ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Innocence, Youth, and Friendship Crushed by the Brutality of World War I

Edward Berger’s Oscar nominated film adaption (2022) of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel Im Westen Nichts Neues (1929), tell us about the downfall of the German “iron youth” deluded into war by twisted dreams of victory. With a storytelling contrasting illusion and reality, innocence and deception, joy and misery, humanity and brutality, a mosaic of beauty and monstrosity arises, making the war’s main toll clear: the final dissolution of the individual.

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HOMO SOVIETICUS On the Actuality of Svetlana Alexievich’s “Secondhand Time”

Ten years ago, Svetlana Alexievich’s “Secondhand Time. The Last of the Soviets” came into being. In twenty stories, collected between 1991 and 2012, the author releases usually unheard voices of people from the former Soviet Union, reflecting on their own lives before and after perestroika. The question of how the regime managed to remodel its subjects into creatures of a perennial authoritarianism, infuses this work with urgent actuality in the current context.  

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PARADISE Abdulrazak Gurnah’s East African World of Dreams, Nightmares, and Rude Awakenings

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 takes us with his novel Paradise (1994) to a highly stratified East African society at the turn of the twentieth century. Against the backdrop of an increasingly pervasive European domination and surrounded by a breathtaking incommensurable landscape, a boy’s transition into adulthood is determined by complex power relations and the increasing awareness of being a stranger in his own country.

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THE STRUGGLE OF A NEW START No Home, no Family, no Name Anymore: But the Future Waited

The concerns of Holocaust survivors identified as ‘displaced persons’ after World War II stays at the center of “Our Courage. Jews in Europe 1945-1948” at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. For many of them, the recovery of the home, the family, and even the identity meant a fight against unsurmountable challenges: a “rebirth” into a world that was not always welcoming.

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ARTISTIC AND INFORMATIVE 12 Amazing Coffee-Table Books for a Cozy Home!

Unable to travel yet? Don’t worry! These illustrated books will take you across time and space without stepping out of the door: in 12 ingenious editions with the best of art, travel, and culture!

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THE VALENTINO STYLE Basic Colors, Clear Silhouettes, Timeless Elegance

Valentino, the fashion designer who once fiercely said “I make dresses for women who actually wear them”, created timeless elegant femininity. Discover the brand’s 10 distinctive classics that remain emblematic until today.

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THE SAINT LAURENT STYLE Cosmopolitan, Self-Confident, Sophisticated

In the spirit of its brand founder, the fashion house Saint Laurent is committed to the sophisticated sense of style of the self-confident woman. These are the 12 essential elements of this iconic flair!

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DOLCE & GABBANA Sicilian Legacy and the Sensuality of the Mediterranean Soul

Established in 1985, Dolce & Gabbana coins today an emblematic fashion style that amalgamates Sicilian heritage with the sultry femininity of the Mediterranean woman. These are the brand’s unmistakable key essentials!

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BAD TASTE, IRONY, AND BOLDNESS The Theme “Camp” at this Year’s Met Gala

In 17th century France, the camp aesthetic granted “bad taste” a new sense of beauty. The exhibition “Camp: Notes on Fashion” at The Met Fifth Avenue takes up on the idea, and sets the tone on the Gala’s fashion theme!

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KARL LAGERFELD The Undisputed Master of Brand Revival for More than Half a Century

Well-known for his successful reinvention of former vintage brands like Chanel, Chloé, and Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld lent a typical fugacious industry a steady sense of continuity. Here you find an interesting side of his legacy.

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LIVING IN “ROMA” Alfonso Cuarón’s Intimate Snapshot of a Past Childhood

The Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón allows us with Roma a deep gaze into his former family life. Like through a hole in the wall, we briskly become childish voyeurs, who see and feel more than we are able to hear. 

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A FLYING VISIT TO FLORENCE Food, Art, and History in One and a Half Days of Delight!

Would you love to get a first impression of Florence? Then prepare for a good stroll! There is no better way to discover the hidden culinary and artistic highlights of the city, than a long, observant walk.

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LADY IN BLACK Tolstoy, Anna, and the Unveiling Power of the Color Black

Seductively fateful: A short read of Ana Karenina explains with great simplicity the quintessential notion of true style. Fashion, particularly the color black, plays the main role in this revelation.

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