Interviews
Where are you from? Who are you? How many of us sense these past few years have been a profound revolution? In this era where borders in Europe have all but disappeared, culture in all its forms new and old is taking on renewed importance in helping diverse groups and individuals communicate or at least begin to see there are diverse ways of thinking and feeling and looking at this new globalised world. On these pages we talk to some of the people who are contributing to the changing European cultural scene today.
Laurence Auer talks to Lucy Lethbridge
The task of spearheading the promotion of French culture in Britain would seem an enviable task, and Laurence Auer, Cultural Counsellor and Director of the Institut Francais in London, has taken to it with characteristic gusto and imagination. Mme Auer, who until she took up her London post in 2006 was the Deputy Spokesperson of... >>
Performing Tricks at the Young Vic by David D'Arcy
David Lan is a magician but doesn't like to talk about it. As a youngster he used to chair a magic circle but today he works different types of wonders as Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. Over the past eight years Lan has overseen some acclaimed productions at the Young Vic, both on and off the stage. >>
Almost twenty questions
Born in Lisbon, Paula Rego became an artist after studying at the Slade School of Art. She has been based in London for the past 30 years. Her work has taken many forms - including collages, prints and pastels - and often draws disturbingly on images from childhood. Her most recent exhibition, in New York, was entitled 'Human Cargo'.... >>
Juan Pedro Aparicio talks to Vanessa Viana
The Cervantes Institute was created in 1991 by the Spanish government to promote the study of that country´s language and culture throughout the world. Named after the creator of Don Quixote, it is fitting that the Institute's director in London these past three years, is widely respected writer Juan Pedro Aparicio >>
Iwona Blazwick talks to Anthony Gardner
In 1939, the Whitechapel Gallery was approached by a group of local trade unionists with an idea for an exhibition. 'They said, "We have a young artist who wants to raise consciousness about the Spanish Civil War",' says the gallery's present director Iwona Blazwick, ' - and it was Picasso. >>
Reet Remmel talks to Anthony Gardner
It is curious, Reet Remmel reflects, how perceptions of distance can change. To Estonians of her generation, growing up in the Soviet era, neighbouring Finland seemed infinitely far away, accessible only through the television programmes which some viewers in the north of the country could pick up.... >>
Dr Ildikó Takács, Director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre
The first time Ildikó Takács walked across the Victorian suspension bridge at Marlow in Buckinghamshire, she felt her heart begin to race. 'Marlow Bridge was built between 1829 and 1832 to a design by William Tierney Clark,' she explains. >>
'Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the ICA by Anthony Gardner
In the cult Sixties television series The Man from UNCLE, members of the international law-enforcement agency would enter their ultra-high-tech headquarters by way of an old-fashioned tailor's shop. At the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the process is rather the reverse. >>
Lone Britt Molloy talks to Anthony Gardner
The Press & Cultural Attaché at the Royal Danish Embassy in London is sure her work is her ideal job. In the years she has held the post, the UK has undergone a cultural revolution of regeneration and rising public interest and enjoyment in all the arts. >>
Jane Birkin is quizzed by Anthony Gardner
The singer, actress and film director Jane Birkin was born in England, but has lived in France for most of her adult life. She had a succès de scandale in 1969 with the song 'Je T'aime…Moi Non Plus' which she made with Serge Gainsbourg; she has since recorded more than a dozen albums, and appeared in over 70 films. >>
Prof. Pierluigi Barrotta, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, London by M. Beatrice Fazi
The Italian Cultural Institutes are the Italian government's official agencies for the promotion of cultural relations and play a significant role in thepractical implementation of cultural dialogue in the host country. The London Institute opened nearly sixty years ago... >>
Eduardo Monteiro talks to Dermot Scott
On a recent visit to the UK to perform at the Wigmore Hall and in Manchester, the Brazilian pianist Eduardo Monteiro reflects on the development of classical music in Brazil, from its roots in Portuguese church music through a nationalist phase to its present cosmopolitanism, on its acceptability to a British audience...>>
Deborah Bull talks to Anthony Gardner
What does a ballerina do after she retires from dancing? It is six years since Bull hung up her pointe shoes and moved upstairs to become creative director of the Opera House's ROH2 programme. It is an enormous job, with responsibility for almost all the House's activities other than productions on the main stage...>>
Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of the Southbank
'I think what British theatre has been trying to do in the last twenty years is take on some of the best qualities of European theatre in terms of ensemble work and physicality,' she says. 'But the big influence in terms of musicals has been America. It's a bit like foreign policy - there's a populism that leans towards America, and a intellectual rigour that leans towards Europe....>>
Gianluca Vialli shares his thoughts with Anthony Gardner
According to this football legend 'British fans in general have an exemplary commitment to the game, which is why the UK was a good choice of venue for the match between a European XI and Manchester United to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. 'The fans never let you down....' >>
Nicholas Hytner, Director of the National Theatre
'The great thing about it is its night-by-night energy, and its sense of fun and adventure,' says Nicholas Hytner of Watch This Space, the National Theatre's festival of street performance (co-sponsored by the EC Representation in Britain). 'It really does engage anyone who's walking by...>>
A. de B. of Philosophy
'Angst,' wrote Cyril Connolly, 'is an awareness of the waste of our time and ability, such as may be witnessed among people kept waiting by a hairdresser.' Ask Alain de Botton what set him on the path to becoming a philosopher, and he will tell you that it was not Plato's dialogues or Nietzsche's diktats...>>
Interview with a fun guy by Anthony Gardner
The restaurateur and cookery writer Antonio Carluccio was born in Italy in the province of Salerno, but has made his home in London. A former journalist and wine merchant, he ran the Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden for over 25 years, and is the author of twelve books, including 'An Invitation to Italian Cooking'. >>
Gottfried Wagner
'Whenever I hear the word "culture",' runs the famous line from Hanns Johst's play Schlageter, '…I release the safety catch of my Browning.' One would hardly expect the head of the European Cultural Foundation, to take a similar view - but he does believe that culture can be dangerous, and was rightly omitted as...>>
Patrick Hazard converses on film
London now has an international documentary festival thanks to Patrick Hazard, its director, and his team. He trained as an anthropologist at University College London and has carried out research in Turin on migration, political radicalism and theories of place. Here he talks to Caroline Boyle. ...>>
100 IDEAS - the role of culture in the 21st century
At London's Southbank Centre a festival of ideas and debate has just begun. It includes talks, performances, Q&As and multi-media events to explore the role of culture in the 21st century. Ralph Rugoff, new director of the Hayward Gallery, talks about what he hopes the series might achieve and how it aims to be part ...>>
Dr. Victoria Solomonidis, cultural counsellor at the Greek Embassy in London was recently awarded an honorary fellowship by King's College London for her work in the cultural field; she opted not for a celebratory party but for a colloquium on the issue of cultural diplomacy, under the title "Angels Abroad: Cultural Diplomats at Work". >>
Louise T. Blouin MacBain talks about her ideas for change and inter-cultural dialogue
Towards the end of 2006 in a spectacularly converted coachworks in West London, a new art and cultural Institute opened - the Louise T Blouin Institute. It is part of the wider global media business, with a commitment to the arts and culture... >>
Tommy Hutchinson founder of i-genius
What's in a name? i-genius is seeking to create a world community of social entrepreneurs and to inspire a new generation to become social innovators. >>
Karl-Erik Norrman in conversation with Caroline Boyle
After a distinguished diplomatic career in the Swedish Foreign Ministry...Karl-Erik Norrman is now Secretary-General of the European Cultural Parliament (ECP) based in Berlin. >>