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Strap on your spurs

The government is looking at ways to give municipalities more control over dilapidated properties, as the list for social housing grows longer

The Beaufort triennial along the Flemish coast has revamped its format, with group shows and a moveable feast of installations

11 July is Flemish Community Day, which commemorates a defining 1302 battle between France and the County of Flanders with activities aplenty

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The taste of freedom

PEN Flanders offers exiled writers a temporary home, and a voice Toon Lambrechts More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

In many parts of the world, expressing your opinion can be a dangerous thing. For many years, PEN Flanders has been campaigning for freedom of expression and offering exiled writers a safe haven. We talk to journalist Maxim Efimov, who is wanted by the Russian state and has spent the last six months in Antwerp.

s there a more perfect place to meet with a writer than in a city’s landmark bookshop? At the Groene Waterman in Antwerp, shelves are stuffed full of books stacked back to back, each of them a gentle invitation to visitors to browse their pages. And the diversity of work for sale here shows how lush the fruits of free speech can be. Sven Peeters is a regular at the Groene Waterman. “Literature has always been one of my great loves,” he tells me.

“Also, I have always been active as a volunteer in several organisations out of a personal sense of social justice. When I discovered the activities of PEN Flanders, everything came together. Social involvement, meeting other cultures and, of course, literature.” Peeters helps manage the foreign writers in residence programme at PEN Flanders, which is part of PEN International. Since 1921, PEN International has been defending the right of authors to freely write whatever they want. “What Amnesty International does for human rights, PEN does for the writers’ rights,” Peeters explains, adding that the word “writers” is intended in the broadest sense. “PEN stands for poets, essayists and novelists, but the association also works for journalists, cartoonists and bloggers. And, as a word and symbol, ‘pen’ sounds very good of course.”

Other, more light-hearted motives also played a part in Peeters’ commitment to PEN Flanders. “Like many others in Antwerp, I’m a bit of a chauvinist,” he laughs. “I like to show people around here and let them feel at ease in my city. Everyone is welcome here.” The work of PEN is based on two cornerstone philosophies, he says. The first is to promote international understanding and intercultural exchanges between writers around the world. The second is to take a stand against censorship and the curtailing of freedom of expression. “That means that we welcome two kinds of writers here in Antwerp,” he says. “You’ve got foreign authors who have a project in Flanders – a book in which the story takes place here, or the publication of a Dutch translation of their work. The other group are the writers who are persecuted because continued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

First days of pedestrian zone cause chaos for motorists Traffic gridlocked around Brussels’ new car-free zone and on inner Ring Road Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

he first few days after Brussels’ new pedestrian zone came into force were marked by quiet in the zone itself but traffic chaos on the new loop around the zone, extending as far as the inner ring and the Basiliek tunnel. The new zone, which opened on 28 June, doubles the area of central Brussels now closed to road traffic, becoming the second-largest pedestrian zone in Europe outside of Venice. The new situation creates a mini-ring, leading drivers around the zone. As expected, the new routes are unfamiliar to drivers, leading to major traffic jams. In addition, the start of the new carfree zone coincided with surface work on the Schuman metro station, which added to the confusion on Wetstraat, one of the busiest approach roads to the city centre. At one point, it took motorists 90 minutes to travel from Keizer Karellaan in Koekelberg to Rogier, and the problems continued as drivers used the inner ring to get from one side of the

city to the other rather than use Anspachlaan (pictured), now closed to traffic.

Motorists are expected to adapt to the new conditions in the coming weeks, said Inge Paemen of Brussel Mobiliteit. “It’s too early to draw conclusions,” she said. “Traffic needs time to adapt. That could take two or three weeks.” Brussel Mobiliteit has advised motorists to use public transport in the meantime. Pascal Smet, minister for mobility in the Brussels-Capital Region, said that the new plan could not be assessed until September when normal traffic levels resume after the summer holidays. Making any conclusions or changes at this early stage would make no sense, he told the infrastructure committee of Brussels parliament. Smet suggested one radical change, however: Turn most of the inner-city pentagon into a car-free zone. “Whether it’s Dansaertstraat and surrounding streets or the begijnhof area, we have to create a slower city,” he told FM Brussel. The new car-free zone should extend from Keizerslaan, in the area of Central Station, all the way to the canal, he said.

Five professors honoured with awards in research excellence Five top scientists have been awarded prizes for excellence by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO). The prizes, worth €100,000 each , are awarded every five years and are regarded as the most prestigious prizes in Flanders for scientific research. According to FWO director Elisabeth Monard, the laureates have distinguished themselves through their research breakthroughs and the inspiration they have provided to scientific investigation. “These winners are guiding lights for new talent, able to bring their research to a public outside the walls of their

academic institutions,” she said. The laureates are diverse, working across scientific disciplines. Gustaaf Van Tendeloo of Antwerp University works with advanced electron microscopy; Luc Van Gool of the University of Leuven is an expert in the field of computer vision; Peter Vandenabeele of Ghent University and the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology researches the mechanisms of cell death. Greet Van den Berghe, also of Leuven, is head of the laboratory of intensive care medicine, while musicologist Marc Leman of Ghent

draws on neurology, computer science and psychology. All five are supporters of the kind of basic research encouraged by FWO: work aimed at adding to the knowledge of scientific principles, rather than the kind that solves one particular problem. “Basic research is like the roots of a tree,” said professor Van Tendeloo. “If you cut away the roots, the tree will eventually die. Without basic research, Flanders will never be able to realise its long-term ambitions in innovation.” \ AH

Teacher fired from primary school for not being baptised The Boodschapinstituut, a primary school in the Brussels district of Schaarbeek, has fired a teacher because she has never been baptised. The school belongs to the Flemish Catholic education network (VSKO). The school director and staff were aware that the teacher, who has worked at the school just one year, was not baptised, and other teachers filled in for her for the teaching of Christian religions. VSKO requires every teacher in the network who gives classes in religion to provide a baptism certificate. Some teachers in secondary education

who do not give classes on religion do not have certificates on record, but preschool and primary school teachers have more of a multi-task work day and are expected to be able to lead classes on religion. “One of my teachers who has been working here for three years is able to receive a permanent contract, but I must let one of the other teachers go,” director Els Merens wrote in an email to parents. “I have decided to end Ilse’s contract because she is not baptised, which is a requirement in the Catholic education system.”

laruedelaflandre.fr

Rue Androuet in the Montmartre district of Paris has been renamed Rue de la Flandre this week, as Parisians get the chance to sample the wares of Flanders and Brussels. The street, named for the 16th-century architect Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, is only 40 metres long but will serve as a shop window for products from the two regions. The shops in the street will be stocked with Flemish products, including beer, shrimp croquettes, speculoos and cuberdons. Others will be turned into art galleries, cafés and friet stands for the occasion, which coincides with the start of the Tour de France in Antwerp. The project is headed up by tourist office Visit Flanders. “Everyone is welcome in Rue de la Flandre,” said Flemish tourism minister Ben Weyts. “The people of Paris and visitors from around the world will be able to get a taste of Flanders. We’re aiming particularly at bloggers, tour operators and travel writers. Through them we hope to reach a wider public.” The opening days of Rue de la Flandre are dedicated to Antwerp, to mark the start of the Tour de France in the port city on 6 July. \ AH

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Belgian nationals imprisoned in foreign jails, slightly fewer than the same time last year. More than half are imprisoned for drugs offences, and France has the largest number at 87

“The constant need to find teachers to replace her for the religion classes was probably the reason why the director of this school didn’t extend the teacher’s contract,” said Patrick Loobuyck, a religion scientist associated with Antwerp and Ghent universities. “It was the easiest solution.” According to Loobuyck, the move is perfectly legal. “The Catholic education network has a strong philosophical and ideological identity. Legally speaking, it has the right to discriminate based on religious criteria.” \ Senne Starckx

Paris street renamed Rue de la Flandre for the week

taxpayers were assisted in filling out their forms this year by officials of the finance ministry, only about 0.5% more than in 2014, despite the more complex form this year

farms in Flanders are in fact bases for other kinds of businesses, according to a study by KU Leuven. Most of them are services, such as architects, crèches, offices and paramedical practices

motorists fined €110 for filming a serious accident on the E40 at Erpe-Mere last week as they were caught in long tailbacks. Use of a mobile phone while driving is illegal

griffon vultures seen over Geel recently, part of an abnormally large number of the birds spotted lately. Natuurpunt said they have simply flown the wrong way and lost their bearings

jULy 8, 2015

WEEK in brief Representatives of the Flemish coalition parties N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD have tabled a resolution calling on the government to order more investigations into discrimination in the workplace and to impose stricter sanctions against “serious forms of deliberate discrimination”. Last year inspectors carried out 63 investigations into discrimination in Flanders. Consumer organisation TestAankoop is going ahead with a class-action suit against rail authority NMBS over compensation for strike action, following the breakdown of talks. Test-Aankoop claims the procedure whereby pass holders can claim compensation for the inability to travel due to strikes – seven days in the last eight months – is too complex. The lawsuit is the first class-action suit ever in Belgium and has attracted 43,000 members of the public. Last year NMBS paid out €1.6 million in compensation for lost days. Flemish employment and training agency VDAB has signed a co-operation agreement with its Brussels counterpart, Actiris, to allow VDAB to offer job-hunting support to the unemployed in Brussels. Some 10% of the Brussels workforce commutes daily to jobs in the Flemish region, while about the same proportion of job-seekers claims a good-to-elementary knowledge of Dutch. Limburg logistics company H Essers plans to start testing drones in the surveillance of its warehouses for the auditing of the company’s stock of one million pallets, among other jobs. “We are working with the PXL University College and are looking with some other partners into launching a project,” CEO Gert Bervoets told Trends. Following up on his food truck serving high-end hot dogs, TV chef

face of flanders Jeroen Meus opened his new restaurant last week in Leuven. Wurst serves gourmet hot dogs – or hautedogs, as he refers to them. Meus stopped working in the finedining restaurant Luzine, which he co-founded, last autumn. The national rail authority NMBS has extended its social media presence to Facebook to answer questions from users. The Facebook page will be operated by the same team that operates the authority’s busy Twitter accounts. \ facebook.com/nmbs

Flemish public broadcaster VRT is relatively good value for money, according to a study carried out by digital research platform iMinds. The study was presented to the Flemish parliament, which is currently debating a new management accord for the broadcaster. iMinds looked at 10 public broadcasters in Europe and found that the VRT produces a high proportion of its own and of European programmes – less than the BBC but more than broadcasters in Ireland and France. The VRT is also highly efficient, it said, employing only 226 staff per million inhabitants, second only to the Netherlands on 205. Fire services from Antwerp and surrounding areas battled a fire in Hooge Maey, a large rubbish dump in the northern part of the port of Antwerp, all night and part of the following day last week. The fire broke out at 23.30 on Thursday and soon covered an area of 5,000 square metres. Since the waste is household rubbish, there was no danger of toxic substances, and the area is sparsely populated. A 38-year-old man currently held in the psychiatric wing of Vorst prison in Brussels should have been released in 2008, when he was acquitted on charges of break-

OFFSIDE A round around the world It’s sweltering hot, we need a nice cold beer, where shall we go? Well, if you’re economically minded, the answer is Krakow, the cheapest place in the world for a glass of the amber nectar. That’s according to calculations by the travel website GoEuro. They took figures from 75 destinations for the prices of the five most imported beers and the biggestselling local beer and compiled a beer price index. The index is based on a 33cl measure of beer, either from retail outlets or bars. In Krakow you can expect to pay an average of €1.48 for 33cl of beer. In second place is Kiev on €1.49, with Bratislava on €1.51. The average price in Brussels is

€2.48, and if we count only bar prices, the cost jumps up to €4.62. That may sound unlikely, especially considering that the bestselling local beer is © Ingimage Jupiler. But the GoEuro index calculation also includes hotel bar prices, which push the average up considerably.

ing into cars, lawyers said. The mistake went unnoticed until it was discovered accidently by a researcher. The man was immediately released by the Directorate-General for Penal Institutions but arrested two days later and returned to prison by a decision of the Commission for the Protection of Society. According to the Brussels prosecutor’s office, the man was acquitted in one part of the judgement, but according to the judge’s motivation of the case, it was clear she intended him to be detained. Lawyers now intend to bring an emergency motion before the Cassation Court to have the situation clarified. Memnon, the Brussels-based archiving company, which manages VRT’s archives as well as all recordings of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, has been acquired by electronics giant Sony. The acquisition gives Memnon access to a worldwide customer network, founder Michel Marten said. Sony has pledged that the company will retain its autonomy. Greta Van Langendonck, a familiar face in Flemish households from TV series such as Ons geluk and Wittekerke, has died at the age of 71. Born in Leuven, Van Langendonck was a graduate of the Herman Teirlinck theatre school in Antwerp and also had a long career in theatre, with works for NTG in Ghent, KVS in Brussels and the Royal Dutch Theatre (KNS) in Antwerp, now Het Toneelhuis. Six hotels in the centre of Brussels were evacuated and the traditional Ommegang parade was diverted from its usual route after police received a bomb alert on Thursday evening. The hotels, including the Royal Windsor, were searched using sniffer dogs, but no explosives were found. Hotel guests were allowed to return to their rooms at 1.30.

goeuro.com/beer-price-index

The most expensive beer in Europe, however, is to be found in Geneva, partly thanks to exchange rate fluctuations, with a beer costing on average €5.64. Taking the prices for 33cl and multiplying it by the per capita amount consumed according to WHO figures, GoEuro worked out that the people of Brussels spend an average of €857 a year on beer. It's a strong figure, but top honours on that score go to Helsinki, spending €1,389 per head. Kippis! \ AH

Zhao Dandan

toerendetoerist.be

If you want to experience the tourist delights of Antwerp province, why not ask a Chinese woman? More specifically, ask 22-year-old Zhao Dandan from Shaanxi province, a student interpreter who has never before set foot in Europe. Dandan was chosen from about 300 applicants who responded to an invitation from Shaanxi, the sister province of Antwerp, to volunteer for the job of Toerende Toerist (Touring Tourist). She’ll be arriving on 14 July, staying for a month and visiting a different attraction each day. She will record her experiences in English on the blog toerendetoerist.be. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with hashtag #dandan15. “I like to try new things,” she told Antwerp province. “I visited the European Union pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010, and I was impressed by the Belgian chocolate. I was also amazed to discover that Belgium is the home of the Smurfs.” Not bad for a first impression. Her second through 37th impressions will include the

Fashion Museum, Zilvermeer recreation park, cycling in Lier, the Suske en Wiske museum in Kalmthout, the prize-winning Ursel Castle in Hingene (with its Chinese wallpaper), the openair theatre in Rivierenhof and a concert by the John Butler Trio. Some of the papers reported that Dandan’s mission was to attract more Chinese tourists to Antwerp. The organisers deny that. “At the moment Flemings often seek out distant destinations for their holidays,” said Hilde Verhelst of the province. “With this project, we wanted to show that they can do just as well by staying here.” Her colleague Paul Hendrickx agreed: “We don’t even see what’s going on in our own back yard. Why not get the view of someone with an unprejudiced eye?” Dandan will be staying with families across the province, and organisers are still looking for host families. If you have accommodation available in Boom, Herselt, Kasterlee, Kalmthout or any of the other vacancies on the website, contact the organisers.

Flanders Today, a weekly English-language newspaper, is an initiative of the Flemish Region and is financially supported by the Flemish authorities. The logo and the name Flanders Today belong to the Flemish Region (Benelux Beeldmerk nr 815.088). The editorial team of Flanders Today has full editorial autonomy regarding the content of the newspaper and is responsible for all content, as stipulated in the agreement between Corelio Publishing and the Flemish authorities.

Editor Lisa Bradshaw DEPUTY Editor Sally Tipper CONTRIBUTING Editor Alan Hope sub Editor Linda A Thompson Agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino Art director Paul Van Dooren Prepress Mediahuis AdPro Contributors Rebecca Benoot, Bartosz Brzezi´nski, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana Goodwin, Julie Kavanagh, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Daniel Shamaun, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Débora Votquenne, Denzil Walton General manager Hans De Loore Publisher Mediahuis NV

Editorial address Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden tel 02 373 99 09 editorial@flanderstoday.eu subscriptions tel 03 560 17 49 subscriptions@flanderstoday.eu or order online at www.flanderstoday.eu Advertising 02 373 83 57 advertising@flanderstoday.eu Verantwoordelijke uitgever Hans De Loore

\ POLITICS

Action on slum properties

Houses and apartments sit empty while social housing waiting lists grow Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

lemish housing minister Liesbeth Homans has promised action to combat the growing number of dilapidated properties in Flanders, she told the Flemish parliament last week. There are currently more than 8,700 properties standing empty and run-down in Flanders, and 7,800 of them are officially uninhabitable. That’s 37% more than five years ago, Homans said. The most heavily populated of the Flemish provinces, Antwerp, is also the one with the most dilapidated properties: 267 run-down but still habitable, and 2,663 declared unfit. Since the last legislature, municipalities in Flanders have been obliged to keep a register of empty properties. Cities also levy fines on owners who allow their properties to deteriorate into slums, which brings in €500,000 a year. The property must have been standing empty for 12 consecutive

months for a fine to be issued. Municipalities can decide for themselves when to declare a property uninhabitable, without referring to the government’s housing agency. Homans now plans to investigate whether the procedure for taking properties “under social management” – where the local authority can take over an abandoned property, renovate it and rent it out – can be made more accessible. “The process is unnecessarily complicated, and few cities dare to get involved,” Homans told parliament. “At present, it’s only ever used in Antwerp.” The main beneficiaries of an improved policy on tackling slums, according to the minister, will be rental tenants. “The market will be expanded. I’m asking municipalities to use this means to increase their stock of social housing.”

€650,000 set aside to fight radicalisation of youth The government of Flanders has approved funding proposed by integration minister Liesbeth Homans and youth minister Sven Gatz aimed at tackling the radicalisation of young people. The programme’s projects are focused on creating a positive identity among young people to help them resist the seductive message delivered by extremists. The programme is part of the government’s action plan for the prevention of radicalisation that can lead to extremism and terrorism. Radical Islamists play on the insecurities of youth, and in particular the disadvantaged position of Muslim youth, said the ministers, to convince young people to join them. Many from Flanders have been convinced to travel to Syria to fight. The action plan, approved in April, targets vulnerable young people

and aims to increase their social engagement. “Young people who struggle with questions of identity, who are looking for a purpose in life and a place where they belong but who cannot find it

from parents, friends or teachers are frequently vulnerable to fanatical ideas,” said Homans. “We want to give those young people the chance to engage with society and develop a greater sense of selfworth.” The project will help “organisations that are close to young people,” added Gatz, “like youth organisations, sports clubs, groups linked to mosques and volunteer associations. We are inviting them to submit project applications for target groups aged between 12 and 30, projects that help young people create a self-image they can be proud of and where they learn how it feels to be worth something, to belong.” Application forms can be obtained from www.integratiebeleid.be or www.jeugdbeleid.be and must be submitted by 6 September. Subsidies run for two years. \ AH

New Flemish government headquarters named after author Herman Teirlinck The Flemish government’s new office complex on the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels will be called the Herman Teirlinck building. The civil servants who will work in the building chose the name, in honour of the leading turn-ofthe-20th-century author and playwright. Teirlinck was born in Brussels nearby in Molenbeek, and his name is also used for Antwerp’s famous acting school. The construction of the new building was officially launched on 1 July, with the burial of a model of the building in the foundations, carried out by Liesbeth Homans, Flemish minister for administrative affairs. “I'm very happy that the new name makes a connection between Brussels and Antwerp,” said Homans, who comes from Antwerp.

The building is due to be completed in late 2017, when it will house 2,600 civil servants from 13 administrations, most of whom currently work in the Phoenix and Boudewijn buildings in the vicinity of North Station. The new edifice covers 46,000 square metres and includes four

inner atrium gardens with heights of up to 60m, all open to the public. The annual rent is €8.8 million – €4 million less than the rent paid now, Homans said. Housing the various administrations under one roof will also deliver efficiency savings, she said. \ AH

Flemish parliament to apologise for forced adoptions The Flemish parliament has unanimously approved a resolution to offer an official government apology to the victims of forced adoptions that took place between the 1950s and the 1980s. The resolution also calls for the creation of a Flemish lineage centre and a DNA database to help identify children adopted under the system. During the period, many women, particularly the poor and the unmarried, were forced to give up their babies for adoption against their will by staff in homes and other institutions, often those with close links to the Catholic Church. Sometimes the mothers, many of whom were teenagers, were told that their babies had died. In January this year the conference of bishops in Belgium issued a statement apologising for the role of the church and called for an independent enquiry. The body also promised to work closely with family organisation Kind & Gezin to help trace the children who were adopted under the scheme. The Flemish parliament organised a series of hearings, and an expert panel produced a report in May that included among its recommendations the lineage centre and DNA database. The panel also recommended the government apologise for acting much too late in reaction to revelations. The parliament will now prepare a letter for victims, and apologise formally at a public ceremony later in the year. \ AH

Brussels invokes conflict of interest procedure over aircraft routes The Brussels-Capital Region has decided to file a conflict of interest procedure against the federal government over the number of flights from Brussels Airport taking the canal route over heavily populated areas of the city. The procedure claims that a decision was taken at federal level that has a severe impact on one of the regions – in this case Brussels – without that region’s representatives having been consulted. It is the same procedure used by the government of Flanders last year in protest at the Wathelet Plan, which reduced the number of flights travelling over certain Brussels municipalities to the detriment of the municipalities in the Flemish periphery. According to Brussels region environment minister Céline Fremault, 90% of night flights out of the airport in Zaventem now take the canal route, compared to only 5% before 19 June. She accuses federal mobility minister Jacqueline Galant of giving relief to Flanders by placing the load on Brussels. “That is unacceptable,” she said. “Discussion is essential in this sensitive area if we are to achieve a structural solution acceptable to all parties.” The effect of invoking the conflict of interest procedure is to suspend the contested decision – to send night flights over Brussels – for 60 days, while the matter goes before the Concertation Committee, made up of representatives of federal and regional governments. In the previous case – against the Wathelet Plan – the decision was overturned by the Council of State independent of the procedure. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

jULy 8, 2015

The taste of freedom PEN Flanders hosts refugee Russian writer Maxim Efimov continued from page 1

of the content of their work. They find the space here to relax and dedicate themselves to their work.” That place is the PEN Flanders writers’ flat, a unique project started 12 years ago. Writers working on a specific project in Flanders usually stay for just a few months; persecuted writers can stay for a longer period. “The writers’ apartment in Antwerp is the only one of its kind in the Dutch-speaking region,” explains Peeters. “We want to open a second flat in Ghent to offer a place to both types of authors simultaneously. But we’re not there yet.” It’s not always easy for the PEN Flanders team to host exiled writers. “Sometimes we need to keep our guests undercover in order not to put them in danger. Some dictatorial regimes also have their ear to the ground here in Flanders. But I’m always amazed at how such people still have the courage to continue to speak out. Of course, freedom of speech is an important – even vital – issue but, still, the personal risks can be enormous.” Russian writer, blogger and human rights activist Maxim Efimov (pictured on cover) is currently staying at the Antwerp flat. The 37-year-old has long had a difficult relationship with the Russian authorities. He finally fled to Estonia after he was convicted for slander against the church in 2012 in relation to a short news item about the Russian Orthodox Church. “I grew up in the transition after the fall of the Soviet Union,” he says. “This period in the 1990s saw an atmosphere of relative freedom. I was young but worked hard. I was the first conscientious objector in my region.”

I hope to reveal something new about the city from my position as an outsider Efimov later founded a volunteer organisation that provided free legal advice, started the human rights magazine Zero Hour and published pamphlets about gay rights and racism. “At the time, you could speak critically on the radio and television. That time has passed entirely.” In Efimov’s view, the following period marked a turning point. “Some people stole everything there was to steal from the crumbling state. And the criminals became politicians. They had the money to come to power and wanted to remain there as long as possible at all costs.” Their power, he says, was stronger than society’s. “Most Russians did not understand what was happening. People do not conceive of civil rights; they do not know the meaning of freedom and democracy. They have never experienced it. You cannot expect someone to describe the taste of oranges if he has never tasted one.” As a result of the growing repression in

Russia, Efimov (pictured) ended up in court several times. He underwent a series of intimidation attempts, including being attacked by an unknown man at the entrance of his apartment building. The newspaper article for which he was convicted could have potentially landed the writer in a psychiatric facility – a tactic also often used during the Soviet era to silence dissidents. Before the trial was over, he made his way to Estonia. He is now on Russia’s state list for wanted terrorists. “Putin squandered the opportunity to make a prosperous country out of Russia,” Efimov says. “Now he quarrels with the West to seek relief from our national inferiority complexes. Civil society has been broken; ordinary people are just trying to survive the dire economic conditions. I have little hope for Russia.” He pauses. “No, there is no hope at all.” Efimov has been in the Antwerp flat since January and has worked on several books from his temporary home. “One is about my stay here in Antwerp – it’s a collection of notes, interviews and conversations. I hope to reveal something new about the city from my position as an outsider,” he says. “Another work is an English translation of earlier published documents. It was an intense time; I met many interesting people here.” The next occupant of Antwerp’s apartment will be South African diplomat and thriller author Quintus van der Merwe; his forthcoming novel takes place in Antwerp. After that, comes Palestinian journalist and author Ghaytan Almadhoun, whose books were recently translated into Dutch. PEN, clearly, has got a packed agenda. “The Flemish branch of PEN is one of the most active in the world,” Peeters confirms. “For a long time, it was a rather insular organisation, but, under the leadership of the previous

Others who have stayed at PEN’s flat in Antwerp include Nigerian poet Tade Ipadeola (top) and Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Rénald Luzier and Swiss photographer Stephanie Meylan (above)

president, writer David Van Reybrouck, PEN opened up to the public. We want to reach out to a broader public and raise awareness about the rights of authors.” Many Flemish authors are also now involved in PEN, he says. “But even non-writers can now join PEN.” And there’s another new project: a collaboration with refugee authors living in Flanders. “We have been working on this for a few years now,” says Peeters. “Fatena al-Ghorra, a Palestinian poet who fled to Belgium, lived in the writers’ flat for a while. Soon we will present a new series of publications by seven authors who found a new home in Flanders. We want to give them some public exposure.”

The PEN team could also use assistance from the city, Peeters says. “Now, it is still difficult, because of administrative reasons, to host foreign people for an extended period of time. In some other cities with a PEN apartment, such as in Germany, the mayor provides a personal guarantee to the guests that they will be safe. That would be a nice gesture from Antwerp.” A project like PEN, he says, is also good for publicity. “Certainly the writers’ flat is an ideal way to show our city’s hospitality. It is a very practical and useful way to support people. It is an initiative that we can organise ourselves and that makes a huge difference to individuals in need.”

\ BUSINESS

week in business Air Jetairfly

The low-cost airline will begin flights between Antwerp and Ostend airports and Rome Fiumicino this winter. The flights depart three times a week. At the same time, Jetair will increase capacity on flights to Florida and run winter flights from both airports to Barcelona.

Chemicals Solvay The Brussels-based chemical and plastics group is said to be in negotiations to acquire the Swiss Clariant fine chemicals producer for up to €8.9 billion. The deal would double Solvay’s size.

Adhesives Soudal The adhesives producer from Turnhout has taken over Latvian company Tenachem, which produces kits for sealing multi-layer glazing in the construction industry. Tenachem, which employs 73 people in Dobele, near the capital Riga, exports 95% of its production to customers in 40 countries.

Brewing Alken-Maes The brewery group has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Marktrock music festival in Leuven. Local brewer AB InBev has an agreement with the non-profit that groups the owners of the bars on Oude Markt. The city council decided to allow terraces on the square to open during the festival for the first time, leaving no room for the tap installations planned by Alken-Maes.

New bar contracts on the way Government arranging talks between brewers and cafe proprietors Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

he brewing industry, drinks wholesalers and the drinks service sector in Belgium have agreed to sit down to talks with the federal government to negotiate a code of conduct for contracts with cafes, consumer affairs minister Kris Peeters has announced. The meeting followed a plea from Horeca Vlaanderen, which represents the food and drinks sector, for a solution to what the organisation called “strangulation contracts”. Breweries that invest in pubs or rent their own properties to pub proprietors often impose impossible conditions on the supply of beer and other drinks. Conditions include purchasing other

products, like cleaning detergents or toilet paper, from designated suppliers – at abovemarket prices. “All of the parties stressed the importance of balance in their relationship and a willingness to find a sustainable solution for the future,” Peeters said in a statement. “All of the partners have given their support to a declaration of intent to draw up a code of conduct that must lead to real progress towards a healthy and balanced partnership.” The parties have given themselves the deadline of 1 November to produce the document, which will then come into force on 1 January, 2016.

Unizo welcomes new VAT rules as “better for enterprises”

Art Cities need to step it up on social media, says report

New VAT tax rules approved last week by the federal government mean “a serious simplification for enterprises” when they come into force on 1 January, 2016, according to Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed in Flanders. Unizo has long been a strong supporter of making VAT regulations simpler and said it was “happy that the minister has heard our point of view”. Under the new policy, the date that VAT has to be paid to the state is determined by the payment of the invoice, including transactions between companies and government agencies. At present, the company must pay VAT to the state when the goods or services are delivered, regardless of whether the invoice has been paid. Since

Social media such as Facebook and TripAdvisor offer hotel operators an outstanding means of reaching clients, but not enough use is being made of the possibilities, according to the latest edition of the Hotel Report for the Flemish art cities – Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen. The report is compiled by Artesis Plantijn University College in Antwerp and commissioned by Antwerp’s Hotel Association and tourist office and their counterparts in the other cities. The report provides a broad picture of the hotel sector in the five cities: 222 licensed hotels ranging from one to four stars and an average occupancy of 73.62%, with higher figures in Bruges and Ghent, and an average overnight cost of €84.20, excluding VAT. Online travel agencies are an increasingly important sources of business, with Booking.com accounting for 20% of all reservations and Expedia (including Hotels.com) another 6%. Social media is also growing in importance, with 83% of hotels in the art cities active in one way or another on social media sites – the main ones being TripAdvisor and Facebook. However, half of all hotels told the study they consider themselves not well informed as to the potential of social media. Little use is made of social media metrics or content distribution tools to improve feedback and follow-up. Only one in four hotels had anything resembling a digital marketing strategy.

governments are notoriously late payers, Unizo said, this means that companies are pre-paying VAT. From the new year, the date of VAT payment shifts to the date of the payment of the invoice, removing a serious cash-flow problem for companies and perhaps encouraging government bodies to pay their bills on time, Unizo said. \ AH

Food service inspection reports now online

afsca.be/consumenten

Office space Regus Regus Express Centers has opened the country’s largest flexible working area in the Leuven railway station. The centre, spread over four floors, offers private office space, a business lounge and meeting rooms, as well as an open office plan for 28 people.

Supermarkets Peeters-Govers Eight supermarkets operated by the Antwerp family Peeters-Govers have joined the franchise system of Albert Heijn, as the Dutch company puts the final touches to a merger with Delhaize. The stores join 31 others already bearing the AH name.

The Federal Food Safety Agency (FAVV) has launched a new website with inspection results for all business that serve or supply food directly to the public: bakers and butchers, bars and restaurants, canteens and corner groceries. Consumer organisation TestAankoop welcomed the move but argued that the site does not go far enough. Meanwhile Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed, warned that only real hygiene problems – and not a shortage of administrative resources – should be allowed to result in a business receiving a negative score. The website covers businesses that have been inspected since November of last year and gives them designations: outstanding, very good, good, satisfactory and requires improvement. The public website does not contain all details of inspectors’

reports, some of which affect commercial confidentiality. “We think we have done enough here to meet the demand for more transparency,” commented Herman Diricks, managing director of FAVV. Of 108,000 food-service businesses in Belgium, about half are already on the site, with some 70% scoring satisfactory or better. The rest have been told to make improvements, and 4% have been fined for more serious infringements. Test-Aankoop would like to see more transparency, according to spokesperson Els Bruggeman. “Food businesses should be obliged to hang their results on the door,” she said. Horeca Vlaanderen called the publication of inspection results a “public pillory”. “Consumers are not always able to evaluate the results, which will be visible online for years to come,” said director Danny Van Assche. \ AH

Founder of Electrawinds ordered to pay €20 million Luc Desender, the founder of failed Ostend alternative energy company Electrawinds, has been ordered to pay €20 million to the Flemish government investment fund PMV. However, neither Desender nor his holding company, Winpar, has that amount of money. PMV brought the case to court after trying to sell its shares in Electrawinds in 2013, at a time when the company was experiencing difficulties. Holding company Winpar was contractually obliged to pick up the €20 million stake, but refused. The court has now reasserted Winpar’s obligation. Electrawinds began to have problems in 2012 after a period of rapid expansion from wind into other forms of alternative energy, including solar, waste incineration and biofuels. A round of new investments failed, and the company was left with a €150 million hole in its finances, despite investments totalling that amount from the Flemish and federal governments

over the years. “We will appeal this verdict,” Desender said at the weekend. “This is completely unjust.” It was legally established, he said, that they could repay the amount in shares in Electrawinds SE, the name of the company after a merger with European Clean Tech. However, financial daily De Tijd points out that Electrawinds SE, thanks to a series of rescue plans that essentially stripped the company bare, has few remaining assets. The share package that was offered to PMV is worth barely €1 million at today’s price. Electrawinds SE recorded a loss of €458 million in 2013. \ AH

\ INNOVATION

jULy 8, 2015

Dispelling the myths

week in innovation

New online platform combats Muslim stereotypes with info and humour Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

mvslim.com

hen Muslims are mentioned in international news reports, it’s usually in the context of fundamentalism and extremism. A new English-language website launched by a pair of Antwerp students now wants to give a voice to the oft-overlooked group of tolerant, young and trendy Muslims around the world. Mvslim.com, at a surface glance, looks like most young online publications with a mix of lifestyle and human interest stories, as well as an op-ed section and many social media plugins. However, as the name suggests, every article is related to the lives of Muslims. While the scope of the website is global, its origin is local: Antwerp. Mvslim.com was born out of a brainstorming session about a year ago between Taha Riani and Hanan Challouki. Both are still students, Riani in computer sciences and Challouki in communication sciences. Riani first came up with the idea for an online platform that would provide an insight into the daily lives and habits of young Muslims around the world and asked Challouki, who had journalism experience, to work with him. “When you look for websites on Muslim topics, you mostly get details about the Islamic religion and on terrorism acts by fanatic Muslim organisations,” says Challouki. “This is not the kind of website that a regular young Muslim relates to, and they give non-Muslims a false image of what it means to be Muslim.” A little over two months ago, the new platform went live. Riani and Challouki started with a team of some 35 young Flemish contrib-

Antwerp students Taha Riani (left) and Hanan Challouki founded their website to offer insight into the daily lives of young Muslims

utors – both Muslims and nonMuslims. Since then, they have attracted the attention of dozens of contributors from all over the world, who all write for Mvslim. com on a voluntary basis. According to Challouki, the articles are also being read by people on different continents. In the US especially, readership is growing rapidly. In short, a large section of the website offers insight into how the young Muslim contributors think about, for instance, fashion, food, health, art, work, education and spirituality. The op-ed section recently included pieces about the protest at a Mechelen school’s decision to prohibit girls from wearing long skirts and denouncing the prejudices around Muslims in mainstream media. Another recent op-ed tried to break the taboo around homosexuality. The website also has a sizeable entertainment section that features articles that mock and criticise certain Muslim habits with titles like “Whoop, Whoop, It’s the Sound of the (Haram) Police”,

“Awkward Things Muslims Do” and “Stupid Faces People Make When Their Cellphone Goes Off in Prayer”. “One of our ambitions is to show non-Muslims that our community is very diverse, and most Muslims can put their customs into perspective,” says Challouki. The section also offers writers the chance to air their frustrations about the discrimination they often – but with a dose of humour. One article, for example, pokes fun at how Muslims are often picked for “random” additional security checks at airports. With Mvslim.com, the founders also aim to give young Muslims more self-confidence and inspire them to set and realise their goals by highlighting past achievements by Muslims. An article in the history section, for instance, details how Islamic scientists played a defining role in the field of physics. The platform also puts more recent role models in the spotlight, such as Europe’s first female Muslim pilot. “This way, we also present a more positive image of our

community to non-Muslims,” Challouki explains. Challouki herself can attest to the stereotypes non-Muslims sometimes have about Muslims. She often gets condescending comments about her headscarf. “There is a basic belief that women wear the headscarf because they are oppressed by men, but that’s not true,” she says. In one video message posted to the platform, British writer Hanna Yusuf argues that the headscarf is in fact a feminist statement. Muslims also often get the same questions about religious customs, says Challouki, especially during the Ramadan month of fasting – which we’re in the middle of right now. “People often ask if we also can’t drink water during Ramadan and even if we are in danger of dying because of the fasting,” she says. In both fun and accessible ways, the platform tries to combat these misconceptions. In one series of articles, a non-Muslim youngster shares his experiences of participating in Ramadan for the first time. While they are currently concentrating on expanding the reach of Mvslim.com, Challouki is also looking to the future. “One of our dreams is to establish editorial teams in countries all over the world,” she says. Another big plan is to develop advertising operations as a way to generate revenue since the platform is currently entirely operated by volunteers. “The consumer market of young Muslims is still largely unexplored by enterprises,” says Challouki, “The food and fashion sectors could profit from reaching our target group.”

Q&A Tinne Tuytelaars of the University of Leuven is the scientific co-ordinator of AXES, a European project that has developed a new search engine for digital video archives. What spurred the need for a new search engine? These days, it is very easy to collect video material. BBC, for example, has a vast archive with over 100 years of footage. But its functionality is fairly limited. Because a traditional search engine relies on metadata, or descriptive keywords and tags that need to be added manually to each video, you can’t search for specific fragments. Also, when you’re looking for a particular video, you lose a lot of time coming up with the right set of keywords. What makes AXES different? AXES is a search engine that’s capable of analysing what’s in

the actual video. It looks at the visual content and automatically detects objects, places, faces and events without the need for manual tagging. It also searches spoken words, including sign language, to help you find the most relevant fragments. There is no predefined list of concepts that you have to stick to. Say you have a video archive on space exploration and you search for “lunar module”. If AXES doesn’t know what that is, it will use another search engine such as Google images to see what it looks like and train itself to recognise it in the videos. The entire process takes a matter of seconds.

worked on user interfaces and speech recognition. BBC, Deutsche Welle and Beeld en Geluid [Dutch cultural museum] gave us access to their archives. There were a lot of different components that needed to be brought together if we were to have a functioning system. It’s easier when you have many partners than if you’re working on your own.

Who helped you develop the technology? Over four years, we partnered with about a dozen institutions across Europe. At the University of Leuven, our team focused on visual analysis, while universities and institutes in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands

Where do you see AXES being implemented? AXES could be of benefit to academic researchers and journalists who analyse news footage on a daily basis. Archivists and broadcasting professionals have also expressed interest as they are always looking for ways to make their archives more accessible to the public. \ Interview by Bartosz

MedTech Flanders to double exports Nineteen Flemish companies and organisations have launched MedTech Flanders, a platform to boost the region’s medical technology industry. The sector develops software and devices for medical imaging and the development of implants. The aim is to double Flanders’ production and export of medical technology in five years. Among the partners are Barco Healthcare, Novosanis, imec and iMinds Health. According to iMind Health director Roger Lemmens, Flanders has top researchers and respected hospitals that want to integrate available innovations. “But there is still a big gap between the research and the commercialisation and implementation of products,” he said.

Clinical trials to test RSV vaccine Canadian scientists have started clinical trials to test a vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The vaccine was developed by researchers at the Flemish life sciences research institute VIB and at Ghent University. There is not yet any vaccine on the market for RSV, which causes serious respiratory tract infections and most commonly affects the elderly, infants and people with weakened immune systems. The vaccine covers the surface of infected cells with a protein, which should trigger an immune response, according to researchers Walter Fiers, Xavier Saelens and Bert Schepens, who discovered the potential of this specific viral protein.

Immune response linked to psychology Scientists from Flanders’ life sciences research institute VIB, the University of Leuven and Leuven University Hospital have discovered a link between psychological wellbeing and the immune system. Their findings, published by the BMJ journal Gut, are based on an incident in Antwerp province in 2010 in which contaminated drinking water led to bacterial infections among more than 18,000 people. During the outbreak, scientists set up a task force to study the longterm effects. They found that people who reported higher levels of anxiety or depression before the contamination developed more severe gastrointestinal infections afterwards. They also had an increased risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome, with abdominal cramps, diarrhoea or constipation a year after the contamination.

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\ EDUCATION

jULy 8, 2015

“A dialogue school”

week in education

Mechelen college offers Islamic studies option to future teachers

Four years after the launch of the integrated school project, in which car manufacturer Audi offers internships to students at KTA Pro Technica high school in Halle, the company has decided to extend the agreement. For the students in the sixth year of electro-mechanics, the time they spent in the car factory wasn’t like a normal internship. During the course of a school year, they get more than 600 hours of practical classes at Audi, in the Brussels district of Vorst. This way, they come into contact with the most modern technology and are well prepared to enter the labour market.

Senne Starckx More articles by Senne \ flanderstoday.eu

tarting this September, trainee teachers will be able to follow courses in Islamic religion at the Thomas More university college campus in Mechelen. The subject will be optional for students who want to become primary school teachers, and compulsory for those who wish to teach in secondary education. Until now, only the Erasmus University College in Brussels offered training to become a secondary school teacher specialising in the Islamic religion.

or they can specialise as a teacher of Islam in primary schools. In secondary education, Islamic religion will be a full subject, just like maths and biology. Generally, students pick two subjects that they want to teach later. Again, those who pick Islamic religion can become teachers of Islam in secondary education. Thomas More’s aim is to reinforce its identity as a “dialogue school” and make a statement against radicalisation. “The concept of a Catholic dialogue school is part of our mission,” explains Lies

It’s important students find role models who know what it is to grow up as a Muslim in Flanders The subject will be part of every teacher training course at the Thomas More campus. In primary education, it will be an optional subject, alongside Roman Catholic religion and other philosophies. Students who opt for the subject can become a general teacher in every school network,

Dalemans, director of education and student policy. “That means we always start from our Christian identity and tradition,” she continues, “but we acknowledge and appreciate the plurality of philosophies of life at school or in society. It also means tolerance and dialogue are our

Student creates platform for drone pilots

major tools in contributing to a better society.” Isn’t this pluralistic approach to religious education in contradiction with the school’s long Roman Catholic tradition? Dalemans: “For our students, and especially those in teacher training, it’s important that they know where their roots lie and what that means for them. We hope that once they’ve become teachers, they will also support that formation of identity in their

pupils.” Because there are many Muslim students in the Catholic education network, she says, it’s necessary to put the subject of Islam into a Flemish perspective. “For these students, we need to facilitate the best possible trajectory in their search towards their own identity. And we think it’s important that these students find role models in the classroom who know what it is to grow up as a Muslim in Flanders.”

Shifting of school budgets under scrutiny The State Audit Office has taken a closer look at the bills coming out of Flemish schools this year. The federal agency wanted to gauge the effect of the redistribution of schools’ budgets in favour of those that have many underprivileged children. This redistribution, worth 10% of the total budget in Flanders’ primary and secondary schools, aims to allow these schools to spend more on pupil support, invest in refresher courses for teachers and introduce interpreters to connect with parents

who don’t speak Dutch. What they found was that the extra money these schools receive is used more to tackle poverty in the short term than to extend, for example, the school’s student

support policy. The money, said the agency, is very often used to offer free meals to the children and to pay bills. According to the N-VA, this money for underprivileged schools has to be spent differently. “The extra money isn’t meant to tackle poverty,” MP Koen Daniëls recently told the Flemish parliament. “It’s meant to strengthen student opportunities so that they have a better chance of obtaining a diploma. That’s still the best weapon against structural poverty.”

He believes it would be better to spend the money on more teaching hours or on organising more language immersion sessions. Education minister Hilde Crevits (CD&V) disagrees. “The way this money is spent now really makes a difference in the creation of equal opportunities in our education system,” she says. Before drawing further conclusions, Crevits wants to wait until the end of another study on the issue, currently being conducted by the University of Leuven. \ SS

Vlerick Business School appoints Marion Debruyne as new dean vlerick.com

Vlerick Business School, with campuses in Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels, has appointed Marion Debruyne as its new dean. Debruyne takes over from Philippe Haspeslagh, who is retiring, from 1 August. Her six-year contract was approved last week by the institution’s board. The new dean is no stranger to the school’s students: Debruyne (pictured) has spent the last 10 years at Vlerick as a professor of marketing strategy and innovation. Since 2012, she has headed the school’s Masters programmes. Before Vlerick, Debruyne, 42, spent five years in the United States, where she was connected to various management and business schools.

Integrated Audi school is a success

Alongside publishing in many renowned international journals, she also built strong ties with the corporate world by means of various chairs and in-company training programmes. She’s currently on the board of cinema chain Kinepolis and foam products company Recticel. Vlerick chair Roch Doliveux said that Debruyne had “amazing energy, impressive credentials and a solid international experience and mindset.” He added that the new dean has “a deep understanding of the Vlerick Spirit after 10 years as a well-respected academic and a strong affinity and network in the corporate world.”

Hasselt University student Aäron Trippaers has developed a website that assembles information for pilots of drones as part of his Master’s thesis in informatics. Legislation on drones varies widely by country and region, with amateurs and professionals unclear about where and under what circumstances they can fly drones. “Our survey shows that about 70% of users don’t know the legislation on drones in their own countries,” said Trippaers. To improve the situation, he developed a website that collects legislation in a variety of countries and regions. Users can also provide information on the situation in their own areas. \ rulemadrone.org

Exam to help determine higher education studies Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits has told parliament about the intention to test an “institution-neutral exam” by next spring, which she hopes to implement in the 2016-17 academic year. Crevits was answering a question from MP Koen Daniëls. The exam would be obligatory but non-binding for final-year students planning to move to higher education. The government of Flanders has long been discussing such an exam, which it hopes will prevent students from failing their first year of university or college by pointing out their strengths and weaknesses. A working group involving universities, colleges, teachers and parents is developing the test, which should be ready for a trial by March.

\ SS

\ LIVING

week in activities Nieuwpoort Witch Festival

Summer of cartography

Antwerp conference and expos chart history of map-making

Jeanne Panne was burned as a witch in 1650. The city commemorates her death with a biennial festival evoking 17th-century Nieuwpoort, with historical re-enactors, entertainment and a Burgundian banquet (€22, reservations required). 11-12 July; Marktplein, Nieuwpoort \ jeannepanne.be

Street Artists in Turnhout International street theatre and circus acts, including “cardistry” – the art of playing card manipulation – in honour of the city’s status as the home of the world’s largest manufacturer of playing cards. 10 July, 14.00-22.00; Grote Markt, Turnhout; free \ turnhout.be

Furnival Celebrate Flemish Community Day with Veurne’s annual event featuring international street artists and a spectacular evening show. 11 July, 16.00-22.00; Veurne city centre (West Flanders); free

Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

ICHC2015.BE

his weekend, specialists in old maps will descend on Antwerp for the most important event in their field, the annual Conference on the History of Cartography. To mark the occasion, the city’s museums have also laid on a range of exhibits for non-specialists. The theme of the conference is Theatre of the World in Four Dimensions, a reference to the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Abraham Ortelius, one of the two leading Antwerp cartographers of the 16th century (along with Gerard Mercator) and the creator of the first modern atlas. The four dimensions are space, time, imagination and spectacle, all of which have played a role in the history of cartography. Space is the most obvious, with the mapping of places both familiar and less so. Time relates to historical changes in mapping styles as well as developments in the knowledge of the world. Imagination comes into play when cartographers map places

amid the huge growth the port city saw in the 16th century, the construction of the Spanish fortifications and the creation of a new port area in Nieuwstad. \ museumplantinmoretus.be

The Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library focuses on maritime maps, so important in the days when Europeans were out colonising the world from South America to Asia. The exhibition marks the change from handbooks or rutters used by pilots hugging the coastlines to charts that allowed a distant route to be mapped out in advance. It also has two magnificent globes by Willem Janszoon Blaeu. \ consciencebibliotheek.be

Steven Walter’s imaginative and comic Nova Utopia

raphy,” says conference director Joost Depuydt, who works at the Felix Archive in Antwerp. “We thought it would be a good idea to have the conference here because Antwerp has a particularly interesting role in the

\ toerisme-veurne.be

Military Bivouac Annual Great War weekend hosted by the 82nd-101st Airborne Division Belgium, a Second World War enthusiast group. Authentic American and British vehicles, artillery and equipment, demonstrations, and evening 1940s USO show. 10-12 July; Witputstraat, Herselt (Antwerp province); free \ usairborneforces.be

FantAStival This circus-themed festival takes place in and around the historic church of Sint-Aldegonde, with workshops, craft market, entertainment, live music, food and drink. 10 July, 14.30-22.00; Sint Aldegondisplein, As (Limburg); free \ as.be

Lubbeek Festival Family day celebrating Flemish Community Day, with children’s games, bouncy castles, face painting, circus workshops and more. Evening singalong to Flemish songs. 11 July, 13.00-22.30; playing fields, Gellenberg, Lubbeek; free

\ lubbeek.be

\ 10

Antwerp has an interesting role in the history of cartography, especially in the 16th century they have never been – or places that don’t exist, like the Utopia mapped by Ortelius that later inspired Steven Walter. And the spectacle is where maps become objects to be exhibited or feted in events like the conference. “The conference is sponsored by Imago Mundi, the only scientific journal on the history of cartog-

history of cartography, especially in the 16th century. Antwerp was the centre of map production in Europe.” The conference has attracted specialists from 36 countries, presenting papers on subjects as diverse as the errors of Ptolemy, maps of the Scheldt in 1469 and 1505, and the use of maps

in reporting threats in the 20th century. “Besides the conference, there are also five exhibitions running, the largest in the MAS museum,” Depuydt says. “They’re open to the wider public. The exhibitions have been organised to coincide with the conference, though they last a while longer.” At the city museum MAS, The World in a Mirror uses maps and globes to depict the history of the western view of the world, as European map-makers expanded their worldview with the opening up of trade routes and colonialism. It goes all the way up to the present day, when modern cartographic artists contribute a different view, such as the enormously detailed and comical map Nova Utopia by Steven Walter. \ mas.be

Museum Plantin-Moretus looks at the mapping of Antwerp itself,

Rockoxhuis celebrates Ortelius and his atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in Antwerp in 1570. He also had an abiding interest in the history of cartography before his own time, which links him directly with the Antwerp conference. \ rockoxhuis.be

The Felix city archive goes into its vast treasure trove of documents to come up with Pearls of Surveying, featuring hand-drawn topographic survey maps dating from before the establishment of a land registry in the early 19th century. \ felixarchief.be

Finally, Antwerp university library has joined forces with the Felix Archief for a mini exhibition and website on the first International Geographical Conference, held in Antwerp in 1871, which led to the creation of the Royal Antwerp Geographical Society.

BITE Lindemans releases two new gins based on kriek A cold kriek, the beer made with the cherries of the same name, is the perfect drink for hot days. This summer, Lindemans brewery from Vlezenbeek, Flemish Brabant – famous for its awardwinning kriek – is taking it up a notch. Lindemans has teamed up with De Moor distillery in Aalst to make both a clear and a red gin. They are based on a distillation of old kriek and are available in a limited number of bottles. Where a couple of years ago, a gin and tonic could usually be found at the bottom of a drinks menu, today it’s enjoying a revival. Some bars are even dedicated to special gins and rare tonic waters. And whether you enjoy a good old G&T or not, it’s a trend to be proud of. Gin is based on the recipe for jenever, a distillation made with juniper berries that has been drunk in the low countries since the middle ages. English soldiers who fought the Dutch Revolt noticed how local soldiers sipped jenever to boost their

morale. They brought the drink back to London, where it was distilled with neutral, rather than grain, alcohol and renamed gin. The Lindemans Premium Gin comes in two varieties. The clear one is a distillation of 15 botanicals and Lindemans Kriek Cuvée René mature cherry beer. According to cocktail connoisseur Manuel Wouters from Sips bar in Antwerp, this gin is at

\ kaga.anet.be

lindemans.be

its best when mixed with a neutral tonic, lots of ice and a grapefruit garnish. The red gin, meanwhile, is made the same way as the clear, but has sour cherry juice added. Wouters suggests mixing it with prosecco and pink grapefruit juice. Both gins are distilled in batches with a maximum capacity of 250 litres. De Moor swears by this small-scale, traditional approach. As the distillery doesn’t have an automated production line, every bottle is corked and sealed by hand. The gin can only be purchased at the Lindemans brewery. Lindemans has also released a new beer for the summer. With Danish brewer Mikkeller, they have come up with Spontanbasil: a blend of old gueuze with fresh basil. The basil adds to the crispness of the gueuze, which makes for a great thirst quencher. There are 27,000 75cl bottles available, sold at beer shops and Delhaize. \ Katrien Lindemans

jULy 8, 2015

Notes from a big country Our latest Fleming in America really gets under the skin of the US Courtney Davis O’Leary More articles by Courtney \ flanderstoday.eu

oel Verrycken from Antwerp is on a quest to better understand his current home: America, a gigantic country that really believes in itself, created by immigrants from all over the world. “Many people don’t have the right image of the country that I’m still trying to figure out every day,” he says. De Tijd’s US correspondent might claim a certain lack of clarity, but there’s a solid basis for his opinions. He lived and worked in New York City for four years as a journalist until a few months ago when, extended contract in hand, he headed to Oakland, California, with his wife and child to report from the west coast.

says. “A few years ago, no one had a smartphone, and now it’s central to how we organise our lives. It’s definitely a tech boom you feel at the moment.” As for America, he says, “I get the feeling many readers in Belgium identify strongly with many parts of American culture, which results in outspoken feelings either positively or negatively. That’s rewarding when you write about events in the US. “So when you write about Barack Obama or the Republicans or about the strategy of Apple, you get reactions. It's not surprising given how people are flooded with American culture, products, media. People in Belgium are very familiar with the

The US is too vast and amazingly diverse for most stereotypes that are out there With a focus on Silicon Valley, he specialises in technology but writes about broader issues for readers of the Flemish financial daily. “It’s an interesting experience to be in a different place, to pull myself away from that centre of gravity that is New York City and stand out a bit more with a more original base in the US. Our readers’ lives are being influenced by decisions made here in the San Francisco area.” Verrycken has been repeatedly looking west, flying there a few times a year. “We thought it would be interesting for readers to know how their lives are changed by Silicon Valley decisions rather than by traditional power centres like Washington and New York,” he

US. You can’t escape it. We watch the TV series, the movies, listen to the radio. We watch the culture.” As a journalist, he’s had the chance to travel around the country extensively. It’s helped him form an evolving opinion based on experience, as opposed to the media’s portrayal of America. And it’s often a lot more nuanced than we’re led to believe, he says. “Yes, Americans can have horrible eating habits, but there’s also this tendency to be fit and healthy in many places. Yes, American society is harsh, with barely any kind of social infrastructure and conservative laws and huge issues in terms of race and social inequality, but there’s also a very strong sense of

De Tijd correspondent Roel Verrycken recently moved from New York to Silicon Valley

community and a climate that rewards entrepreneurship. “I guess I would just say that the US is too vast and amazingly diverse to live up to most stereotypes that are out there.” Yet some of these stereotypes hold true for him. Americans in general, he believes, seem to have an inherently optimistic attitude, which, combined with their more extrovert nature, leads to more open and

friendly communication. “Europeans often find Americans to be ‘fake’ in their friendliness. I think the opposite is true.” And the food culture is related to that, he finds. “One of my favourite parts of American culture is diners. There’s something about their hospitality, the fact that they’re basically always open, that you’re always welcome, that they’ll always serve you any type of home-

cooked food you want. The waitress fills up your coffee and calls you honey... That embodies the best of America’s open and friendly culture for me.” Americans’ belief in themselves and in their country is also something Verrycken finds endlessly fascinating. “The way the US came back from a horrible economic crisis compared to Europe has been fascinating to watch,” he says. “The downside of this is that American society can be really brutal for somebody who has bad luck.” For someone so well versed in American culture and who has visited more than half of the 50 states, it’s interesting to learn which areas of the country hold a strong attraction for Verrycken. He prefers the destinations often overlooked by visitors, and even residents. “I’ve always found the Midwest a fascinating part of the country – they call it flyover country,” he says. “I don’t know where the boundaries start, but it’s a huge chunk of land with a lot of differences. I was in Ohio for the 2012 general election. Nebraska. North Dakota. That last one made a huge impression on me because it’s so isolated, but a big oil boom is going on there.” North Dakota – considered one of America’s dullest states – has made one of the biggest impressions on Verrycken. “I have amazing memories from there, speaking to people with this ‘can do’ mentality, moving from all over the country to this faraway state to work in oil and make money. But there’s nothing else there. Despite that, people are so friendly, welcoming and genuinely interested in others.” Check our website (flanderstoday.eu) for other instalments in the Flemings in America series

50 weekends in Flanders: Koksijde Flanders Today has launched an e-book with ideas for how to spend a year’s worth of weekends. Visit our website ( flanderstoday.eu ) and wait for the pop-up to get your free copy of 50 Weekends in Flanders. We’ll also be printing one of our suggestions every week here, too. Last week we went to De Panne, and this week we’re returning to the coast – the weather requires it – to bring you our tips for a weekend in Koksijde, a relaxed resort town where Belgian families spend lazy summer days sitting on the beach, riding go-karts and eating waffles. \ koksijde.be

Explore the SENEGALESE QUARTER The architect Gaston Lejeune built this romantic district of holiday villas for wealthy Belgian industrialists in 1908. Six years after they were finished, these quaint Anglo-Norman style houses were occupied by French colonial troops defending the town of Nieuwpoort. The quarter gets its name from the Senegalese who briefly stayed there. Start your tour at Bad Schallerbachplein.

Shop at SAUMON D’OR This is one of the best fishmongers on the coast and counts several famous chefs as customers. The owners buy North Sea fish fresh every day in Dunkirk and import more unusual varieties from Denmark and Iceland. The shop also sells excellent ready-made meals to take away. \ deklipper.be

Drink at DE NORMANDIE You pass some strange and beautiful places on the coast tram. But possibly the oddest sight comes just outside Koksijde where you glimpse a bizarre building in the dunes in the shape of the French transatlantic liner Normandie. Now a restaurant, this concrete ship has two funnels, a deck and several portholes. \ denormandie.be

Stay at EVERGREEN This gorgeous B&B occupies a modern white house built in Belgian seaside style (pictured). The owner, Patrick, is a charming host who offers three guest rooms

in different styles. Each has a terrace that catches the sun for much of the day. You might like the romantic Sea View room, even if the sea view is just wallpaper. \ Derek Blyth

\ evergreenkoksijde.be

\ 11

Best of Belgium plus expat Directory 2015

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jULy 8, 2015

A long, strange trip it’s been Rock musician Kevin Imbrechts tries out quieter, dreamier sound on new album Christophe Verbiest More articles by Christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

illuminine.be

Flemish musician Kevin Imbrechts dabbles in a peculiar kind of sound on his latest album – a cross between a chamber ensemble and a subdued rock band. It’s a radical switch from the hard-hitting noise he has released until now, but not if you ask him: “It doesn’t matter if music sounds raw and dirty, or ambient and pretty.”

“I

f you told me a year ago that I would have recorded an album and had gone to Iceland to mix it in the studio of Sigur Rós, I would have said you were completely cuckoo.” But that’s exactly what happened to Kevin Imbrechts, a guitar player who grew up in the Flemish Brabant town of Kampenhout but now lives in Leuven. He’s playing the city’s M-idzomer music festival at the end of the month. In 2013, after a series of EPs, Imbrechts released his first album with Mosquito, the duo he forms with drummer Nico Kennes. We ARe SOCIETY is a collection of hard-hitting songs that bridge the gap between stoner rock and noise. The dreamy instrumental pieces of #1, Illuminine’s first album, sound quite different. But it’s no use asking when exactly the 26-year-old made the transition between these two vastly different musical words. For one, Mosquito are still alive and kicking. Plus, Imbrechts has been working on Illuminine-like music for eight years now. Initially influenced by classic loud rock bands like AC/DC, Imbrechts started playing the guitar when he was 15. “When I grew older, I became interested in post-punk and alternative noise. It’s a side of me that, thanks to Mosquito, has always been public,” he explains. “In addition to that, my interest in quieter music has been growing steadily.” His original interest in more

Kevin Imbrechts plays as Illuninine in Leuven and Ghent this summer

muted music sprang from listening to the ballads of metal band Metallica. Later he discovered post rock, a musical genre that opened his eyes even more. “It doesn’t matter if music sounds raw and dirty, or ambient and pretty. I don’t feel a radical difference between Mosquito and Illu-

Every show the music sounds different, and it keeps evolving minine.” Still, for years Imbrechts saw no reason to share this quieter side. That changed a few years ago, though he can’t say exactly why. “It just didn’t feel right until then.” Though he doesn’t say as much, it could partly have been because he

was unsure there would be appetite for his more subdued work. But when he saw Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds perform live two years ago, he realised there might be an audience. By the way, Imbrechts hasn’t discarded his early compositions – quite the opposite. A few of the tracks on #1, for instance, he wrote when he was just 18. Almost by accident, he met multiinstrumentalist and producer Christophe Vandewoude, who subsequently became his musical partner in crime. Together, they rearranged the layered guitar music Imbrechts had written and recorded a rough version in his home. They added extra instruments like violins, cello, piano and trumpet and created a sound that’s too elusive to pin down. Let’s say it’s a cross between a chamber ensemble and a subdued rock band. Looking for a place to mix the album, Imbrechts ended up in Iceland. He initially looked at albums that had influenced him

as a musician and started contacting their mixing engineers. Sigur Rós was at the top of his wish list. “I sent an email to their engineer, accompanied by some recordings,” he explains. “He answered me almost immediately – and enthusiastically.” That’s how Imbrechts ended up on the south-west coast of Iceland last summer. He spent 10 days at Sigur Rós’ Sunflaugin, a swimming pool that was converted into a recording and mixing studio in Mosfellsbær. On stage, Illuminine performs as an eight-piece band, and Imbrechts gives his musicians a lot of freedom. “In a recording, Illumine is my baby, and I decide how the music should sound. But playing live is a different story,” he explains. “It wouldn’t work if we copied the album. The result is that every night the music sounds different and keeps evolving.”

31 July

Imbrechts is an extremely busy bee, as he is working on both his own and other people’s music in addition to working full time. He completed a Master’s in communication sciences before going on to obtain a degree in cultural studies at the University of Leuven. That was where he discovered the work of Theodor Adorno, which left a lasting impression on him. The German philosopher and musicologist is also listed in the thank-yous on #1. “Thanks to him, I discovered how music works and what its power is. His vision of music and popular culture, written in the 1940s, still rings true,” says Imbrechts. “He pointed out how the structure of some music preserves capitalism. By keeping the overall structure of music more or less the same and only changing small details, people are motivated to keep on consuming identical things.” But fear not, Imbrechts’ music isn’t a political manifesto; instead it’s deeply personal. “I make music without an ideological programme,” he confirms. “I didn’t choose to get off the beaten path with Illuminine because I admire Adorno. It’s the other way round: I recognised in him an echo of my approach.” For Imbrechts, making music is not just personal; it’s even therapeutic. “Every composition is linked to a specific moment in my life, often with major significance,” he says. “But it’s not important that people know what inspired the music. Everyone can and should project their own ideas and feelings onto the music. Based on the reactions I get, I have the impression that’s successful. In that sense, instrumental music is more powerful than vocal music with clear lyrics; it’s much more telling.”

M-idzomer Festival

M Museum, Vanderkelenstraat 28, Leuven

More new albums this summer Anja Kowalski

Köhn

Wolke • Naff Over the past two decades, Brussels-born Anja Kowalski has sung with a diverse array of bands: pop group Billie King, alternative big band Flat Earth Society and world music ensemble Think Of One. Wolke reflects this broad palette. Although the album is released under her name, in reality she’s the frontwoman of Wolke, the foursome that inspired the album’s title. Wolke’s mix of acoustic sounds feels alternatively jazzy, folky and poppy. The three instrumentalists create an intriguing backdrop against which Kowalski can fully explore her vocal talents, though she sings in a much more subdued manner (both in English and in German) than she has done in the past, when her vocal pirouettes tingled your ears. But that change isn’t a bad thing.

The Long and Unwinding Road • Kirigirisu Köhn has long been one of the hidden treasures of the Flemish music scene, both as a solo artist and as a member of the highly underrated Ghent collective des portables. Köhn (real name Jürgen De Blonde) specialises in an avantgarde mix of electronics, ambient and pop melodies. Pop, though, is absent from The Long and Unwinding Road, his latest, very experimental, release, even though the title is a clear reference to The Beatles. Released by Japanese CD-R label Kirigirisu, the album consists of three long pieces of ambient drones that were recorded almost entirely live after one of De Blonde’s meditation sessions. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but those who succeed in getting into it will find themselves rewarded with a pretty unusual musical trip.

\ 13

\ ARTS

week in arts & CULTURE Ann Helena Kenis to tour new show Although she lost the competition to a male pole dancer from Brussels, Limburger Ann Helena Kenis didn’t need to win this season’s final of Belgium’s Got Talent to become an overnight sensation and launch her own one-woman show. The cabaret singer will perform her piece Lof der zotheid later this month at Vooruit during the Gentse Feesten’s Lacht Comedy Festival and a full-blown cabaret show in November and December. With her outrageous outfits, original lyrics and professional delivery, Kenis delighted both audiences and the jury on the TV talent show, regularly evoking the response: “Why haven’t I heard of you before?” They could have: She had already won the Cabaret Concours Vlaanderen and the Cabaret Festival Heerlen in 2013. She’s also an active performer with various cabaret groups. \ livecomedy.be

List of 51 essential Flemish texts released The Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature and the Flemish Fund for Letters have unveiled their literary canon of Flemish works in Dutch – a list of 51 texts considered essential by authors who are no longer living. The oldest book on the list is the 12th-century legend of Sint-Servaas by Hendrik van Veldeke, while the most recent is Hugo Claus’ magnum opus Het Verdriet van België (The Sorrow of Belgium). The works were all published before 1990. The death of Jef Geeraerts in May allowed one of his works, Black Venus, to be added to the original list of 50 titles. The list will be evaluated regularly and amended as necessary. \ literairecanon.be

No more I Love Techno in Ghent After 20 years, the I Love Techno festival will no longer take place in Ghent, organisers Live Nation have announced. The festival, which was first staged in Vooruit and later in Flanders Expo, is being moved to Montpellier in southern France, and the name is being changed to I Love Techno Europe. It has also been staged every winter in Montpellier since 2011, and since then, ticket sales to Ghent’s November edition have fallen off. Live Nation expects 30,000 to attend this December in France. \ilovetechnoeurope.com

\ 14

Not your mother’s Beaufort The art parcours on the sea alters its act for the fifth edition Lisa Bradshaw Follow Lisa on Twitter \ @lmbsie

beaufort2015.be

Not wanting to seem stale, Flanders’ seaside art triennial Beaufort has radically altered its format this year, with three permanent group shows and other installations coming and going.

“I

have had one very important intellectual guide: my dog. A dog spends its whole life improvising. Improvising in every situation.” These words spoken by Yona Friedman are the driving force behind the entire remarkable career of the Paris-based Hungarian architect. A Jew who survived the Nazis, Friedman went to Israel after the war, where he studied architecture while working in construction. The practicalities of the job influenced everything theoretical from that point in his young life, and he has spent the last 70 years improvising – in every situation. Now 92, he won’t be on site in Ostend this summer, but his influence is the guiding force behind the fifth edition of Beaufort, the Flemish coast’s arts triennial. Beaufort has taken a radical new direction this year. The largescale installations found up and down the coastline by the careful following of your map have given way to three central locations and a malleable project called Musée Promenade along the length of the coast and dipping into the cities. Works will appear and just as easily disappear – sometimes washed away by the sea, sometimes moved to another location. Musée Promenade is being entirely staged by art collective A Dog Republic. But don’t let Nico Dockx hear you call the group a collective. Made up of the Antwerp artist – whose archive of documents and photographs informs much of his work – Helena Sidiropoulos, with whom he often collaborates, Friedman, long-time Friedman collaborator Jean-Baptiste Decavèle and Flemish sound artist Krist Torfs, A Dog Republic has staged exhibitions around Europe, including at Ostend’s Mu.ZEE. “We are interested in acting as a complementary working group, but not as a ‘collective’,” Dockx explains. “A collective gets branded as one entity. For us, it’s about coming together as free agents. We have no obligations to be part of the group.” And Beaufort is under no obligation to provide you with a static, three-month exhibition. Outside of the locations where groups of works come together, Beaufort will ebb and flow like a tide. Visi-

A Dog Republic’s Bamboo Towers at the Nachtegaal site in De Panne

tors must ask at any given city’s tourist office what they might expect to find that day. And it could be different from what you’ll see there a week later. Aside from the obvious draw of the ability to improvise at this Beaufort, A Dog Collective was also encouraged to take part because of an on-going discussion in the government of Flanders about the ability of the provinces to control their own culture policies. “From 2016 or ’17, the power of West Flanders – and every other province – to programme their own artistic and cultural activities will disappear,” says Dockx. “Mu. ZEE, for instance, is a provincial museum, but they will lose their funding. A lot of smaller museums will get absorbed by bigger structures.” So A Dog Republic is concerning itself with how art can be presented outside of those big structures. “Musée Promenade will question structures and consider whether museums should just be in the streets and not between walls. What if that were to happen? Beaufort was interested in how this whole thing would unfold, to see how it works.” Beaufort’s programme gives you many options for exploring, then,

and setting out from one of the three permanent sites is a good way to get started. Each of them – Het Zwin in Knokke, Raversyde in Ostend and Nachtegaal in De Panne – are protected nature areas. Each site has an info spot and can also let you know what else Beaufort-related is going on in or near their city that day. A Dog Republic is also part of these permanent exhibitions, and its “Bamboo Towers” at Nachtegaal is a prime example of the nature of adaptation. A web of connected bamboo poles weaves in and out of the surrounding trees, filling a clearing in a lovely forest that sweeps around inland dunes. The piece gives the impression of being organic – like some mythical forest creature could have made it or it could have sprouted up all on its own. Dockx recalls Friedman’s philosophy: “Developers have an idea of conquering a space, putting down urban roots in which everyone has to fit. Yona thinks this is totally backwards. Animals always adapt to the natural context, while humans always feel the need to manipulate the environment and make it adapt to them.”

Until 21 September

Also at the Nachtegaal site is a tree constructed by American artist Oscar Tuazon, with water flowing out of the top and down its long trunk. It’s somewhat poignant, like it’s crying, but it also suggests a fountain. Perhaps this human intervention is the future of nature? At Raversyde, meanwhile, you’ll find among the many installations German artist Thorsten Brinkmann’s “Kista del Sol”. You’ll have to squeeze a bit to get through the small opening and narrow hallway to find the room inside – intimately decorated with timeless elements that recall refuge, relocation and flight. Of course, every new endeavour has its growing pains. A Dog Collective had to remove a temporary drawing painstakingly made in the sand with a group of local children after just 48 hours. It seems one resident didn’t like the smell of the thousands of mussel shells used and complained to the city, which had either forgotten – or had not been informed – about the project. But oh well, sighs Dockx. “We improvise, we adapt. That’s what dogs do.”

Across the Belgian coast

\ AGENDA

jULy 8, 2015

Masters, local revelations and one pop icon

MUSIC FESTIVAL

Gent Jazz Festival 10-12, 15-18 July

Brussels Brosella: Brussels’ popular folk and jazz festival is back with loads of local and international artists, including Bristol singer-songwriter Martha Tilston, who performs traditional English and Irish folk music with a modern touch, and the young Brussels drummer and composer Antoine Pierre Urbex. Mini-festival Brosella Kids will keep the young ones busy, too. 11-12 July, Groentheater at the Atomium

De Bijloke, Gent gentjazz.com

ffering one short weekend with traditional and contemporary jazz and one longer with a broader, more pop oriented line-up, Ghent Jazz has earned itself a solid place on the Flemish summer festival calendar. This year’s edition – the 14th if you also count the years it was still called Blue Note Festival – is led by the remarkable duo of crooner Tony Bennett and pop princess Lady Gaga (in the first weekend) and legendary Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison (in the second). As usual, there are some veteran jazz titans on the Main Stage, particularly the American postbop saxophone player Charles Lloyd and the 80-year-old South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who’s getting even more productive lately. Other headliners include the passionate Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, the rising soul star Gregory Porter, the husky voiced French

pop singer Zaz and London-based singer Neneh Cherry, who’s fronting the drums and synths of RocketNumberNine. All these luminaries are countered by numerous talented bands, opening the Main Stage or programmed on the smaller Garden Stage. Some of them are local (Ghent) revelations, such as STUFF., Nordmann, Little Dots and the Bony King of Nowhere, who gets the opening spot for the Ginger Baker Jazz Confusion, the jazz ensemble made up of the legendary Cream drummer and Van the Man. And still the not-to-be-missed act is yet to be mentioned: bassist, composer and bridge builder Bill Laswell and Material, together with the Master Musicians of Jajouka. The hypnotic sounds of these Moroccan Sufi musicians were discovered by the beat generation, while their debut was produced by Rolling Stone Brian Jones.

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Laswell made an album with them in the early 1990s and has promised us that these new concerts will be recorded for later release. Last week the Masters were leading the processional at the funeral of the great Ornette Coleman, another big fan of their healing musical trance. Coleman will definitely be in the minds of these artists this year. \ Tom Peeters

FESTIVAL

HERITAGE

Kortrijk Congé

30,000th Last Post

11 July, 16.00 Each edition of the experimental city festival Kortrijk Congé is its own animal. Organisers insist on reinventing the event from the ground up every time. The 2013 edition ended in a Dionysian traffic jam. Last year’s Congé was a social experiment wherein participants had to stay in the city centre’s festival terrain for 25 hours, includ-

Budafabriek, Kortrijk kortrijkconge.be

ing bedding down on the sidewalk (pictured). Interesting stuff but, organisers noted, not diverse enough. This year, Kortrijk Congé and special guests, the radical Russian arts collective Chto Delat, invite the entire city to participate in a multicultural parade through the city and down the banks of the Leie. \ Georgio Valentino

9 July, 20.00 The British Army’s Last Post bugle call has been sounded at 20.00 under the Menin Gate in Ypres every day since 1928. This 30,000th performance is a special event, a testament not just to the sacrifice of the fallen in the First World War but the fidelity of those who remember them. In

Essen Beatfarm festival: This laid-back music festival in the middle of the northern Kempen has much to recommend it. Young but decent bands, a full day of DJs and a night-time campfire, all staged on a charming farm and its surrounding fields. 10-11 July, Huybergsebaan, Essen (Antwerp province) \ beatfarm.be

Menin Gate, Ypres lastpost.be

addition to the usual bugle call and moment of silence, Flemish actor Wim Opbrouck will read an original memorial text titled Tribute to the Tribute. The ceremony will be displayed on a big screen in the city’s market square and broadcast live on Flemish television. \ GV

CONCERT Bruges

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Avishai Cohen: The New Yorkbased Israeli bassist presents his new album, From Darkness, together with his trio on piano and drums. 25 July 21.30, Markt \ cactusmusic.be

FAMILY Ghent Het Grote Verhaal (The Big Story): Free event featuring a diverse range of storytellers, workshops for young and old and games and performances having to do with language in the broadest sense. 11 July 14.00-19.00, Stadshal, Emile Braunplein 1

EVENT

COMEDY

Film op het strand

Dylan Moran

11 July Every year the Flemish Community fetes its ancestors’ victory over French forces at the Battle of the Golden Spurs on 11 July, 1302. The celebration has lately ballooned into a fortnight’s worth of nationwide happenings under the banner Vlaanderen Feest, but the main event is still the day itself. More than 1,000 associations organise parties and performances in 250 locations across Flanders. The biggest might be in Antwerp’s Grote Markt, where over a dozen major Flemish bands will perform in the open air. \ GV

Across Flanders vlaanderenfeest.eu

27-28 November

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get tic

kets n ow

Arenbergschouwburg, Antwerp livecomedy.be

Irish comedian Dylan Moran rocketed to fame in the 1990s, graduating from Dublin comedy clubs to the Edinburgh Festival to the international stand-up circuit and even film and TV. He wrote and starred in the cult series Black Books and partnered with Simon Pegg in the films Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. As a stand-up performer, Moran’s wit and powers of observation have earned him the title “The Oscar Wilde of Comedy”. His new show Off the Hook is his first in years. The Brussels show on 29 November sold out in three days, so we suggest you book Antwerp now. \ GV

MARKET Ostend Flea Market & Art Fair: Vintage market, drinks and music, in addition to an art fair and exhibition by local artists. 11 July 10.00-18.00, Zeedijk Mariakerke and Vissersplein \ uitinoostende.be

FESTIVAL Brussels Vélorution Universelle: Annual festival dedicated to bicycles, featuring workshops, daytime and night-time bike rides, treasure hunts and a bike parade, with concerts, food and local beer. 9-12 July, across Brussels \ velorutionuniverselle.org

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july 8, 2015

Talking Dutch School’s out for summer

In response to: Scientists link immune response to psychological state Leslie Cowell Of course!

Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

t’s one of the signs that summer has finally arrived, like the smell of charred barbecue meat drifting across the land and dug-up roads stopping anyone from getting anywhere. It’s called luxeverzuim and, as one teachers’ group put it on Twitter, Staat #luxeverzuim in de krant – If you find “luxury truancy” showing up in the newspaper – dan is de zomer in het land! – then it’s summer in Belgium! Every year, school authorities kick up a fuss because restless pupils skip school in the days before the end of term. De laatste examendag valt dit jaar in heel wat scholen al op 23 juni – The last exam is being held in a lot of schools on 23 June this year, explained Het Laatste Nieuws. De rapporten volgen pas een week later – en zo is er alweer een grote kans op luxeverzuim – But the school reports are only handed out a week later – and so once again we are likely to see a lot of “luxury truancy”. Some families decide to take off early on their holidays to beat the crowds. Otherwise, pupils simply spend those empty days at the end of term hanging out with their friends. Een filmpje meepikken hier, een après-examenfuif daar – a film here, a post-exam party there; en als het weer het toeliet – and if the weather allows – een dagje naar zee om met volle teugen van de fijne dingen des levens te genieten – then a day at the sea to fully enjoy the finer things in life. The result is a brief period of mad abandon, claims Max Neetens, writing in De Morgen. De opheffing van de opgelegde structuur van het onderwijs tussen examens en zomervakantie – The absence of a formal structure

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In response to: Brussels launches heatwave plan as high ozone levels expected Natalia Agapiou When the traffic problem is solved ozone levels will fall – and it will not be solved on its own.

in schools between exams and the summer vacation – leidt zonder uitzondering tot absolute chaos – leads without exception to absolute chaos. Misschien zit ik daar nog te kort op – Maybe I’m being naive, he continues – jeugdig als ik ben – since I’m still pretty young – maar dat waren gouden, wilde en, achteraf bekeken, verdomd gevaarlijke dagen – but these were fantastic, wild and – looking back – stupidly reckless days. Mijn eerste vechtpartij – I got into my first fight – en eerste dronkenschap deden de revue – and enjoyed my first drinking binge – in de wilde dagen van 2002 – in the wild days of 2002. The government has been trying for years to stamp out the habit, but no one has come up with a plan that works. Luxeverzuim is een dossier waar menig minister van Onderwijs al zijn tanden op stukbeet – Luxury truancy is one of those areas where many education ministers have come unstuck. So it looks like those lazy, hazy days of summer are likely to stay with us for a few more years.

Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

Poll

a. Yes! The new zone will make the city centre safer and more fun. It’s the best thing since cars were chased off the Grote Markt

53% b. No! Have you seen the traffic? The city doesn’t care about drivers at all. And some businesses in the zone will not survive this

20% c. Yes, but I hope that if the traffic situation doesn’t improve, the city is willing to make changes

27% to enjoy a car-free Anspachlaan. A narrow majority of you think the zone is a great addition to the city centre, while the approval of some of you is contingent on the traffic situation being sorted out during the eight-month evaluation period the council has allowed for. That may be overly optimis-

tic. Unless people volunteer to leave their cars at home, the traffic is going to have to go somewhere. Should the city have left the major arterial open to northsouth traffic and just closed off the sidestreets? One in five of you think so. What the city will think come next February is anyone’s guess.

\ Next week's question: A teacher has been fired from a Catholic school in Brussels because she is not baptised. What do you think? Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!

\ 16

In response to: Citizens of Aalst, let your lawns run wild and free Eleonora Sciubba Yeah, my neighbors’ gardens are contributing to wilderness too, to the extent that I now have ticks in my garden and cannot enjoy it!!!!!! In response to: New website combats Muslim stereotypes with info, humour Yousra @gyousra3 Great ! Tom Harris @tnjharris Too much great music at #coulcaf15. Struggling to find time to eat!! In response to: Chaos for motorists on first day of pedestrian zone Daniel P It’s an excellent measure. I like Brussels because I don’t need a car to get from one point to the other. In other cities a car was absolutely necessary, but here I don’t need it.

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the last word

Brussels city centre now has the largest pedestrian zone in Europe outside of Venice. Do you agree with the move?

You voted four to one in favour of Brussels’ new pedestrian zone, which last week turned the centre of the city into a battlefield, thanks to a spontaneous water fight organised on Facebook. Not the sort of event Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur had in mind, possibly, but an expression of the public’s determination

VoiceS of flanders today

Public eye

On deaf ears

“Put an end to it. Our drivers feel like hunted animals. This is ruining the relationship between drivers and passengers.”

“Our kids’ school friends will say, ‘Hey, that’s a cool song your Dad wrote’, but my own kids don’t know the song. There were never Urbanus CDs playing in this house. I couldn’t stand to listen to them.”

Rita Coeck, representative of the ACOD union, which wants a ban on passengers recording bus drivers after a video of a De Lijn driver falling asleep at the wheel was posted on YouTube

Flemish comedian and singer Urbanus is on the festival circuit this summer

Masterpiece theatre

Labour of love

“I am certain I heard that Uncle was the leader of the group behind the robbery. Uncle had helpers, but I don’t know who.”

“A little bit of extra work never hurt anyone.”

The theft of a panel from the Ghent Altarpiece from the city’s cathedral in 1934 may be close to a breakthrough after testimony given by a niece of the canon, a longdeceased prime suspect

East Flanders bishop Luc Van Looy, 77, has been appointed to the board of the international charity Caritas Internationalis by the Pope

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