Dear Readers,
First and foremost, on behalf of the Bublitz platform, I wish you a New Year blessed by your chosen god, goddess, or entity! A year that has already unfolded with wild intensity, its further turbulence pressing upon us with an uneasy weight. Why are we Europeans so unsettled? Without question, we lack a sense of identification and connection with the deeper cultural structures that have shaped us. And, in turn, we lack a firm footing in time and space. In the past, one might have spoken of metaphysical homelessness. We have severed our roots, and technology only accelerates the process, while our brains—still wired for the open steppe and the sabre-toothed tiger, as neurophysiologists remind us—struggle to adapt.
A pressing question remains: what can we, as Europeans—whether left, right, or centrist democrats—agree upon? We must find our Marianne, our shared foundation. What can we take pride in? What defines our cultural self-understanding? Pride—a term our parents’ generation deconstructed with historical good reason, yet one we find ourselves needing once again. To lift our heads, to meet danger at eye level (B. Brecht). We must never cede our history to the extremes, and so we must learn not to despise it. Call it patriotism, or call it a connection with what is good and given—a quiet trust in its enduring presence.
The Temple of Time by Emma Willard, 1851—A historicist gem.
© Georg Stirnweiß. Pallas Athena is the patron of Elshan Ghasimi’s Radif renewal.
Europe is a radiant beacon of global cultural renewal! Nowhere else do so many high-cultural creative energies and encounters unfold with such intensity.
It is a profound achievement that our continent has become a home for artists and cultural practitioners from across the world. Europe stands as a platform for freedom, diversity, and the rebirth of cultures in exile—this is soft power in its purest form.
Artists from countries such as Iran, Ukraine, or Russia find in Europe the space to realise their visions and to breathe new life into their cultural traditions from afar.
On Wednesday, 12 February 2025, from 18:00 to 20:00, the Humboldt Forum will host a musical dialogue. The renowned Chinese instrumentalist Wu Wei (Sheng) and the Persian virtuoso Elshan Ghasimi (Tar) will perform together for the first time. Both are members of the Sabdagatitara network, shaping a musical exchange that interweaves diverse cultural traditions into a singular, evocative tapestry.
Furthermore, on Sunday, 23 February 2025, at 16:00, Elshan Ghasimi invites you to the Emmaus Church Community in Zehlendorf for her long-term project, The Reinterpretation of the Radif—a concert cycle that draws the deep cultural and musical traditions of Persia into the present moment.
One final aspect I wish to bring into this brief outline: let us once again seek identification with the deep cultural roots of pan-European heritage. What does this mean in concrete terms? That we are all, in a sense, Greeks—for what could be more enriching than seeing ourselves reflected in Sappho, Newton, Marcus Aurelius, or Hildegard? Let us celebrate ourselves and our history. Let us celebrate together.
Join us in celebration.
With warm regards,
Julian Malte Hatem Schindele
SHORT INFO
SabdaLab12 – Time Thief of the Silk Road
Date: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Venue: Humboldt Forum, Berlin
Meeting Point: 18:00 – 18:15 in the larger courtyard (Schlüterhof), in front of the museum shop
Admission: Free
Artists: Elshan Ghasimi & Wu Wei
More info: SabdaLab12 – Time Thief of the Silk Road
The Reinterpretation of the Radif
Date: Sunday, 23 February 2025
Time: 16:00
Venue: Emmaus Church Community
Address: Onkel-Tom-Straße 80, 14169 Berlin
Contact: Tel.: 030 813 4008
Admission: Free
More info: Elshan Ghasimi – Concerts
