37Gaydamaka Anatoly Vasilievich:

An artist that believed inUkraine’s Independence

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Chinese artist’s Ai Weiwei work ‘He Xie’ is pictured during a press preview at the Royal Academy in London yesterday, ahead of the opening of a major exhibition of his work. The exhibition runs from September 19 to December 13, 2015. — AFP

Fans flock to honourqueen of crime fiction

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie fans have descended on her hometown ofTorquay on the English Riviera for the 125th anniversary of themurder master’s birth yesterday as the crime novel enjoys a glob-

al revival. Simplicity is the key to her enduring popularity, said Christie’sonly grandson Mathew Prichard, who has been the chief custodian ofher work since the queen of crime fiction died in 1976. “My grandmotherwrote books to entertain people,” he said. “She liked the thought of themenjoying them if maybe they’re in hospital or on a long train journey. Ithink this was the beginning of it all.” A century on the novels continue tosell by the millions and Torquay, a genteel Devon seaside resort, is hop-ing to harness their universal popularity even though the novels have lit-tle in common with today’s thrillers.

Christie’s works hark back to a bygone era in the first half of the 20thcentury when murder most foul was often committed with old-fash-ioned poisons. John Curran, an expert on the novels and author of“Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks”, said the books can be devoured bychildren and academics with the same pleasure. A learned mix of ama-teurs and specialists attended a series of lectures and conferences inTorquay aiming at dissecting the novelist’s work and life. Delegatesengrossed themselves in Christie’s intimate world, exchanging viewsover tea, dinners with white tablecloths and butlers, or in flower gardensthat could have come straight from her stories. All that was missing wasthe customary corpse.

Picture-postcard nostalgia Around 100 events have been organized and thousands of people

from the world over are attending, said Pam Beddard, head of communi-cations for the festival. At one event, expert Kathryn Harkup will describethe poisons used by Christie, and why it was the author’s favoritemethod of killing off her characters. “Because of her background astrainee at a dispensery she knew a lot about lots and lots of differentpotions,” said Harkup, a chemist and author of “A is for Arsenic”, a study ofChristie’s poisons. French writer and editor Anne Martinetti will look atthe recipes and dishes that appear in the novels, which often featuremarmalade, scones and pies.

Curran will explain how home-schooled Christie’s storytelling evolvedover the course of five decades. “This woman who never went to schoolis the biggest selling and most translated writer of all time,” said Curran.Christie wrote no fewer than 80 books, which are continually adapted forthe cinema and television. “In the UK, every night there is an AgathaChristie somewhere on some channel. That of course is a factor in hercontinuing popularity,” he added.

TV dramas featuring the moustachioed Belgian detective HerculePoirot or the wise spinster Miss Marple have brought Christie to a newgeneration. With their dinner parties, operas, and trips on the OrientExpress, the adaptations offer a glimpse of a picture-postcard world ofEnglish high society, a world that continues to delight Christie fansworldwide. — AFP

From ridiculing warlords to pok-ing fun at the political elite, acrop of covertly run Afghan

satirical outlets are resonating widelywith disenchanted citizens-and pro-voking the ire of officials.Afghanistan’s spy agency last monthrounded up journalists suspected ofrunning “Kabul Taxi”, accusing thesatirical Facebook page of imperilingnational security. The crackdown,which catapulted the little-knownpage to fame, triggered outrage anddefiant Internet memes such as “I amKabul Taxi!” spotlighting a new gen-eration of clandestine politicalsatirists.

A blend of humor and scathingwit, the page launched by anunknown Afghan in April depicted ayellow Toyota taxi with its mottoscrawled on its rear windscreen: “Lifeis bitter and the future uncertain”. Ittapped into widespread angst overcorruption and political dysfunction.Posts depicted high-profile politi-cians and bureaucrats squeezing intothe back seat and descending intopetty bickering and mocking conver-sations.

Passengers have includedPresident Ashraf Ghani and his ally inthe national unity government,Abdullah Abdullah. But theFacebook page invited trouble whenit targeted Hanif Atmar, the powerfulnational security adviser. A KabulTaxi post describes picking up Atmarand his 27 children, who are intro-duced as part of an oversizedentourage of advisers hired on heftysalaries.

The post mocks a recruitmentprocess seen by Afghans as nepotis-tic and prone to favoritism. Atmarwas not amused, ordering the grillingof journalists rumored to be behindKabul Taxi on suspicion of exposingstate secrets by naming his advisers.Defenders in the Afghan mediapointed out the names of Atmar’sstaff were already posted on a gov-ernment Facebook page-along withtheir photos. “The government con-siders satire as terrorism,” Kabul Taxiwrote in the aftermath of the contro-versy, which sent its fan base soaringwith the number of “likes” nearly dou-bling to 60,000 and provoking anoutpouring of public support beforeit was suddenly taken down.

“The Afghan National SecurityCouncil (NSC) should be chasing sui-cide bombers, not the driver of a taxi,”wrote one Facebook user. Efforts toapprehend the page administratorincited an outpouring of ridicule forAtmar. One animated video onFacebook shows him chasing a taxi,which mischievously lurches forwardevery time he tries to get in.

‘Eagle eye’ The booming genre of political

satire has a special place inAfghanistan, where all major prob-lems plaguing the country-militancy,warlordism and corruption-seemlinked to what many describe as thevenality of politics. Politicians arewidely berated as insincere, powerhungry and concerned only aboutthe welfare of their own ethnicgroups. “The role of satire inAfghanistan is to keep influentialpeople, especially politicians, on theirtoes,” said a co-founder of AfghanOnion, a new English-language satiri-cal website that pays tribute to theUS website of the same name.

“It is to make them aware thatthey are being watched with an eagleeye-if not by corrupt authorities thenby the public who can expose them,”the anonymous co-founder told AFP.

But the crackdown on Kabul Taxihas raised concerns over free speechin Afghanistan, which ranks 122ndout of 180 countries in the 2015Reporters Without Borders press free-dom index. Human Rights Watch hasdocumented increasing intimidationand violence against the Afghanmedia over the past two years asinternational support wanes amid adrawdown of foreign troops.

But political satire will thrivedespite the risks, said Jalal Noorani,author of a forthcoming book “Art ofSatire”. “Satire has survived therigours of time. It survived theTaliban, the mujahideen, the civilwar,” Noorani, 66, told AFP. “You cantry to restrict satirists, even imprisonthem, but you cannot stop the flowof satire,” he said. “The post-Talibanera is... a golden age of bold, fearlesssatire.” But Masouda Khazan Tokhi,the editor of a satirical monthlycalled Achar Kharboza (Melon Pickle),says she has fielded threatening callseven for benign posts mocking thesartorial choices of some politicians.

The co-founder of Afghan Onionsaid running a satirical site is a “cal-culated risk”, but no one is off-lim-its to mockery and ridicule. Afterinsurgents brazenly stormed aprison this week, freeing dozens ofTaliban inmates, the site posted:“(Atmar’s) NSC claims they arechasing the Taliban escapees inKabul Taxi.” — AFP

This picture taken in March 1946 shows British author AgathaChristie, in her home, Greenway House, in Devonshire. — AFP

A street car named satire: ‘KabulTaxi’ lampoons Afghanistan

An Afghan man browses the Taxi website at an internet cafe in Kabul. — AFP

Afghan woman satire Masouda Khazan Tokhi 39, displays cartoon papers inside of herhome in Kabul.

Afghan woman satire Masouda Khazan Tokhi 39, types satirical pieces on a computer atinside of her home in Kabul.