A List of Fears:Eva Kot’átková’s Asylum

Usually, fears and phobias range under anxiety disorders, and are listed in psychiatric manuals. Their variety seems infinite, and their severity varies from a slight uneasiness or tension to a condition in which a state of great panic is induced by the specific stimulus, which can be an object, an animal, a number, people, spaces, ideas, or a particular situation. The list of fears by Czech artist Eva Kot'átková is part of the installation Asylum that was presented at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Kot’átková’s works often reflect on the processes that restrict and manipulate people within institutions such as psychiatric hospitals or schools.Claudia Peppel, ‘A List of Fears: Eva Kot’átková’s **Asylum/**’, in The Case for Reduction, ed. by Christoph F. E. Holzhey and Jakob Schillinger, Cultural Inquiry, 25 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2022), pp. 271-76 <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-25_16

The Guest:Transfiguring Indifference in Teorema

In its elusive form between drama, novel and film, Teorema marks a ‘new turning point in Pasolini’s oeuvre’. Both the narrative and the style are remarkable, juxtaposing elements of different genres, nourishing the unresolved tensions within the film: the family members are shown in various scenes that follow one another in seemingly random order. Instead of a cohesive narrative unfolding in time, there reigns a sense of timelessness that gives rise to an oppressive feeling of drifting

1-Butyl-3-methyl­imidazolium tri­bromido­(tri­phenyl­phosphane-κP)nickelate(II) butan-1-ol hemisolvate

The solvated title salt, (C8H15N2)[NiBr3(P(C6H5)3)]·0.5C4H10O, was obtained in the form of single crystals directly from the reaction mixture. The mol­ecular structure consists of separated 1-butyl-3-methyl­imidazolium cations, tri­bromido­(tri­phenyl­phosphane)nickelate(II) anions and half a solvent mol­ecule of 1-butanol, all connected via multiple hydrogen contacts to form a three-dimensional network. The co-crystallized 1-butanol mol­ecule is disordered and adopts two orientations. The central C—C bonds of both orientations are located on an inversion centre (Wyckoff site 2b of space group P21/n). Thereby, each orientation has again two orientations with the OH group being located either on one or the other side of the C4 alkyl chain. The dried solvent-free compound exhibits a relatively low melting point (m.p. = 412 K)

3-(1H-Imidazol-1-yl)propane­nitrile

The title compound, C6H7N3, has an ethyl­ene group connecting an imidazole ring and a –CN group. These groups are in a staggered conformation. The shortest inter­molecular contact is found between the imidazole N atom and a –CH2– group of a neighboring mol­ecule

New Low-Melting Triply Charged Homoleptic Cr(III)-Based Ionic Liquids in Comparison to Their Singly Charged Heteroleptic Analogues

A series of new low-melting triply charged homoleptic Cr(III)-based ionic liquids of the general formula (RMIm)3[Cr(NCS)6] (R = methyl, ethyl, n-butyl, benzyl) is reported. Their syntheses and properties are described in comparison to their singly charged heteroleptic analogues of the general formula (RMIm)[Cr(NCS)4L2] (R = methyl, ethyl, n-butyl, benzyl; L = pyridine, γ-picoline). In total, sixteen new Reineckate related salts with large imidazolium cations are described. Out of these, five compounds were crystallized, and their structures determined by single-crystal X-ray structure analyses. They all consisted of discrete anions and cations with octahedrally coordinated Cr(III) ions. In the structures, various hydrogen contacts interconnect the entities to build up hydrogen bonded networks. Thermal investigations showed relatively low melting points for the homoleptic complexes. The compounds with the [Cr(NCS)6]3− anion melt without decomposition and are stable up to 200 K above their melting points. The complex salts with the [Cr(NCS)4L2]− anion, in contrast, start to decompose and lose L molecules (Pyr or Pic) already at the melting point

Syria’s Stateless Palestinians

In 1948, Syria received one hundred thousand Palestinian refugees denied their right to return to their homes and lands in Palestine – a right asserted by UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Over the subsequent decades, Syria facilitated their integration into the country. On the eve of the Syrian war, the community of Palestinian refugees in Syria was half a million strong. It is estimated that at least one in every five Palestinians has fled the country already, with the overwhelming majority arriving in Europe as refugees yet again. What can the Palestinians’ statelessness and repeated devastation of their communities tell us about human rights law and related international legal regimes that regulate the protection of refugees and displaced persons? When do refugees become recognized as refugees, and when does their status afford them protection? Under what circumstances are Palestinian rights, especially the right of return, recognized and supported, what enabled Israel to ignore their claims, and what impact will the continued displacement of communities have on the fight for the Palestinian cause? The participants will bring their unique expertise and diverse disciplinary background to discuss the current displacements of Palestinian refugees. The workshop and discussion mark the recent publication of Palestinians in Syria: Nakba Memories of Shattered Communities by former ICI Fellow Anaheed Al-Hardan.Syria’s Stateless Palestinians, workshop, ICI Berlin, 14 October 2016 <https://doi.org/10.25620/e161014