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september 30, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2

politics \ p4

Future of Flanders

BUSiNESS \ p6

innovation \ p7

Old as the mountains

education \ p9

art & living \ p10

Scholars at risk

Minister-president Geert Bourgeois delivers his vision of the Flanders of 2050, with an emphasis on fostering local talent

Flemish actors team up with scientists to perform an ageing experiment on a French mountaintop

A programme at UGent and VUB helps academics persecuted in their own countries to work in a safe place

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Picking up the pieces

© Photo top: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Corbis

Flemish-Dutch culture house hosts Checkpoint Europa to debate refugee crisis Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

Debates, film screenings and other events organised by the Flemish-Dutch culture house deBuren explore the EU’s response to the current mass displacement of people from Syria and other war zones.

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magine if every year people in Belgium were asked to vote in a referendum to decide how many refugees from war-torn countries like Syria would be accepted into the country. How many would you vote for? How many thousands would you be willing to accept? Would you, given the choice, perhaps be unwilling to accept any at all?

The idea comes from one of the participants in a debate taking place in Brussels on 6 October, organised by the Flemish-Dutch culture house deBuren and part of a series of events over the next three months on the theme of migration.

There’s barely a day goes by now when the refugee crisis is not headline news. For several months, Brussels has seen a growing number of asylum-seekers, unable to be processed rapidly enough by the authorities and camping out in tents provided by the Red Cross in a nearby city park.

The people of Brussels have rallied to the cause, turning up in hundreds to volunteer to cook for the refugees, translate for them and administer the tonnes of gifts brought to Maximilianpark by thousands of other well-wishers – food, clothing and toys. The generosity of ordinary people was such that the Red Cross eventually had to cry halt: There was simply too much for their services to handle.

“The Checkpoint Europa series is concentrated on diversity with an emphasis on migration, hospitality and border policy,” says Ann Overbergh, a programmer for deBuren. “We always work based on what’s happening in

the world, so we keep up to date with what’s urgent. We noticed when we were finishing our programming for this half-year that we were all working a lot with migration themes, probably because we all felt it was becoming so urgent. So we decided to put everything together.”

The series includes a book launch, a play, a discussion with journalist Jef Lambrecht, three documentaries and debates (see sidebar, p5). “We always approach our topics from the point of view of different disciplines. We have documentaries, we have debates.”

But do the organisers have a specific point of view they want to communicate? “When it comes to our stance or our position, that’s more personal; we each have our own opinions, and the house ultimately shows its social commitment by programming what it finds important,” says Overbergh. “I do think that, indirectly, you can see what we’re leaning towards, but we don’t actually take a continued on page 5

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KU Leuven is Europe’s second most innovative university Reuters scores Flemish university highly for commercial influence of research Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

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he University of Leuven (KU Leuven) is considered the second most innovative European university, behind Imperial College London, in a ranking by press agency Reuters. KU Leuven ranked 16th worldwide.

Reuters made the ranking on the basis of various aspects: the number of patent requests submitted by 2008 and 2013, the percentage of submissions approved and the commercial influence of the university’s research. KU Leuven submitted 299 patent requests, of which 39.8% were approved. For commercial impact, the university received a score of 49.

Koenraad Debackere, KU Leuven’s general manager, told De Standaard that his university’s strength was the cross-pollination between lab research, patents and licences, collaboration with industry and the establishment of spin-offs. An

Flanders spends too much time sitting down, says VIGeZ

important organisation is Leuven Research & Development, which has helped more than 100 spin-offs set up since it was founded in 1972.

Last year, KU Leuven set up a platform called LCIE to give more students, researchers and professors the chance to become an entrepreneur.

The only other Flemish institution in the top 100 is Ghent University, in 65th place, where more than 38% of the 218 patent requests were approved.

The top 10 includes almost exclusively American universities, with Stanford in first place, Harvard second and MIT third. In 10th place was KAIST, the Advanced Institute of Science & Technology in South Korea.

© Rob Stevens/KU Leuven

Football stadium project in jeopardy as Anderlecht pulls out

The average person in Flanders spends more than nine hours a day sitting down, a situation that is “dangerously unhealthy,” according to a report by the Flemish Institute for Health Care Promotion and Illness Prevention (VIGeZ).

Most people sit still for most of the day, either at school or at work. Children in primary school are seated for 40% of their time; secondary school students for 50%. Office workers and executives sit down for 70% of their working hours. And they all come home in the evening to sit down again, at the dinner table and in front of TV or computer screens.

Recent research shows that sitting too much can increase the risk of colon cancer, diabetes and depression. Scientists estimate that, in its effects on health, sitting is as dangerous as smoking.

But “even health professionals and policymakers are insufficiently aware of the risks of sitting on health,” the report’s authors said.

The report advises limiting the time spent sitting still and to stand up every 20 to 30 minutes.

Standing up takes little effort and reduces the ill-effects of sitting considerably. “The theme of sedentary behaviour will be on the agenda in the run-up to the health conference in 2016, which will determine the future of Flanders’ health policy in the areas of nutrition and movement,” said welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen. \ Alan Hope

The future of a new national football stadium has been thrown into doubt, after Brussels football club Anderlecht pulled out of a deal in which they would rent the stadium, making it available for the matches of the Red Devils national side.

The stadium would replace the existing Koning Boudewijn stadium, which is due to be demolished by 2020. The new stadium has been fraught with controversy since its inception for several reasons, including taxpayer money being used for infrastructure despite a promise to the contrary and the lack of an athletics track, which would make the Memorial Van Damme athletics meeting impossible.

The building itself would be paid for by the Belgian Football Association, which would recoup its investment by renting the ground to Anderlecht for a reported €9-€11 million a year.

The ground would also be available for the national side in the dozen or so matches they play at home every year.

The stadium would be ready in time to host several European Championship matches in 2020 for which Brussels serves as one of the host cities.

However, Anderlecht have now chosen not to move. “The board of directors have thoroughly evaluated all elements of the case and decided that the current project is no longer to be reconciled with its long-term vision for the further development of the club,” Anderlecht said in a statement.

“In light of our candidacy as host city for Euro 2020, this is bad news,” football association chair François De Keersmaecker said. “We hope all parties will accept their responsibility in this matter to come to a solution.”

According to Alain Courtois, alderman for sport in Brussels-City, which is the main backer of the project, the stadium will go ahead “come what may”.

Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur issued a joint statement with regional minister-president Rudi Vervoort and finance minister Guy Vanhengel. “We will carry on with discussions that should lead to the construction of a large new stadium where the opening match of Euro 2020 can take place and that can become the new home of Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht,” the statement says. \ AH

Brussels abandons idea of tunnel for cars under Meiser The government of the Brussels-Capital Region has scrapped a plan to build a tunnel for cars under Meiserplein in Schaarbeek, a notorious traffic problem.

The junction is fed by seven roads and three tramlines, with the Leuvensesteenweg crossing Reyerslaan, which brings traffic from the E40 into Brussels from Leuven and Liège. The government had made plans for the construction of two tunnels under the junction, one for cars and one for trams.

The proposed tunnel for cars will not go forward, minister-president Rudi Vervoort and mobility minister Pascal Smet confirmed to brusselnieuws.be. “The impact on quality of life would not be sufficient to justify the investment,” said Smet.

According to a study commissioned by the government, 40 to 50% of car traffic would use the tunnel, but the traffic using the many roads leading into and out of the junction – the cause of the majority of trouble – would remain above ground.

A tram tunnel remains on the table, however. “Trams are in conflict with pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic, so that’s still necessary,” Smet said. \ AH

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kilometres cycled during Flanders’ Week of Mobility by 5,000 cyclists who installed the special app to gather information on cycling behaviour, according to UGent

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cost to Flemish agriculture of the Russian boycott of agricultural exports from the EU, according to Boerenbond. The main victims were pig and dairy farmers and fruit growers

Flanders’ place on American electric car manufacturer Tesla’s list of potential European regions to locate a new production facility

male chicks destroyed annually by being thrown into a shredding machine shortly after birth. Socialist politician Els Robeyns called on Flanders’ animal welfare minister to ban the practice

per day penalty to be paid by alternative taxi company Uber unless they stop their UberPop service within 21 days, a Brussels court has ruled. Uber intends to appeal the ruling

september 30, 2015

WEEK in brief Brussels Airport should see selfdriving buses operating on airport grounds by 2018, according to a Dutch consultancy that is providing advice to De Lijn on safety, technology and management of the autonomous buses.

Former employees of Ford Genk who were offered a bridging pension when the factory closed last year will no longer be obliged to show they are actively looking for work, federal labour minister Kris Peeters has announced. Last week it emerged that the Flemish employment and training agency VDAB was still treating the pensioners as job-seekers, despite a promise made during talks at the time of the closure. The measure concerns workers 58 and over or who had 38 years of work history. Other workers will have to remain available for work until the age of 60.

Work started this week on the junction between the Brussels Ring and the E19 is expected to cause disruption to traffic for the next nine months, according to the Flemish agency for roads and traffic. Access to the E19 direction Antwerp is reduced from two lanes to one.

Antwerp is experiencing an exodus of young families who are looking for affordable housing outside of the city, according to a new report seen by the newspaper De Standaard.

Young couples and 30-somethings of foreign descent are moving out of the city in ever-greater numbers.

More than 4,000 people moved out of the city in 2014. Birth figures are increasing, however, resulting in population growth.

Dutch department store chain De Bijenkorf is reportedly eyeing the Belgian market for the expansion of its online business. “Belgium is a logical step,” the company said in a statement. “In our stores near the border, we see a lot of Belgian customers, and we speak the same

face of flanders language.” The service includes brands like Natan and Christian Wijnants, and purchases can be paid for with Bancontact.

Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed, has complained about the treatment of small businesses by Worldline, the company that handles electronic payments. For several days last week, Worldline failed to transfer payments to retailers whose customers had paid by card, claiming technical problems. “Yet another problem with Bancontact, and again it’s retailers who have to pay the price,” said Unizo’s directorgeneral, Karel Van Eetvelt.

The head of the government employment agency Selor, Marc Van Hemelrijck, has been accused of a breach of integrity after he placed his daughter in a government job and later got her promoted. The case was revealed by an anonymous source, which led to an internal audit. The government personnel service will now carry out a disciplinary procedure to decide on a sanction.

Yves Ghequière has refused to become the mayor of Linkebeek, after Flemish minister Liesbeth Homans asked him to take up the post. The move was designed to break the impasse that has lasted since 2007, when the government refused to recognise the mayor designated by the municipal council, Damien Thiéry, because he broke the language laws on electioneering. Since then, repeated demands to put someone else in the position have been ignored.

Linkebeek is one of the municipalities in the Flemish belt around Brussels with special administrative services for French speakers.

The psychiatric department of the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels plans to open a centre for the treatment of addiction to the internet and video games. The

OFFSIDE Larger than life If you happen to be strolling along the beach at KnokkeHeist in the near future, don’t be shocked if you come across a giant crab in the sand. Not even if the crab should measure 60 metres across – it’s just an installation by Flemish artist Wim Tellier, famous for his largescale pieces best viewed from above.

This one is a photograph of a perfectly ordinary crab 1,000 times its real size. The work is titled “Time” and consists of a circular canvas covering 3,000 square metres of beach. The crab is the main feature, placed against a background of 400 pictures of landscapes from around the world, which Tellier has taken over the last two years. Most of them are available to view on Tellier’s website for whom a trip to Knokke is not in the cards.

Tellier’s first major work was a photo of his newborn son Yenno blown up to 600 square metres, first displayed in Antwerp in 2006 and later travelling the

centre will offer a range of treatments for related problems such as sleep disorders and alcohol abuse.

Users of the Google Maps app can now consult train times in addition to the public transport networks De Lijn and MIVB. Rail authority NMBS will continue to develop its own app, a spokesperson said, “because it’s to the advantage of our passengers”.

Flemish welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen is carrying out a survey into the number of healthcare personnel in hospitals and nursing homes who have flu vaccinations. The vaccinations are not obligatory, but the government has set a target of 80% by 2020. Some 42% have been vaccinated through their institutions, but it is not known exactly how many may have been vaccinated through other channels.

Federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon has said that there is no problem with the detailed plans for many official buildings, including prisons, courthouses, EU offices and the military headquarters in Evere, being available to view on the government’s buildings agency website. When the news broke last week, Jambon said that the documents were specifications for contractors, which needed to be public. “We will look into it, but we cannot for the moment see any reason to take the documents offline,” he said.

A man held for the murder of a woman in Zemst is now suspected of being linked to another killing a year ago in which an 82-year-old women was beaten to death in Mechelen. Investigators found a video of the more recent killing in the home of Renaud H in Mechelen, leading them to suspect he might have been involved in other crimes.

He is also being linked to an attempt to break into the home of an elderly women in Bonheiden in 2014.

© Michiel Dehaspe/Visit Flanders

Anne-Sophie Breysem The Lady Chef of the Year competition may sound like something out of the 1950s, but it’s just 25 years old this year, and its silver jubilee winner is Anne-Sophie Breysem, head chef at De Kwizien restaurant in Hasselt.

De Kwizien is included in the Michelin guide’s Bib Gourmand section for “exceptionally good food at moderate prices” and has an admirable score of 14 out of 20 from Gault & Millau. Breysem is one of the few women included in Visit Flanders’ Flemish Kitchen Rebels promotion; the brochure shows her with a lobster draped over one bare shoulder and a huge knife in her hand, like a modern-day Judith.

Breysem, 28, drinks jenever to relax, like a true Hasselaar, and her favourite smell is of freshbaked bread, she says. Her predecessor at De Kwizien was Csaba Ignacz. “He influenced me greatly, and still does,” she says. “He was the first person to believe in me. Sadly he died at 37 years of age, but he will live forever in my heart.”

The competition requires final-

dekwizien.be

ists to prepare a menu on a theme, this year’s being “An ode to origins”. For Breysem, authenticity of ingredients is of prime importance, and each of the main ingredients on her menu was raised with the welfare of the animal in mind, in as natural a manner as possible.

Her competition menu was a virtual tour of the UK: she served Scottish salmon trout as a starter, followed by Gressingham duck raised outdoors and not force-fed. That was followed

by Welsh lamb, and each course accompanied by a German wine selected by owner and sommelier Filip Vanheusden.

“The thing I like about the theme is its personal aspect,” she said.

“In four years in the kitchen of De Kwizien, I’ve gone from commis to head chef. It’s been a truly enriching experience. But whatever you may have achieved, you should never forget where you came from, and my origins are also my parents, whom I want to thank for their unswerving support throughout my career.” \ Alan Hope

Flanders Today, a weekly English-language newspaper, is an initiative of the Flemish Region and is financially supported by the Flemish authorities.

wimtellier.be

world to be seen at Santa Monica Pier, among other locations. The giant crab could follow, so to speak, in Yenno’s footsteps. \ AH

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 02 467 23 06 editorial@flanderstoday.eu subscriptions tel 03 560 17 49 subscriptions@flanderstoday.eu or order online at www.flanderstoday.eu Advertising 02 467 24 37 advertising@flanderstoday.eu Verantwoordelijke uitgever Hans De Loore

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\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN University politics

Flemish politics is usually at work in and around Wetstraat in Brussels, where both the federal and Flemish parliaments are seated. Last week, however, universities across the region were the place to be for anyone with an interest in Flemish public opinion.

First to speak out was Rik Torfs, the rector of KU Leuven and former CD&V senator.

There is no room in Flanders for five universities, the head of the oldest and highest-ranking educational institution in Flanders recently stated.

Academics at the universities of Brussels, Antwerp and Hasselt reacted furiously.

In his opening speech of the academic year, however, Torfs hardly mentioned this war, turning to the refugees instead.

The rector pleaded for “unconditional solidarity”, not just with doe-eyed children, attractive young women and artistic young men, but also with “unattractive, annoying, selfish, self-interested and dangerous refugees … Why should a single man be any less in need?”

Politicians, too, had their say at universities in these annual opening speeches, which have become media events. Federal vice-prime minister Kris Peeters (CD&V) delivered an “economic state of the union” at Hasselt University, in which he demonstrated himself to be more isolated from his party than ever, speaking out against the party line on more than one issue.

While CD&V party president Wouter Beke hopes to turned the page on the tax shift issue, Peeters pleaded for a “dual income tax” once again. He also expressed reservations on any military action in Syria, which Beke had suggested.

But the most notable opening speech was Bart De Wever’s at Ghent University. De Wever (N-VA) was asked to speak about his party’s ultimate goals: What do the nationalists hope to achieve?

The Antwerp mayor, too, preferred to talk about the refugees, citing the fear he senses among the population.

The influx of single men, he warned, heralds a much larger immigration if their families follow them over. He called Angela Merkel’s statement “Wir schaffen das” (We can handle it) an “epic fail”.

De Wever’s suggestion to alter the Geneva and Dublin conventions on the treatment of war refugees and asylum seekers was strongly criticised, but his words have set the tone for years to come: Our social security system can only survive if it becomes less accessible to those who do not contribute to it (yet). \ Anja Otte

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Minister-president presents vision for Flanders 2050 Geert Bourgeois describes long-term view for the region Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

F

lemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois presented his government’s long-term vision for the region, laying out the Flanders it would like to see by 2050.

The plan depicts an innovative and sustainable region that creates wealth in an ecologically responsible manner.

The sitting government of Flanders is in office until 2019, but Bourgeois (pictured) said he was interested in looking beyond contemporary problems and the prospects for tomorrow to the longer term. “2050 seems a long way off, but it’s only as far away from today as 1980 is,” he said. “Flanders needs a wake-up call, because the future started yesterday. We have no time to lose. The world will not wait for us.”

The plan identifies a number of what it calls “megatrends,” which will have a major effect on the entire world. These include demographic changes like population growth and ageing; ecological issues like climate change and an increasing demand for energy and water; and economic factors such as urbanisation and growing inequality.

Technological and scientific trends are harder to predict, given the speed of change in those fields, Bourgeois said, but areas like nanorobotics, artificial intelligence and chip technology are bound to bring about social and economic

as opportunities rather than problems

• Take the step towards “industry 4.0” – the

© Francois Lenoir/Reuters/Corbis

transformations.

A second section of the document refers to ambitions – where Flanders ought to be by 2050. The main ambition, he said, is “to create welfare and wealth for everyone in an intelligent, innovative and sustainable manner in a social, open, resilient and international Flanders where everyone counts”.

The plan also offers recommendations as to how those ambitions can be achieved by identifying seven priorities:

• Be prepared for disruptions and regard them

increasing digitalisation of industry, in which Flanders needs to become a leading player • Foster talent and skill by lifelong learning, making use of life and work experience • Adapt policies in areas such as health care and labour to take account of the ageing of the population • Exploit technological developments where possible • Make the transition to a circular economy where waste is a thing of the past and materials are routinely recycled • Make progress towards a safe and rapid mobility system for the transport of passengers and goods while guaranteeing better integration and liveability • Move towards a low carbon energy consumption that’s intelligent, flexible and reliable as well as affordable and sustainable “If we want these priorities to be realised, we have to pool our resources,” Bourgeois said. “We need to have broad support and commitment from all sections of society. That means we have to leave behind the tendency to think in pigeonholes. We need not only technological innovations but also innovation in social, cultural and institutional thinking.”

Citizens’ cabinet for culture kicks off in Brussels

Belgian police begin border patrols

The new burgerkabinet, or citizen’s cabinet, founded by culture minister Sven Gatz to help determine the Flemish government’s culture policy, has met for the first time, producing 17 concrete recommendations.

Gatz said he was satisfied with the progress made. “To see the cabinet in action was heart-warming,” he said, “and the recommendations will be taken seriously.”

Before its first meeting, the 676 candidates for memberships of the cabinet had held discussions online, working from an initial total of 550 ideas. From there, 120 candidates were selected to meet in the Flemish parliament, where talks whittled the number of concrete ideas down.

Federal police have begun patrols in border areas to combat illegal immigration and human trafficking. The first patrols took place in Limburg province last week in the presence of home affairs minister Jan Jambon.

Police have set up checkpoints to examine lorries and vans at random for any suspicious activity. According to Michael Jonniaux, director of the federal traffic police, the patrols will become a regular feature in eastern parts of the country on routes used by human traffickers.

“The two goals of these checks are the fight against human trafficking and a better registration of refugees,” he said. Personnel from the Office for Foreigners will also take part in the checkpoints. The Limburg patrol took place on the E314 on the border between Maasmechelen and Nieuwdorp in the Netherlands.

Police in West Flanders, meanwhile, arrested two suspected human traffickers last week on the E40 during a patrol of the parking facilities at Jabbeke and Mannekensvere. The suspects, both Albanian nationals in their 20s, were cruising past lorries in a car and eventually attempted to break into one. They were arrested after a short chase.

Justice minister Koen Geens was on the scene in West Flanders. “I saw today with my own eyes how professional, integrated and efficient actions are carried out, and I thought it was important to be present,” he said.

“Fighting human trafficking is more important now than ever before.” \ AH

The recommendations include more culture in schools; attention to local initiatives, including the creation of a post of Flemish culture ombudsman to take suggestions from the public; the involvement of state broadcaster VRT in a multimedia culture platform, as well as equal time with sport for cultural news; and fair representation of the diversity of society.

“The participants are now expecting policymakers to take their work seriously,” Gatz said. “Together with my policy document, I will explain what my plans are for the 17 recommendations they have formulated, as well as how and when I will implement them. I will also explain why some recommendations will not be implemented – or not yet.” \ AH

Children visit Flemish parliament to plead for more sport and culture A group of some 20 children visited the Flemish parliament last week to ask for more time for sport and culture in school.

The 20 children are members of the group Kinderen Goedgekeurd (Children Approved), who were in parliament to present their new book and CD, Ja, alle kinderen (Yes, All Children). The group was formed to provide activities for children, designed by young people. The CD has now been developed into a stage show.

For the title song on the CD, group leader Mout Uyttersprot asked a number of leading political figures for a contribution to

the lyrics, which call for more attention to children’s concerns. The names include former education minister Pascal Smet and current education minister Hilde Crevits, mobility minister Ben Weyts, Groen member Meyrem Almaci and Ghent mayor Daniël Termont.

The children asked why so much time in school had to be devoted to maths and language and so little to sport and music.

They raised the question of the availability of affordable sporting facilities outside school, as well as the need for continual vigilance to combat bullying. \ AH

© Anthony Dehez/BELGA

Interior affairs minister Jam Jambon on the scene of lorry checkpoints in Limburg

\ COVER STORY

september 30, 2015

Picking up the pieces

Different disciplines collide to examine the migration situation in Europe

deburen.eu

continued from page 1

stance. You can’t organise debates if there’s no room for different viewpoints.”

As far as “different viewpoints” are concerned, the most radical probably comes from British lawyer and journalist Luke Gittos, who writes for Spiked Online and takes a libertarian stance. There is no one, however, from the “Fortress Europe” tendency of the right wing.

“I would have liked to have had one of those voices on board as well because it would be more representative and provide more of a debate,” Overbergh says. “I did contact several people that I knew had a different stance, but nobody was available. I guess they know that the majority of the audience will have a different opinion, and they would not be preaching to their own choir.”

At the other end of the spectrum, the aforementioned quota referendum idea is a suggestion from Karel Smouter, deputy editor of Dutch news website De Correspondent, and someone who has travelled to the borders of the EU to see what the situation is like on the front line.

“The bottom line,” he tells me, “is, OK, we’ve known that Syria is in trouble for four to five years now, yet as Europeans, we’re still in the mode of responding to an emergency – responding instead of preventing or taking corrective measures”.

It’s all driven by extraordinary events, Smouter says. “Every time disasters happen in the Mediterranean, you see European leaders taking action, and we’ve seen round after round of this sort of action for years now. But the only

© Courtesy va-pensiero.org

© Johann van Gerwen

have grown by the time you read this. In 2014, the total was 3,279.

“I will be arguing for another approach, which is more along the lines of realism about this

We knew they were going to come, but we decided to bury our heads in the sand result we have seen is that more people are coming.”

He points to a tragic paradox: Syrian refugees are almost guaranteed, under the Geneva Convention of 1951 on the treatment of people fleeing from armed combat, to be granted asylum wherever they apply. But to reach the place where they can apply, they first have to break the law – sometimes, as in the case of three-year-old Alan and thousands more who have drowned in the Mediterranean – at the risk of their own lives.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, more than 3,000 people have lost their lives in 2015, and the number may

© Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Corbis

Clockwise, from left: The play Marieke, Marieke about migration during the First World War has been updated to reflect the current situation; filmmaker Dagmawi Yimer talks about his personal experience as a refugee; Brussels’ tent camp has been called everything from “too cosy” to an embarrassment for the capital of Europe

world as it is,” Smouter says. “We knew they were going to come, but we decided to bury our heads in the sand.”

His suggestion is for EU countries to decide their own quota on a democratic basis. “So they consult their people on how many asylum-seekers they can accept and then start preparing for it, instead of being overtaken by a stream of people they never thought would actually arrive.

I’ll argue in the debate for more realism and a more proactive approach.”

Taking part in the same debate, which is in English, will be Dagmawi Yimer, who fled his home in Eritrea in 2006 and made

the same trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa that killed about 1,600 people in the first four months of this year. Since then he has lived in Italy, making films and working for the refugee association Archive of Migrant Memories.

“I’ll be giving a life testimony,” he says, “since I’ve been on the same journey as many migrants.

I would like to describe my own experience of the journey and talk about the wishes and desires of many of the people who undertake the trip. And of course I

will try to explain how I understood European policies when I migrated here, how they have changed and what mistakes have been made.”

He agrees with Smouter that the EU did not take action soon enough. “By trying to hide a problem that’s persisted for a long time, they left room for traffickers to get stronger and for local police to become corrupted,” he says.

The more Europe tries to tighten

Until 10 December

up its external frontiers, Yimer says, the more it encourages the human traffickers and turns refugees into criminals. “Europe is going to have to revise its relations with the countries of origin, resolve whatever kind of situation or war is going on. And for the duration of the emergency, those places just within the European borders should be able to gather people to be relocated within other European countries.”

Across Brussels and Ostend

What’s on during Checkpoint Europa A discussion in Ostend with veteran journalist Jef Lambrecht sheds light on the roots of IS, the radical faction from whom many Syrians and Iraqis are fleeing. (In Dutch) A performance of the play Marieke Marieke, based on the novel De vlucht (The Flight)

by Johanna Spaey about a Flemish and a Dutch woman who meet when the Fleming flees her homeland during the First World War, is reworked by actors

Kaltoum Boufangacha and Aminata Demba to relate to the current situation. (In Dutch) Flemish photographer Kurt Deruyter launches his book Halfway Home, which contains photos taken in some of the areas of Brussels where many migrants live. (In English) A discussion about the multiple identities in Brussels followed

by Maria Tarantino’s film Our City, which poetically explores these identities and their land-

scapes. (Talk in English; film in multiple languages with Dutch subtitles) Zone Zero is a documentary and discussion on the Gesu convent in the Brussels commune of Sint-Joost, where in 2013 the municipal council cleared out 150 squatters, including immigrants without papers, to make way for what will eventually be a luxury hotel. (Film in French and English with Dutch subtitles; talk in Dutch)

\5

\ BUSINESS

week in business Air Ryanair The low-cost carrier plans to launch new routes linking Brussels Airport to Berlin, Bratislava and Larnaca next spring.

Banking KBC Flanders’ largest financial institution has launched its fifth Start it @KBC incubator in Brussels after similar openings in Antwerp, Ghent, Hasselt and Leuven. More than 200 start-ups already work at the sites, with the Brussels operation housing 15 companies. The next incubator will open in January in Kortrijk.

Gambling National Lottery The state-owned operator of lottery, gaming and scratch cards has been fined €1.9 million by the national competition authority for abusing its dominant position on its recently launched Scooore sport betting game.

Mail Bpost The national post office has dropped its plans to take over 51% of Romania’s Posta Romana. The deal included a €150 million capital injection, which Bpost has earmarked for acquisitions.

PVC Deceuninck The producer of window frames and door panels in PVC, based in Hooglede, West Flanders, is investing €20 million in a production unit in Reno, Nevada to increase its capacity on America’s west coast. The company already operates a plant in Monroe, Ohio, which supplies the country’s eastern areas.

Shipping Exmar The Antwerp-based LNG tanker operator has broken off merger negotiations to create the world’s largest shipping company in the business with the Norwegian Geveran tanker group.

Transport De Lijn The public transport operator has appointed the Dutch vehicle engineering company Ricardo Nederland to develop technology for driverless shuttle buses at Brussels Airport. The programme is expected to be implemented in 2018.

\6

Businesses prepare for Open Bedrijvendag next Sunday Visitors get a back-stage pass to companies across Flanders Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

T

his year’s Open Bedrijvendag (Open Business Day) takes place next Sunday, 4 October. Nearly 300 businesses and other enterprises will throw their doors open to the public, offering tours, workshops and activities.

The event, organised by the Flemish chamber of commerce Voka, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a focus on businesses that deal with biomass: anything of plant or animal origin that can be used as a renewable raw material. That includes breweries like Roman in Oudenaarde, which uses barley to make beer; woodworkers and furniture makers; or fermentation plants that turn the waste products of the food industry into fuel.

Some of Flanders’ most prominent businesses are taking part, among them the Sportpaleis

in Antwerp, one of Europe’s top entertainment venues; Arcelor Mittal steelworks in Ghent and Genk; and Infrabel signal houses in Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp.

Not all of those opening are businesses in the usual sense. For example, the Agency for Nature

and Woodland is open in Zutendaal; as are Diest general hospital, the Belgian Centre for Guide Dog Training in Tongeren, the European Commission joint research centre in Geel, Kamp C former concentration camp in Westerlo and Leuven University Hospital.

Among some favourites in past years, seeing thousands of visitors, are Belgocontrol air traffic control centre in Zaventem; Ganda in Destelbergen, makers of fine ham; the Brussels fire brigade and their demonstrations; La Lorraine Bakeries in Ninove; the naval maintenance yard in Zeebrugge; and Valentino Chocolatier in Schepdaal.

To help visitors find their way this year, there’s an app for Android and iOS, which will be updated during the day to take account of available places at each event.

Audi A1 built in Brussels also suspected in Volkswagen scandal

Plans for energy atoll in North Sea to be dropped

The Audi A1 produced in Vorst could also be implicated in the scandal known as Dieselgate, in which motor manufacturer Volkswagen is accused of using on-board software to falsify the results of emissions tests.

Federal minister of consumer affairs Kris Peeters, Flemish minister of mobility Ben Weyts and consumer organisation TestAankoop have all demanded further information from the company.

Following revelations of the practice with Volkswagen cars, attention turned to other subsidiaries of the company, including Skoda, Seat and Audi. Four Audi models are reportedly being examined: the A1, A3, A4 and A6, all equipped with the suspect EA189 diesel engine with electronics containing the fraudulent software. The software is thought

A plan to build an artificial atoll five kilometres off the coast of De Haan for the production of wind and water energy should be scrapped, according to North Sea minister Bart Tommelein.

The atoll was the brainchild of former North Sea minister Johan Vande Lanotte, now mayor of Ostend. The structure would gather surplus energy from offshore wind turbines and stock it, then release it to the national grid when demand was high.

However, Tommelein has concluded that the project is not viable and would lead to higher energy prices. The strategic need for such a project has also not been demonstrated, he argued.

Tommelein told VTM News he now plans to advise the council of ministers not to grant the concession for the project to the consortium iLand, which includes dredging companies Jan De Nul and DEME, electricity producer Electrabel and three investment funds.

A spokesperson for coalition party N-VA – in opposition at the time the plan was launched – said he was “pleased that Tommelein has finally changed his mind”. N-VA parliamentarian Wilfried Vandaele said: “The future of energy storage is in batteries. Places like Germany are now investing fully in that. It’s a lot cheaper than building islands, and a lot more reliable for businesses.” \ AH

to have been fitted in 11 million vehicles built between 2008 and 2014.

A spokesperson for Peeters said “he is currently investigating the affair thoroughly, in co-operation with the appropriate services”.

Weyts, meanwhile, told VTM News that he had demanded details on the matter from Volkswagen.

In related news, the federal government announced subsidies worth €100 million for the production of an electric vehicle at the Audi plant in Brussels.

The factory is one of those being considered by the company for the production of the new electric model from 2018, when production of the A1 comes to an end. The three regional governments have already agreed to a package worth €35 million. \ AH

AB InBev could move headquarters if SABMiller bid successful Leuven-based AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is considering a move to London as part of the deal to take over SABMiller, its largest competitor, the Daily Telegraph reports. The move would help convince SAB shareholders to go along with AB InBev’s bid, by helping them avoid paying too much tax on dividends of the merged company.

AB InBev revealed last week that it was ready to begin takeover talks with SAB in what would be the biggest sale the brewing world has ever seen. SABMiller is estimated to be worth €80 billion, twice as much as the previous biggest sale, when InBev took over Anheuser Busch in 2008 for €38 billion. The combined company would cover 30% of the world beer market.

SABMiller shareholders, according to reports, have expressed a preference for equity rather than cash to avoid a hefty tax bill. If AB InBev remains domiciled in Belgium, however, they will pay more tax on dividends than if the company were to move to London, where SABMiller is based. At present, SABMiller’s biggest shareholder, the American cigarette company Altria, avoids paying British tax because of a treaty between the US and the UK. \ AH

Ports of Antwerp and Montreal renew collaboration The port authorities of Antwerp and Montreal signed a new agreement last week to extend their 2013 collaboration pact for another three years. The renewal was signed during a visit by the minister of transport and maritime strategy of Quebec province, Jean D’Amour.

The two ports share many similarities. Both are located inland on a major river and serve a hinterland with much purchasing power and concentration of industry. Canada, and North America in general, is one of Antwerp’s main partners, a situation likely to become even more important with the implementation of the trade agreement between Canada and the EU due to be ratified in 2016.

Since 2013, relations have grown stronger, with reciprocal

© Port of Montreal

visits by delegations led by Marc Van Peel, Antwerp alderman for port matters, and Quebec prime minister Philippe Couillard.

“Quebec is more ready than ever to make its expertise, well developed infrastructure and huge expanding economic market available to its European partners,” Couillard said during his recent visit. \ AH

\ INNOVATION

september 30, 2015

Back to the future

week in innovation

Flemish actors and scientists take to mountains to travel through time Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

A

team consisting of two Flemish actors, a director and two Leuven researchers have travelled through time – sort of – by climbing a mountain in France. The experiment is part of a larger scientific project to commemorate the 100th birthday of the general theory of relativity, published by Albert Einstein in 1915.

With his geometric theory of gravitation, Einstein created one of the pillars of modern physics. “He transformed our understanding of gravity, which had been developed in the 17th century by Isaac Newton,” explains Kristiaan Temst, professor in the nuclear and radiation physics department of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven).

One of Einstein’s insights was that time is not absolute. “An hour sitting with a pretty girl passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour:

© Lukas Bossuyt

Actors Robrecht Vanden Thoren (left) and Koen De Graeve of the new movie Terug naar morgen joined researchers for a time-travel experiment on a French mountaintop

KU Leuven professor and a PhD student – played by Koen De Graeve and Robrecht Vanden Thoren, respectively – discover a way to send emails to the past – and therefore manipulate history.

Time goes more quickly on the top of a mountain and thus you age more quickly there That’s relativity,” is one quote attributed to him.

His theories also provoked an increasing fascination with time travel, inspiring numerous artists and fellow scientists. The Back to the Future movies, for example, triggered the imagination of viewers worldwide.

Audiences can now enjoy new time-travelling adventures in Flemish director Lukas Bossuyt’s new movie Terug naar morgen, literally translated as “back to tomorrow” but titled Sum of Histories in English. In the movie, a

To make the fiction as scientifically plausible as possible, the crew relied on the expertise of KU Leuven researchers. But the film and research partners also teamed up for a remarkable scientific experiment on time travel.

The two actors joined a pair of KU Leuven researchers on a journey to a cabin high up on the Aiguille du Midi mountain in the Mont Blanc massif. “The general theory of relativity says that time goes faster as you go higher up, a remarkable effect of the decrease in gravity caused by going further away

from the Earth’s centre,” explains Temst. “So time goes more quickly on the top of a mountain and thus you age more quickly there.”

With the help of mountain guides, the team travelled to a cabin about 3,800 metres above sea level, via cable car and on foot. “And it was not a school trip,” says Temst. “The heavy winds, fresh snow and altitude sickness posed serious challenges.”

The team slept in the cabin, spending about 24 hours on the mountain. “We estimate that they aged about 30 nanoseconds more than they would have at ground level,” says Temst. One nanosecond equals one billionth of a second.

Going up and down the mountain thus technically constitutes time travel, albeit on a minuscule scale.

How much exactly the participants have aged will be estimated through data acquired via a gravimeter, which was carried to the cabin by the researchers. A gravimeter is a tool to measure the local gravitational field of Earth at a certain spot.

After using the gravimeter at the top of the mountain, the research-

ers also measured the local gravitational field at the foot of the mountain. By comparing the data sets, the time difference will be calculated.

This experiment has paved the way for a larger-scale project, which will take place in November. A team from KU Leuven will place an atomic clock, the most accurate timekeeping device in existence, at the same mountain for about three weeks. The time measured during this period will be compared with another atomic clock set up at Cern, the European Laboratory for Nuclear Research, near Geneva.

The gravimeter and atomic clock for the experiment are being provided by the Belgian Royal Observatory in Brussels. “You may not be aware of this, but an installation of four atomic clocks in Brussels creates Belgian time,” says Temst. “Belgian time is the average time calculated by comparing the time measured by these four atomic clocks.”

The installation in the Ukkel commune is one of 300 worldwide, of which the average time makes up Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC – the common time standard across the world.

The KU Leuven experiment won’t lead to new discoveries but serves to raise awareness about the impact of physics on our daily lives through the example of time measurement.

“Every application based on time synchronisation, like train traffic, has to take into account the effects of the general theory of relativity on the atomic clocks that provide the timing impulses,” says Temst.

“Every GPS satellite, for example, has an atomic clock on board which is corrected for the relativistic effects resulting from its highaltitude orbit.”

Q&A Last week, the first stone of Polderwind was laid, a Red Cross care hotel in Zuienkerke, West Flanders. Philippe Vandekerckhove, CEO of the Flemish Red Cross, explains why it’s needed What is the purpose of a “care hotel”?

We consider holidays a basic right for everyone. But for many people, particularly those who are housebound because of a physical disability, old age or disease, this right exists only in theory. The Red Cross organises specialised holidays for these people, in adapted buildings and with the care and assistance of our volunteers. To ensure that more people from this socially vulnerable group can enjoy a holiday, we decided to build our own care hotel, called Polderwind.

We have worked closely with the

Dutch Red Cross, which runs two care hotels in the Netherlands, a holiday care home and even a holiday ship. Thanks to this collaboration, we’ve been able to provide more than 1,000 Flemings with a well-deserved week off. But every year we have had to turn guests down.

The care hotel is in Zuienkerke, just a few miles from the Flemish coast. I suppose that’s no coincidence?

Polderwind will be able to receive up to 92 guests, spread over 46 rooms. The location in Zuienkerke

is ideal: It’s a very quiet environment – the hotel is alongside a 15-hectare pond – and our guests can easily make excursions to the coast, the polder land and Bruges.

The architecture of the hotel is not exactly standard…

Indeed. POLO Architects, the firm that designed the hotel, found its inspiration in a certain kind of Chinese architecture. The design is based on the Tulou, a traditional, circular group dwelling from southeast China. The common rooms are on the ground floor, where meeting and being together take centre stage. The guest rooms are on the first floor, so that the bustle remains downstairs. The circular shape allows

the creation of an inner courtyard that protects the guests from the sometimes biting coastal breeze.

Leuven team create more options for brewers

Researchers from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), co-ordinated by professor Kevin Verstrepen, have discovered a way to make more diverse lagers. Lager yeasts originated from two crosses between the “parent yeasts”.

As these two species are very different, it’s difficult to make successful crosses. The researchers optimised growing conditions, thus encouraging crossing between the two yeasts. The experiments resulted in hundreds of new lager yeast strains. But of 31 new strains that they tested in small-scale beer fermentations, only 10 performed reasonably well in terms of speed of fermentation and flavour. The researchers then tested the four best strains in full-scale fermentations.

“Two were magnificent,” said Verstrepen.

UGent helps stars shine in special education Ghent University (UGent) has launched Stars Shine for Everyone, a project that makes telescopes available for only €100 to schools and institutions that work with children from special education and children with a disability in general. The first 10 telescopes were signed yesterday by former astronaut Dirk Frimout at the Public Observatory Armand Pien in Ghent. The idea came from a working group at the observatory. The telescope consists of a telescopic tube, viewfinder, zenith prism, two eyepieces and self-building tools.

UA group study trees and climate change Trees are growing new leaves earlier than before because of warm springs occurring due to climate change. “They get their leaves on average about a week earlier than 50 years ago,” said researchers from Antwerp University. This means that trees grow faster and absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere – thus retarding climate change. However, the risks of damage due to frost are greater.

During shorter days earlier in the spring, trees need more heat for the buds to come out than they do later in the year.

After warmer winters, more heat is necessary than after colder winters. Three decades ago, every higher degree caused trees to get their leaves on average four days earlier. In the warmer past decade, there was only two days’ difference per degree of warming. \ AF

\ Interview by Senne Starckx

\7

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Sign up now for our daily and weekly newsletters with local headlines, events and features, tailor-made for expats in Belgium Subscribe for free at www.thebulletin.be

\ EDUCATION

september 30, 2015

Taking freedom for granted

Congolese scholar Felix Kaputu is at UGent as part of Scholars at Risk Toon Lambrechts More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu

Academics often find themselves the target of authoritarian regimes, overzealous security forces and militias. The network Scholars at Risk offers persecuted professors a temporary home at campuses abroad, including in Ghent, where they can safely continue their work.

K

afkaesque is how Felix Kaputu’s story is probably best described.

As a professor in comparative literature at the University of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he tended to stay as far away from politics as possible.

Until, one day, the phone rang.

“I had just come back from an academic conference when I was contacted by the security forces,” he says. “A man asked me to come by his office. Weeks later, I was still there, in a small cell full of insects.”

Kaputu was accused of having bought weapons abroad for rebel militias. It was an absurd accusation, but that didn’t appear to matter.

When help eventually came, it came from abroad. “My friends in the United States, Europe and Japan came to know what had happened to me,” he explains.

“Because they knew this was all based on lies, they began to campaign for my release. It worked in the end.”

Kaputu was released after four months, but that wasn’t the end of his ordeal. When he began to receive threats, he thought it wise to take them seriously. Again, his international contacts offered help.

A Canadian colleague brought Kaputu into contact with Scholars at Risk. He told them his story, and when things got too hot for him in Lubumbashi, the organisation found him a position abroad at Harvard Unive rsity.

Subsequent Scholars at Risk appointments took him to Belgium, where he is now active at both Ghent University (UGent) and the Free University of Brussels (VUB).

Scholars at Risk was created in 1999 at the University of Chicago.

Many other American universities soon joined the initiative, and today the organisation has grown into a global network of educational institutions active in more than 30 countries.

Both UGent and VUB are members of the Scholars at Risk network.

Kaputu is one of four academics working in Ghent through the programme. “Scholars at Risk is a very valuable project, for several reasons,” says Eva Brems, professor of human rights and one of the staff involved in the programme at UGent. “A university is more

week in education Industrial engineers want extra year of study

Students in industrial engineering need a five-year degree programme rather than the current four, according to the Flemish Chamber of Engineers (Vik). An extra Master’s year should enable students to get more handson experience, the organisation said. To get a Master’s degree in industrial engineering, a student currently has to complete a three-year Bachelor’s degree, followed by a one-year Master’s. Vik said that industrial engineering students will no longer be able to compete on an international level without the addition of a second Master’s year.

While the Master’s degree in industrial engineering in Flanders is worth 60 study points, the same degree abroad is usually worth 120.

More over-65s in Flanders’ schools © Toon Lambrechts

Comparative literature professor Felix Kaputu was accused of arms trading in Congo

than an educational and research institution; it’s also a social society. In that capacity, UGent wants to contribute to issues concerning academic freedom.”

Typically, Scholars at Risk contacts a university to see if they have a position for a certain academic in need. A committee at the university then explores the possible options, Brems explains. “We

Universities that participate in the Scholars at Risk programme are also asked to promote academic freedom through the relations they have with other institutions abroad. They might adopt a clause about respecting academic freedom, for example. From personal experience, Brems knows this is often a difficult balance.

“I was involved in a project with

Weeks later, I was still there, in a small cell full of insects look at what someone has to offer to a given department. You can compare it to a guest professor, but through a very specific channel.”

People are not placed simply because there is a demand, she says. “These people are serious scientists, so we look at how they can contribute to the research and teaching that takes place within a department.”

the University of Maputo in Mozambique,” she says. “Recently, there have been major problems in terms of academic freedom at the university. A colleague from the law faculty was shot because of his views on constitutional law.

Currently, a framework on how to respond to such situations doesn’t exist at UGent. As an organisation, Scholars at Risk asks us to think about such situations, to take

Eva Brems of the Scholars at Risk programme at UGent

clear positions and to give guarantees to the people we work with.”

But in some cases, too strong or too strict an emphasis on academic freedom can be counterproductive. Rigid codes of conduct can, for instance, make co-operation with certain countries impossible – a situation that doesn’t help academics in these countries, either.

“The list of countries where there are problems with freedom of speech at universities is long," Brems explains. “Countries like Russia and China are problematic, too. The question of how to deal with them is not an easy one. I know from past experience that by working with local people, you can achieve a lot in terms of academic freedom without official documents that could block some projects and co-operation.”

UGent wants to be socially committed, she continues. “The university should not be an ivory tower. But how do you make this principle concrete? The number of social issues the university could commit to is endless. Scholars at Risk is about colleagues who are being persecuted and who are asking for solidarity. Academic freedom is essential to what a university should represent.”

In Kaputu’s view, Belgium does not sufficiently value the academic freedom it has. “It is seen as something self-evident, but it isn’t,” he says. “It is a precious value that must be handled with care. In Western countries, academics have been condemned because of their beliefs. Of course, the situation is much better here than in many other countries, but that freedom must be cherished and guarded.”

In the school year 20142015, 520 people aged over 65 were working in Flemish schools, including 222 retired people. The number of over-65s in schools has gradually increased in recent years, according to statistics from education minister Hilde Crevits. School staff have always been able to work until the end of the school year in which they reached the pensionable age of 65. But since 2009, it has become easier to let retired people continue to work in education. The number of over-65s in Flemish schools has increased significantly since then, when there were only a few dozen. In 20102011, there were 399 over-65s, of whom 141 were retired.

Students ask to pay fee in instalments Higher registration fees haven’t led to fewer students enrolling in higher education, but a greater percentage are seeking permission to pay in instalments. The government of Flanders increased the registration fee this year from €610 to €890. Students with scholarships pay the same fee: €105. At Antwerp University, there are 6.5% more first-year students and 7% more at Hasselt University. There are about the same number of new first-years at Ghent University and the Free University of Brussels (VUB).

The University of Leuven, however, had 5% fewer firstyears. Most university colleges experienced an increase. Institutions are reporting, however, that more students are asking to pay the registration fee in instalments. \ Andy Furniere

© Nic Vermeulen

\9

\ LIVING

week in activities Apple harvest Come experience the apple harvest in Haspengouw!

Pick your own, taste regional specialties, take a guided tour or bring your bike and follow the fruit route. 3-4 October, Fruitbedrijf Windmolders, Stevoortweg 167, Herk-de-Stad (Limburg), free \ toerismeherkdestad.be

Nature Festival Lots of educational activities for young and old: guided walks, workshops on edible plants, donkey rides, climbing wall, insect bar and more.

Bring the largest pumpkin from your garden for the pumpkin contest. 3-4 October, De Nachtegaal, Olmendreef 2, De Panne, free \ west-vlaanderen. be/nachtegaal

GameForce The biggest gaming convention in Belgium, with all the latest hits for the major gaming consoles as well as smaller gems from local developers. T-shirts and other goodies to be had. 3-4 October 10.00-18.00, Waagnatie, Rijnkaai 150, Antwerp, €10 \ gameforce.be

Plastic & Steel 2015 Belgium’s annual convention for model builders and collectors of miniatures.

Contests, club stands, swap meet, exhibitors, model trains and more. 3-4 October, Bellekouter Hall, Bellestraat 99, Affligem (Flemish Brabant), €4 \ ipms.be

24th annual trappist festival All the trappist breweries will be represented, including the Italian Tre Fontane and American Spencer, so that you can try every one as well as cheese and other products. 3-4 October, De Kapel, Kerkstraat 3, Niel (Antwerp province), free \ trappistenfeesten.be

Gallo-Roman Weekend Visit a Celtic village, stroll through a Roman legion’s camp and visit the marketplace to find blacksmiths, weavers and carpenters.

Fighting demos, food and drink, historical shows. 3-4 October 10.00-18.00, Stadsdomein Oosthove, Speiestraat 32, Wervik (West Flanders), €6 \ viroviacum.be/

\ 10

And miles to go

Antwerp’s Tram De Lux puts the poetry in public transport Clodagh Kinsella More articles by Clodagh \ flanderstoday.eu

O

n a recent car-free Sunday in Antwerp, pedestrians grinned and gawped in amazement as Tram De Lux – sporting strikingly retro mustard and forest green livery and no apparent route number – rattled around the city streets. Unlike the rest of the network, this upmarket tram was heading nowhere in particular, and its inhabitants, who were looking inwards, must have appeared unusually animated.

Conceived by Antwerp city poet Stijn Vranken, local designers De Klopperij and transport company De Lijn, Tram De Lux is part of the Antwerpen Boekenstad (Antwerp City of Books) initiative, which has promoted literary events in the city since 2003. It first took to the tracks during the Mechelseplein Feesten in June and has been running an every-other-Sunday service – conducted in Dutch – from the Groenplaats since August.

The tram has been elegantly rejigged since its days on the streets of Ghent and now boasts a bar, a scattering of tables, a poetry library and a stage equipped with a piano. “It’s basically a pub, or poetry cafe, on wheels,” Vranken explains. “Antwerp has an old tradition of pubs hosting gigs or literary readings. I organised them myself for years and wanted to do the same thing, but on a tram.”

During my visit, the hostess was doing a swift trade in ultra-local, ultra-potent beers like Blonde Stoot and Antigoon, plus glasses of Vranken champagne – a nod to

© Elvire Van Ooteghem / City of Antwerp

According to city poet Stijn Vranken, the new initiative is keeping step with a long local tradition of literary readings

the master of ceremonies. As we lurched towards the Meir, cups overflowing, the driver hopped out to manually switch the tram

Alternate Sundays 4 October to 13 December

tracks with a point bar, and guest singer Stoomboot – whose MO is soft rock in Dutch – began strumming his guitar.

Return trip

from Groenplaats, Antwerp

BITE Authentic Indian cuisine in Brussels, finally Some common complaints from expats in Brussels: 1) The weather.

2) The bureaucracy. 3) I can’t get a decent Indian meal in this town.

We can’t do much about the first two, but help is at hand with number three, courtesy of two brothers from the Punjab region of northern India.

Sunny Harminder and his brother Varinder saw that Brussels was crying out for cooking classes that would demystify Indian cuisine and decided to do something about it.

They call their initiative Jagat Karma, a name that refers to the harmony between different minds.

Alongside the food, they host yoga classes, Bollywood film screenings and live Hindu music, but you’re welcome to join them just to watch some cricket.

In groups of up to half a dozen, guests in Sunny’s kitchen chip in with chopping, stirring and tasting; he provides tuition as the room fills with the smells of cumin, garlic and ginger. He’ll talk you through

his store cupboard of spices – from fenugreek leaves and nutmeg to onion seeds and whole tamarind – and how to get the right blend for each dish.

“We’re passionate about cooking, especially Indian food, based on the recipes we learned at home from our mother,” he says. “We don’t usually use recipes; it’s more a question of the right feeling about how much you need to use of each ingredient. We try to teach that and of course share our love for Indian food.”

Preparation complete, guests sit down round the table to enjoy the fruits of their labour, in a secondfloor dining room overlooking the main square of Sint-Gillis. “Jagat means the whole world, and karma refers to our deeds that influence our life and future,” Sunny explains.

“We seek to promote the harmony of different people – all from one world – and to share part of our culture.”

While Antwerp trams use points to turn, Ghent’s are bidirectional, with driver’s cabs at each end.

They also don’t go underground – a rich symbolism not lost on Vranken, who launches into his poem “Bovengronds en onderweg” (Above Ground and Underway). As Tram De Lux’s motto, it’s repeated on what are now very sodden coasters indeed. A sample (translated) phrase of the poem: “A circle lingering around its goal / a detour from beginning to end.”

As we arc from the Scheldt through the Jewish quarter to the inner ring, the odd bystander peering in through the windows, a relaxed but surreal mood has set in. “I didn’t want to create a performance during the whole trip because it’s too demanding, so we just do some interventions now and then,” says Vranken.

It’s not about hardcore sightseeing either, but it’s hard to ignore the view – not least during a cigarette break in the surreal quarter of Cogels-Osylei, amid temples and palazzi.

Coursing back into the city, Vranken earns laughs for an erotic poem at his own expense – he tailors the content according to the clientele – and we terminate at Groenplaats with an appeal: “You only have one life, so make sure that you get out of your mother with the right leg” (an inversion of the Dutch saying “to get out of bed with the wrong leg”).

It’s an apt end to what has been a pleasingly offbeat trip.

jagatkarma.be

© Ingimage

Fittingly, dinner is an international affair: On our visit, guests came from Belgium, Iceland, Turkey and Scotland, and the brothers are warm, generous hosts.

On the various menus are: palak paneer (spinach with cottage cheese), pilau rice, chicken tikka masala, north Indian breads, Goan

prawns and a south Indian brunch.

Classes take place twice a week until the end of October and then begin again in December.

But if you’d rather just eat than cook, their lunch delivery service brings the food to you. You’ll never bemoan the lack of a decent curry in Brussels again. \ Sally Tipper

september 30, 2015

Let the shoes do the talking New MoMu exhibition looks at magic of fashion’s most fetishized item Catherine Kosters More articles by Catherine \ flanderstoday.eu

momu.be

S

hoes are to fashion what salt is to food.

They may seem like only a small part of an outfit, but they add all the taste.

From comfy trainers to impossibly high heels, shoes tell the story of their wearer, and they often become cultural icons in their own right. Just think of the glass slipper that helped Cinderella find her prince or the $500 Manolo Blahniks that symbolised independence for Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw.

And if those seem like slightly shallow examples, take the shoe museum in East Flanders.

It has an entire section devoted to artists who sent in the shoes they wear while working.

“Shoes are attractive to people of all ages,” says Karen Van Godtsenhoven, co-curator of Footprint: The Tracks of Shoes in Fashion.

“They are objects of beauty and eroticism, but at the same time, they serve historical and cultural roles.”

The height of a heel or platform has been linked to social status for hundreds of years, Van Godtsenhoven explains. “The higher the shoe, the less you had to walk, which to an extent is still true today,” she says. “Shoes can point to rebellion, like the Dr Martens boots worn by skinheads and punks, or to oppression. The Chinese lotus shoes are the most extreme example of the latter.”

The new exhibition at Antwerp’s fashion museum MoMu, which comes on the heels of its successful Dries Van Noten retrospective, wishes to highlight all these aspects of fashion’s most fetishized item, while steering clear of theoretical exposés.

“We did not want to present a historical overview,” Van Godtsenhoven says. “We are a contemporary fashion museum, so the focus is on 20th-century footwear, with an occasional nod to the past. We let the shoes do the talking.”

The museum has opted for its signature thematic approach. Visitors will find two dozen displays that connect shoes to such notions as surrealism, architecture, pop music, dance, folklore and – of course – fetish.

“Sometimes a designer gets his or her own theme,” Van Godtsenhoven adds. “The Ital-

MoMu connects shoes to surrealism, architecture, pop music and sexual fetish

ian Salvatore Ferragamo, for instance, who changed shoe design both technically and aesthetically in the middle of the 20th century. He was Marilyn Monroe’s personal favourite. Or Dirk Bikkembergs, a member of the Antwerp Six, who invented the luxury sneaker with his casual chic football shoes.”

Highlights in the collection include heels worn by celebrities – Marilyn but also Amy Winehouse – and particularly iconic pairs, like the insanely high mock-crocodile platforms by Vivienne Westwood in which a young Naomi Campbell took a tumble on the

catwalk in 1993.

There are stilettos co-designed by Christian Louboutin and film director David Lynch as well as look-alikes that date back to the 1900s and prove that the Frenchman did not invent the famous red sole.

Footprint brings together more than 500

Until 14 February MoMu

Nationalestraat 28, Antwerp

shoes, some 100 of which belong to the museum’s collection thanks to a long-term loan from Geert Bruloot (the exhibition’s other curator) and Eddy Michiels. As the founders of Coccodrillo, Antwerp’s designer-shoe heaven, Bruloot and Michiels have been collecting spectacular footwear since 1984.

Season after season, the two bought the hottest designs of the moment. The most unusual pairs proved hard to sell but were perfect for creating eccentric window displays. Later, they ended up as objets d’art in the shoe lovers’ collection.

While designer shoes were once the prerogative of the elite, these days they have mass appeal. As fewer and fewer people are able to afford €5,000 dresses, more and more start splurging on €500 heels, a tendency both welcomed and lamented by Bruloot.

As a salesman, he depends on the average woman and man in the street who dream of a pair of Prada slippers or Gucci loafers to call their own. But as a collector, he fondly recalls a time in which shoes were experimental and exciting instead of just a means for labels to make money.

Van Godtsenhoven feels the same way but realises the invaluable impact of celebrity culture on fashion. “Some teenagers who visit the museum only know houses such as Dior or Lanvin because Kanye West wears their sneakers,” she says. “You can cry over this, but without the likes of West, young people wouldn’t know the brands at all.”

It’s only fitting, then, that the exhibition includes West’s designs for Giuseppe Zanotti as well as a pair of his Yeezy trainers, limitededitions made in collaboration with Adidas.

They inspired overnight campouts in front of stores and sold out instantly.

These kinds of well-placed pop-cultural references and historical side notes are what make Footprint an interesting style overview rather than a shallow shoe parade. Still, this colourful carnival is still fantastic fun even if you’re unable to spot these winks.

Did I say shoes are like salt? I meant more like candy. For grown-ups.

50 weekends in Flanders: City trip to Ghent Flanders Today has launched an e-book with ideas for how to spend a year’s worth of weekends. Visit our website to get your free copy of 50 Weekends in Flanders. We’ll also print one of our suggestions every week here, too.

Most people reckon that Ghent gets it just about right with its combination of striking Gothic architecture, car-free streets and hip urban hangouts.

Shop at PAARD VAN TROJE With its smart coffee bar and pavement terrace, this is the most inspiring independent bookshop in Flanders. The owner (a former DJ) sees no point in stocking bestsellers, but instead woos customers with unusual and eclectic titles such as the Wood Fire Handbook and Cool Sheds. He also sells indie CDs and a few bottles of his favourite wines. \ paardvantroje.be

\ visitgent.be

Visit MUSEUM DR GUISLAIN This strange and haunting museum occupies a model psychiatric institution founded in the 19th century by Dr Jozef Guislain. Visitors can wander through chilling deserted wards still furnished with iron beds and terrifying-looking medical equipment. The temporary exhibitions feature work by outsider artists. Almost no one leaves this museum unmoved.

tinyurl.com/50weekends

Eat at OAK Marcelo Ballardin spent time in Heston Blumenthal’s kitchen before setting up his own restaurant last year in Ghent. The young Italian-Brazilian chef has perfected a cooking style that combines innovative ideas with the freshest of ingredients. The relaxed, modern interior makes the perfect setting for this style of contemporary cooking. But you might need to book a table weeks – or months – ahead. \ oakgent.be

Drink coffee at CLOUDS IN MY COFFEE Surrounded by Turkish bakeries and cheap clothing stores, Clouds is a bit a bit of a hike from Ghent’s city centre, but worth finding for its bare brick walls, matt black tables, old school chairs and friendly people behind the bar. The large walled garden is out the back.

It’s open almost every day, which is another plus. \ cloudsinmycoffee.be

Drink beer at GRUUT STADSBROUWERIJ Annick De Splenter took a leap in the dark when she opened a new brewery in 2009. It occupies an impressive industrial building on a bend in the river Leie. The gamble paid off and she now brews four very distinctive gruut-based beers using a medieval blend of herbs. \ gruut.be

© Visit Gent

Stay at DE WATERZOOI A gorgeous weekend bolthole in a 17th-century house facing the Gravensteen, Waterzooi’s two suites are decorated in Flemish country house style, with big white sofas, rustic stairs and blazing fires. You get a delicious homemade breakfast and can even rent a little boat to explore the canals. \ Derek Blyth

\ dewaterzooi.be

\ museumdrguislain.be

\ 11

WE TAKE YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR BUDGET UNDER OUR WING. Enjoy special discounts and free services for your whole family.

Your family boards first and sits together on board.

Kids under the age of 12 receive discounts* and everyone is entitled to 12kg of hand baggage.

brusselsairlines.com/family * Conditions: see website.

or your travel agency.

\ ARTS

september 30, 2015

What’s so funny?

Flemish dancer and choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez takes laughter apart Ian Mundell More articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.eu

VOETVOLK.BE

Dancer and choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez has created a group piece that deconstructs laughter and provokes both unease and recognition among her audience.

A

H/HA is a performance about laughter, but it’s no laughing matter to perform. “It’s not really funny,” says dancer and choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez about appearing in the piece. “Although it’s about laughter, at the same time it’s kind of grim. And it needs a lot of concentration to perform.”

The piece deconstructs laughter, exploring the variety of physical states it provokes in the human body. But it’s also about the effect laughter has on groups of people, and about group dynamics more generally.

In an empty space, perhaps in the middle of the night, five bodies meet apparently by chance. As they start to interact, the laughter that escapes from them brings them to a state of shared ecstasy.

For the audience this is meant to provoke both unease and the laughter of recognition: the opposition of pain and pleasure in the title resolved into an “ah ha!” of understanding and sympathy.

Gruwez trained in classical ballet in Antwerp, but then changed direction, studying contemporary dance at Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s PARTS studio in Brussels.

She started her professional career with Ultima Vez, the company of Flemish choreographer Wim Vandekeybus, before building a long-lasting creative partnership with Jan Fabre.

In 2006 she set up her own company, Voetvolk, with musical collaborator Maarten Van Cauwenberghe, another Fabre alumnus. Their work since then has focused on Gruwez as a solo performer, in particular exploring the human body in trance or ecstatic states. “Out-ofcontrol bodies that I would like to

© Luc Depreitere

AH/HA by Lisbeth Gruwez (centre) shows laughter as a virus that spreads

control, even though that sounds impossible,” Gruwez explains.

Her 2012 solo performance It’s Going to Get Worse and Worse and

the right decision, because it is a group thing. It’s a virus. And that’s how we treat it in the piece. It’s a virus that spreads.”

Egos disappear, the masks drop, and you have a very basic way of communicating Worse, My Friend investigated the gestures of impassioned orators, with Gruwez dancing to a deconstructed speech by evangelical preacher Jimmy Swaggart. It ends on a note of euphoria, which AH/ HA picks up and takes in another direction.

But AH/HA also represents a departure for Gruwez in being a group work. Initially she was reluctant to consider this approach, but Van Cauwenberghe insisted that laughter was inherently a communal emotion. “And it turned out to be

The performers Gruwez recruited to develop and perform the piece two years ago have all remained on board, helping it grow each time it’s performed. She thinks that so much shared laughter creates a natural bond between people.

“Egos disappear, the masks drop, and you have a very basic way of communicating.”

They prepare for each performance with a session of laughter yoga and other games to turn forced laughter into genuine hilarity. Then there is a period of shaking, a movement

that underpins the piece, and a series of tai chi exercises. “Because we have a whole part that is very very slow, like laughter movements in slow motion,” Gruwez explains.

Having the performers revisit the sources of AH/HA in this way means that each performance is different. “I stress the point that first there has to be a thought, and then the emotion comes. So I try to train them as athletes of their emotions,” she says.

Repeating the shaking exercises, for example, renews the emotions and so produces on stage a subtly different set of movements each time. “And this keeps the whole thing very fresh. Sometimes we are excellent, and sometimes we ruin it, but I like to take the risk rather than have a fixed choreography.”

It’s Going to Get Worse and AH/HA are part of the same line of thought about ecstasy and trance, but the third piece currently in Voetvolk’s repertoire is completely different.

Lisbeth Gruwez Dances Bob Dylan involves Van Cauwenberghe play-

ing a series of Dylan records from the 1960s and 1970s, while Gruwez dances.

“It shows the way Maarten and I really work together,” she explains.

“Before we go into the studio, we drink some beers and listen to records. He has an amazing collection, and he asks me what atmosphere I’m looking for.”

Where It’s Going to Get Worse sought movements that embodied particular words, the Dylan piece is about more elusive rhythms.

“For me it’s the way he sings, and the way he puts word into phrases that’s very inspiring to dance to,” Gruwez says. “Sometimes the movements go together with the words, but it’s not that strict. It’s more metaphorical.”

The result is rather minimal, leaving Gruwez quite exposed as a dancer, and it’s taken some time to decide how best to present the piece. But after four performances this year, each in a different setting, it’s ready for a first run in December.

Then there’s the next step in her investigation of trance and ecstasy, which will deal with fear and panic.

“I was wondering why I smoke so much, and that has to do with breathing and regulating a kind of anxiousness. Right now I’m only doing breathing exercises, and I will see what comes out of it.”

In the longer term she has plans to choreograph a piece for the first time without performing in it herself. “I have a dream of making a piece for 12 dancers, and I need to be able to see the patterns in order to make it. That would be my first step outside. So, these are exciting times.”

AH/HA is at KVS in Brussels on 7-9 October, before touring in Maasmechelen, Leuven and Koksijde.

Lisbeth Gruwez Dances Bob Dylan is at the Concertgebouw in Bruges on 9 December, then at KVS from 17 December.

More performance this month Spectacular Lightshows of Which U Don’t See the Effect After five years working in Germany, noted Flemish stage actor Benny Claessens returned to Belgium last year, joining the company at NTGent. As well as gracing productions of Accatone and The Cherry Orchard, Claessens has revived a production devised in Germany with his partner, the Estonian actor Risto Kübar. Spectacular Lightshows recounts a night of intimacy and its aftermath, in an anonymous room somewhere in Europe, using no dialogue whatsoever. 30 September to 11 March, NTGent, Minnemeers 8 \ ntgent.be

Stop in Java DeSingel presents a rich programme of contemporary dance and performance from Indonesia, demonstrating

how a rapidly developing society can transform strong cultural traditions. It begins with Cry Jailolo, created by Eko Supriyanto with a group of young men from a fishing village in the Maluku Islands, and Absorbing and Squeezing and I’m Almost Plastic, two pieces devised by Fitri Setyaningsih to be performed in deSingel’s Ballard Garden. 3-24 October, deSingel, Desguinlei 25, Antwerp \ desingel.be

Hacia la Alegría

An architect gets up in the middle of the night, leaves his apartment and runs. As he passes through the city he reflects on social segregation, the place of art in the public sphere, and his personal success. Hacia la Alegría is an innovatively staged monologue (pictured), written and directed

by Olivier Py, director of the Avignon Festival. Part of the

© Ros Ribas

pan-European Cities on Stage project. (In Spanish, with Dutch and French surtitles) 6-10 October, National Theatre, Emile Jacqmainlaan 111 \ theatrenational.be

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\ ARTS

week in arts & CULTURE Orchestras should merge, says expert

The country’s two main orchestras, the National Orchestra of Belgium and the De Munt Symphony Orchestra, should increase their co-operation with a view to merging into a single entity by 2026, according to a report commissioned

by Didier Reynders, the minister responsible for federal cultural institutions. Reynders asked the director of Geneva’s Grand Theatre, Jean-Marie Blanchard, to offer his official opinion on future of Belgium’s orchestras. He said that he believed only closer co-operation could ensure their future.

Reynders said the document was “food for discussion”.

Baby king penguin born at Antwerp Zoo Antwerp Zoo welcomed the arrival of a baby king penguin last week, the first to be born in the zoo in 12 years. Like all newborns this year, it was given a name beginning with Q: Quest. Worried about the success of the egg’s development, zookeepers swapped the egg after it was laid for a fake, which the parents dutifully cared for. Penguin parents occasionally roll the their eggs back and forth to each other so each can care for it, but eggs can get broken in the process.

After 56 days, the real egg began to crack and was immediately swapped for the fake egg once again. The parents were unaware of the swap and are now caring for the baby normally, carrying it on their feet and feeding it regurgitated herring. A second egg was due to hatch as Flanders Today went to press. Although this is the zoo’s first king penguin in more than a decade, two gentoo penguins, Querty and Quiche, were born earlier in the year, as was macaroni penguin Quick.

Train World museum opens in Schaarbeek King Filip last week officially opened the new Train World museum in the Schaarbeek railway station. The museum brings together some of Belgium’s railway heritage that was previously spread over several locations. The museum hopes to appeal largely to schools and families and have made the installations as interactive as possible. Included in the collection are the 1844 Pays de Waes locomotive, the oldest remaining on the European mainland, and the 1939 type 12 steam locomotive Atlantic.

The collection takes up more than 8,000 square metres and cost €25 million. \ trainworld.be

\ 14

The good, the bad and the ugly Artists contemplate our future at Brussels’ Royal Museum of Fine Art Georgio Valentino More articles by Georgio \ flanderstoday.eu

expo-2050.be

Do you have hope for the future? A new exhibition in Brussels takes the Jacques Attai approach: Utopia is on the way, however hard that is to believe.

A

s the new millennium dawned, French economist Jacques Attali looked into his crystal ball and wrote a book about what he saw. A Brief History of the Future forecast a bumpy ride but one that he promised would end well. Yes, humankind will eventually arrive at a utopian, global hyperdemocracy – after first enduring the dog-eat-dog competition of global hypercapitalism and the planetary ravages of hyperconflict.

In a variant of Hegel’s “cunning of reason,” Attali assures us that all this destruction and subsequent renaissance is inevitable. But if we follow a few of his simple policy prescriptions, we might at least make the transition less painful (and perhaps also accumulate a few bucks in the process).

It’s a dubious conclusion, so the curators of the new exhibition 2050: A Brief History of the Future opted to draw a less controversial lesson: The future is what we make it.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts has enlisted contemporary Belgian and international artists to contemplate this future across several Attaliinspired themes, among them technology, pollution, conflict and consumption. More than 70 works fusing various media are on show. You’ll see paintings, sculpture, photographs, videos, installations, digital art and everything in-between.

And, despite some heavy subject matter, 2050 remains on the whole not just guardedly but triumphantly optimistic. In being so, it transcends its inspiration.

Confronting 9/11 But be warned: Heavy subject matter there is.

The exhibition opened on the 14th anniversary of the attacks on America’s World Trade Center and Pentagon, and those events figure prominently in a thematic cluster titled The Decline of the American Empire.

Its centrepiece is “2001”, a large-format, slowmotion projection of the lower Manhattan skyline on the day itself. The images were inadvertently captured by German digital art pioneer Wolfgang Staehle, who had installed a webcam across the East River to stream what he expected to be several days of business-as-usual into a downtown gallery.

Instead, fate intervened, and Staehle’s project took an entirely different direction.

If exhibition curators decided to confront 9/11 head on, other themes lend themselves to more ironic treatment, namely contemporary society’s market mania and penchant for over-consumption. Sprawled out in a random corner, for example, is British artist John Isaac’s hyper-realistic sculpture “Matrix of Amnesia [Fat Man]”, a pale, naked, obese male figure lying prone on the ground.

One of Andy Warhol’s numerous “Dollar Sign” paintings is icing on the cake here. (But, unlike Isaac’s, Warhol’s treatment of the almighty dollar is not at all ironic; pop art’s founding father made no bones about his love of money.)

Environmental degradation, another of our grim contemporary realities, is a theme broached with awe-inspiring technical sophistication. HeHe’s installation “Fleur de Lys” is a strong contender for 2050’s most interesting piece.

The British-German duo of Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen have crafted a nuclear meltdown

© Courtesy Yang Yongliang

Creators of our own destruction? Yang Yongliang’s “Heavenly City n°8” (2008)

in an aquarium, with time-released chemicals reacting in solution to create an hourly eruption, a cloud of “radiation” that diffuses across the tank in random patterns, complete with eerie lights and apocalyptic soundtrack.

Contemporary Flemish artist Hans Op de Beeck, meanwhile, weighs in on biotechnology with “Anke”. An update of a previous work, this second coming is a colourless sculpture of a woman with a cybernetic arm. Her placement on a classical pedestal creates a tension between the organic, the bionic and the historical.

Then there’s warfare. In his book, Attali speculates that the recent turn towards fierce, sectarianism that characterises contemporary conflict will only become more pronounced with time.

A sculptural triptych from American artist Al Farrow’s extensive Reliquaries series presents scale models of places of worship, representing the three major monotheistic religions, constructed from military hardware like guns, bayonets and shell casings, with some bones and glass thrown in for good measure.

In much the same spirit, although without the religious provocation, Mozambican sculptor Gonçalo Mabunda evokes the violence of his country’s 15-year civil war with a chair built out of AK-47s and revolvers. Irony reappears with Gregory Green’s sculpture “Untitled [Vuitton]”, which represents a bomb hidden inside a designer handbag.

If you hang in there till the end, you’ll reach the

promised land of futurist utopia. The final themed cluster collects various inspirational pieces celebrating the end of conflict and waste and the rise of enlightened, horizontal democracy.

The most noticeable works here are “Kimbembele Ihunga”, Congolese installation artist Bodys Isek Kingelez’s sprawling architectural mock-up of an imaginary African city that looks a lot like Las Vegas, and British visual artist Mark Titchner’s seven-metre faux-kitsch banner, which reads: “Let the Future Tell the Truth. Another World Is Possible”.

The participatory character of tomorrow’s utopia is mirrored in the exhibition’s very interface. The visitor’s guide is comprised of loose sheets of recycled paper meant to be collected throughout the visit and collated by hand into cardboard folders. The accompanying smartphone app is more problematic. If tomorrow’s democratic wonderland is only accessible through certain privileged platforms, I’ll stick with today’s analogue democracy.

If you leave the exhibition hungry for more future, head down to Paris where the Louvre hosts a companion exhibition, which finds contemporary artists reinterpreting the past in light of our new (possible) future.

Until 24 January Royal Museum of Fine Arts Regentschapsstraat 3, Brussels

\ AGENDA

september 30, 2015

Don’t call it a genre

CONCERT

Hello Jazz!

Until 19 December

“J

azz is more than a genre; it’s a lifestyle”: That’s one of Flemish drummer Teun

Verbruggen’s core beliefs.

And the ideology figures prominently in the new coffee table book Jazz is Our Mother Tongue: We Don’t Know What’s Going to Happen, summarising the state of Belgian jazz in 2015.

The classy volume is full of interviews with local jazz pros and is financed by the new sponsor of the festival that was launched 30 years ago as Belga Jazz. After cigarettes and cars (remember Audi Jazz and Skoda Jazz?), banks are jumping on the music festival bandwagon;

Brussels Glen Hansard: The Irish singer-songwriter and founder of folk-rock groups The Frames and The Swell Season performs songs from his first solo album, Rhythm & Repose. 30 September 20.00, Ancienne Belgique, Anspachlaan 110

Across Belgium HELLOJAZZ.BE

Hello Bank! is part of BNP Paribas Fortis.

But in the world of music that falls under the jazz label, every little bit helps to maintain the lifestyle.

Looking at the line-up of the first edition in 1986 (Miles Davis, BB King, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Herbie Hancock…), it’s hard to imagine jazz was in a state of crisis. Announcing this year’s line-up, Mark Klein recalled those pioneer years in which the melting pot of jazz, rock, world and electronic was still considered satanic by jazz elitists.

He kept on programming a fusion of styles, not only over one long

\ abconcerts.be

weekend but for a whole month at myriad locations. This year, the programme includes veteran funkateer Maceo Parker and piano hero Chick Corea’s new band, as well as Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem (pictured) and exotic duo Roberto Fonseca & Fatouma Diaware.

Keith Jarrett’s solo concert at Bozar is a real highlight, 28 years after the

piano virtuoso was last a guest at the festival. The 100th birthdays of Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf are celebrated by Cassandra Wilson and Richard Galliano & Sylvain Luc respectively, while a younger crowd will embrace the eclectic universe of bands like Polar Bear, STUFF. and Cinematic Orchestra. \ Tom Peeters

The Vase

Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale

Belgian-based Australian dance duo Cie.Ofen previewed their latest production The Vase as a work-inprogress earlier this year. Now it’s ready for the big reveal. Through tortured gestures, Ofen’s choreographer-dancers Gala Moody and Michael Carter exorcise the angst of a couple in the midst of a break-up. This world premiere

schouwburgkortrijk.be

also doubles as opening night of the Ulti’mates Festival, curated by leading Flemish choreographer Wim Vandekeybus and showcasing the work of his company Ultima Vez and its alumni (including Moody). The performance is followed by a concert by Flemish rock group Manngold. \ Georgio Valentino

3-25 October

Across Brussels art-nouveau-biennial.be

Everyone knows that Brussels was one of the centres of Art Nouveau. The problem is that the 19th-century design movement and its early 20th-century Art Deco sequel was fuelled largely by private commissions, so much of the work remains behind closed doors. The annual Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale opens over 20 of these normally private spaces for a rare glimpse into the city’s artistic heritage. Every weekend in October, the biennial organises guided walking tours and interior visits in multiple neighbourhoods. You’ll see all the famous landmarks and discover many more hidden gems.

VISUAL ARTS Antwerp On the Job for Victory: Dozens of American war posters from the First World War show how Americans were urged to be frugal and to work hard on behalf of the war in faraway Europe. Until 30 January, Letterenhuis, Minderbroedersstraat 22 \ letterenhuis.be

FESTIVAL Brussels © Victor Horta/Sofam

VISUAL ARTS

FESTIVAL

Cityview

Bozar Electronic Arts Festival

At the Gallery presents Arne Quinze’s latest series, Cityview.

Inspired by urban living, the contemporary Flemish artist’s kinetic, multi-coloured composites are painstakingly assembled out of thin strips of wood. The artist will explain his method at an opening-afternoon lecture. Quinze is a slippery artist when it comes

At the Gallery, Antwerp atthegallery.be

to audience reception, responsible for both the “Rock Strangers” installation Ostend residents love to hate and “The Sequence” the 80-metre-long wooden canopy next to the Flemish parliament building in Brussels, which lasted a year longer than it was meant to because no one wanted to see it go. \ GV

8-11 October Bozar’s Electronic Arts Festival was inaugurated three years ago as a straightforward facsimile of the seminal Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Over time, however, it has evolved into its own animal, with a far wider scope than its inspiration. This edition incorporates multiple facets of digital culture, not just its music but its visual and performance arts as well.

Transdisciplinary interventions include Swiss artist Zimoun’s monumental sound installation “64 ventilators, 98m² polyethylene foil 0.08mm” and a screening of Luxemburg artists Gast Bouschet and Nadine Hilbert’s pagan-themed film Tempestarii,

Death of a Salesman: The American Theatre Company presents Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic about the titular Willy Loman, directed by Glenn Vaughan (in English). 7-11 October 20.00, Bronks Theatre, Varkensmarkt 15-17 \ atcbrussels.com

\ GV

3 October to 15 November

English Comedy Cellar: Cara Josephine: British comedian Josie Long, winner of the BBC New Comedy Awards at age 17, takes the stage as part of Stand-Up Antwerp (in English). 7 October 20.15, De Groene Waterman cellar, Wolstraat 7

Brussels

EVENT Schouwburg, Kortrijk

Antwerp

\ facebook.com/ Standupantwerp

PERFORMANCE 3 October, 20.15

PERFORMANCE

Bozar, Brussels bozar.be

Nuit Blanche: Brussels’ annual nocturnal revelries this year feature a renaissance theme along with a diverse selection of installations, performances, multimedia projections, concerts, interactive events and DJ sets. 3-4 October 19.00-5.00, Sint-Katelijneplein and Vismet

\nuitblanche.be

LITERATURE Antwerp

with the soundtrack performed live by celebrated American drone-metal musician Stephen O’Malley (pictured). \ GV

Boeken op woensdag (Books on Wednesday): Series of monthly readings with free coffee and croissants, this month featuring Ghent writer Christophe Vekeman, who talks about his 11th novel, Hotel Rozenstok, his identity crisis and his decision to stop writing (in Dutch). 7 October 12.30-13.30, Letterenhuis, Minderbroedersstraat 22 \ antwerpenboekenstad.be/woensdagen

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\ BACKPAGE

september 30, 2015

Talking Dutch

VoiceS of flanders today

World heritage humour Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

FILESZIJNERFGOED.BE

I

don’t need to tell you that this country has a major traffic problem. But I never thought Unesco would one day be called on to lend a hand.

Help de Belgische files werelderfgoed worden – Help make the Belgian traffic jams world heritage, it said on a huge sign on one of the motorways into Brussels.

Met die opvallende boodschap probeert de NMBS reizigers te overtuigen om het openbaar vervoer te gebruiken – The Belgian rail operator NMBS is using this message to try to convince commuters to use public transport, explained the VRT. It works like this: Roepen ze mensen op om via de site www.fileszijnerfgoed.be de onlinepetitie te tekenen – They’re calling on people to sign an online petition, die de files op de Belgische wegen werelderfgoed moeten maken – to request that Belgian traffic jams be added to the list of Unesco world heritage.

The website features a film starring a well-spoken Englishman sitting in a canal boat in Bruges. Belgium has an inexhaustible source of world heritage – België beschikt over een onuitputtelijke bron aan werelderfgoed, he begins in a mellow voice. From its medieval grandiose heritage – Van haar middeleeuwse pracht, to the industrial revolution – tot de industriële revolutie.

But there’s one thing missing on the list of Belgium’s world heritage, he continues. Maar een ding ontbreekt op de lijst van werelderfgoed. A wonder that I have never seen anywhere else – Een wonder dat ik nooit eerder heb gezien.

Then we see him on a motorway bridge. The Belgian traffic jams! – De Belgische files! So magnificent, so overwhelming! – Zo prachtig, zo overweldigend. That I would like to nominate them as world heritage – Dat

CONNECT WITH US

In response to: Brussels abandons idea of tunnel for cars under Meiser Jesus Freire More bikes, a Meiser more pedestrian friendly and better public transport!

ik ze wil nomineren als werelderfgoed.

This great merger of rubber and metal – Die majestueuze fusie van ruber en metaal, he continues, his voice getting louder. I love the smell of exhaust fumes in the evening – Ik hou van de geur van uitlaatgassen in de avond.

At this point, I’m thinking, Oh, come on. This is just silly. And it might even be counter-productive: now there is a petition making fun of it. Help de Belgische vertragingen werelderfgoed worden – Help turn Belgian train delays into world heritage, it says on www. vertragingenzijnerfgoed.be.

De vertragingen van onze treinen hebben een onschatbare historische en culturele waarde – Our train delays are of inestimable historical and cultural value, reads the site. Bovendien zijn heel wat treinstellen die onze nationale spoorwegmaatschappij blijft inzetten net rijdende musea – What’s more, many of the carriages our national rail company keeps in service are nothing less than museums on wheels.

So there you have it. The Belgians may not be able to run trains on time or solve traffic congestion, but they do have a quirky sense of humour. Maybe it’s time to launch a petition to turn that into world heritage.

Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

Poll

a. No, and the ban should be extended to official slaughterhouses, too. There's no excuse for making animals suffer like that

58% b. No, but arrangements should be made with the official slaughterhouses to increase capacity during Eid

42% c. Yes, it's only one day a year and to not do so is an infringement on freedom of religion

0% without stunning it only at officially licensed slaughterhouses, but during the Muslim Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, demand far outweighs capacity.

Temporary slaughterhouses used to be set up to handle demand, but they are no longer allowed to slaughter the animal without stunning it.

Muslim organisations recently

took animal welfare minister Ben Weyts to court to try to get the ban lifted for Eid, but they lost.

Nobody in our poll thinks a ban on slaughter without stunning is a breach of freedom of religion, while a small majority is actually in favour of extending the ban to official slaughterhouses, too.

That would mean an end to ritual slaughter in most of Belgium.

\ Next week's question: More and more students are asking to pay their higher education fees in instalments because of the increase in tuition. Is this a sign that fees are too high?

Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!

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In response to: Flanders spends too much time sitting down, says VIGeZ Jane May Darling-smith I learnt today that yoga was first practised by 13-year-old Indian boys; I think this would be a great focus for our young people to reduce stress, tiredness and improve moods etc.

In response to: Muslim organisations lose case against animal welfare minister Nisrine Labcir The law is the law :) In response to: Flanders’ climate report: Higher temperatures and more flooding Denise Bauer @AmbassadorBauer As @POTUS said in Alaska: “There is such a thing as being too late to #ActOnClimate. Let’s not let that happen.” karen || amity @dreamedtodrown last lesson than skipping philosophy and on to Antwerp to see state champs don’t tell me parents I’m already skipping school pls

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the last word

Should the ban on slaughtering animals without stunning them be lifted during Eid al-Adha?

The rights of two groups are colliding in Flanders. Muslim and Jewish tradition requires the slaughter of a sheep or other animal while it is conscious. Animal welfare laws in Flanders and Wallonia, however, dictate that an animal be stunned with an electrical shock – rendering it unconscious – before it is slaughtered.

An animal may be slaughtered

In response to: Belgian police begin border patrols Dan Clements If Schengen were to end, it probably would be a gradual accumulation of small changes rather a sudden, big one.

Life and death

Hit man

“There are no measurable parameters to express psychological suffering. The criteria for euthanasia for psychological suffering are too subjective.”

“The man who made Bruges ridiculous comes to Ghent.”

A group of some 40 university professors in Belgium have signed a statement against euthanasia in cases of psychological suffering

Super-shelter “From now on municipalities can order a vandal-proof shelter for locations where a lot of damage occurs.”

A spokesperson for De Lijn, which has developed a new “indestructible” bus shelter that costs barely €260 more than the usual kind

Het Nieuwsblad characterises Colin Farrell, star of In Bruges and guest at this year’s Ghent Film Festival, which kicks off on 13 October

Peace talk “I’m not some geek who shuts himself up in his room to devour dictionaries. I simply … want to be able to talk to anyone, and for that I have to speak their language.”

Yannis Ikonomou, a translator at the EU Commission, is Belgium’s most gifted linguist, speaking 33 languages (but not official languages Estonian or Maltese – yet)

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