Red Corner: Art Nouveau Budapest

by Neil Woodburn on

I first fell in love with Art Nouveau architecture while living in Prague.

I’ve never liked the Art Nouveau paintings and thought that this artistic style had nothing more to offer. But the buildings, oh my the Art Nouveau buildings are fantastic!

There are a handful of places around the world to revel in the glory of this architecture, but, according to the Los Angeles Times, one of the most underrated is the city of Budapest, Hungary.

Writer Susan Spano visited the Hungarian capital earlier this summer and wandered through Art Nouveau nirvana, soaking in the “operatic, almost cartoonish flair” that is typical of Hungarian Art Nouveau. I’m not sure how so much of this beauty escaped my eyes when I visited Budapest in the early 1990s but I suspect that the post-communist grime that covered the city tragically buried these masterpieces.

Now that they’ve cleaned things up, looks like I’m going to have to go back to Budapest!

Red Corner: Cuba Crumbling

by Neil Woodburn on

Cuba is one of our favorite topics here at Red Corner. There is no where else on earth as anachronistic and old fashioned as this Caribbean nation. And, there is nowhere else on earth as likely to change so rapidly the moment the local government topples.

In the meantime, Cuba is falling apart.

Veteran reporter Carol J. Williams visited this communist backwater to discover a shaky infrastructure seemingly held together with nothing more than string and prayers. Of course, this is hardly a surprise. Cuba has been falling apart for decades. Things have gotten exponentially worse, however, since the fall of the USSR and the subsequent loss of Soviet subsidies.

Williams’ journey through Castro’s homeland reveals a nightmare of urban Jenga where 500 buildings collapse every year in Havana simply from old age and neglect. Everything, buildings and otherwise, is state owned and therefore poorly treated, horribly abused, and quite often, ripped off.

Williams paints a rather bleak picture of Cuba and an even bleaker one of its immediate future. One day, however, Cuba will outlast Fidel and when it does, whatever remains standing will hopefully be refurbished with foreign investments before the whole country simply crumbles into a heap.

Red Corner: Tea Time in Kiev

by Neil Woodburn on

Tea is the second most popular drink in the world after water.

I’m not a huge fan of it myself, but sometimes on cold evenings in dark cafes, I like to hunch over a little mug and sip away.

Tea is especially beloved in Ukraine. But where is the best place to sit and indulge in its warmth? Expat newspaper, The Kiev Post, has a few recommendations. And, as they proudly point out, none of them include Lipton.

I was particularly impressed with their write-up on the Chayny Club where patrons must don slippers upon entering and can leisurely mull over 80 different styles of tea.

There is something so very soul-calming to tea houses such as this and I really do miss the atmosphere back home in Los Angeles.

Red Corner: Slovak Mountains

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve often wondered if I’ve actually been to Slovakia. I visited the region while it was part of Czechoslovakia but haven’t had the chance to go back once it became its own country.

I did like what I saw when it was part of Czechoslovakia, however.

For example, Slovakia boasts the semi-majestic High Tatras. I never got too deep into these mountains but now wish I had after reading Nick Middleton’s recent account in The Sunday Times.

Middleton traveled to Slovakia’s famed mountain range for a week of trekking and discovered, what he claims, is “the wildest and oddest corner” of Europe. I’m not sure I entirely agree with him.

He was fascinated, for example, how the ugly socialist architecture in many small towns suddenly gave way to charming, medieval town centers. He ran across joggers in very cold weather, and some slightly different food. Oddest? I don’t think so. Wildest? Perhaps. Middleton writes fondly of the wild nature scattered throughout the Tatras, and the accompanying peace, punctuated occasionally by other hikers.

Given the option, I’d still choose California’s Sierras over the Tatras, but while in Europe, they sound like a rather special place.

Red Corner: Painting Mao

by Neil Woodburn on

One of the first things one notices upon stepping into Tiananmen Square in Beijing is the massive, three-story tall painting of Mao Zedong. Like every other tourist to pass through this famous square, I too snapped a handful of photos of this gargantuan visage.

I didn’t give the portrait much thought after my first sighting and went quickly on my way. Like everything else in China, however, the painting has a fascinating story behind it. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times by Ching-Ching Ni, this famous portrait is “freshened up” every year and replaced by a brand new version created by an anonymous artist.

In typically secret Chinese fashion, the whole process is kept under tight secrecy; Mao’s big mug is painted in a secret, fireproof art studio in the corner of Tiananmen Square, his artists are never identified, and no one is allowed to put their name on the final painting. The Times estimates that at least six artists have worked the Mao shift in the last 57 years. One of them, surprisingly interviewed for the article, commented that, “Mao’s face must be painted extra red to show his robust spirit.” This same artist was chastised early in his career for painting a Mao at an angle with only one ear showing. According to The Times, “the Red Guards said it implied that the chairman listened to only a select few rather than all of the masses.”

Mao may be long dead, and communism on the way out, but, as one can tell by the near religious devotion to this painting, the Chinese government still has a need for the Chairman and all that he represents.