12 Star Culture: June/July 2009

Vilnius has now been Europe's Capital of Culture for half-a-year and so we have asked Lithuania's Cultural Attaché Daiva Parulskiene to tell us how it is going and what we can look forward to in the months ahead. Also in this edition we learn about East Anglia's premiere festival and its continental roots, we meet Tom Ponsonby who works for one of the UK's biggest arts charities, read about the future of social networking on the web, and mark Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. Be sure to put one of the summer's highlights in your diary: thanks to the Swedish Embassy and the European Commission in London, ABBA's Benny Andersson will be in concert on 4 July with his band on Hampstead Heath. Finally, catch up with the latest exhibitions at the 12 Star Gallery and also with our regular bloggers.

---

Vilnius: the cultured heart of Europe by Jonathon Brown
Wits say that the colours of the Italian flag represent tomato, mozzarella and rucola; as for the Lithuanians, they say that the colours of their flag, adopted only in 1918 - namely yellow, green and red - represent sun, light and prosperity; or nature, freedom and hope; but also, they say, earth, courage and bloodshed... >>

Aldeburgh's European Connections by Henrietta Bredin
The Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in 1948, has something quintessentially English about it, with its uniquely beautiful setting in huge 19th-century barley malthouses amid rustling reed beds on the Suffolk coast. From the very beginning, however, it has had strong European links. >>

Tom Ponsonby quizzed by Anthony Gardner
Tom Ponsonby is the administrative director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. He previously worked for the British Council, the British Association of Concert Agents and a variety of management companies; he was also tour manager for the European Community Youth Orchestra (as it then was)... >>

The future of the internet and social networking in Europe
by Peter Beckett
Have any of you been living the life of a hermit for the last six or seven years? If yes, I ask you to recall the internet as it was before you dropped out: there were websites that allowed users to become members and interact with other members in loads of different... >>

Events: Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month
June has been declared GRTHM and in response Southwark Council has produced Pavee Widden: Travellers Talking, written and illustrated by Slovenian artist Eva Sajovic who recently showed her work at the 12 Star Gallery. >>


Events: Sweden on Stage (4 July 2009)
Come and hear ABBA's Benny Andersson and his orchestra on Hampstead Heath at this unique Family Fun Day. Set to mark the start of the Swedish EU Presidency, the Embassy of Sweden in London has joined forces with the European Commission in London...>>

12 Star Gallery: An Interior World (24 June - 3 July 2009)
"Addinall never had a formal training in art, learning instead by looking at the work of other artists: an eclectic mix of Post-Impressionists, early Modernists, 17th century Dutch painters and masters of the Early Renaissance. As many Scottish painters did a century ago, she saved up and headed for Paris …" >>

Blogs: Comedy of Errors at the globe by Antonia Mochan
Before I start writing about last night's performance of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors at the Globe Theatre, I should declare an interest, which is that I played Dromio of Ephesus in the Lower Sixth/Fourth Year play, in 1988. So I've always liked the play and it seemed fitting that my first time at the Globe should be... >>