< SWITCH ME >
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Photo: Bas Ernst; Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Every January in Italy, an old woman, very similar to a witch, delivers gifts to children (or coal, depending on whether they have behaved well or not during the previous year)
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With the Christmas celebrations coming up soon, it's the right time to learn more about traditions that sometimes overlap but can also differ from country to country. Taking advantage of the fact that she's lived in different European cities, Nicoletta Enria uncovers the origins and current life of lesser-known European Christmas traditions featuring, among others, a witch and tasty desserts. Stay tuned on E&M to read more about Christmas traditions in Europe.
Advent has begun and with it the countdown to the most awaited holiday of the year. Christmas decorations appear as if from thin air, the temperature halves and overall the atmosphere seems to be one of blissful joy, no matter what. There is nothing like wondering through a Christmas market or merely observing Christmas decorations and feeling that inexplicable explosion of excitement. Originally, Christmas was solely the celebration of the birth of Christ but, interesting enough, in Arabic the word for birthday and Christmas are the same. Due to its origin, Christmas is mainly celebrated in Christian countries, however it has seeped its way into the atheist homes with each European country, region and household developing its own unique traditions.
Children of the Revolution: Growing up with Bulgaria
Written by Milen Iliev |
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Photo: Stanislav Traykov (Wikimedia Commons); Licence: CC BY 3.0
The communist Buzludzha momunent, completed in 1981, has gone to rack and ruin since the revolution |
In the next part of our series commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in many parts of Central and Southeastern Europe, we turn our attention to Bulgaria. Milen Iliev was only a young child when revolution came to his country, but vividly remembers the changes that took place in the 1990s.
The fall of communism came about in Bulgaria on 10 November 1989 with the resignation of long-serving leader Todor Zhivkov. I was just about to turn three at the time. I was at that point of growing up, when I was getting ready to leave the confines of my home and join society for the first time in my life by going to nursery. Bulgaria was in a similar position – it was a newborn state, which was about to enter the world of democracy and capitalism and join a larger community of nations through the beginnings of globalisation.
Both Bulgaria and I had a lot of growing up to do. Perhaps the single most common leitmotif when you read about the process of growing up is the idea of the loss of innocence. In a nutshell, the argument is that once you start to realise what suffering and injustice are and how you can help or hinder their development in the world around you, you are not innocent anymore.
"I find beautiful things we tend to neglect" – An interview with the winner of November's Europe Through a Lens
Written by EditorialJunyuan Chen comes from China, but dreams of living long-term in Europe, where he is currently studying. 22 years old, he takes pictures in his free time, immortalising the landscapes of our beautiful continent. Two of his shots won first and second place in our Europe Through a Lens competition last month. E&M's Veronica Pozzi caught up with this young and motivated photographer, whose works so impressed our judges, to hear more.
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Junyuan's passion for photography was born in an unusual way. "Originally my hobby was actually making plastic models", he tells our magazine. "I bought a camera to take nice photos of my models. That's how I learnt some basic knowledge about photography: I haven't taken any lessons, I learn all the concepts and techniques through the internet (e.g. YouTube, forums) and books".
Originally from China, he is now pursuing a Master's degree in Accounting at the University of Glasgow, in the UK. It is not anything related to photography, that's for sure, but it was right after studying abroad for the first time that he picked up photography as his major hobby. In Glasgow, he is also a member of the University Photo Society, where he likes to "share ideas with fellows and take photos together with them". Thanks to a post on the society's Facebook page he first heard about the E&M photo competition. He then decided to enter two of his works for the November's edition of the contest, the theme of which was "Europe at night". "I wanted to test myself", he explains. And it went well. Let's find out a little more about his prize-winning pictures...
They say a picture paints a thousand words, so we've set out to discover what photography might be able to tell us about today's Europe.
Here at E&M, we don't just want to know what young Europeans think about Europe, we also want to find out how they see and feel the continent. Sixth Sense plays host to a photo competition called Europe Through a Lens and we publish a selection of our readers' photographic work on a regular basis. All you have to do is submit images that you think best represent our European theme of the month.
With the festive season upon us, we've settled on the theme of "Illuminated Europe". Entries could be anything from Christmas trees decked out with fairy lights to fireworks in night sky or candle-lit suppers. It's all down to you and your powers of imagination: feel free to interpret the theme however you see fit!
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Children of the Revolution: Considering the Czech Republic
Written by Kamila Kubásková |
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Photo: Daniel Antal (Flickr); Licence: CC BY 2.0
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In the third part of our mini series commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in many parts of Central and Southeastern Europe, Kamila Kubásková, a recent graduate, currently based in Munich, shares her experiences of growing up in the Czech Republic.
It must have been wonderful to have been living in Czechoslovakia in November 1989. Although I belong to the lucky ones who never had to put up with communist rule, I could not particularly enjoy the events of the year, as I was a baby with entirely apolitical interests. But I can vividly imagine the atmosphere of the day. I can feel the excitement, the air of anticipation and expectation. I picture people all over the country waiting impatiently for news from the capital, trying to comprehend what was happening and knowing that everything in their lives was about to change. The revolution was a peaceful event that filled the people with euphoria and, for the first time in many decades, with hope for a better future.
My parents could not join the spontaneous celebrations that were happening in the streets, because they had to look after me and my older brother. However, the knowledge that their children would grow up with the freedom to travel, study and live without constant fear of their own government, was satisfying enough for them. Parents of our generation also knew that our lives will be very different to their own and they would not always be able to prepare for all the choices that would lie ahead of us.
We are pleased to annouce a new partnership with Spotlight Europe, an up-and-coming blog platform created by the "MyEurope" network. The blog is conceived as a place for young Europeans to share and discuss ideas about the future of Europe. What do you like about Europe? What would you like to change? What worries you and what would you do differently if it were up to you? These are the sort of questions the blog asks its contributors to answer.
At Spotlight Europe, everyone's opinion counts and the blog encourages dialogue between all young people in Europe, as well as experts from politics, media, academia and business. Topics range from culture to the environment and the blog is currently on the look-out for new authors, so if you're aged between 15 and 25, this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for.
Children of the Revolution: Looking Back at Poland
Written by Szymon Pozimski |
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Photo: Thomas Hedden (Wikimedia Commons); Licence: Public domain
A Solidarity demonstration on the streets of Warsaw back in 1984 |
In the second part of our series commemorating a quarter of a century since the fall of communism in many parts of Central and Southeastern Europe, we hear the views and recollections of Szymon Pozimski, who was born in Poland in 1988.
This year we have witnessed the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the historical milestones that, along with other memorable events like the first partially free elections in Poland in June 1989, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the toppling of Ceauseșcu in Romania, marks the end of communism in Eastern Europe.
Naturally, it only makes sense to consider the events of 1989 in reference to the decades that preceded them, decades of struggle for the oppressed peoples of Eastern Europe. Without at least a cursory glance at what it was like to live in a communist state, it is impossible to understand what sort of a victory we celebrate. Placing the great triumph in its wider context is all the more important, as with the passage of time the recollection of the period 1945-89 becomes more and more obliterated in the common memory – and this goes for both sides of the now-defunct Iron Curtain.
They say a picture paints a thousand words, so we've set out to discover what photography might be able to tell us about today's Europe and are pleased to announce the winners of our November competition.
Though the theme may have been "Europe at night", the entries to this month's photo competition Europe Through a Lens could not have been more colourful. Darkness was well and truly banished, and light in all of its manifold guises took centre stage.
Several photos were in the running for the top spot, but it was Junyuan Chen's image Star that eventually claimed first place. The judges were particularly struck by the way it seemed to make the moment last for a long time and also praised Junyuan's technique, wondering how many attempts were needed to get the shot right. The 22-year-old Chinese photographer, who is currently studying at the University of Glasgow, will be interviewed for Sixth Sense about his work and invited to pitch a piece of photojournalism for E&M. We're very excited to hear more about his photographic endeavours, and in the meantime, why not take a look at his Flickr account.
IN -1774 DAYS
