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| You are in: | | Front Page > Programmes > World Today > Euro Special |
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Nico Helminger  | |
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To coincide with the launch of the Single Currency across 12 members of the European Union, The World Today has commissioned seven short original works from leading European writers. | |
 Nico Helminger: A Question About Bridges | |
It was Oscar Wilde, I think, who said, that bankers among themselves speak about art while artists among themselves speak about money. So why shouldn't a poet do it in public and speak about the Euro? As a pragmatic man in money matters, I would have preferred to speak about it a little bit later, when I know exactly what I am talking about. Up to now I didn't have any Euro in my hand; could be I'm allergic to these new notes and coins. For the moment I have to deal with it in a more theoretical way. I can understand that some people have their problems with this 'biggest currency switch in history. But I don't think, as it is often said, that a loss of a currency means a loss of identity.  Except perhaps for the Greek, who used their Drachma 350 years before Christ; a real long time for a currency, no one of the other switching countries can compare to it. Though I am a citizen of a country which is famous for its banks, identifying myself with a currency - or with money in general - would be a rather difficult exercise for me. I consider myself as a nomad, my poems as nomadic. So the question I ask is: the bridges on the Euro-notes, are they bridges from one country to the other, from one culture to the other, from person to person or are they only quick steps from one financial institution to an other financial institution? What comes first, market or man? In other, somewhat ironic words: the important thing is not the new currency, but what is done with it. So, don't leave it all to the capitalists, have some for the poets too! To conclude, a word on the Euro Minister of Luxembourg. His name is 'Frieden', which means 'peace' in English. Although I personally don't agree with him most of the time, a word like 'peace' should be a rather good omen for the Euro-future. | |
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Todays programmes More Essays | |
 | Colm Tóibín |
| | Michèle Roberts |
| | Carsten Jensen |
| | Nico Helminger |
| | Antoni Libera |
| | Peter Schneider |
| | Manuel Rivas |
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