PD Petr Dub

The portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche sitting on the Valentino´s Rossi motorbike represents mainly the confrontation of different cultures – historically and ideologically different. It would seem that a classical German philologist, contemporary Italian motorcycle racer and the traditional Alladin´s lamp could meet only in an artistic painting. However, in the end, each of them represents a certain kind of a contemporary symbol and as much as the influence of the personalities on our social environment is different, it always represents a significant cultural typology. Nietzche´s nihilism may be understood as an interesting parallel to the search of today’s social role of art, Rossi´s riding capabilities as a certain kind of sporting mastery and the lamp of legendary Alladin as a religious sign of the Near East. By this chosen juxtaposition the traditional European prototype stands before the intellectual historical question of the clash between Christianity and Islam, while the everyday world keeps on going in its own consumerist way. The confrontation of high and low culture is not necessary to politicize, just like it is not necessary to interpret the relationship between Christianity and Islam as a new threat for either one of them.