Karel Gott: Thousands view coffin, Minister skips the queue

It's time to lay the Karel Gott story to rest now with a few final reflections.

Why did 49,000 people (see gallery) line up to pass by the late singer's coffin?

Was it that they simply loved his music? His mere artistic output brought joy to their hearts?

Perhaps. But why was this musician given a funeral with near state honours? What did he achieve for the Czech state?

An alternative view is that this was an outpouring of nostalgia for the past. Looking back with rose-tinted spectacles at those cheery days in Communist Czechoslovakia. The songs on the state-sponsored radio and TV. Who is this blogger to say? Readers comments welcome below.

One last macabre snippet: the Transport Minister was in such a rush that he skipped the queue to say goodbye to the dead singer. Scandalous and inexplicable in equal measure. Skipping a queue for lunch, if you can get away with it ok. But skipping the queue to see a stone cold dead guy? What's the point?

A video mix of Gott's hits from the 60s including a Beatles cover.

Josef Koudelka Invasion Prague 68 photo exhibition

August, 2018 - Nowadays it is difficult to comprehend the events in Prague that happened 50 years ago this month. Why and how on earth did tanks and soldiers end up storming around the cobbled streets of this beautiful European city? To the people of Prague back then, it was not only bewildering, but terrifying.

Invasion Prague 68 is a touring exhibition that showcases the photos of Czech photographer Josef Koudelka who was on the streets with his camera in August 1968. This reviewer saw the exhibition whilst on display at Botanique in Brussels from 14 June to 12 August 2018.

The giant black and white photos are stark and life-like. Anxious faces leap out at you as smoke from angry fires, tank guns and armed soldiers straddle the urban setting with disdain.

This is high calibre press photography - the viewer is literally thrown onto the streets of Prague, the confusion and the utter disbelief that so-called allies are invading the country.

For a brief time leading up to the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops led by the Soviet Union, the Prague Spring had heralded the dawn of a more humane system: 'Socialism with a Human Face'. But Moscow was not amused - the lifting of censorship and burgeoning freedom of expression in Czechoslovakia could not be allowed to spread (uncovering uncomfortable truths about the past and openly criticising communism and its leaders).

Koudelka's photos were smuggled out of the country and published in the international press one year later with the anonymous credit of P.P. (Prague Photographer). It was only long after he had emigrated/escaped to the West during the 80s that Kodelka was able to take the credit for the photos. In the meantime his photos had won numerous prestigious photography awards and become emblematic of the tyranny of the Soviet Union.

Remarkably, the history of this invasion is neither deeply nor widely understood. It is more sexy to focus on the student protests and countercultural revolution that gripped many countries around the world in that very same year.

Koudelka's photos reveal the grotesque dichotomy of a tank accosting peaceful citizens trying to go about their everyday business. Many important questions are raised that need investigating.

Paint It Black

Dark Romanticism - From Goya to Max Ernst

The Städel Museum, Frankfurt Main:  until 20 January 2013
Musée d’Orsay, Paris:  04 March until 09 June 2013

The exhibition 'Dark Romanticism' is a treasure trove of ghoulish art which is sure to leave even the most well-heeled gallery goer slightly unhinged.

If you are familiar with Gothic literature, such as Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ or the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, then you will be in a good position to appreciate the major themes of the exhibition: the supernatural, death and horror.

As scientific and social progress faltered with the descent of the French Revolution into unadulterated violence, artists began exploring irrational elements of human nature. Therefore the major part of the exhibition is rooted in 19th century European art.

It begins with Johann Heinrich Fuseli’s painting ‘The Nightmare’ (1802). A woman is hounded by a demon and a vacant-eyed horse in her sleep. This evolves into Franz Stuck’s ‘The Sin’ (1893). A dark-haired nude stares from the picture, as an evil green viper hisses at us from her shoulder.

Spanish artist Goya features strongly. Despite sketches of dismemberment and rape, there remains a dreamlike quality in all his work which renders it immediately accessible and intriguing. Another highlight is the set of little black pen-and-ink wash pieces by none other than French writer Victor Hugo. His impressionistic doodles are a delight to behold and it is amazing that he considered his artwork to be a mere hobby.

Clips from early black and white horror films embellish the overall gothic mood. Nosferatu, Frankenstein and Dracula are all there along with some more esoteric footage. Not to be missed.

Arguably the curators have tried too hard to extrapolate dark romanticism into the later 20th century. Instead of showing Dali and Hitchcock, a room exploring the massive influence of gothic literature would have added an important dimension to the otherwise comprehensive show.

'The Nightmare' (1802)

German news round-up

Germany was alive and kicking this weekend with several unusual headlines hitting the news.

Thousands celebrate German pop song festival in Hamburg
I thought that the only person that actually enjoyed German 'Schlager' lived a few doors down from me. 'Schlager' are folky German pop songs that are sung by mustachioed orange-tanned grinning Bavarians and have plenty of accordion in them. Actually, I think the songs are specially designed to be carried by a gentle breeze, propagating themselves like pollen.


I was astounded to discover that 300,000 fans celebrated this music in Hamburg on Saturday. And the organisers had expected half a million! Several lorries were converted into huge 'Schlager' floats which blasted the music out through the streets during an all-day procession.
Check out some images from the 5th Schlagermove, here, at Stern.

World's longest concert continues
The church organ in Halberstadt played the next - sixth - chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible work to much rejoicing amongst locals. The performance began in the year 2000, so with one chord ringing out for more than a year on average, the tonal change must have been a breath of fresh air.

Hitler head torn off
Minutes after the opening of Madame Tussauds wax figure museum in Berlin on Saturday, an angry German visitor attacked the wax effigy of Adolf Hitler. He jumped over a rope supposed to separate the exhibit from the public. When another visitor tried to stop him, a melee ensued and the result was a headless Fuhrer. The man in his forties came from the leftist district of Kreuzberg police said after they had detained him. Museum officials swiftly removed the damaged waxwork.

Today, media reported that the museum is fixing the figure which will remain a part of the exhibit of politicians.