#11 A Review: History and Perspectives of European Culture Development
UDC: 316.7:005.745(498)"2015"(049.32)
COBISS.SR-ID 229891596
Received:August 30, 2016
Accepted:September 15, 2016
#11 A Review: History and Perspectives of European Culture Development
Citation: Kononova, Olena. 2017. "A Revirew: History and Perspectives of European Culture Development." Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance 2:11
International Conference European Culture Forum
The algorithm of the traditional biennial international conference "European Culture Forum" organized by the European Commission is very logical and reasonable, because it provides not only an opportunity to get well prepared for the next forum, but also gives a chance to understand the previous one. The Conference "European Culture - 2015", held in late October (29 - 31) 2015 in Cluj-Napoca (Transylvania), can be rightfully called a landmark event in the intellectual life of the continent.
Located in Central and Eastern Europe Cluj-Napoca, the second major city in Romania behind the national capital Bucharest, became last autumn the European Youth Capital. It is a multicultural, youthful city, with many events and festivals, including a Sports tournament, the Dream Hack – 2015. Many young people took an active part in the Forum "European Culture - 2015" which served as a place of dialogue between reputable professors and young researchers.
The intellectual elite of Cluj-Napoca is not going to rest on its laurels. When greeting participants and guests at the conference, Prof. Dr. Nicolae Păun, Dean of the Faculty of European Studies, Babeş-Bolyai University, said:
Our ambition is to acquire the title of European Capital of Culture in 2021.
This forum is probably an important milestone on the way to the cherished goal. Babeş-Bolyai University named after famous Transylvanian scientists – Romanian biologist Victor Babeş and Hungarian mathematician János Bolyai – hosted the Conference "European Culture" for the first time. The history of this first in Romania higher educational establishment takes its roots in 1581.
Today's dynamically developing University, along with the departments providing science teaching, offers a substantial number of social and humanitarian specializations – the result of scientific findings in this area, presented in the reports of professors and young researchers, have become an important contribution to the work of the forum.
An eloquent proof of its representativeness is a wide geography of universities which sent their scientists to participate at the international conference: University of Sidney (Australia), United International Business Schools, Brussels (Belgium), Obuda University, Budapest (Hungary), The Hague University (The Netherlands), University of Southern Denmark (Denmark), University of Haifa (Israel), Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; University of Triest (Italy), Ion Creangă State University of Chişinău, (Moldova), Open University; Universidade Nova of Lisbon (Portugal), National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest; University of Oradea и др. (Romania), Prince Mohammed bin Fahd University Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar (Senegal), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Lyon Catholic University; Universite Paris-Est (France), Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir (Turkey), Kharkiv National I.P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts (Ukraine), etc.
Thematic areas and discussions
The program of 17 panels of the forum included a vast range of topical issues related to the European university education in the context of inter-cultural communication; the history of European culture, its regionalization and globalization; the state of culture in the transitional and crisis periods; religious identity on the continent.
There were active discussions of matters concerning European and global communication, audiovisual communication; cultural policy and cultural management, both in Europe and beyond. Current issues of economic and political culture, migration; regional and local democracy; human rights activities, etc. were widely reported.
So, the Conference that started in the last century as an adventure and challenge is now, according to Prof. Dr. Enrique Banús, a meeting point for so many researchers interested in attracting more attention to the culture as a cornerstone of Europe. Many reports (there were about a hundered of them) reflected the desire of scientists to find optimal solutions to a number of serious social challenges for the genuine European integration.
The impressions of the conference include information about a number of studies in the field of religion, literature, painting, photojournalism, cinema and music. The relevance of the issues and content richness of the reports discussed at the "Religious identifies in Europe" panel was largely predetermined by the research work of the four colleges of Babeş-Bolyai University – College of Orthodox Theology, College of Greek Catholic Theology, College of Reformed Theology, and College of Roman Catholic Theology.
There were raised perennial issues of secularism and secularization, the relationship between reason and faith, which theologians believe helps to have a fruitful inter-cultural dialogue, and to build a true European identity (Drd. Dan Petrica, Babeş-Bolyai University). Dramatic lessons of the recent past, the heroes of which are prominent figures of the Greek Catholic Church in Transylvania in the communist era, entered the annals of history.
The retrospective analysis of these events and their understanding will help the younger generation better understand the history in accordance with the established criteria of the eternal and the transient (Lect. Dr. Adrian-Gabriel Corpădean, Babeş-Bolyai University).
The heterogeneity of the Islamic and European traditions and different interpretations of Muslim identity were presented in the report of Dr. Anja Zalta (University of Ljubljana), who fairly believes that ignorance of the variety of trends in this area contributes to the tension and will not eliminate the conflicts in the near future.
Significant issues have been covered in the "A focus on European arts" panel. In particular, Prof. Dr. Elena Abrudan (Babeş-Bolyai University) focused her attention on street art characterizing the postmodern aesthetic paradigm as a conglomerate of high art and pop culture, as the insatiable desire of artists for the novelty, their inextinguishable wish to replay current events at unusual angles defending their own point of view, that does not often coincide with the generally accepted. This area of work, the implementation of which requires public space and adaptation of visual works in the format, allows engaging the audience who are unaware of traditional exhibitions. Mobility of express-artists and immediate response to their art contribute to the identification of diverse opinions on acute issues prevailing in the society.
New approaches in the analysis of postmodern culture and society, suggested by Jean Baudrillard, were considered in the study of Dr. Diana Adela Dinu (Prince Mohammad University, Dhahran). Explaining flaws in a secularized postmodern world, the author of world famous books "America", "Simulacra and Simulation", "System of things" and others marked the fusion of reality and unreality. Introducing the concept of reality simulation, the outstanding scientist, philosopher and writer indicated the substitution of reality and meaning in postmodern society for symbols and signs. In his opinion, critical and therapeutic functions of art facilitate the return of reality.
In the context of fundamental principles of Jean Baudrillard’s analysis of contemporary culture more emphasis is put on his postulate about the superiority of the object over the subject, the control of people’s life by external forces beyond their power.
A common thread running through the research "Picasso as the Kafka of Painting" is the fundamental feature that combines the creative work of two outstanding maestros – life, composed of fragments, a picture of destruction. As Prof. Dr. Amihud Gilead (University of Haifa) states, Kafka's world, wonderfully presented in Picasso’s "Guernica", symbolizes disharmony, hopelessness and loss of any hope for long-suffering Europe.
Brilliant creators, each in their own way, seek to change and elevate the world. A famous French film director, actor and screenwriter Jean Renoir once wrote:
The only thing I could bring to this cruel and illogical world is love ...
Dr. Sumit Ghose devoted his research paper "European social integration: Jean Renoir, ahead of his times" to the author of "Grand illusion" and "Rules of the game" films, which are among the best films of all time. A close study of Jean Renoir’s cinema masterpieces from a present-day perspective helps us understand and appreciate his brilliant foresight of social problems relevant to present-day Europe. A number of issues, including the impact of migration and multiculturalism on European countries, had been raised by the great maestro yet long before they were formulated by politicians.
The subject of the report of Lect. Dr. Raluca Moldovan (Babes-Bolyai University) "The Aesthetics of Beauty and Decay in Luchino Visconti's 'German trilogy'", as we see, also reflects the problems of the most popular art in the world. The analysis of imperishable films by L. Visconti – "Twilight of the Gods", "Death in Venice" and "Ludwig" – allowed the speaker to argue the aesthetics of maestro’s art that was most clearly expressed in his later works. The art critic sees a very important feature of L. Visconti’s aesthetics in the conflict between the luxurious visual formatting and grim nihilistic content of the films, so the collapse theme revealed by the director in three aspects acquires special prominence and credibility.
The relevance of the issues raised in the film "L’auberge espagnole" made by Cédric Klapish more than ten years ago became the subject of Dr. Delia Pop-Flanja’s (Babeş-Bolyai University) research work. Cédric Klapish’s film stimulated discussions of the potential of students’ mobile Erasmus Mundus Programme. Believability of created by actors artistic images of students participating in international relations served as a kind of apology for intercultural dialogue in the field of education. The researcher focuses on such topical issues raised in the work of Cédric Klapish as cultural stereotypes and typology, multilingualism and national identity, cultural shock and intercultural adaptation, which allows evaluating and modifying social and cultural achievements of the EU educational programme.
Is it possible to develop intercultural dialogue in multicultural Europe through photo images? What ethical and ethnic issues are raised by photojournalists? These and other questions were touched by Dr. Rareş Beuran (Babeş-Bolyai University) in his paper "Reporting Ethnic Diversity through Photojournalism within a Multicultural Europe". The speaker showed the audience photographs, the expressiveness and objectivity of which needed no particular comment. Visual art, professional photojournalism in this case, captures and represents a wide range of ethnic diversity of Europe's population. The relevance of the subject, informational content of artistic photographs, which have a high degree of influence on the recipient, excite the mind, make us think of ethnic, cultural, historical, religious and other characteristics of those continental countries, which form the supranational, European identity.
The processes of globalization, intensively debated in modern world and relating to the extension of international cultural contacts, promote understanding and rapprochement between peoples. One of the clearest examples of interpenetration of different national cultures is music. Interculturality in the sphere of academic music art is simplified with general availability of its language, similarity of style evolution, typical for the majority of national European music schools. Contacts in this range identify both European identity and national features in professional musical art of different countries serving the subject of cultural exchange.
Prof. Dr. Olena Kononova (Kharkov National I.P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts, Ukraine) in her report refers to the facts confirming the efficiency of this process. The research subject "Interculturality as a factor of music culture formation in Kharkiv" allowed for presenting a considerable chronological portion of musical culture of one of the largest centers of Ukraine – since the opening of the University (1805) and to the present day.
The formation of concert life and music education in the Ukrainian city was greatly influenced by J. Haydn’s pupil Ivan Vitkovsky, an outstanding violinist and conductor, F. Schultz, who had once been a concertmaster of Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra under Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s direction, S. Nemetts, a violinist and a graduate of the Prague Conservatory, Ilya Slatin, a pianist and conductor, a pupil of Alexander Dreyschock, Theodor Kulak and Richard Wüerst, and many others.
Through the active interculturality Kharkiv became in the early 20th century one of the major musical centers of the Russian Empire. The Soviet period, which resulted in the decline of concert life, turned out to be ambiguous for the musical culture of the city. Ukraine’s independence gave an impulse to the intensive development of cross-cultural communication instruments in the area. One of the leading roles in this process belongs to the National I.P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts – the initiator of international festivals, competitions, meetings and conferences that contributed to Ukraine’s entry into the European cultural community.
Conclusion
The integration function of music was especially clearly apparent at the opening ceremony of the "European Culture - 2015" forum. In a wonderful ancient hall the audience sat in unbreathing astonishment listening to the immortal works of W.A. Mozart, J. Brahms and other European composers remarkably performed by a string quartet. This music has been awakening the lofty feelings in people of different nationalities and religions for several centuries already.
But music unites in sorrow, too: the conference coincided with the tragic event in Bucharest - the death of more than fifty young people at a nightclub. "Requiem" by Verdi was included in the conference program, and it sounded on Romanian television comforting, sympathizing and blaming. The tragedy was the impetus of social and political changes that followed after it. No sooner had Europeans started to recover, the fate soon prepared a new ordeal for them, this time in Paris.
Many social, political, ethnic issues related to all aspects of European culture and multi-faceted life of the continent were raised at the International Conference. The Conference proceedings containing the analysis of current problems and reasoned options for their solutions have scientific and practical value aimed at preempting and peaceful settlement of conflicts. The dialogue between venerable professors and young researchers, which took place on the forum, should be transformed into a polylogue between everyone who is interested in preserving and strengthening the European House.
