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    A Flash of Memory

    14oped_large 

    By ISSEY MIYAKE

    Published: July 13, 2009

    New York Times 

    IN April, President Obama pledged to seek peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons. He called for not simply a reduction, but elimination. His words awakened something buried deeply within me, something about which I have until now been reluctant to discuss.

    I realized that I have, perhaps now more than ever, a personal and moral responsibility to speak out as one who survived what Mr. Obama called the “flash of light.”

    On Aug. 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on my hometown, Hiroshima. I was there, and only 7 years old. When I close my eyes, I still see things no one should ever experience: a bright red light, the black cloud soon after, people running in every direction trying desperately to escape — I remember it all. Within three years, my mother died from radiation exposure.

    I have never chosen to share my memories or thoughts of that day. I have tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to put them behind me, preferring to think of things that can be created, not destroyed, and that bring beauty and joy. I gravitated toward the field of clothing design, partly because it is a creative format that is modern and optimistic.

    I tried never to be defined by my past. I did not want to be labeled “the designer who survived the atomic bomb,” and therefore I have always avoided questions about Hiroshima. They made me uncomfortable.

    But now I realize it is a subject that must be discussed if we are ever to rid the world of nuclear weapons. There is a movement in Hiroshima to invite Mr. Obama to Universal Peace Day on Aug. 6 — the annual commemoration of that fateful day. I hope he will accept. My wish is motivated by a desire not to dwell on the past, but rather to give a sign to the world that the American president’s goal is to work to eliminate nuclear wars in the future.

    Last week, Russia and the United States signed an agreement to reduce nuclear arms. This was an important event. However, we are not naïve: no one person or country can stop nuclear warfare. In Japan, we live with the constant threat from our nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea. There are reports of other countries acquiring nuclear technology, too. For there to be any hope of peace, people around the world must add their voices to President Obama’s.

    If Mr. Obama could walk across the Peace Bridge in Hiroshima — whose balustrades were designed by the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi as a reminder both of his ties to East and West and of what humans do to one another out of hatred — it would be both a real and a symbolic step toward creating a world that knows no fear of nuclear threat. Every step taken is another step closer to world peace.

    Issey Miyake is a clothing designer. This article was translated by members of his staff from the Japanese.

    Vienna New Year Concert 2009

    ‘I wish the year 2009 peace all around the world, and a little  more peace in the Middle East’-Daniel Barenboim, the Argentinian-Israel conductor expressed a solemn wish for the new year after the Gaza War broke out on December 27, 2008 on the Gaza Strip. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_War)

     (Dieser Artikel ist auf der offiziellen Website von Daniel Barenboim erschienen und wurde mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Autors zur Verfügung gestellt.)

    Daniel Barenboim On Conducting the New Year’s Day Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic

    Before conducting the New Year’s Day concert in Vienna recently, I had often performed some of the works included on the program as encores while on tour with the Vienna Philharmonic, but I had never before conducted a whole program of waltzes and polkas. It occurred to me as I was learning the program how lucky I was to have played so many short pieces as a pianist, because a conductor’s repertoire is generally limited to big symphonies with the occasional symphonic poem or overture. Having played Chopin Nocturnes and Waltzes, Schubert Impromptus, Schumann Novelettes, and Brahms Intermezzi, I felt I could draw from a whole world of music that condenses the wealth of musical creation into the form of a short piece. Playing these pieces as a pianist, you learn to adapt the musical line to a shorter form.

    There are so many repeats in these Strauss pieces: whole sections and half sections, both in the polkas and the waltzes. This fascinates me, because I have always believed since my childhood that one of the greatest contributions music makes to human existence is precisely that it is unrepeatable. It was extremely interesting to me to think about and dwell on the different possibilities of giving each repeated section a slightly different character or angle by sometimes changing the balance in the orchestra and allowing subsidiary voices to acquire greater importance when a section was repeated for the second or third time. This especially applied to the polkas. It was also very important to find the connection between the different waltzes in each set with very slight, almost imperceptible changes of tempo between the waltzes, thus making a unity of similar elements rather than a monotony of independent, repeated sections.

    Music like this is often frowned upon as being superficial, as if accessibility were equivalent to superficiality. On the contrary, there is plenty of music that is difficult to access and not very deep, and plenty of music that is immediately accessible yet musically rich. The music of the Strauss family has benefited over the years from its extraordinary degree of accessibility and the immediate acceptance of the works as they were written, but with time the pieces became victims of their very popularity. This music very often has a popular feeling but nevertheless always maintains a certain aristocratic quality which I find very appealing: it is popular but not proletarian, especially in the great waltzes. The slow polkas, on the other hand, like the Annen-Polka and the Alexandrinen-Polka have a tremendous amount of charm as only slow dances can have. The fast polkas, like Unter Donner und Blitz and the Zampa Galopp, have a quality of exhilaration and energy that are in great contrast to the slow polkas.

    It is very difficult to make a program exclusively of this music. There are 19 pieces on the program, and it is very easy to let them just become a collection of encores. This is why the Vienna Philharmonic and I tried to develop an inner construction. Each half of the program began with an overture to an operetta: in the first half it was the overture to “Eine Nacht in Venedig,” (A Night in Venice) and in the second half it was the overture to the “Zigeunerbaron” (the Gypsy Baron). There were two great waltzes in the first half, Märchen aus dem Orient (Tales from the Orient) and Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses From the South). They were interspersed by the Annen-Polka, one of the most perfect examples of the slow polka, in order to provide contrast between two great waltzes. After Rosen aus dem Süden, we played Freikugeln, a very fast polka, to end the first half.

    In the second half we played what I would call a small symphony made up of three pieces from the Zigeunerbaron: the Overture, Einzugsmarsch (opening march), and Schatz-Waltzer. Then there was the Valse Espagnole of Hellmesberger, which was like the sorbet served in classical haute cuisine dinners in order to refresh the palate between courses, followed by one unit of three polkas with the slow one, the Alexandrinen-Polka, in the middle.

    The second part of the concert was in itself conceived in two parts, and the first part ended with these three polkas. The second part of the second half began with what I believe is one of the most beautiful musical works ever written, Sphärenklänge, which opens with this wonderful, almost Wagnerian introduction. I fell in love with this piece the first time I heard Karajan conduct it on the New Year’s Day concert in 1987, and it was partly for this reason that I asked to conduct this waltz this year. To contrast it, it was followed by yet another fast polka, Éljen a Magyár! The formal program then ended with Haydn’s Farewell Symphony to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of his death. Because we “staged” the Farewell Symphony so that the musicians left the stage, leaving me unattended, the first encore was the polka: “So Ängstlich Sind Wir Nicht” (We are not Afraid). The second encore was the ubiquitous Blauer Donau (The Blue Danube), which as tradition dictates was interrupted by applause so that the conductor can wish the listeners in the Musikverein and the people watching the concert on television a Happy New Year. I took this opportunity to deliver a message of hope for peace 2009 and for human justice in the Middle East.

    The Vienna Philharmonic owns this music, spiritually speaking, and not just for geographical reasons. In geographical terms, they own a very high percentage of the classical masterpieces: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Schönberg, and so on, but their relationship with the music of the Strauss family is closer than that of any other orchestra. This is due in part but not exclusively to the tradition of the New Year’s Day concert, which is now in its 70th year. I have enjoyed a very long relationship with the orchestra for many years both as pianist and conductor, but to play this Strauss program with them was a very special occasion for me not only because millions of people watched it on television but because of the attitude of the musicians. One could have expected, and almost excused, an attitude of: “We know it all,” but I was heartened and inspired by their curiosity and openness to rethink with me the different styles in this highly varied music. Questions of tempo, rubato, and dynamics were looked upon as if for the first time, and this coming from such a great orchestra. It was a perfectly balanced combination of attitude and aptitude.

    It was wonderful to feel the orchestra refusing to let itself fall into the routine of what they already knew to be “successful.” They had a freshness of discovery in their approach which is so important; after all, you cannot expect the listener to be surprised by a sudden modulation in the music unless the players are able to give the feeling of inventing it on the spur of the moment. A clear understanding of the form and structure of the music allows the players to create the impression that they are inventing it at that moment. Rehearsing intelligently sometimes means deciding what must not happen rather than what should. I think it is erroneous to claim that what I call strategic thinking in music (which one could term “telehearing” as opposed to television) is in contradiction with the freshness of spontaneity. The better the musical preparation is structured, the more the intuition can be given free reign. Before one plays the first note of a piece one must be able to imagine the sound of the last note of the piece, which implies an understanding of the structure. This is what I mean by “telehearing.” However, because music takes place in time, the structure in music is also flowing. It is not set in stone; rather, it flows like water. Even the structure of music has a fluidity which is one of the reasons why music can touch people so much. The fluidity of music reminds them of the fluidity of life, and this is as much in evidence in a small polka or set of waltzes as it is in a large-scale symphony. © 2009 Daniel Barenboim

    All that time

    All that time

    we all know

    the things we love

    the people we love

    at any time

    it can be taken away

    we live knowing that

    we keep going anyway

    -Little Children

    Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

    New York Times January 20, 2009

    读奥巴马就职演说,发现下句很有意思:

    Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.

    回忆早前的几代人,不仅以导弹和坦克,更以坚定的联盟和不朽的信念打倒了法西斯主义与共产主义。

    以下转载纽约时报奥巴马就职演说全文。

    Following is the transcript of President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions:

    PRESIDENT BARACK Thank you. Thank you.

    CROWD: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

    My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

    I thank President Bush for his service to our nation...

    (APPLAUSE)

    ... as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

    Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

    The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

    So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

    That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

    Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

    These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.

    Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.

    (APPLAUSE)

    On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

    On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.

    We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

    (APPLAUSE)

    In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.

    It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

    Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

    For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

    For us, they fought and died in places Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

    Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

    This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.

    Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

    (APPLAUSE)

    For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.

    The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth.

    We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.

    We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality...

    (APPLAUSE)

    ... and lower its costs.

    We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.

    All this we can do. All this we will do.

    Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.

    What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.

    MR. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works, whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

    Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.

    And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

    Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched.

    But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

    The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

    (APPLAUSE)

    As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.

    Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations.

    Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

    And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

    (APPLAUSE)

    Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.

    They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

    We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.

    With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.

    We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense.

    And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

    (APPLAUSE)

    For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

    We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

    And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

    To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

    To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

    To those...

    (APPLAUSE)

    To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

    (APPLAUSE)

    To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

    And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

    As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

    We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.

    And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

    For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

    It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break; the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours.

    It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

    Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends, honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old.

    These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.

    What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

    This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

    This is the source of our confidence: the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

    This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall. And why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

    (APPLAUSE)

    So let us mark this day in remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.

    In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river.

    The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.

    At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

    "Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."

    America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words; with hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come; let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

    Thank you. God bless you.

    (APPLAUSE)

    And God bless the United States of America.

    (APPLAUSE)

    beautiful boy

    beautiful boy

    weeping on my shoulder

    over the failure in Prix de Lausanne

    at the age of 18

    farewell to Zurich in freezing winter

     

    beautiful boy

    cuddle you in my arms

    lose yourself completely in SHIBC

    at the age of 19

    heart and soul in a moving experiment

     

      beautiful boy

    turn into a true man

    of talent, passion and conviction

    at the age of 20

    life unfolds its melodrama and you'll suss yourself out  

     

    --to Jiayong upon your embarkment for Zurich Ballet 

    vanitas

     

    1014wallpaper-6_1280


















    i wish
    i were that little iris
    in full bloom for you

    you smile
    flowers fade away in no time

    honey
    if beauty is ephemeral
    if all is vanity
    but love is eternal

    Hafiz wrote
    'even after all this time
    The sun never says to the earth, "You owe me."
    Look what happens with a Love like that!
    —It lights the whole Sky.' 

    europeana

    Europeana – a single access point to Europe's cultural heritage

    Europeana is the common access point to the collections of European libraries, archives and museums from all around Europe.  Europeana providing direct online access to at least 2 million items.

     

                                                                                                                        Europeana_Logo_uk_3

    A European digital library for all – researchers, professionals and the public

    Europeana Now Accessible: http://www.europeana.eu/portal/(The website will re-open in mid December, 2008)

    Europeana is a simple but powerful tool for finding resources from all over Europe. Books, journals, films, maps, photos, music etc. will be available for everyone to consult – and to use, copyright permitting. For example, the library will be a rich source of materials for the creative and information industries in developing new products and services, for tourism and for teaching.

    Experience shows that online library services work. Gallica, the online section of the French National Library, gets 4 000 downloads a day and 1.5 million hits a month.

    Adding material and improving search tools

    After the launch of the prototype, Europeana will be developed into a fully operational service, and more content will be added to the library. In 2010 over 10 million digital items should be accessible.

    New features – such as annotation tools for researchers – may be developed and added to Europeana in response to user demand. And in due course, the intention is for users to contribute materials too (through an open-source approach, like Wikipedia ).

    A decentralised library managed by experts

    The European digital library will not be brought together into a single database but Europeana will be a single access point, linking up to databases all over Europe. Users will no longer need to search digital libraries individually to find what they are looking for.

    The single access point ("portal") will be run by the European Digital Library Foundation. Created on 8 November 2007, the Foundation is a collection of European cultural institutions – all committed to the project but retaining their independence, for example in hiring staff or seeking sponsorship.

    Its founding members include European associations of libraries, archives, museums and audiovisual archives. The operational structure supporting Europeana is hosted by the Dutch National Library.

    Europeana is a simple but powerful tool for finding resources from all over Europe. Books, journals, films, maps, photos, music etc. will be available for everyone to consult – and to use, copyright permitting. For example, the library will be a rich source of materials for the creative and information industries in developing new products and services, for tourism and for teaching.

    Experience shows that online library services work. Gallica, the online section of the French National Library, gets 4 000 downloads a day and 1.5 million hits a month.

    Adding material and improving search tools

    After the launch of the prototype, Europeana will be developed into a fully operational service, and more content will be added to the library. In 2010 over 10 million digital items should be accessible.

    New features – such as annotation tools for researchers – may be developed and added to Europeana in response to user demand. And in due course, the intention is for users to contribute materials too (through an open-source approach, like Wikipedia ).

    A decentralised library managed by experts

    The European digital library will not be brought together into a single database but Europeana will be a single access point, linking up to databases all over Europe. Users will no longer need to search digital libraries individually to find what they are looking for.

    The single access point ("portal") will be run by the European Digital Library Foundation. Created on 8 November 2007, the Foundation is a collection of European cultural institutions – all committed to the project but retaining their independence, for example in hiring staff or seeking sponsorship.

    Its founding members include European associations of libraries, archives, museums and audiovisual archives. The operational structure supporting Europeana is hosted by the Dutch National Library.

    What does "EUROPEANA" mean?
    EUROPEANA is the Latin word for "European" and, here, is shorthand for "Bibliotheca Europeana", the European Library. Major libraries have often been given Latin names (e.g. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Bibliotheca Bodleiana, Bibliotheca Gallica).
    EUROPEANA also means "European things", which refers to the rich cultural content and to the different types of media (books, newspapers, music, films and maps) which will be made available.

    -excerpt from http://ec.europa.eu

    Zurich Ballet

     

    Were life a mid summer night's dream

    honey

    i wish we would never wake up

                                                DSCN0318

                                                Photographed by Ivy Yu Yang at Shanghai Grand Theatre Nov. 16, 2008

    ALIVE

    we are alive
    really alive
    with pulse and heart
    sweat and blood
    here and now

    欧洲文化之都-转载

    歐洲文化之都(European Capital of Culture)以文找文
    在文化遺產保存與維護的歷史發展上,歐洲一直是過去最主要的論述中心(現在世界各國則已經開始朝多元論述的方向努力中)。這當中當然包括了各歐洲國家對於文化遺產事務的推動與合作,台灣在面對文化遺產的保存與維護工作最常借鏡的是日本經驗(最主要的原因還是從現存歷史建築物的年代回溯來看,多以日治時期的建築為大宗,清領時期或是其他時期的次之)。除此之外,在陳郁秀女士擔任文建會主委期間,特別將她所熟稔的法國經驗也引入台灣,甚至每年都會舉辦以「馬樂侯」(Georges André Malraux, 1901-1976)(註1)為名的文化遺產相關研討會,這些都算是非常重要的經驗交流,對台灣國際視野的開拓都有重要的影響。
     
    台灣受限於政治情勢與國際地位的現實,很少有機會觸及到歐洲國家對於文化遺產活動的交流機會,在我研究文化遺產管理的過程中,「歐洲聯盟」(European Union)與「歐洲理事會」(Council of Europe)的文化政策對於文化遺產保存與維護事務的影響其實也非常關鍵,其中,有一個在旅遊市場很常見到的廣告噱頭,就是用「歐洲文化之都」來作為宣傳。什麼是「歐洲文化之都」?它很了不起嗎?
     
    (以下文字請見註2
     
    「歐洲文化之都」始於「歐洲文化之都計劃」The European Capital of Culture plan),1983年的12月由希臘文化部長Melina Mercouri邀請當時歐洲共同體European community各國文化部長於希臘雅典聚會即歐盟部長會議The Council of Ministers of the European Union時所提出的一個概念。Merlina希望藉由「歐洲文化之都」這個計劃讓會員國間透過不同文化的交流與分享,拉近歐洲人民的關係並進而營造出一股具有多元文化特色的「歐洲共識」(European Consensus)。「歐洲文化之都」的提案於1985年開始實施,第一屆的文化之都便以希臘的雅典城作為代表。第一階段計劃從1985年到2004年止,目前歐盟已通過第二階段計劃將從2005年繼續到2019年,並將此計畫置於共同體文化合作行動計劃「文化2000(culture 2000)的架構之下。
     
    每年的歐洲文化之都的選出是相當具有民主程序的:歐盟會員國每年得以向歐洲議會(European Parliament)、部長理事會(Council of Ministers)、歐盟執委會(European Executive Council)及區域委員會(District Commissions)提名一個或數個參與來年歐洲文化之都的候選都市及推薦的理由。重要的是,會員國在提名每個歐洲文化之都的同時,也必須附帶提出一個符合歐盟文化合作精神的文化計劃。接著,候選城市名單將交由執委會所成立的特別小組在參考歐洲議會提書的意見後加以審核。最後則由部長理事會參考執委會提出的報告選出來年的「歐洲文化之都」。這個活動也已開放給非歐盟地區的歐洲國家參加,不過,需要歐盟部長理事會全體通過才可獲選為歐洲文化之都。
     
    而這些歐洲文化之都都必須盡力達成下列目標:促進藝術活動的發展並持續發揚此一精神、鼓勵文化領域中的成員得以跨越國界的互相合作、保證藝術工作者及參與人員的自由流通、利用多媒體或是多語言的方式鼓勵歐洲市民更親近藝術並得以拓展更廣泛的觀賞群眾、鼓勵歐洲文化和其文化交流、發掘保護文化遺跡並提昇城市的生活品質等等。
     
    1990年開始,為了更拓廣歐洲文化之都這類的概念及想法,歐盟提出了「歐洲文化月」的計劃。這和歐洲文化之都計劃的實施方式類似,然而,可以參加的對象不再只限於歐盟會員國都市,而擴及至一些中、東歐國家,一年的期限也縮短成一個月。波蘭的克拉科夫(Cracow)便於1992年被選為首屆歐洲文化月的舉辦都市。
     
    除了計劃範圍的擴大之外,從1991年開始,為了能延續每任歐洲文化之都的經驗,歐洲文化之都創造了屬於自己的網絡,各屆舉辦歐洲文化之都的活動經驗於是得以快速的累積下來,以提供給未來的主辦城市當作參考或是藉由網絡尋求策劃活動上的協助。事實上,網絡平台的建立幾乎已成為歐盟所有的計劃中不可缺少的一環。因為唯有藉著經驗的交換、累積和傳承,才是所有計劃得以長久繼續並愈趨完美的不二法門。


    成為歐洲文化的都市不一定是要像雅典、巴黎等擁有高度文化藝術成就的大都市才足以當選,像是西班牙薩拉滿加(Salamanca)、奧地利的格拉茲(Graz)等小城市也都曾因為其特殊的文化特色及其帶動的文化計劃而當選成為歐洲文化之都。
     
    【歐洲文化之城】
    1985: 雅典 (希臘) / Athens (Greece)
    1986: 佛羅倫斯(義大利) / Florence (Italy)
    1987: 阿姆斯特丹 (荷蘭) / Amsterdam (Netherlands)
    1988: 西柏林 (西德) / West Berlin (West Germany)註:當時的德國尚未統一。
    1989: 巴黎 (法國) / Paris (France)
    1990: 格拉斯哥 (英國) / Glasgow (United Kingdom)
    1991: 都柏林 (愛爾蘭) / Dublin (Ireland)
    1992: 馬德里 (西班牙) / Madrid (Spain)
    1993: 安特衛普 (比利時) / Antwerp (Belgium)
    1994: 里斯本 (葡萄牙) / Lisbon (Portugal)
    1995: 盧森堡 (盧森堡) / Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
    1996: 哥本哈根 (丹麥) / Copenhagen (Denmark)
    1997: 薩洛尼卡 (希臘) / Thessaloniki (Greece)
    1998: 斯德哥爾摩 (瑞典) / Stockholm (Sweden)
     
    1999年起更名為【歐洲文化之都】
    1999: 威瑪(德國) / Weimar (Germany)
    2000: 雷克雅未克(冰島)、柏根(挪威)、赫爾辛基(芬蘭)、布魯塞爾(比利時)、布拉格(捷克)、克拉科夫(波蘭)、聖地亞哥-德孔波斯特拉(西班牙)、阿維儂(法國)、波隆尼亞(義大利) / Reykjavík (Iceland), Bergen (Norway), Helsinki (Finland), Brussels (Belgium), Prague (Czech Republic), Krakow (Poland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Avignon (France), Bologna (Italy)註:2000年的名單會這麼多,大概是因為千禧年吧,這部份我並未究其因。
    2001: 鹿特丹(荷蘭)、波爾多(葡萄牙) / Rotterdam (Netherlands) , Porto (Portugal)  
    2002: 布魯日(比利時)、薩拉曼卡(西班牙) / Bruges (Belgium), Salamanca (Spain)
    2003: 格拉茨(奧地利) / Graz (Austria)
    2004: 熱那亞(義大利)、里爾(法國) / Genoa (Italy), Lille (France)
    2005: 科克(愛爾蘭) / Cork (Ireland)
    2006: Patras (希臘) / Patras (Greece)
    2007: 盧森堡(盧森堡)、錫比烏(羅馬尼亞) / Luxembourg and greater region (Luxembourg), Sibiu (Romania)
     
    2008以後的後選名單】
    2008: 利物浦(英國)、斯塔萬格(挪威) / Stavanger and Sandnes (Norway), Liverpool (United Kingdom)
    2009: 維爾紐斯(立陶宛)、林茨(奧地利) / Linz (Austria) , Vilnius (Lithuania)
    2010:伊斯坦堡(土耳其)佩琪(匈牙利)、埃森(德國) Istanbul (Turkey) / Pécs (Hungary) — Essen (Germany)
    2011: Turku (Finland) — Tallinn (Estonia)
    2012: Guimarães (Portugal) — Maribor (Slovenia)
    2013: France — Slovakia
    2014: Sweden — Latvia
    2015: Belgium — Czech Republic
    2016: Spain — Poland
    2017: Denmark — Cyprus
    2018: Netherlands — Malta
    2019: Italy - Bulgaria
     
    【註釋】
    1馬樂侯(Georges André Malraux)是法國歷史上非常重要的文化推手,曾任戴高樂時代法國文化部長,法國的重大文化遺產政策均始於他之手。詳細介紹請見: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Malraux
     
    2本文後半部的文字我有小部份修改自黃聿卉小姐在「歐洲聯盟研究協會」官方網站上所刊載的文章,許多是加註中英文對照的專有名詞,因此若須對照原著者請聯結到
     
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