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Euroangst

I watched the last Venice programme on BBC2 a couple of hours ago, the funky series hosted by Venetian Francesco Da Mosto* that explores Venice through Blood, Sex, Beauty and Death.

I’ve been thrilled over the past few weeks as Da Mosto explored the origins of Venice, the fiercely proud city that has never bowed to anyone, that suffered the ravages of Napoleon’s irrational hatred and that birthed Casanova. Tonight he explored modern Venice, the issue of the sinking city—but he pointed out that there is a far greater threat to the proud and noble city, one that nourishes it as it kills it: tourism.

Da Mosto talked of how Venice is becoming nothing more than a museum; there is only one notable company that makes gondolas now, and they’re primarily for tourist use. There has been a mass exodus of native Venetians over the last fifty years, leaving the city to the hotels and the museums, the tourists who come and leave within days. I hated that the programme ended on such a bitter note, but it crystallised a feeling that has been eating away at me for a while.

It’s a horrible feeling, one I can’t shake. It’s as if Europe—- well, Western Europe at least— is turning into some kind of cold museum. Take Paris for example: there are tourist traps all over this city that seems a graveyard by day, a sinister and exciting place by night. The Moulin Rouge is one of the tackiest, most irritating things in the known world. The dynamic club of the 1800s is now a tourist mecca. The acts are performed in English for an international audience, with an excruciating puppet show mid-act. You could spend the night in a high-class Parisian hotel for the same price, and probably experience more of la vie boheme there. But really, as much as I love Paris, the days of Toulouse-Lautrec, the sans-culottes and philosphical debates at La Bonne Auberge are well and truly gone.

Liverpool is European Capital of Culture for 2008, but it struck me going through the city yesterday that all we seem to be celebrating is the past. The beautiful Liverpool skyline is dominated by the old Cunard buildings—our shipping industry left long ago. The docks are primarily the haunt of rubbishy call centres rather than ships, and despite the plethora of great bands that have come from the city in the last decade—everyone from Space to the Zutons to The Coral to…er… Atomic Kitten, the city is only content to feed off its Beatles connections. A church in the centre of the city that was bombed in World War II still lies derelict, as if testament to the city council that won't invest any money into the boarded-up homes and fix them, but which has agreed on the absurd notion of building a canal. Mere yards from the large River Mersey that feeds into the Irish sea. Like Venice, Liverpool struggles with a population under 500,000. European Capital of Culture, and yet we’re still haemorrhaging people.

Of course, on the flipside, there are the cities that are reinventing themselves. Prime tosser Franco all but destroyed Barcelona and its Catalan spirit, but when the 1992 Olympics provided the city with a chance to rise once more, it clasped the opportunity and now is one of the most vibrant and exciting places I’ve ever seen. I’m sure that jaffacakequeen will agree that the Four Cats restaurant favoured by Picasso still has a certain air about it, a certain liveliness. Other places reinvent themselves; Latvia, Estonia, Norway. The problem is of course that the vibrancy of the Scandinavian and Baltic states doesn’t stretch to Old Europe. I don’t know whether this is a sign that everything has its time; the world is organic, after all. The Middle East was the dominant superpower once, then Europe, then America; now Asia is emerging as a leader. Maybe one day Paris and Liverpool and Venice and the rest of the old guard will rise again and prove the naysayers wrong. I hope so, but I fear that the decline may not be halted.

Compare this to America. It seems so…alive, as if it doesn’t just look to some Romantic past, but has energy and drive and a ferocity-- one I have often hated, but can’t help but be awed by-— that drives it forward. I wish I could see this in Europe. I am so proud of this continent. I’m in love with it. There is such a mix of vibrancy and culture but, above all, history. It’s our biggest selling point—but I think our obsession with the past and our unwillingness to look forward is killing us. That won’t stop me photographing the grand old palazzos in November, nor will I stop wandering the old cells of the Conciergerie and wondering at the events that have gone on there, but I hope that in centuries to come people will visit these places to see the living present as well as the interesting but dead past.

*I have a massive crush on him, oh yes

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This is interesting, because I'd say that most European cities, even small towns, seem more vibrant to me than even big American cities. The only place in Europe I've even been that seemed really "draggy" was Italy, where everything is falling down around them but they don't seem to care. Various cities had their nice parts and modern parts, but mainly it was the old hanging on. Now by contrast, Germany, especially Cologne, is amazingly vibrant and does a great job of mixing old and new. Cologne is one of most buoyant, vibrant, fabulous cities going, and it's a place that was massively bombed out. Atlanta seems utterly and completely banal and empty next to it. (Hell, in some respects Stafford beats out Atlanta, which is just sad, LOL.) Anyway, there is great work and investment going on both in Europe and America, but I think in many respects the Europeans have a huge edge of America. The main thing you have to worry about is following any sort of American model, because you don't want to have cities like American cities, trust me :)

Very true about Cologne. It annoys me to no end to think of how much of Cologne and Berlin and Dresden was destroyed, but at the same time Germany and Cologne in particular seems to have a lot more energy. I wonder if that's because it had to concentrate on building a new future?

Oh, I don't pursue the American model, but I do wish we could take some of its verve every now and then. ;)

Vervy American cities: Chicago, NYC (well, duh), Boston, Charleston.

God, I love NYC. So many people have told me it resembles Liverpool, and I've scoffed at them in the past-- but they were right. It's like a bigger, more exciting Liverpool, with that same ferocity and vibrancy our city is gradually losing.

I still have to check out Chicago, Boston and Charleston, but I'm hoping to concentrate on visiting America in 2006, so who knows?

I highly recommend all three. I would definitley rate Charleston one of the most lovely places in the South -- a beautiful city and one the people there are rightly very proud of (as opposed to Atlanta, which is full of itself but not nearly as nice).

Very interesting. Yes it's a big question for Europe. How does a place re-invent itself and look to the future, whilst retaining and cherishing links with the past? It is a balancing act which a lot of cities are struggling to deal with.

For example, I think that the new Selfridges building in Birmingham is a bold step forward. The building is certainly not to everybody's tastes (I have a bit of a love-hate thing about it) but at least it is not a backwards step. There is a plaque nearby which reads "Legacies of the old go hand in hand with the new" and I think this has actually been achieved in Birmingham to a certain extent.

However, in Wolverhampton, a church of great architectural importance has been turned into a Sainsburys supermarket. I kid you not. To me, such a blatant disregard for the city's cultural heritage should have been made a criminal offence. It's such a shame because the city does have a rich history, dating back over a 1000 years and, silly accent aside, could offer a lot more in the future, given the right investment.

Whew sorry for the long response. As you can see, it's a subject that greatly interests me too.

btw - my sister also likes Francesco Da Mosto. I even book her the book on Venice for her birthday so that she could admire ~~him~~ the architecture of the city.

Or even "Legacies of the past go hand in hand with the new"

I'm glad Birmingham is reinventing itself. I think it could certainly go the way of Manchester and shake off its industrial past to become a vibrant new city.

Da Mosto is the best. I envy your sister and her beautiful pictures of hi-- Venice.

You know, I think that part of the reason that Birmingham has been rejuvenated in recent years is because nobody had any expectations of the city. It's been perceived as a dirty industrial city rather than a quaint little place catering for tourists. So there has been a freedom for the city to move forward rather than being shackled to the past, trying to conform to some ideal that never existed.

i wish people did think more of the future and stopped dreaming of the past (says me with more peroid dramas in my DVD collection than the BBC library) but for city's to move on, it takes people with entreprenural future vision and cash to do something about it. Plus positive attitudes, to listen, look and learn and explore whats happen in the cities. i get fed-up of the 30, 40, 50's something generation going, it wasnt like this in my day" music, film, ...etc its rubbish now and its NOT! they have jsut given up, if the Beatles were so fantastic and Liverpool has nothing else to offer, then go find the new somethings and promote what they have to offer! they are there, they need building up. Take your Venice, beautiful old etc but its gaining a reputation for its modern, excting film festival and the biggest modern art convention in the world each year. This is bringing people in to discuss the new. Liverpool can do exactly the same, fuck the Beatles conventions.. build on the Tate modern, build on the canals the way Manchester is with lively galleries! Salford has a brilliant film festival every year. It can soo happen, building the future mixing old into new! but it takes people to get talking about, and creating a buzz and getting off thier arses. I do think its happenign but it needs to speed up

I so agree. Look at all the things Liverpool has! The most art galleries in any UK city, a beautiful World Heritage skyline, those docks, the Mersey, a film industry willing to invest more... and yet all it cares about is the frigging Beatles. I think you're right-- it needs to speed up, and take a leaf out of Manchester's book and stop wasting money on stupid lamb bananas and invest in the city itself.

Compare this to America. It seems so…alive, as if it doesn’t just look to some Romantic past, but has energy and drive and a ferocity..

We don't have a romantic past as I see it. In fact, we don't have much of a past timewise since the United States was only founded some 229 years ago or 385 years ago if you count the Pilgrim story. However, I think our past is deeply connected to Europe in many ways-- we just forget that part. :s I was speaking to

ladydaydream the other day and we were talking about our "roots", our backgrounds and whether or not Americans gave much thought to their own personal histories and such. Well, we do. The only true American if you will is our Native American people. Otherwise we are a big bunch of mixed ethnicities; Western European first came in I think, then Eastern Europeans, I don't discount the African culture, of late it's been people of Latino descent and more.

As to mixing the old & new/American & European: It's interesting to walk around Boston for example because one gets the historical perspective from the American Revolution POV but can walk a short distance and be in "Italy", take a right and you're in "Poland", move a little and it's somewhere else. All amongst a small piece of land that boasts of our industrial and technological advances. However we too have opted to destroy some history in favor of new shiny things & also neglect some other parts of the city based on class in my opinion. >: I never really thought about all of this. hmmm...

Well, as I told

ladydaydream, I only recently, thanks to the wonders of the internets and a little incident in 2001, came out of my American (hell my Northeast American) Isolationist mode (so bear with me) but I am finding it fascinating. I'd love to visit Europe someday. Does this make any sense at all?

Disjointed wording, yes. Long, probably terribly so. I'll save the drive and ferocity bit for another time. But thank you for moving my "outward" thinking along a little further. ;)

Hee. It's interesting to see it from the perspective of a former American Isolationist. ;)

I hope you do visit Europe sometime in the future, particularly stopping off in Blightly. Not because sharing a coffee with you in some city cafe would be the best, but because I'm interested to know how you'd view and compare this place to ze America.

I would venture that Japan, too, has that drive... at least, that's the impression I got from Lost in Translation. Sydney has that vitality too, in my short experience, while Melbourne, in my equally short experience, is quite snootily cosmopolitan and European.

In any town or city or place, there has to be a balance between preserving the past and between moving forward. Otherwise, you're right, you end up with museums. You end up with cities that are no longer cities, just places where people used to live. And maybe that's just the way things go, that's part of the way that civilisations rise and fall, but there's no need to give neglect a helping hand. There's a difference between faded glory and plain decay. And sometimes it's much better to put up a museum rather than tired recreations of the past, but, eh...

Thinking about the specific case of England, perhaps part of the problem is that the industrial age is long over. People flocked to towns to work into the factories, but now the office age rules, and you can put up an office anywhere. You can even have an office in your little cottage in the Cotswolds. Nothing defines cities anymore. It's less important to have a metropolis so much as just chains of networked places. And if the workforce isn't concentrated in any one place, then art and life and vibrancy cannot concentrate and flourish, either.

I think the contrast between Sydney and Melbourne is interesting. You know, British people that visit Australia so often choose Sydney as the most vibrant and exciting place in that country.

As for the rest, you'll hate me, but: iawtc.

I wish I was more alert and awake after reading your post (no, it didn't put me to sleep ... I'm just up abnormally early), and kept thinking how much I agree with you. My trip to Paris filled me with so much happiness and sadness. I mean, the gift shoppes in the cathedrals?! So fecking tacky, and I'm not even religious! But, once you step away from the touristy things -- there is life. There is vibrance. It seems you just have to look harder for it. Off the beaten path and the like.

When my parents went on the grande tour de l'Angleterre they noticed much the same thing. While there are new buildings and new areas of the city, my dad told me that it seems like Old World only because the culture clings to those old buildings. And by no means was he suggesting we level Hadrian's Wall or London Tower. I think it ran more along the lines of: 'This entire city is clinging to a past that doesn't exist merely for the tourism that it brings'. And really, what else do some of these places have save for their tourism (I'm thinking more along the lines of Bath than Liverpool)?

And honestly, you can see that very same attitude in many of the major cities in America.

zhonghua2000 already mentioned Boston, but you can see it in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York. Hell, you can see it in New Orleans. They've clung to their French/Spanish roots so desperately for so long that they are that little pseudo-European city in a big American state. But only in looks. The culture doesn't seem that removed, but maybe that's due more to the demand that French no longer be spoken in the courts. Perhaps the atmosphere is more like Vegas than LA, but still immeasurably American. That is probably a rant for another day.

Anyway, you made me think. That's a good thing. Even at the crack of dawn on three hours of sleep. :D

I didn't think about that with regards to New Orleans. It annoys me that Cajun French seems to be dying out, but yes... I suppose one has to be realistic and realise that as amazing as it is to have such a city, it could be killing itself by clinging to the remnants of the past.

Dunt remind me of the giftshops in the cathedral. :(

I made you think? Hurrah! I'm your multi-purpose Euro Wh0re this week.

I've never gone beyond England and Scotland, so I can't really comment here, except to say that when I saw the Venice series last year, I felt as alarmed as you.

I think that in Belfast we have an interesting spin on the problem of clinging to faded glory: we concentrate on about one major historical event (the frigging Twelfth) while other history is ignored. Yes, we have museums and galleries, but we have done fuck all to promote significant aspects of our heritage. Titanic quarter? Only now are we getting round to doing something. Why do so few people realise that Belfast built the Titanic? Possibly because we don't go out of our way to tell them.

And don't get me started on C.S. Lewis. The fact that they actually had to fight to prevent his childhood home being demolished says a lot about skewed priorities. Yes, there were bigger things to worry about for a long time. In some ways there still are. But if this city, and indeed the country, is ever to emerge from the shadow of the recent sectarian past, it needs to concentrate on the other significant people and events it has shaped.

*gets off soapbox*

Is it bad that I don't know who Da Mosto is?

I think so.

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