Around the Bloc: Russia’s Supreme Court to Hear Ukrainian Filmmaker’s Appeal
Lawyer for Crimea native Oleg Sentsov, jailed for 20 years on terrorism charges, hopes for reduced sentence.
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Lawyer for Crimea native Oleg Sentsov, jailed for 20 years on terrorism charges, hopes for reduced sentence.
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The Gypsies (Roma and other Gypsy communities) are actually an example how a people can exist in two dimensions – as a separate community/communities and as a more or less separated part of the society. Numerous researches of Romani studies scholar till now paid attention mostly on them as detached, specific community, but when speaking about ethnomusicology a paradox is observed. Main subject of majority researches are the Gypsy musicians, who serve the surrounding society, i.e. Roma are studied not so much as community, but rather as part of the society. The present article analyses the different spheres of functioning of the Gypsy music in the society and within the society and their mutual overlapping. Special attention is paid on role of the music within the Gypsy communities – in the different family (mainly during weddings) and calendar holidays, during the different rituals, in the everyday life, in different midst (family, age and/or sex restricted). On this ba¬sis the different appearances of the community identity of the Gypsies are analyzed, as well as the role, which the “Gypsy Music” (determined as such by the community itself) has on its creation and expression.
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The article is an overview of the Olah Romas‘ song folklore and lyrics in the former Czechoslovakia – in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, where until today it has retained its active existence in an unchanged form – in particular among the group Lovari. While the music and folk songs of the Roma are relatively known, the Olah folklore in its authentic form remains rather unknown. It has been transmitted through generations in an uninfluenced form even after these societies were forced to stop being migratory by the power of the communist state in 1959. Their song folklore is differentiated in structure, forms, types and way of performance, and divided into two main groups of songs: Mulatousha, louke djila which are long, slow songs, and Khelimaske djila which are rhythmical songs to be danced to. This article examines the lyrics and content of these songs and also focuses on their specific function in the Olah society. The majority of these songs are traditionally without a musical accompaniment which increases the importance of their lyrics. The singer tells through them a story to the community to whom he dedicates the song by the way of a ritual formula – which adds to the atmosphere of the song as far as both content and rhythm are concerned. The author of the article chose ex¬amples of the lyrics from her large collection of original recordings made between the years 1956 and 1990. The texts are transcribed from the recordings in the Olah Roma language and then loosely translated.
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The article outlines Polish literature dedicated to the phenomenon of flamenco. An author not only presents the state of research on flamenco in Poland, but also refers readers both to the earliest and to the most popular works on flamenco functioning abroad. While analyzing Polish literature Piotrowska asks a question about general attitude of Polish authors towards the issue of ‘Gypsyness’ of flamenco and presents how Polish writers treat Gypsy roots of flamenco. The author concludes that in Polish literature – comprising a few articles and books – Gypsy connotations of fla¬menco are usually duly underlined. At the same time, Piotrowska states that Polish literature on flamenco is dominated by practical approach focusing on performantive practices (dance, instrumental play), rather than on historic or aesthetic perspective. The author stresses the absence of Polish translations of important books on flamen¬co, however she also acknowledges the role Polish Internet sites play in promoting the Gypsy aspect of flamenco phenomenon.
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In the course of the restoration work launched in 2015 on the roofing, part of the authentic roof structure was discovered in the northeast corner of the building: a mound of earth thickly strewn with sherds of medieval pottery. Deep down in the mound, amphorae were unearthed, arranged upside down upon evening courses of brickwork. No such find is known to the authors on medieval sites within the contemporary Bulgarian lands. Descriptions of similar building techniques occur in publications on the Ochrid Church of St Sophia of the tenth or the eleventh century. Using pottery to reduce the weight of the structures has been described as a widely spread building method in Byzantium by its earliest explorers. Constructive use of amphorae occurs in Roman buildings between the fourth and the tenth centuries in ribbing small vaults and domes cast of slaked lime or plaster. Using pottery in construction of churches across Europe dates back to the tenth through the fourteenth century and beyond either as a method to improve the acoustics and/or reduce the weight of massive roof truses. The find from Nessebar has an apparent structural function to take the weight off the mould, meant to shape the slopes of the pitched roof.
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The expression postmodern culture occurs in many languages as synonymous with postmodernism. At the same time, ever since Lyotard published in 1979 his hypothesis and specified its two components – post-industrial society – postmodern age in culture – a theory of postmodernism has been developed. It distinguishes itself from other theories by its critical approach in relation to modernism. For this reason, postmodernism is generally regarded as being a challenge to the established order of understanding accepted by the academic fields of study. More precisely, theoretical postmodernism is a trend in various disciplines that seeks to revaluate (or reconceive) the foundational principles and concepts of the modern thought. “Post-modern culture” is one of those “post” terms that both designate and embody the idea of epochal shift from the modern to postmodern era. The view that music actively constructs ‘culture’ and ‘explains reality’ became possible with the publishing of works exhaustively arguing the contemporary (Western) reality in a combination of its quite different aspects. I call these models not only because these interpret/conceptualize our (“post”) modernity, but also because their followers in various disciplines (including musicology) undertake to further develop and argue the ideas practically. This essay offers a comparison between two types: programmatic and interpretative models for ‘postmodern culture’. A differentiation between theory, its term and the free use of ‘postmodern culture’ is necessary in musicology as well where interdisciplinary ideas are always there; while proper analytical criteria for ‘postmodern’ evaluation of musical composition are unevenly used by various schools. Still, these are certainly priorities in the movements of new musicology, socio-musicology and cultural musicology. The champions of ‘postmodern models of knowledge” in music advocate for adopting “a sceptical view of conceptual synthesis and aesthetic autonomy’ (Lawrence Kramer).This necessitates a type of analysis that stimulates a “deeper shift in the discipline” and leads the musicologists “to explore phenomena that previously had little or no place in musicology”, according to Martha Feldman. In more ambitious programmes, the analysis evolves into models of integration in sociological courses; their authors urge learning students to actively ‘apply sociological ideas to explain empirical reality’ (Jarl Ahlkvist).
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The article makes an analysis of the situation on the contemporary Bulgarian market as regards film distribution and film exhibition. The development of the sector is briefly traced from the late 1990s until now. The major factors for the ever-increasing number of viewers at cinema theatres are outlined. Some of the main reasons are given for the growing public interest in the recent Bulgarian feature films during the period. Using a comparative analysis, the main differences are sketched out, evincing the audiences’ interest in Bulgarian and American movies theatrically distributed in the recent years.
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The text analyses the results of an empirical fieldwork survey, which seeks to display how contemporary city dwellers in Bulgaria perceive and interpret the communicative messages of architectural works. It is a pilot survey, based on Charles Osgood’s method of the so-called semantic differential, which is applied here for the first time as an instrument in the field of architecture. In terms of its content, ensuring initial orientation and a general ‘mapping’ of the problematics is among the major contributions of the survey. Evaluation profiles of a series of significant architectural works were made. A comparative analysis was made of the evaluations of professional and unprofessional viewers of different categories of buildings. Methodically, a research approach and tools devised for the purpose were tested. Recommendations are provided for improving the methods when conducting further surveys in the same thematic field.
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Architecture creates artificial worlds. Illusion underlies the generative nature of architectural action. Understanding style as a permanent form and a visual sign of cultural oneness reflecting or projecting the inner form of collective thinking and feeling, suggests that stylistic differences are just degrees of development, a change in the ways in which illusions are created, tinted by the specifics of social relations. These are evidenced by the manifestations of architectural phenomena both of the days of Italian Renaissance and of the immediate contemporaneity with the new architectural style Parametricism introduced by Patrik Schumacher. The article draws an analogy, based on the strategies of creating spatial illusions, of their essence, the grounds for their creation and the logic of their persistent presence in architectural theory. Visual illusions and ambiguity are regarded as principles bound by the idea of beauty. Both six centuries ago and now, architecture would readily create notions and illusions that would have an emotional effect and convey subconsciously mass messages provoking positive reflections among their numerous audiences.
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The paper focuses on the cinematic presentation of the emotional atemporality in director Terrence Malick’s world. A historical analysis of his 2012 To the Wonder underlies this study. Love, quest for love and obsessive fear of losing it is what the storyline deals with. Malick delves deep into the intimate world of a couple in love, showing beyond speech and language – the coming, transformation and the end/endlessness of love, searching to study the intertwinement of imagination and reality; how the storyline is getting built and changed in the mind of both the protagonist and the viewer. The line between imagination and reality is constantly blurred and references to Christianity and faith render the story deep. A number of issues are raised of desire and passion, of which is ‘wrong’, of the generally accepted and ‘moral’ social behaviour.
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Unlike other regions of the world, the Balkans has not enjoyed the attention of many Western and American writers and filmmakers. The most obvious reason is that the region remained quite obscure. Moreover, the information on the Balkans has been scarce and therefore quite often the image is conventional and ultimately imbued with stereotypes. However, finally there are enough literary works and films on the Balkans and their characters. Besides screening literary works the films about the Balkans were born of three reasons: in order to portray several local historical figures, due to the need to locate romances, to use the negative reputation of the region or simply to tell adventurous travels in exotic places and even stories based on real facts. Obviously motivations could also mix.
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Christo [Vladimirov Javacheff] and Jeanne-Claude [Marie Denat] came to Australia in 1968 and with their site-specific installation had a profound impact on the development of conceptual art in Australia. Christo was born in Gabrovo in 1935 and was a graduate of the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia. His partner in art and life, the Frenchborn artist, Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009), met Christo in Paris in 1958 and together they became two of the most influential artists involved in conceptual art on the world stage. A peculiarity of their work was the ‘wrapping’ of objects leading to a transformation in their physical and conceptual existence. Their project in Australia was immense in scale, raised many significant conceptual questions and involved a large number of Australian collaborators for whom this was a defining moment in their development as artists. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s project was titled Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Sydney, Australia and was held over two months in 1968-69. It involved the spread of 1,000,000 square feet (92,900 square meters) of erosion control fabric with 35 miles (56.3 kilometres) of rope, with a total length of 2.4 kilometres and a height of 26 meters which completely transformed a scenic stretch of the Australian coastline. This was a controversial event which divided the Australian art community and in retrospect has been viewed as a transformational moment in the development of Australian art. This paper examines the significance of the event from the perspective of almost fifty years.
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The packaging manufacturing industry is rapidly evolving and energetically developing. The barometer pointer for the promotion of a particular product depends almost entirely on the packaging. The article traces out the world trends in the packaging sector, presenting emblematic brands that have developed the fundamentals of packaging design. The earliest significant packages of the past as well as contemporary trends are analysed. The focus is on leading brands, which are trailblazers in the sector such as Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, LEGO, McDonald’s, Nestlé, Royal Dutch Shell, P&G. Children’s packages inspired by actual fashion trends not necessarily consistent with the age group of the consumer body are under consideration. The packaging design of children’s products is the essence of public taste and culture, reflecting fashion nowadays.
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This paper examines the role of Bulgarian-born artist, Velislav Georgiev (1957 –), in transforming both his local and the wider Victorian landscape through his accessible and interactive artworks which invite the audience to experience the art object by engaging all five senses. Georgiev’s art practice in Australia stretches over 30 years and encompasses sculpture, painting, public art, furniture and architectural detail. Georgiev has created more than 28 public sculptures through which he engages in ongoing dialogue with a broad audience of all ages and backgrounds. These include a number of ‘play sculptures’, which encourage people to touch, feel, and immerse themselves in the pieces and also a number of collaborative pieces with a variety of ‘communities’ in which children, senior citizens, and members of disadvantaged groups have participated in the creative act. A current ongoing project in his home town of Ballan in western Victoria aims to bring the invisible to visibility by drawing attention to the workings of the wind. Georgiev is a founding figure in Ballan’s ‘1000 Weathervanes in Ballan’ project which has the ambitious aim of setting up 1,000 pieces of wind art in the draughty town. In March 2011 Georgiev’s Omnibus studio/ gallery participated in a joint exhibition with the National Museum of Earth and Man in Sofia, which grew out of the notion that Bulgaria and Australia are at the ‘opposite ends of the earth,’ so that if one were to drop a stone through the centre of the earth in Bulgaria, it ‘would most likely land in central Australia.’
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The article is part of a study on Bulgarian theatre under socialism. It focuses on the repertory policy after the political changes from 1944 onwards. The new authorities gradually and systematically got control over all of them. The main priority was to rehabilitate the people and arts were believed to be the possible tools to achieve this goal. In this way, the authorities linked culture, arts and theatre with propaganda. A party-political regulation over culture, and respectively, over theatre, was enforced in all areas, from repertories to personal cases. Total control was exerted universally, but especially over the texts and the repertories, which were treated with increasing attention.
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The paper presents findings of an analysis of phonetic, inflective and syntactic identifiers of Eastern Borderland stylization, as used in one of the most popular Polish comedy films of the 1960s, Sami swoi, directed by Sylwester Chęciński. The material excerpted from its dialogues is confronted with texts originating in the villages Boryczówka and Niemirów, and also with findings of a research into the Polish language of South-Eastern Borderlands.
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Speaking of Japanese culture, always brings strong associations with bushido codex of samurai, sushi cuisine, blossoming trees of cherry trees and historic clothing like kimonos. Many more can be mentioned, although there is one, the most visible aspect of their life – the presence of manga. Manga (jap. 漫画) nowadays well known around the globe is not so young as many of us believe. The history of the most famous comic books in the world started almost hundred years ago with first Japanese traditional images known as emaki (jap. 絵巻) literally translated as picture scrolls. After many centuries, the period of Edo (1603–1868) revealed new type of art: ukiyo-e (jap. 浮世絵). New technique of woodcut inspired many of artists. One of them, Katsushika Hokusai created The Great Wave off Kanagawa, famous of being the most popular Japanese art of all time. He, also as first man in the world, introduced the term Manga, which means flowing words. During years of historic changes, new kind of infl uence approached. Western foreigners started to discover sacred land of Japan, inspiring them to change old-fashioned lifestyle. European artists set new standards in art, causing caricatures cartoons to appear in local press, inspiring young generations of drawers. Post-war Japanese artist – Tezuka Osamu brought revolution to comic world, with first manga comics such as: Astro Boy (1952), Kimba the White Lion (1950) and Pheonix (1967). Many artists, inspired by Osamu’s work, started creating their own manga. Walt Disney’s technology of animations enabled to bring characters from Japanese comic books to move on screen. During 80’s first anime, as Japanese animations were called, were broadcasted. Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and Pokemon are only few titles that introduced world of manga and anime to the wider audience. Nowadays, young people each year create new artworks inspired by Japanese style of drawing. Nonetheless, manga and its long history, in large extent, popularized Japan among other countries.
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Set amid stunning mountain scenery, ‘The Eagle Huntress’ follows a teenager’s dream of becoming a master of her craft.
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