MuncangCulture News Update
Pyramids under stress due to mystic equinox pilgrims – Feature
Mexico City – On every equinox, tens of thousands of people arrive at Mexico’s archaeological sites to contemplate the wonders left by ancient civilizations.The ritual, however, forces archaeologists to expand their efforts to protect the pyramids.The spring equinox, which marks the beginning of the season in the northern hemisphere, is Sunday at 2321 GMT, when the equator is on the same plane as the sun and day and night are both 12 hours.Pre-Hispanic peoples knew these phenomena well. They made their buildings a function of the equinox, because this indicated to them suitable times to plant their fields, go to war or hold coronations.At Chichen Itza, on the Yucatan Peninsula, the shadow of a snake that is made of inverted light triangles falls down the steps of the Kukulkan pyramid. At Dzibilchaltun, also on Yucatan, the sun rests on the Temple Of The Seven Dolls.Sites like Teotihuacan, Palenque, Cuicuilco or Monte Alban traditionally host large crowds on March 20-21.
Burglars steal pen used by Genscher to sign German unity treaty
Bonn, Germany – Burglars have broken into the house of former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and stole the pen he used to sign the country’s unification treaty in 1990, media reported Wednesday.”This loss is very painful for me,” Genscher told daily Bild.The thieves reportedly used a crowbar to prise open the fortified glass windows to Genscher’s home in the former German capital Bonn, while the 84-year-old statesman was out to dinner with his wife, Barbara.The pen was stolen along with other historically valuable fountain pens and some of Barbara Genscher’s jewellery, Bild reported.The couple contacted the police after the burglary, on March 11, but they were unable to trace the thieves or the stolen goods.”I am very attached to these things. They are irreplaceable and form part of my professional life,” the former minister said.The 1990 treaty, signed by the four Allied victors of World War II as well as East and West Germany, ended the country’s division and created one Germany on October 3, 1990
Economic crisis closes major Spanish art museum
San Sebastian, Spain – Employees at Chillida-Leku protested Monday against the closure of a museum housing works by sculptor Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002).The 19 employees deplored the failure of negotiations between the Chillida family and the Basque regional authorities, saying the “marvellous museum,” which is one of Spain’s top private art museums, should have remained open to the public.It had earlier been announced that the museum, located in the Basque town of Hernani, was closing for good.Financial difficulties related to Spain’s economic crisis had already prompted its owners to close on a temporary basis at the beginning of the year.The Basque regional authorities had proposed taking over the museum, but the Chillida family did not accept the conditions they were offered.The 10-year-old Chillida-Leku comprised an outdoor sculpture park and a building housing some 150 works by Chillida, known for monumental abstract works that blend into the landscape. The museum was visited by more than 800,000 people.The works will now constitute a private collection that will only be accessible to art experts.
UNESCO asks Libya, allied forces to respect ancient cultural sites
New York – Libya and allied forces implementing the no-fly zone must respect Libya’s rich cultural sites, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Wednesday.UNESCO has inscribed five of Libya’s famous sites on its World Heritage List and it urged the forces to avoid those areas as well as other historical and cultural sites.”From a cultural heritage point of view, Libya is of great importance to humanity as a whole,” said Irina Bokova, UNESCO director general. “Several major sites bear witness to the great technical and artistic achievements of the ancestors of the people of Libya, and constitute a precious legacy.”The Paris-based UN agency said it issued the call to respect the sites because they are protected by The Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and its two protocols.Eight of the dozen countries in the coalition forces carrying out the UN Security Council’s no-fly zone have signed The Hague convention.
Prolonged conflict a threat to Libyan heritage sites – Feature
Cairo/Tripoli – The track leading to Al Bayda’s forgotten Temple of Aesculapius is shingled with rocks and rubbish.Sheep doze beneath juniper trees, graffiti tags blight nearby buildings and, in the distance, the ample family home of Safia Farkash, wife of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, spills over the hillside.The remains of the Temple of Aesculapius, a medical school that dates back to 4BC, is one of eastern Libya’s cultural treasures and one of the heritage sites threatened by the ongoing conflict.Earlier, it was a lack of state funding to the Department in Antiquities, that cast doubt on the preservation of the site with its white marble columns, topped with carvings of the ancient wonder-drug Silphium.The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) says the Libya government and allied forces implementing the no-fly zone must respect the rich cultural sites.The organization has urged all sides to keep military operations away from heritage sites.”We are asking coalition forces and the Libyan government to keep operations away from important cultural sites,” said Lucia Iglesias, press officer for UNESCO.”We did the same in Iraq when the conflict began there,” she said.Libya’s vast, scarcely-visited portfolio of archaeological and cultural remains includes the ancient Roman city of Leptis Magna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 130 kilometres east of Tripoli.The ancient city’s marketplace, amphitheatre, baths and even its ancient toilet facilities remain largely intact.UNESCO is concerned about Leptis Magna anf our other sites on its World Heritage List, including the Phoenician trading post at Sabratha, the old desert town of Ghadames – under government control – and the ancient Greek and Roman remains of Cyrene.On the border of Algeria at Tassili N’Ajjer, the rock art site of Tadrart Acacus is also a concern.
Artist Ai Weiwei to open Berlin studio
Beijing – Artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei on Tuesday said he planned to open a new studio in Berlin amid his rising prominence in Europe and growing interference in his work by the Chinese government.Ai said he needed the studio because of his increasing work in Germany and other European nations but admitted that he was under artistic and personal pressure in China.”I just need the studio for working,” Ai told the German Press Agency dpa.”However, as we all know, one studio in China has been demolished and another faces the possibility of being demolished,” he said.”At the same time, my exhibitions have been cancelled. It is true that the possibility for artistic expression is very small in China,” Ai said.Ai said he planned to visit the new studio “frequently according to my work.”"The atmosphere in Berlin is good. It has many artists and the city is comparatively inexpensive,” he said, adding that he had no plans to move to Germany.”I still want to try my best to improve the working situation in here,” Beijing-based Ai said.”Of course, the hindrance is always there, but it is [part of] the meaning of this work,” he said.Ai said he hoped to spend “as little time as possible” in Europe.”However, there will be no choice if my work and life are somehow threatened,” he said.Last month, Ai said he had cancelled a solo exhibition planned for a leading Beijing gallery after the organizers requested a delay because of the “political sensitivity” of his work.”My studio in Shanghai has been demolished.
Australia’s Shaun Tan wins Swedish children’s literature prize
Stockholm – Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan was Tuesday named winner of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a literary prize named in honour of the Swedish creator of numerous popular fiction characters, including Pippi Longstocking.He was cited as a “masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books,” the jury said.In addition to illustrating or writing some 20 books, Tan has also collaborated on animated film, and won an Oscar for The Lost Thing, a short animated film adapted from the book of the same title.”He breaks down the boundaries of story telling, beyond conventions and literary hierarchies,” jury member Maria Lassen-Seger said in her presentation to Tan.Other award-winning books by Tan include The Red Tree and The Arrival.The Arrival, a worldless graphic novel, is “a unique epic work in every sense,” Lassen-Seger said, saying the book had strong autobiographical elements that took five years to complete.Tan was born in Fremantle, western Australia in 1974. He grew up in Perth.
Portuguese Souto de Moura wins ‘architecture Nobel’
Lisbon – “I thought it was a joke,” Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura said overnight after being informed that he had won the 2011 Pritzker Prize, the highest honour in architecture.”The first condition for winning awards is not to think about them,” Souto de Moura, 58, quoted Alvaro Siza as saying. Siza was the only other Portuguese to win the Pritzker Prize, in 1992.The award, which is worth 100,000 dollars, will be presented in Washington DC on June 2.Souto de Moura’s “buildings have a unique ability to convey seemingly conflicting characteristics – power and modesty, bravado and subtlety, bold public authority and a sense of intimacy – at the same time,” Pritzker Prize jury chairman Lord Peter Palumbo said.The Pritzker Prize could boost Portuguese architects at a time when unemployment was pushing many of them to emigrate, the daily Publico quoted Souto de Moura as saying.Souto de Moura worked for Siza for five years and formed his own company in 1980
Getty Museum agrees to return looted Nazi art
Los Angeles – The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has agreed to return a 17th century painting to the heirs of a Dutch art dealer whose entire collection was looted by the Nazis, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.The report said the decision to return the 1640 painting, Landscape with Cottage and Figures, by Pieter Molijn could pave the way for the return of other paintings from the 1,400-piece collection of the noted Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.The collection was seized when Goudstikker fled Holland after the 1940 Nazi invasion, with many of the prime works taken for the personal collection of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Hermann Goering.The Getty bought the painting at auction in 1972 for an undisclosed sum, but never displayed it.Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law said she hoped the Getty’s decision would encourage four other US and Canadian museums to return other paintings from the collection, the report said.”It is always encouraging to see an important cultural institution like the Getty Museum decide to do the right thing for Holocaust victims and their heirs,” Marie Von Saher was quoted as saying.
Salzburg Festival cancels Jean Ziegler speech over Libya ties
Vienna – The Austrian province of Salzburg has cancelled a keynote speech by Swiss intellectual Jean Ziegler at its prestigious cultural festival because of his alleged ties to Libya, a regional government spokesman confirmed Thursday.Allegations about Ziegler’s closeness to Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi would have overshadowed his speech at the festival, which begins in July, the spokesman said.The Swiss sociologist is best known for his past work as UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and for his writings on global hunger.In an interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF, Ziegler alleged that his speech had in reality been cancelled because of opposition from Swiss sponsors, which include food giant Nestle and the bank Credit Suisse.Swiss banks and Nestle have been the targets of Ziegler’s criticism in the past.Ziegler denied accusations by the American Jewish Committee that he had received a human rights prize set up by Gaddafi, whom he called a “psychopath.”However, he previously said that he had supported the establishment of the prize in 1989.Past honorees include former South African President Nelson Mandela and Palestinian children. Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan accepted the prize last year.