Culture

The 1990s in Britain are often remembered through a haze of n,ostalgia consisting of rave culture, Britpop and provocative art and fashion by the likes of Tracey Emin and Alexander McQueen. Undeniably, the decade was a time of major change in British society — the long reign of Margaret Thatcher had come to an end and the West entered a period of relative post-Cold War stability. Meanwhile, British cultural icons like Oasis, the Spice Girls and Vivienne Westwood garnered international fame. But Tate Britain's new exhibition "The 90s: Art and Fashion," which opens on October 8 and runs through February 14, 2027, urges viewers to look beyond the familiar names and images.  Even though now prominent artists such as Damien Hirst and Juergen Teller are among the show's 70 contributors, the ...

On Thursday, October 8, at around 1 p.m. CEST, all eyes in the literary world will be set on Stockholm.  That's when the new permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Ingrid Carlberg, will hold a press conference to announce the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature, marking the end of a lengthy selection process that officially began a year earlier.  Nobel Prize in Literature: How nominations work  The Swedish Academy is the body responsible for awarding the prize. Its 18 members consist of writers, professors and intellectuals. In September of the previous year, the Academy's Nobel Committee sends forms to hundreds of individuals and organizations eligible to submit nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature.  According to the Nobel Prize website, these include professor...

When it premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in mid-September, "NAZA" received a 25-minute-long standing ovation and the Special Jury Prize. But in Israel, the documentary has fueled heated debate. Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar described the work of filmmakers Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham "treason against the state" and urged that their citizenship be revoked. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also sharply criticized the documentary. Now the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has also rejected the film's allegations about its conduct during the war in Gaza. In a multi-page document, the military accuses the filmmakers of presenting a "distorted, misleading and disingenuous picture." The film, it says, is based on "substantial factual errors" resulting from "manipulativ...

Toby Morton, who wrote several episodes of the animated comedy series South Park, launched a website seeking accountability in connection with an alleged 2024 sexual assault case involving seven fraternity members at Cornell University in the US. The site names seven men accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman who was allegedly unconscious after being given drugs and alcohol at a Cornell fraternity house, and collects personal data and photos of the members involved. "I've received messages reminding me I'm not a journalist, I'm 'just a satirist,'" Morton wrote in a September 27 Instagram post regarding the creation of his website TheCornell7.org. "This is true, but it makes me more dangerous," he added, saying he has "nobody to tell me I've gone too far." The case has recentl...

"Bringing the world together through music has always been an incredibly powerful idea and has stood the test of time for 70 years," Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green told DW on the sidelines of the event's annual European Broadcasting Union (EBU) workshop held in mid-September. "And I think the more difficult the world gets around us, the more important these shows of unity, these shows of togetherness become." While Green is intent on promoting the unity of the international music contest that celebrated its 70th anniversary in May, the 2026 event was also infamously marked by unprecedented backlash. Political boycotts over Israel's inclusion amid the war in Gaza led to a significant low point in participation and viewership, dropping from 166 million viewers in 2025 down t...

"Bringing the world together through music has always been an incredibly powerful idea and has stood the test of time for 70 years," Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green told DW on the sidelines of the event's annual European Broadcasting Union (EBU) workshop held in mid-September. "And I think the more difficult the world gets around us, the more important these shows of unity, these shows of togetherness become." While Green is intent on promoting the unity of the international music contest that celebrated its 70th anniversary in May, the 2026 event was also infamously marked by unprecedented backlash. Political boycotts over Israel's inclusion amid the war in Gaza led to a significant low point in participation and viewership, dropping from 166 million viewers in 2025 down t...

"The first week went by peacefully," Oktoberfest Director Christian Scharpf said at the festival's half-way point. Munich's Deputy Mayor Verena Dietl praised the "good, harmonious atmosphere."  The city's police force also delivered a positive report half-way through the event in Munich. But if you take a closer look, all is not peachy at the Wiesn. Service personnel are among those painting a very different picture. And they're the ones at the heart of the action. The situations they encounter often go unreported and don't appear in the statistics, but sometimes, a line is crossed, with racist, discriminatory comments, for example. In response, a group of service staff have launched an initiative calling for "mutual respect at the Wiesn." In a video posted on Instagram and TikTok, sta...

"Bringing the world together through music has always been an incredibly powerful idea and has stood the test of time for 70 years," Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green told DW on the sidelines of the event's annual European Broadcasting Union (EBU) workshop held in mid-September. "And I think the more difficult the world gets around us, the more important these shows of unity, these shows of togetherness become." While Green is intent on promoting the unity of the international music contest that celebrated its 70th anniversary in May, the 2026 event was also infamously marked by unprecedented backlash. Political boycotts over Israel's inclusion amid the war in Gaza led to a significant low point in participation and viewership, dropping from 166 million viewers in 2025 down t...