Magazine

In this number

Il Cenacolo has organized a Summer Session of Art from July 11 to 25 .
The topic of the course is a comparison between the languages of
Eastern
and Western Art
The summer session is articolated into theoretical and practical
lessons and it will introduce the novelty of Ontoart. Each participant will
have a full-immersion experience in the world of art. The aim is to help the
'students' discover their own creativity. The programme. 
A young artist from Belgrade, Katarina Nestorovic, will teach the history and tecniques of Byzantine art: icons, mosaics and frescoes. 
Alberto Mori, a professional photographer, will introduce artistic photography in three lessons: tecniques of photography, images in advertising, creaive photography. Massimiliano Ottocento will introduce the universal language of music and painting: the age of Palestrina, Botticelli, Arcadelt, Michelangelo, Human voice, divine voice: Byzantine chant in Eastern Europe, Music in Ontoart. Mimma Pierelli will teach the art of 'composing', sculpting and painting with flowers and roots: the Renaissance, Japanese style and Ontoart. Natalia Encolpio, Ph.D. in history of art will introduce the power of images through an analysis of the art of Van Gogh and Picasso. The "semantics of the work of art" will be studied with particular attention to the so-called "aggression" and to Stendhal's Sydrome. 
Graziella Magherini, the most important expert in this field, will lead a seminar dedicated to "Dialogue and the psychological implication between the Artist and his public". Th end of the summer session will be dedicated to the introduction of Ontoart, a new artistic movement founded in Italy by Antonio Meneghetti. During the summer session, participants will create some works of art. An exhibition  dedicated to "Women & Creativity," will conclude the summer session. During the art camp, visits to the main monuments in Rome and Umbria will be organized. The summer session will be held at the headquarters of Il Cenacolo near Rome and in Lizori, in a completely restored medieval castle in the heart of Umbria, near Spoleto. The summer session is supported by the Umbria Region.

top

Fight for more jobs and fewer crimes
By EWA HEDLUND
Freelance journalist in Brussels

These are the political priorities dominating the European election in June, irrespective of nationality or political colour of the parties participating in the election campaign.

These issues ought to be popular among the citizens from Crete in the south to Kiruna in northern Sweden. According to a recent opinionpoll among the EU citizens, the European Parliament should pay particular attention to employment and the fight against crime.

The two largest political groups, the socialists, PES, and the conservatives/christian democrats, EPP, both have common election manifest that will be used as a platform by the national parties in their election campaigns.

PES, for the moment the largest political group in the European Parliament sets out 21 commitments to reform and develop the union in the 21^st century.

"The European Union must belong to the people and must be driven by their priorities - on jobs, security and the environment. Decision-making within the European Union must be transparent and take place as close to the people as possible. We want a closer Union, but we also want reform to make the European Union more open, democratic and efficient."

-The New Europe must be the People's Europe, declared Pauline Green, leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament, during the PES congress in Milan earlier this spring. Waste, inefficiency and fraud must be eliminated. Europe must be democratic, socially responsible and strong. We have laid a firm basis with the single market and the single currency, the Euro. We should now be working together to create the necessary policies to produce jobs, reduce crime and protect the environment. Europe will be stronger if we work together.

The EPP also give priority to employment.

-Our goal is full employment, stressed Jos� Maria Aznar, Partido Popular and Prime Minister of Spain, when he spoke at the EPP congress in Brussels.

EPP will create more jobs through increasing the flexibility on the labour market, reforming the social models and decreasing the subsidies while the PES wants an employment pact, more education, a reform of the tax systems and shorter working time.

The French socialist party, that recently introduced a 35-hour week in France, wants all the EU-member states to do the same before the year 2005.

Almost all the political parties declare their wish to reform, develop and strengthen the European Union during the 21^st century. The French UDF, Union pour la D�mocratie Fran�aise, member of the EPP, wants for instance to create a federal, European Union that can become a strong political force that the rest of the world will listen to and respect.

Klaus H�nsch, member of the German socialist party, SPD, pleads for a European dialogue in order to create more jobs:

-Europe can not replace the national efforts to increase the employment. But the European Union can, through a regular and institutionalised dialogue between the EU governments, the social partners and the European Central Bank create a framework for an employment policy and give this policy a European added value.

But it is hardly the European future that normally engages the citizens in France, Spain, Denmark, Great Britain or Sweden. Instead it is the day to day issues that characterise the domestic politics, food quality for instance. The British Green Party, that so far never succeeded to gain a seat in the European Parliament, is concerned about the genetically modified food, that they call Frankenstein food, and wants to go to Brussels and Strasbourg to fight for genuine provisions. While in Denmark, which is not a member of the currency union, EMU, the Danish Peoples Party emphasises the importance of Denmark becoming a member of the EMU as soon as possible.

-So far all elections to the European Parliament have been a question of domestic policy, says Peter Reichert, spokesman for the PES group in the European Parliament. The European elections have always been a test for the Government in office. The citizens have given their support to or expressed their discontent with the Governement.

But the election in 1999 might be a true European election. The horrible war in Kosovo has changed the prerequisite of the European election campaign. The European debate is no longer the same as a month ago when the citizens around the union were upset by the corruption and nepotism in the European Commission and the European Parliament called for a more transparent EU, a citizens Europe. Today the debate on the future of Europe is focused on the origin of the European Union, peace in Europe. And I have a feeling that for once the citizens of the European Union will be anxious to vote in a European election. Not because they are satisfied or discontent with the policy of the national Government but because they think it is important to participate in the creation of a Europe that wants to prevent war.

top