When the last troops of the army of Philip VI left Calais, the city had no choice but to surrender its keys in the hope that the lives of its inhabitants would be spared in recognition of the heroism shown during the siege. However, England was eager to reward the hours and lives of its men spent in that campaign, so it had no intention of leaving without a tribute of blood. Although some of his men tried to convince...
Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti has a number of parallels with the African ethic of Ubuntu. Published in October 2020, the encyclical has drawn attention to the social consciousness on solidarity between different members of society based on social-interdependence. The African concept of Ubuntu largely refers to inter-connectedness within humanity and between its members, and asserts that “my humanity finds its fundamental definition through your humanity.” This definition of Ubuntu is founded on three fundamental values. First, that humanity is...
Los burgueses de Calais, la última frontera, by Spanish director Jesús Armesto – winner of the SAMIFO prize at the 11th Mental Health Film Festival “Lo Spiraglio” – is an intense and poetic documentary about the condition of migrants stuck in transit at the mouth of the Eurotunnel. These people are confined, as if in limbo, in the so-called “jungle,” near Calais, in Northern France. The title refers to the sculpture by the famous artist Auguste Rodin, in homage to...
St. Ignatius of Loyola’s devotion to St. Peter is fairly well known, but few know that at the time of his conversion, St. Francis of Assisi was for him the most familiar of saints, as Franciscan experiences had marked his boyhood in Azpeitia (1491-1507), the youthful years spent at the court of Germaine de Foix in Arévalo (1507-16), and those lived in service with the Duke of Nájera, viceroy of Navarre (1517-21).[1] Childhood in Azpeitia Let us begin with Azpeitia....
“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet / are of imagination all compact.” This famous claim from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a sort of self-diagnosis of the possible relationship between madness and artistic creativity. It is a relationship that also evidences the structural ambiguity of imagination, poised between these two often coexisting conditions. Creativity, especially if we consider its many achievements, seems at first glance antithetical to madness. Even in the mystery of its appearance, to bear fruit...
Jesus Christ Superstar came into being in 1970, written by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice. It remains famous for the 1973 film version directed by Norman Jewison. Stefano Bollani has reinterpreted on piano the original score for symphony orchestra, choir, rock band and solo voices. The title, in fact, specifies that they are piano variations, so it is not a transcription for piano but a free interpretation on a predetermined narrative structure. Bollani has stripped away the...
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