Hintergrund 21

Description

“Westward expansion” says the East, “eastward expansion” says the West. Ten Eastern European states are currently on the threshold of joining the European Union. Thirteen years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Europe is thus facing decisive upheavals on a political, social as well as cultural level. The West’s arrogant policy of treating Eastern European countries as “supplicants” who must first work to become “ready for Europe” represents a rather barren basis for mutual rapprochement. After all, regardless of clearly defined political, legal, administrative, economic and other guidelines that the accession states have to fulfill, there is a broad field that cannot be defined by regulations and evaluations: the handling of intellectual and cultural heritage, be it in art, music, literature or even architecture and urban planning. An important task facing the post-communist countries is the redefinition of cultural identity, which arises all the more in the dialogue with the Western states. In order to create an awareness in the “West” of the valuable cultural heritage that needs to be reappraised and incorporated into a larger – into the next – Europe, some educational work and a lively exchange are required.
What the one who occasionally calls himself “Toughenegger” and is now at the head of a not insignificant state of the United States of America can do, the MOBAs have been able to do for a long time. After all, “The point of posturing is to give the appearance of being able to do something that then doesn’t need to be done.” That some porcelain sometimes gets broken in the process is something we know from the movies. Crystal Clear has exactly 4 minutes, 36 seconds to get to the cinema, the Stadtkino am Schwarzenbergplatz, right next to the sand dunes on the left.