Tracks East

<p>As much of Western Europe worries about having enough gas for the winter, Tracks East looks at how people in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are facing the energy crisis and a cold winter ahead.</p>

Winter of War

Tracks East looks at how people in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are facing the energy crisis and a cold winter ahead.

In Ukraine, long-distance love is the new normal. Indie pop icon Ingret Kostenko had a meteoric rise to fame until the Russian invasion forced her to flee to Germany. The man she loved was a soldier at the front and she went home regularly to see him. This separation is the inspiration for Ingret’s music.

Love in Wartime

Ukrainian Indie pop icon Ingret Kostenko is in a long-distance relationship with a soldier, the inspiration for her music.

Should artists and musicians be active cultural warriors in the war in Ukraine? Or should art provide solace from the brutality of war? Tracks East focuses on artists from countries devastated by war and how they are received in the west.

Culture Warriors: Art in Wartime

Should artists and musicians be active cultural warriors in the war in Ukraine? Or should art provide solace from the brutality of conflict? 

 In war it is often the children who suffer the most. Their stable home lives are destroyed and they have to flee. According to Ukrainian sources, 12,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia, the Kremlin says they have been ‘brought home’.

Children of War

How is the war in Ukraine affecting children? According to Ukrainian sources, 12,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia, the Kremlin says they have been ‘brought home’.

It will soon be a year since Russia invaded their country, but Ukrainians remain optimistic: 88% of them are convinced that within ten years their country will be a member of the European Union and will enjoy prosperity. And many Ukrainian artists, singers, inventors and entrepreneurs believe that their country should not be reduced to the role of victim. Musician Olga Osinnya meets people in Kyiv who are looking towards the future with hope.

The Day After Tomorrow

Tracks East meets people in Kyiv who are looking towards the future with hope.

Addressing the issue of exploitation and power relations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Tracks East focuses on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Hierarchies – Who’s in Charge?

Exiled in Latvia since 2022, Russian journalist Masha Borzunova and her team are on a mission to teach Europe what Russian state media propaganda actually looks like: Sinister, full of contradiction and absurd.

Fake News: Russian Propaganda for Beginners

In Kyiv's Closer Club, Ukrainians are trying to preserve a bit of normality in wartime. In the past, dance fans from across Europe made the pilgrimage to the Ukrainian capital's legendary techno nights. Every December, the Black Factory Night takes place, and this winter is no different. If there’s a blackout, they’re got generators at the ready.

Blackout

In Kyiv's Closer Club, Ukrainians are trying to preserve a bit of normality in wartime as the country experiences blackouts.

Religion has played a major role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill supports the war - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is sending Muslim soldiers to Ukraine in a "holy war". We meet the Ukrainian muslim bloggers. Artist Masha Maroz takes us on a journey through the ancestral rites of Polesia and Mihaela Drăgan invokes Roma superstitions about witches.

Myth, Religion and War

Religion has played a key role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

When bombs are raining down all around, when freedom of expression is removed, does this make you laugh? Tracks East looks at how humour is used as a weapon in testing times in Belarus, Ukraine and Bulgaria. (And how dictators don’t have a very developed sense of humour.)

Humour as a Weapon

Tracks East looks at how humour is used as a weapon in testing times in Belarus, Ukraine and Bulgaria. (And how dictators don’t have a very developed sense of humour.)

“The world has lost its love for democracy. The world has become disappointed with the power elite. The world has begun to turn to dictatorship” So said Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Moscow opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. While Belarus and Russia are striking examples of dictatorships,  Tracks East also looks at the situation in Iran.

Dictators: Control over Mind and Body

Dictatorships want to control your mind and body. Tracks looks at the situation in Russia, Belarus and Iran.

Suddenly it's back - the fear of nuclear Armageddon. Tracks East explores this highly explosive topic in this latest episode. Ukrainian writer Mitya Churikov recalls the Chernobyl disaster and ask whether Zaporizhzhya will be the trauma of the next generation. Tracks East also meets bestselling Russian author Dmitry Gukhowsky, whose novel Metro 2033 imagines a post-apocalyptic Moscow after a nuclear war.

Going Nuclear

Suddenly it's back - the fear of nuclear Armageddon. Tracks East explores this highly explosive topic in this latest episode.

As much of Western Europe worries about having enough gas for the winter, Tracks East looks at how people in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are facing the energy crisis and a cold winter ahead.

Tracks East interviews Ukrainians who refuse to take up arms and Russian men who have been living in fear of being called up since the call for partial mobilisation.

Tracks East - Mobilisation

In this tenth and final part of Tracks East, Central and Eastern Europeans - journalists, artists, a male model and a former sex worker - hold up a mirror to Western Europeans.

The West Seen from the East

Most Ukrainian refugees are women. Just like much of the visible resistance in Russia. With the men at the front, the women find themselves taking on new responsibilities. On more than one level. They fight, save their families, reinvent themselves. What role do they play in this war? And how has this conflict affected them?

Women in War

Most Ukrainian refugees are women. Just like much of the visible resistance in Russia. With the men at the front, the women find themselves taking on new responsibilities.

More than 30 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. What remains today of what was the largest federation of states in the world? As the Ukraine war shows, the ghosts of the USSR still linger. Nowhere is safe for critics of the Kremlin: they could be denounced to the authorities by their own families and neighbours.

Soviet Heritage

Nowhere is safe for critics of the Kremlin: they could be denounced to the authorities by their own families and neighbours.

In 1991, the Soviet empire collapsed, giving rise to the Russian Federation and fifteen other independent states. Today, Vladimir Putin does not respect the sovereignty of these independent nations, particularly Ukraine. How is a nation defined? Are borders the only constituent element? A focus on the renewed patriotism in the post-Soviet world.

The New Patriotism

At the cusp of adulthood, an entire generation is now facing an unprecedented crisis. Between escape and resistance, Gen East shares its vision of tomorrow with us.

New Generation

Between escape and resistance, Gen East shares its vision of tomorrow with us.

Tracks East highlights the multiplicity of creative and surprising expressions of solidarity with Ukraine by artists in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Solidarity

Can identities be forced, discarded, changed or revived? In the USSR, national identities were a political instrument. Millions of people were resettled, deported, and Russified. Today, the multi-ethnic social fabric of post-soviet nations harbours explosive tensions and the Ukraine war is opening up old wounds. What does identity mean for the next generation?

Identity

The multi-ethnic social fabric of post-soviet nations harbours explosive tensions and the Ukraine war is opening up old wounds. What does identity mean for the next generation?

Whether they have fled, been banished or deported, some exiles find themselves alone, while others form communities in their host countries. But all feel nostalgia and even homesickness. Tracks East goes in search of the exile experience.

Exile

Tracks East goes in search of the exile experience of those who have fled, been banished or deported.

A Polish cyber elf, a Ukrainian DJ on the front line, a militant Russian grandmother, and Belarusian hackers... On the face of it, they have little in common. And yet they are all resisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting back on different fronts.

Resistance

A Polish cyber elf, a Ukrainian DJ on the front line, a militant Russian grandmother, and Belarusian hackers...They are all resisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine on different fronts.

If the truth is the first victim of war, many voices are trying to defend it in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere. Alternative culture programme Tracks goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine. On the programme: propaganda and counter-propaganda in times of conflict.

Propaganda and Truth

lternative culture programme "Tracks" goes east to meet journalists and artists from Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia who have a different perspective on the war in Ukraine

Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile. There's been a mass creative exodus in recent weeks, including Russian rap stars like Face and Oxxxymiron. Art rockers IC3PEAK post protest videos that would get them arrested in Russia. TikTok star Nikita Sass bravely continues to post his opinion and stays. Few dare to do that.

Russian Artists Against the War

Russian artists have two choices: silence, or exile

Tracks

Since 1945 the democracies of Europe have lived in peace. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shattered our ideas of peace. Can we still dream of paradise and a future free of violence? Twist explores these ideas in Berlin and at the Venice Biennale.

Paradise Lost?

Can we still dream of paradise and a future free of violence? Twist explores these ideas in Berlin and at the Venice Biennale.

Twist

More than 10 million people in the world are behind bars with half of the world's prison population in Russian, Chinese or American jails. In the United States, where the prison population has risen sharply in recent decades. Artists are sounding the alarm: Jay Z, Denzel Curry and Meek Mill are calling for judicial reform.

More than 10 million people in the world are behind bars with half of the world's prison population in Russian, Chinese or American jails. 

Tracks: Planet Prison

Why is it so important for some to show that they have money? Does wealth make you happy? Or maybe true wealth is having nothing at all? We go to the streets of Berlin to talk to the people of the city about wealth, minimalism and freedom.

Become Rich!

Does wealth make you happy? Or maybe true wealth is having nothing at all?

Streetphilosophy

Romania has greater gas resources than most European countries. With its unexploited Black Sea gas reserves, it could theoretically free itself from gas imports and start supplying neighbouring countries. But Romanian legislation is not favourable to development. Even so, an oil rig has been built of the Romanian coast which has been extracting natural gas since June 2022.

A Boon for Romania?

Could Romania's Black Sea gas fields be the answer to Europe's energy problems?

Re: Black Sea Gas

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. One year later, the war continues, destroying a country situated on the border between two worlds, between Russia and the European Union. A focus on the geopolitical history of a country now associated with conflict.

Ukraine: A Country at War

 A focus on the geopolitical history of a country now associated with conflict.

Mapping the World

Meet Olivier Latry, the organist of the famous Notre-Dame in Paris: one of the most prestigious organist gigs in the world. Join him on an exciting musical and historical journey to the heart of the organ.

Meet Olivier Latry, the organist of the famous Notre-Dame in Paris

The Organ of Notre Dame

We tie knots every day without a second thought, but it's all about context. Tying your shoelaces is nothing special, but that very same movement becomes charged with meaning when it is practised as part of Shibari. This Japanese art of tying someone into a tightly woven mesh of intricate knots and bindings started off as a form of punishment. But it is now a sexual fetish, and a craft, full of precision.

Bondage: The Ties That Free

The tradition of Shibari started off as a form of punishment. But it is now a sexual fetish, and a craft, full of precision.

Gymnastics

Bonuses and Extracts

Discover more

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants and changed the course of European history.

The decisive moment in 1618 that triggered the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. 

The Defenestration of Prague

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating over the breakaway region of Transnistria, an investigation on how prepared Europe is for another summer of wildfires, and a report from the Dissident Club in Paris.

Tensions in Moldova / WildFires in Europe

Tensions between Moldova and Russia are escalating with street protests and controversy over Russian secret documents.

ARTE Europe Weekly

Highly influential indie rockers from Boston, famous for such tracks as Debaser and Where is my mind perform in Paris as part of a European tour for their latest album Doggerel.

Legendary and highly influential indie rockers perform in Paris as part of their European tour.

Pixies - Live at the Paris Olympia

The loss of biodiversity is highly alarming: our planet is currently experiencing the greatest extinction since the age of the dinosaurs. This film documents the extinction of species currently happening around the world. But it also highlights hopeful initiatives as committed men and women on every continent fight to save endangered species and work towards improving biodiversity.

Mankind's Greatest Challenge

Biodiversity or Extinction

At once seductive and dangerous, historical myth and male fantasy, the femme fatale represents both erotic promise and a death trap to the male observer. Conceived at the end of the 19th century in the works of Gustave Moreau, Franz von Stuck and Lovis Corinth, the femme fatale was completely reinvented in the 20th century by many female artists.

Seductive and dangerous, the figure of the femme fatale in art was completely reinvented in the 20th century.

The Femme Fatale in Art

Music director of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru takes his musicians on a tour of his homeland, Romania. A tour stopping in Timişoara, his hometown. On the programme: The Piano Concerto No. 2 by Johannes Brahms with soloist Simon Trpčeski.

Concert from the European Capital of Culture 2023

Conductor Cristian Măcelaru and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne perform Brahms and Klaus Lang in Romania.

Cristian Mācelaru in Timişoara

In El Salvador, gangs have terrorised the country for decades. But when Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, becoming the youngest head of state in Latin America, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

El Salvador: The coolest dictator in the world?

When Nayib Bukele was elected president in 2019, he vowed to take back control from the gangs by installing a state of emergency.

ARTE Reportage

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

In Peru, every year, the people who live in remote mountain villages gather to build the Inca bridge of Q'eswachaka, a traditional structure of woven grass, and the last of its kind. This ancestral know-how inherited from the Incas, and the enduring spirit of community, enables the villagers to pull off a stunning feat of engineering, time and again.

In Peru, every year, villagers build the Inca bridge of Q'eswachaka from woven grass, and the last of its kind.

The Inca Grass Bridge of Q'eswachaka

One aspect of the war in Ukraine is being played out in the shadows. Our reporter met partisans in the Kherson region, which was occupied by Russian forces until last November. These Ukrainian civilians have set up resistance networks in Russian-occupied territories.

Ukraine: Resistance in Occupied Territories

Our reporters met partisans in the Kherson region, which was occupied by Russian forces until last November. Ukrainian civilians there have set up resistance networks in Russian-occupied territories.

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 2,500 documents were leaked from Prigozhin’s servers by anti-Putin hackers, shedding light on this secretive group of mercenaries, a key element in the war in Ukraine.

Data Sources

An exclusive investigation into the Russian paramilitary organisation Wagner, headed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

The Prigozhin Papers

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot show another side of Israel. One with high-levels of social deprivation and strong support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s controversial judicial reforms.

Sderot - The Other Israel

Far from the metropolitan centre of Tel Aviv, Sderot is a different Israel with strong support for Netanjahu and high levels of social deprivation.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols have fathered around one hundred children over the last ten years. Their sperm is smuggled out of prison to be used in IVF with their partners.

Israel-Palestine: Secret Babies of the Intifada

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols have fathered around one hundred children over the last ten years.

The Greek government is under intense pressure to explain how February’s tragic train accident happened. The crash has sparked widespread anti-government protests. We take a broad view of the state of gender equality across Europe and find out about a pioneering law to help menopausal women in Spain.

Greece train crash / Gender equality / Photography

Massive protests engulf Greece after a deadly train crash, with the public pointing fingers at the government.

Working her way out of poverty as a sex worker all while supporting her family in Romania. That’s Andrada’s goal. She speaks confidently and openly about her work in a red-light district in Germany’s Ruhr region.  
This programme by German channel ARD is part of The European Collection, a joint initiative of European public media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Portrait of a sex worker in the Ruhr region, Germany.  

Hard Life – I sell sex for money

Lyubov, which means love in Russian, is 80 years old and lives alone on the shores of Lake Baikal. She bears witness to this wonder of nature and possesses and unbreakable bond with the world’s deepest lake in Siberia. Her life here is hard, especially in winter, but she would not live anywhere else.

On the shores of Lake Baikal, an old woman lives alone in a beautiful place that is dear to her heart.

The Old Woman and the Lake

From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life. Street-photography captured Parisians from all walks of life and conveyed the optimism and elegance of the period.

From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life.

Paris in the Belle Epoque

A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Water

 A look at how we are getting better at managing and conserving water supplies in drier parts of our planet like southern Spain, Israel and the desert city of Las Vegas.

Good News From Our Planet

With all the religious wars, the 17th century was a tense time in Europe. And in art one theme caught everyone’s imagination: the Virgin Mary.

Assumption of the Virgin - Nicolas Poussin

Look But Don't Touch

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Israeli photographer Edward Kaprov went to the Donbas, to Kharkiv, Kherson and Bakhmut to cover the conflict. He chose the collodion photographic process, a technique which provided the first war photography, during the Crimean War (1853-1856), to document today’s conflict. The Polka Magazine competition made this reportage possible.

Ukraine: A Photographer in Wartime

Israeli photographer Edward Kaprov went to the Donbas to cover the war in Ukrain using an old photographic technique used in the Crimean War.

Tracks East

Tracks East

Love in Wartime

Tracks East

Culture Warriors: Art in Wartime

Tracks East

Children of War

Tracks East

The Day After Tomorrow

Tracks East

Hierarchies – Who’s in Charge?

Tracks East

Fake News: Russian Propaganda for Beginners

Tracks EastWinter of War

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Concert from the European Capital of Culture 2023