Stillich published a short article on animated short movies that had been produced in the USA during the Second World War. Stylistics and motivation were quite different. The most known movie will be Disney’s “Der Fuehrer’s Face” from 1943, in which Donald Duck has a nightmare in “Nutzi Land”.
