New book on Slovakia

Let me put in a plug for a new book: Slovakia On the Road to Independence, by Paul Hacker. I found it a fascinating history of the pre- and post-Communist history of the country, by a career U.S. diplomat who knows the country very well. He asked me for pictures I had taken of the Bratislava U.S. Embassy, and I am very pleased that one appears on p. 81 of the book.

Here's a link to the publisher's page at Penn State University Press
http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-03623-6.html


This is the cover image of the book.

Veilings and Unveilings

One building in the U.S. embassy complex has been under wraps in recent months for some restoration work.

The coverings came off a few days ago and it looks very spiffy, with what appears to be a fresh paint job.

Here's what it has looked like in recent months while the work was underway. These construction drapes are a very familiar site in Old Town, with so many older buildings being restored.

I went out for a walk today in between marking final exams. Some interesting blue-and-gold curtains, red carpets, and kleig lights are being installed at the historic Opera House. A production of Dvorak's opera Rusalka premieres here on Monday, so perhaps that's what it's about. At least, I assume those curtains are temporary!

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.

Imagine America

I went to the opening reception September 11 for the "Imagine America" exhibit at the U.S. Embassy this evening. As expected, we went through a metal detector and had to check all electronic equipment, including cell phones and digital cameras, so I couldn't take any pictures.

For information about the exhibit, see the Embassy's web site:
http://slovakia.usembassy.gov/imagine-america-slovak-american-photos-in-911-exhibit-at-embassy-august17-2007.html

It was a lovely gathering in so many ways. The Ambassador made brief remarks, as did the Slovak Prime Minister and the exhibit curator. They even had a videoconferencing hookup to the American artist in the exhibit, Rick Dingus, at his university home in west Texas, so participants could talk with him. He has never visited Slovakia, but hopes to. Some of us suggested via videoconference that he apply for a Fulbright. His images portray desolation in western Texas, whether the result of drought, technology, or economic changes. Hardly anyone at the exhibit, including the Americans, had seen such images of the U.S., and there we were, halfway around the world, seeing the images and talking live with the artist.

I was especially touched by the images by the Slovak artist Róbert Kočan of lower Manhattan after 9/11, which he knew only from other images. I am reminded of how dependent we are on the perceptions of others in shaping our views of the world -- whether artists, reporters, or editors of television, books, and newspapers.

A small footnote to history: the reception was held in the Claiborne Pell Room. He was the Democratic Rhode Island senator instrumental in the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1960s, and I think he would be proud of his legacy abroad.

Sightseeing in the sun

At last, the rain stopped and the sun came out Saturday morning, and with it came hordes of visitors to Old Town (Stare Mesto). Some are soccer (football) fans from Ireland for a match tonight with Slovakia. Many others seem to be part of organized tour groups, some with leaders speaking in English, others in German.

These are statues at a square in honor of the Slovak National Uprising (Nam. SNP). This was the site of a rebellion in 1944 against the Nazi puppet state and in 1989 of peaceful demonstrations against the Communists in the Velvet Revolution. The statues have a Soviet realist feel. The fresh bouquets of flowers suggest that these historic rebellions against two repressive regimes have not been forgotten.

500+ years of history: I shot this standing on Kapucinska Street, which crosses over the Communist-built expressway that cuts a swath through Old Town. Over 200 historic buildings, including most of the old Jewish community, were leveled to build the expressway. From left to right: stone remnants of the medieval walled city; a billboard for Suzuki cars (Kia just built a plant in Slovakia); at the far end of the expressway, a high-rise building under construction on the other side of the Danube; the so-called UFO tower, built by the Communists on the new bridge (Novy Most) with a restaurant at the top; restored homes overlooking the expressway more typical of the architecture in Old Town.

The U.S. Embassy is surrounded by ominous gray metal fencing and pop-up barriers in the ground, presumably to block determined truck bombers. This kind of security is familiar nowadays in Washington, D.C., but this is the only site I’ve discovered here with such high-powered security.

Even the British Consulate has nothing comparable, at least not visibly. It's the white building on the far left on Panska Street in the Pedestrian Zone, so perhaps that makes truck bombing more difficult (although I often see delivery trucks allowed into the zone).

You see construction sites on almost every block in Old Town – a restored building next to a crumbling building waiting for its renewal. I’m told the restoration began in earnest just a few years ago, and I wonder if the entire area looked like the crumbling buildings before then. The yellow building on the right is nicely restored at the top of the walkway by St. Michael’s gate. The building in the middle needs s

ome work.

The main post office in Bratislava, across from Nam. SNP, is gorgeous inside and out. I tried to rent a post office box, but couldn’t solve the language barrier, so that will have to wait for another day.

The Ministry of Culture, also across from Nam. SNP. In the mid-1960s, when the U.S. Congress was establishing the National Endowment for the Arts, a major concern was avoiding a European-style Ministry of Culture in the decision-making mechanisms. But their focus was the French ministry, not the Soviet bloc, which they must have presumed was far too totalitarian for American priorities in the arts. I want to explore the role the current Ministry plays in culture in Slovakia, whether and how it distributes funding, and how much free speech is permitted to artists within those funding constraints.

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.

Embassy events

The U.S. Embassy is in the left front of this image. In the center back is Bratislava Castle and the tower at St. Michael's gate, entrance to the restored medieval city. To the right of the Embassy is Hviezdoslavovo námestie, the public square named after the 19th-century Slovak poet. The web site for the Embassy: http://bratislava.usembassy.gov/

I have just gotten my first invitation to an event at the U.S. Embassy in Bratislava, a reception for a photography exhibit in honor of 9/11. We had been told that Fulbrighters are often invited to such things in the host country, and it's nice that something has already arrived.

The invitation was entirely in Slovak. It's a relief to realize how understandable it is, even before checking some words in my Slovak-English dictionary. My RVSP acceptance will be in English, however. It's one thing to read something in a foreign language, but something else entirely to compose a remotely credible communication, and my phrasebook for tourists has nothing relevant.