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october 21, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ P2

Politics \ P4

Done Deal

The world’s largest brewer, Leuven’s AB InBev, is taking over SABMiller, and will now produce 30% of the world’s beer supply \6

business \ P6

UnDer the microscope

Learn how to extract DNA from a kiwi or check out the brain of a fruit fly at Flanders’ annual BioTech Day \7

innovation \ P7

education \ P9

art & living \ P10

a ghoUlishly gooD time

From historical horrors to dance floor demons, Flanders has the perfect Halloween weekend for you \ 11

With bells on © royal carillon school Jef Denyn

mechelen school an players keep centuries-old carillon tradition alive and well alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

Thanks to one forward-thinking carillon player and the Royal Carillon School, Mechelen continues to be the world centre of carillon culture. And if carillons today are not heritage objects to be admired in museums, but instead at the heart of a vibrant global culture, it’s in large part because of the efforts of Mechelen carillon players.

ast month, Unesco handed over its official recognition of the Belgian contribution to the safeguarding of carillon culture in a ceremony in Brussels’ town hall. By rights, the ceremony should have really taken place in Mechelen. The city was at the root of the carillon revival in the 19th century, while the

Royal Carillon School Jef Denyn is still the world centre of carillon. Flanders Today visited the school to talk to its director, Koen Cosaert. Most people probably think of a carillon as a bell tower, but in fact the word refers to the musical instrument – the heaviest of all the world’s instruments – which is usually housed in a tower, but not always. In the middle ages, the bell tower was the forerunner of the instrument, and in the Low Countries and adjoining areas in Germany and the north of France, the generally flat landscape made a network of bell towers the perfect means for spreading warning signals of attack, or alarms for fires. Most still perform the old function of sounding

the hours, but the first musical use of the bells is thought to have been in Oudenaarde in the 16th century. How did Mechelen then become the centre of the carillon world? “Everything has to do with the man whose portrait you see everywhere, Jef Denyn, after whom the school is also named,” Cosaert explains. “He was the city carillon player for Mechelen, starting in 1887. And it could be said he was the man who put the carillon on the map. Without his influence, we would probably still have carillons in towers as museum pieces. But we would not have the living carillon culture that we have today and that has spread over the entire world.” continued on page 5

\ cUrrent AFFAIrs

Antwerp to recruit own police in a break with procedure, the port city will hire officers for two years alan Hope Follow Alan on twitter \ @AlanHopeFt

ext year, Antwerp will become the only city in the country to recruit its own police force, following a decision by federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon. The project will last for two years. In normal circumstances, police in Belgium are recruited via a centralised selection procedure, and a member of the federal police can be asked to serve anywhere. However, over the next few years, Antwerp faces the problem of replacing about 500 of its 2,600-strong force as officers become eligible for retirement. “Every time I talk to my police chief, shortage of staff is on the agenda,” Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever said. “Filling vacancies is a weekly problem, as the wave of pensions reaches cruising speed.” According to De Wever, hiring officers itself will allow more

targeted campaigns in the city’s insitutions of higher education. It also has two other advantages, he said: Officers will be more connected to the city and come from more diverse backgrounds. “If we’re recruiting for ourselves among Antwerp’s young people, then we will automatically obtain a better representation of other groups of the population,” the mayor said. Meanwhile, it was revealed that Antwerp spends more than twice as much of its budget on police as the Flemish average. Forecasts from the Flemish administration suggest that by 2019, the city will spend €403 per inhabitant on the police force, compared to €161 on average in the rest of Flanders, and €336 in Ghent. © courtesy politieantwerpen.be

Red Devils top Fifa world rankings for first time Belgium’s 3-1 victory last week over Israel at the King Boudewijn stadium in Brussels means they will take over the top spot in the Fifa world ranking in November. It also means they finish their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign at the top of their group. The Red Devils were third in the rankings published at the start of the month, but with world champions Germany losing to the Republic of Ireland and current leaders Argentina losing at home to Ecuador, the win over Israel puts them in top spot for the first time in their history. Marc Wilmots’ side have risen an astonishing 66 places in the rankings since 2009. The victory puts them on 1,440 points; even if Argentina win in Paraguay tonight they can score no more than 1,429, while Germany will be on 1,388. Despite their lofty status, Belgium struggled against Israel, finally taking the lead in the 64th minute with a goal from Napoli winger Dries Mertens before Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne doubled the advantage 14 minutes later. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard

put the result beyond doubt by scoring the third in the 84th minute. Belgium, who clinched a spot in next year’s European Championship in France with a 4-1 win in Andorra the previous weekend (pictured), finished two points ahead of second-placed Wales in their qualifying group. \ Leo Cendrowicz

No more road tax for clean cars in Flanders

Starting next year, drivers of environmentally friendly cars will no longer have to pay an annual road tax, while the one-off tax for putting a new car on the road will be increased for everyone, according to a plan introduced by Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege and budget minister Annemie Turtelboom. Last month in his vision for 2050, minister-president Geert Bourgeois raised the idea of increasing the tax on pollution-causing cars, balancing it with a cut in the tax for clean cars. The new plan scraps the annual road tax for electric and hydrogen models and hybrids until 2020. The singlepayment registration tax goes up according to emissions levels of

State security monitoring suspicious asylum cases

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viewers for the football match between Belgium and Israel, which put the Red Devils top of Fifa’s international rankings

under close surveillance by the state security services and military intelligence. Jambon was speaking on a visit to refugee accommodation at the Westakkers military base near Sint-Niklaas in East Flanders. The results of screening until now, he said, made it worthwhile looking into whether the Office for Foreigners, which receives

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subsidy approved by Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz for nonfiction, the first time the genre has been subsidised. The subsidy is to become an annual feature in the package for the Flemish Fund for Letters

all asylum requests in the first instance, could be given better access to intelligence databases, improving their ability to detect suspicious cases. The original capacity at Westakkers of 250 places has been reached, and the plan is to increase this to 500 as quickly as possible. According to Sint-Niklaas mayor Lieven Dehandschutter, there is

a bond of solidarity between the refugees and residents, businesses and associations in the city. In related news, the CommissariatGeneral for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGVS) has decided refugees from Baghdad and surrounding areas will no longer receive automatic protection when they arrive here as asylum-seekers. The status of “subsidiary protec-

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The screening of newly arrived asylum-seekers by the security services has turned up six cases that merit further investigation, according to the federal home affairs minister, Jan Jambon. Jambon has not given further details on the cases, and whether they concern people with terrorist links or former jihad fighters in Syria. The cases are being kept

crimes recorded in the Brussels North zone (Schaarbeek, Evere and Sint-Joost) last year, a fall of 32% since the creation of police zones in 2002. The trend for 2015 continues downward, police said

of working days lost to sickness among civil servants of the Flemish administration. The average length of absence was 10.6 calendar days, and one in four cases was psychosocial – such as stress or burnout

fine particulates, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide. Cleaner petrol cars will see a smaller increase, with the burden falling mainly on diesel-powered cars, where the tax will go up by €50 to between €370 and €380, according to calculations by motoring organisation VAB. The new tariffs affect new and second-hand cars being registered in Flanders for the first time. Cars currently in service are not affected for the time being. Leased cars, which make up 10% of car traffic, are also unaffected. A change to the lease-car system will require an agreement with the Brussels and Walloon regions, Turtelboom said. \ AH

tion” means a refugee is automatically granted leave to stay for one year while a decision is made over their fate. According to the CGVS, while protection is required for a great many people from the region, the situation does not justify awarding that protection to all. Each case will be decided on its merits. \ AH

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Volkswagen owners notified by major importer D’Ieteren that their vehicle is equipped with the fraudulent software that falsifies the results of emissions tests – 75,000 fewer than originally estimated

october 21, 2015

WeeK in brief Winter time begins in Belgium on Sunday, 25 October. Clocks go back one hour, officially from 2.00 to 1.00. FortyhousesinAntwerp’sMerksem district had to be evacuated last week when construction workers unearthed an unexploded shell. The army’s bomb disposal unit attended the scene and removed the device to be exploded safely at another location. Alternative taxi firm Uber has suspended its UberPop service in Brussels, while it awaits a ruling on its appeal to being declared illegal by a Brussels court. The UberX service, which is more expensive and uses professional drivers, will continue to operate. Uber said it was willing to begin talks with Brussels-Capital Region ministerpresident Rudi Vervoort, but he indicated he was not interested. “We had an exchange of views with Uber several months ago,” a spokesperson said. The coastal town of Koksijde is to deploy its VIP force – Very Irritating Police – to discourage loitering in the town by recently arrived refugees, assigned to accommodation at a local air force base. The VIP squad was originally set up to combat loitering youths from northern France who were creating a nuisance for tourists. Four new officers are joining the squad. Peter Ketelslegers, from Diepenbeek in Limburg, underwent a trepanning operation in a Ghent hospital last week. Trepanning involves a hole being bored into the skull to relieve the pressure that causes cluster headaches – severe, recurring headaches that do not respond to painkillers or other treatments. It was a highly experimental procedure; doctors are waiting for several weeks before releasing statements. “I haven’t felt this good in years,” said Ketelslegers.

face of flanDers The Justice Palace in Brussels is one of the most threatened buildings in the world, according to the World Monuments Fund’s latest list. The building has been in a dilapidated state for years, to such an extent that the scaffolding used for building works is itself urgently in need of renovation. The biggest argument in favour of listing the building with the WMF was the lack of any government plan for further works, said Jos Vandenbreeden of the Sint-Lukas Archive, which proposed the listing. The Limburg prosecutor’s office has confirmed the arrest of three more suspects in the shooting death of alleged gang boss Silvio Aquino in August, bringing the number in custody to five. Two suspects were arrested last Friday in Nice, while the third was arrested over the weekend in Belgium. A sixth suspect was found dead just over the Dutch border hours after the Aquino attack. Meanwhile, police said they were investigating reports that two men linked to the Aquino family obtained access to Leuven University Hospital, where the dead suspect’s body was stored. The family is thought to be conducting its own investigation into the shooting, possibly with a view to reprisals. A 300-year-old chestnut tree in Overpelt, Limburg, has been voted the Most Beautiful Tree in Flanders in a competition organised by landscape and woodland organisations. The tree stands in a former orchard in what is now a protected landscape. \ mooisteboom.be

Anderlecht football club has been given a month to decide whether it will be a partner in the new national stadium planned for Heizel, the Brussels-Capital Region finance minister, Guy Vanhengel, said. The club was originally planned to be a tenant

offsiDe the price of your banana As a resident of Belgium, you eat on average 54 bananas a year, but do you have any idea how much bananas cost? Probably not, according to a study carried out by GfK for the organisation Fairtrade Belgium. Fairtrade’s business is to make sure farmers in the developing world get a decent price for their crops. Fairtrade bananas are more expensive than the regular kind: €1.89 a kilo at present. Those polled, however, put the price of regular bananas at €2.34 a kilo, far above the actual price and of Fairtrade bananas as well. Only 11% of the bananas sold in

Belgium are certified by Fairtrade, which guarantee the growers a minimum price of 40 cents a kilo. The cheapest bananas on the market sell for €1.09 a kilo, the farmer getting only 27 cents. What’s more, for every box of Fairtrade bananas sold in local supermarkets, the farmers’ co-operatives in growing countries get a development premium, which they decide themselves how to spend. In most cases, the money goes on investments in produc-

of the new grounds, which would also serve as home to the Red Devils national team. Anderlecht withdrew two weeks ago preferring to renovate their own stadium, but that project has now also been scrapped. Young people in Belgium are less happy and contented than the average for OECD countries, according to a new poll. The poll looked at the quality of life in 34 member countries and found Belgium scored better than average for income per child, parental unemployment and environmental pollution. But when asked whether their lives were good or bad, children aged 11, 13 and 15 scored themselves lower than average. According to one researcher, children in Belgium are more critical than their contemporaries in other countries. Construction will begin next year on the first Ronald McDonald House in Belgium, on the campus of the Brussels University Hospital. The house is one of more than 300 worldwide offering a place to stay for the families of sick children. The construction of the house will cost €2.2 million, paid by private sponsors. To raise funds to run the house, the Ronald McDonald Kinderfonds is offering a mobile hotel room for €100 per night in unusual locations, such as the Cristal Arena football ground in Genk. \ kinderfonds.be

The hunting season for hare, pheasant and partridge opened last week, as the latest figures for 2012 show a decline in the hunting of all three species. Before 2007, hunters took more than six hares, 2.6 partridges and 14 pheasants per 100 hectares in Flanders. In 2012, the figures were 4.5 hares, 2 partridges and 9.3 pheasants. Flanders has some 12,000 licensed hunters.

fairtradebelgium.be

tion such as new conveyor systems that cause less damage to the crops – and to the humans who normally carry them from the farm to the factories on their backs. “Growers realise that if the quality is better, they’ll get a better price,” said Karlien Wouters of Fairtrade Belgium. “But they can also choose [to finance] social projects, like an extra teacher in the local school or an extra nurse in the hospital.” \ AH

Jolien boumkwo Top athletes are special people, but some, it appears, are more special than others. That’s the view of Jolien Boumkwo, who holds the Belgian record in the hammer throw and is the current shot put champion. She’s 22, strikingly fit and a member of Atletiek Vlaanderen, a select group of 13 top athletes in the region. So you’d think clothing and beauty firms and all kinds of wellness products would be lining up to sponsor her and get their names on her track suit, wouldn’t you? You’d be mistaken. Last week she posted a message on her Facebook page. “Yet another negative response to my request for sponsoring,” she wrote. “Sorry,” she quotes them, “but we’re only interested in runners.” It’s not the first time it’s happened. “It makes me really sad to always hear the same thing,” she said. “It eats away at my motivation.” Top-level sport, she explained, demands hours of training, mental focus and planning, regardless of which discipline you practise. It’s more difficult to keep up that focus if you feel

you’re considered less worthy, she said. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.” The message quickly gathered a variety of responses, all encouraging though none that carried a sponsorship offer. One came from hurdler Eline Berings: “The world of sport is often hard, even too hard, and some people have less respect for what we do,” she wrote. “But do it first and foremost for yourself. Keep going!” “It was really great to get so many positive reactions,” Boumkwo told Stamp Media. “I certainly never expected that.” As part of Atletiek Vlaanderen, she receives funds from the government’s Topsport Vlaanderen department and the Flemish Athletic League, but it doesn’t cover all the costs of training and taking part in international competition. The Facebook post, she said, was meant to share with the public the perceptions associated with athletes, depending on their sport. “The system as it stands now is not always fair and doesn’t offer everyone the same chances,” she said. “I feel better now that I’ve said something.” \ Alan Hope

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

editor Lisa Bradshaw dePuty editor Sally Tipper contributing editor Alan Hope sub editor Linda A Thompson agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino art director Paul Van Dooren PrePress Mediahuis AdPro contributors Rebecca Benoot, Bartosz Brzezi´nski, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana Goodwin, Julie Kavanagh, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Daniel Shamaun, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Débora Votquenne, Denzil Walton general manager Hans De Loore PublisHer Mediahuis NV

editorial address Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden tel 02 467 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

\ PolItIcs

5th colUmn solar panel blues

Liberals and socialists are in the middle of a blame game. The object of their discussion: a new tax on electricity, decided by Flemish energy minister Annemie Turtelboom (Open VLD). This Turtel-tax, as it has been dubbed by the opposition, will cost 2.2 million families an extra €100 on top of the already-rising electricity prices, regardless of their usage. Another half million households will pay €25 extra. Companies pay more, but far less when compared to how much electricity they actually use. This raises questions about the fairness of the tax. The liberals argue that this is the only way to get rid of the “historical debt” caused by... the socialists. This debt dates back 15 years, when the now-deceased socialist Steve Stevaert was energy minister. He came up with the idea of families and companies producing their own energy though solar panels. As these were still pretty expensive at the time, he set to subsidising them with “green power certificates”. In the years that followed, the system became so successful that power operators, obliged to pay out the green power certificates to all these new electricity producers, saw no other option than to raise electricity costs for everyone else. This led to the popular outcry: “Why should I pay for my neighbour’s solar panels?” The subsidies gradually lowered, and eventually Freya Van den Bossche, another socialist with the energy portfolio, scrapped them completely in 2013. But the damage was done, leaving Van den Bossche’s successor Turtelboom with an inconvenient legacy. So who is to blame for the new tax? The socialists, liberals will say. They set up the subsidy system and failed to adjust to the new reality. Not us, socialists will say. They point out that two Christiandemocrat ministers left the system untouched between 2004 and 2009. Moreover, decisions like this are taken by the government of Flanders as a whole, implicating all coalition partners from 2002: CD&V, N-VA and Open VLD. This is not the first time electricity prices have gone up. Power operators have announced a raise in their tariffs, the VAT, which had been lowered to 6%, is back at 21%, and free kilowatt-hours have been scrapped. Whoever is to blame, for many families this is a bitter pill. \ Anja Otte

€408 million health care cuts “won’t be felt” by patients

federal government to invest in ict departments and onco-freezing andy furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

ederal health minister Maggie De Block will cut next year’s health-care department budget by €408 million but insists patients won’t feel the cuts. The costs for patients are even expected to decrease by €18 million. The government will save €60 million on medicines that are no longer patented. These will become much cheaper thanks to the Future Pact with the pharmaceutical sector. The department is also saving €82.4 million through the non-indexation of the wages of health-care providers. However, the government is also investing more than €164 million in new initiatives, including

€4 million in onco-freezing, the freezing of spermatozoids, egg cells and ovarian tissue to give

Environment minister suggests new uses for old rubbish dumps The government of Flanders plans to clean up old landfills as far as possible, environment minister Joke Schauvliege has announced. Flanders has some 2,000 former rubbish dumps taking up 88 square kilometres of space. “The rubbish that is dumped there can be recovered and sold, if possible,” Schauvliege said. “The dumps can then be sanitised and turned into parks or residential areas.” The process, known as landfill mining, allows the reduction of landfill mass by extracting materials that perhaps could not be recycled in the past but can now. It also allows the removal of hazardous substances. Combustible materials can be burned for heat and energy, valuable metals

can be recovered, and the soil of the landfill itself can be aerated. The environment ministry will soon begin studies for 49 of the dumps in East Flanders to determine how to go about reclaiming the land. The ministry will work closely with local municipalities, Schauvliege said. \ Alan Hope

cancer patients the chance to have children after treatment. Chemotherapy has a negative impact on the fertility of patients. There is also €40 million invested in the ICT departments of hospitals, to improve the exchange of information about patients. By 2019, all hospitals should have an electronic record for each patient. There is also €1.17 million provided for better guidance of transgender people. According to the Christian Mutuality, too little investment is going towards first-line health care provided by GPs, home-care nurses, dentists and pharmacists. The budget of home nursing, for example, is to be cut by €10 million.

Rutte wants closer ties between Antwerp and Rotterdam Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has called for closer co-operation between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp in a speech at the Flemish parliament. Rutte, who recently returned from a joint trade mission to Atlanta with Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois, is the first foreign leader to address the assembly. “This is an important statement,” said the parliament’s speaker Jan Peumans. “It is a recognition of Flanders as a fully fledged negotiating partner.” Rutte said it was “unique” that two countries or regions should present themselves to the outside world in the way Flanders and the Netherlands did in the US. The joint mission, he said, demonstrated the exceptional bond between the two partners. “There is far more

that joins us together than keeps us apart,” he told members. Belgium is the Netherlands’ second most important trading partner, and the two countries have long worked together within the Benelux framework. “There is a growing realisation on both sides of the border that the strength of one can also be the strength of the other,” said Rutte, “and that it makes sense to present to the outside world the fact that the Flemish-Dutch delta is the portal to Europe.” A major exporter in Shanghai, he continued, “doesn’t see separate ports at Antwerp and Rotterdam, let alone Ghent and Amsterdam. He sees one place on the map bursting with logistic skill and know-how, highly trained workers and a European hinterland of 500 million paying customers.” \ AH

Anti-TTIP demonstrators block Schuman during European summit A group of demonstrators blocked all access to Schumanplein in Brussels during last week’s EU summit to protest against the proposed free trade agreement known as TTIP between the EU and the US and Canada. More than 100 people were arrested.

The action was organised by the group Alliantie D19-20. Organisers said 2,000 people took part, but police put the number at 600. Following speeches from organisers, demonstrators blocked access to the square and forced the metro to be closed. The evening rush

hour traffic was thrown into disarray, with parts of Wetstraat and Belliardstraat blocked. A total of 105 protesters were arrested, most of them having their details noted before being released. One man was found in possession of a knife and detained.

The protest was joined later by a group of demonstrators from Spain calling themselves EuroMarchas, a name that echoes the Marchas groups that sprang up in Spain during the country’s economic crisis. \ AH

Reactions to tax shift: “unjustified” to “only a first step”

Thefederalgovernment’smeasures of tax shifts to move the burden of taxation away from wage-earners and job creation, announced last week, have met with a range of reactions. Michel Maus, professor of tax law at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) described as “a stunt” the claim that anyone earning less than €2,800 a month before deductions would take home €100 more a month under the new rules. In practice, he said, few people would get to keep that much. And

he lamented the government’s failure to carry out a real reform of the tax system. The Gazet Van Antwerpen complained about the “great absentee” – a tax on wealth, which it described as a “missed opportunity”. Instead, the paper said, the tax shift gave off an air of injustice “which might easily have been avoided”. The costs of the measures for families, single people and pensioners, claimed opposition party SP.A, will be immediately felt, whereas

the benefits amount to no more than “vague promises”, which will only be enjoyed at the end of this government’s term of office. “Inequality can only get worse,” the party said. Groen welcomed the package’s measures for small businesses and the self-employed but argued that the government could and should have gone further, by including a wealth tax, for example. A tax on soft drinks of one cent per can or three cents on litre bottles is “only a first step,” accord-

ing to federal public health minister Maggie De Block. She was responding to criticism that the tax was originally proposed for drinks high in sugar but ultimately also included sugar-free soft drinks and that it would do nothing to discourage the consumption of soft drinks, thereby missing its target of improving public health. De Block said that the tax was applicable to sugar-free drinks because artificial sweeteners are also harmful to health. \ AH

\ coVer story

october 21, 2015

With bells on

local carillon players appreciate nod from unesco

carillonscHool.mecHelen.be

continued from page 1

It helped that Mechelen, as the seat of the primate of the country’s Catholics, happened to have a magnificent carillon in the tower of Sint-Rombouts cathedral. The city was also centrally placed for visitors from Antwerp and Brussels, at the centre of the then new railway network, which helped Denyn in his crusade. For starters, Denyn improved the instrument technically and mechanically, so that a greater degree of expression and virtuosity became possible. This made it possible to develop a new language for the carillon. “Before him, the carillon was used as a sort of ersatz piano or harpsichord,” Cosaert explains. “They would take an existing score for piano, for example, and try as far as possible to adapt it to being played on the carillon, but without ever taking the particular sound character of the bells as a departure point.” Denyn, however, was an extremely good improviser, and an improviser, Cosaert points out, listens to his instrument. “And the language he heard was romantic – he happened to be right in the middle of the Romantic period in music – and his way of playing appealed to people.” His revolutionary playing method soon caught the public’s attention, and he was invited to perform in a series of evening concerts in 1892, the first in the history of the instrument. They were performances of the most public sort: no point in selling tickets when the music is booming out from the top of the cathedral tower to the whole city. The carillon as a true musical instrument was born. “Where previously it had been used as background music to public events, now it had become a concert instrument.” Referring to Denyn, Cosaert explains: “He became so popular, the story goes, that from 1900, people would travel on Monday evenings in the summer from Antwerp and Bruges on special trains laid on because so many people were coming to Mechelen for the event.” The trend then spread to other carillon cities like Bruges, also well-situated on the rail network, which attracted the sort of posh foreign tourists who frequented Ostend. Among them was Henry Longfellow, the American poet, who devoted two poems – “The Belfry of Bruges” and “Carillon” – to the phenomenon. Denyn became a celebrity, and it was thought that some way should be found to cement his influence even after his death. The idea of a school would provide an institution that could oversee and represent carillon, where before it had been fragmented and locally

carillon school director koen cosaert says the recent Unesco recognition felt like a heart-warming acknowledgment of the school’s efforts to keep carillon culture alive

based. “The school would have been set up in 1914, but I think we all know why that never happened,” Cosaert explains. “Denyn went into exile in 1914 in the first weeks of the war, and ended up in Tunbridge Wells in England, and only came back after five years, in 1919.” The school as we now know it was established in 1922, and until 1935 was the only one of its sort in the world. A carillon is a musical instrument made of a series of bells of different sizes, each of which produces a different note. The standard size is four octaves, made up of 47 bells, which are fixed in position and remain static. The player uses a clavier made of wooden batons that are played with the side of the hand, as well as a set of foot pedals to manipulate the clappers of the bells to strike the bronze interior. “So it’s like an organ in being played with hands and feet, but also like a piano in that we can play dynamically and expressively, hard and soft and everything in between, which can’t be done on the organ,” Cosaert explains. The carillon used to demand some physical strength, especially since the clappers of some bells weigh upwards of 40kg. But technical advancements have

made the work easier and opened up the instrument to anyone. “For the last 10 years, we’ve had a children’s department in the school, so children can play carillon from the age of eight,” Cosaert explains. “They might not be able to play the pedals right away, but things go really fast, and children can even play on the heavy carillon of Sint-Rombouts,” he continues. “What they can’t do of course is

Thanks to Rockefeller, carillons were built across the US at universities in Florida, Michigan and California. They also form part of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa as well as monuments at Iowa State University and in Wellington, New Zealand. At the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago, there’s a massive carillon with no fewer than 72 bells, while the 74-bell

Without Denyn and without this school, there would be no living worldwide carillon culture play a one-hour concert the way professionals do. They have to grow into that. So the image of the carillonneur as a strongman, or what the former director used to call ‘artistic karate’, that image no longer matches the reality.” Thanks to the contacts he made while in England, and the growing interest in carillon in general, Denyn was able to attract the attention of international backers. One of the most prominent, who remained a supporter until the 1930s, was American tycoon John D Rockefeller Junior.

Wellington monument has the largest bass bell in the world, weighing 12.5 tonnes, compared to Sint-Rombouts’ nine tonnes. The school has always attracted students from around the world. This year there are 62 students, including eight-year-olds and local seniors, and music students from 13 countries, including the US, Japan, South Korea and Ukraine. That’s part of the importance of the Unesco recognition. “This institution played a major role in the work to win Unesco recognition. Without Denyn and

without this school, there would be no living worldwide carillon culture. It’s extremely important for us,” Cosaert says. “Of course, it doesn’t involve any financial benefit, but the carillon world is a small world: 90 instruments in Belgium, maybe 250 people playing the instrument at the very most.” That means that most carillon musicians are a small fish in the large pond, always having to do their own promotion, and defending their corner. “Most players depend on local administrations for their stipend and for the maintenance of the instrument,” Cosaert says. “Obviously, in times of financial savings, culture always suffers, and it can be that as local carillonneur you’re faced with cuts. Then you’re on your own.” The Unesco recognition changes all that. Cosaert: “Now there’s a global organisation that is above all that and says: ‘Look, what those people in Belgium are doing is of global importance’. “Unesco is also giving us the title of Best Safeguarding Practice. That’s a way of saying those Belgian carillonneurs and the carillon training in Belgium have done so well in the last 100 years to take an instrument from the past and create a blooming culture.”

\ bUsIness

WeeK in bUsiness beverages coca cola The Flemish affiliate of the multinational company is investing €75 million over the next three years to renovate its production lines at its site in Ghent. Some 120 jobs of a total of 440 could be eliminated as a result.

catering Pain Quotidien The Brussels-based chain of bakeries, with 232 outlets in 17 countries, is further developing its activities in the US, with openings in Miami, Las Vegas and Texas. Other developments include an outlet in Hong Kong and projects in Shanghai and Beijing. In Europe, the company has plans for stores in Lausanne and Dublin.

energy luminus The local affiliate of the French EDF power group is floating 37.7% of its shares on the Brussels stock market, paving the way for a fouryear, €600 million investment programme that includes doubling the company’s offshore wind generated electricity.

energy Veolia The French water, waste recovery and energy group has won the €150 million contract to operate the BEE bio-mass fired power station in Ghent. The €400 million facility is expected to come on stream in late 2018.

Ports Antwerp Traffic in the port of Antwerp increased by 5.5% in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2014. The operator believes that total traffic this year may pass the 200 million tonne mark for the first time.

Property bart Verhaeghe Property developer Bart Verhaeghe, owner of the controversial Uplace shopping centre planned for Machelen, said he is repatriating six of his companies from Luxembourg to Belgium as fiscal regulations have become similar.

tourism club Med The Chinese-owned holiday and hotel group is opening an outlet in Knokke.

AB InBev buys SABMiller

leuven-based brewer to take over competitor following increased bid alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

landers’ AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is to take over its closest competitor, SABMiller, after increasing its bid offer. AB InBev raised its bid to £44 a share, a premium of almost 50% compared to SAB’s price when the planned takeover first became known. Last week a bid of £42.15 was rejected by SAB on the grounds that it “seriously undervalues” the company. The SAB board agreed unanimously to recommend the new bid to its shareholders. The bid puts a value on SAB of €96 billion – more than twice the previous record takeover price in brewing, when InBev took over AnheuserBusch in 2008 for €42 billion. The two companies will merge in a new company that has yet to be named, with stock in the two existing companies exchanged for stock in the new company. Fears that the new entity might choose to be based in London, where SAB has its home, seem ungrounded. There had been reports that SAB was lobbying for a London base for tax reasons

– the main shareholders pay no tax in the UK, whereas they would in Belgium. The move by the federal government to slash the tax it charges on dividend income appears to have been attractive enough. “Our roots in Belgium go back centuries and will always be an important part of our identity and our heritage,” said a spokesperson for AB InBev,

which is based in Leuven. The new brewer will be by far the largest the world has ever seen, bringing together the brands Stella Artois, Jupiler, Beck’s, Budweiser, Corona and Hoegaarden with Peroni, Miller, Coors, Grolsch, Foster’s and Pilsner Urquell. Last year SAB produced 318 million hectolitres of beer and AB InBev 459 million – the equivalent of 42 pintjes for every person on the planet. The merger moves Heineken, the Dutch brewer that owns Alken-Maes, into second place worldwide. However, Heineken represents less than 10% of the world market; the new brewer has 30%. There is a strong possibility that competition authorities will insist on some parts in some markets being sold off to ensure fair competition. In the US, for example, AB InBev and SAB together represent 75% of the domestic market, and the situation is similar in China.

Flemish government starts search for new head of VRT

Vlaams-Brusselse Media renamed Bruzz

The government of Flanders has begun the procedure to select a new managing director for the Flemish public broadcaster VRT to replace Leo Hellemans (pictured), who is retiring. The broadcaster’s management is negotiating a revised charter while coping with two major complaints. Last week, editorial staff at VRT News passed a motion of no confidence in their bosses, following the censorship of a broadcast in which a former Syrian fighter expressed radical ideas without being contested. The heads of the department took the piece offline, a decision contested by the news service. At the weekend, the charity Child Focus filed a complaint against VRT for the broadcast of images of child sexual abuse, including images that had not been pixelated. The error occurred during a report about a Norwegian website that had traced traffic in images of child abuse to Belgium. The broadcaster apologised for the mistake and withdrew the bulle-

Vlaams-Brusselse Media (VBM), the non-profit behind brusselnieuws.be, FM Brussel, Brussel Deze Week and tvbrussel, has undergone a thorough reorganisation, including a new name, Bruzz. Earlier this year, VBM announced a restructuring plan, which involved the closure of radio station FM Brussel and the dismissal of Brussel Deze Week editor Anne Brumagne. Public protests in defence of FM Brussel led to the sacking of CEO Michel Tubbax and the rescue of the station. Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz and Brussels minister Pascal Smet demanded a new restructuring plan, which has now been produced. The changes involve the creation of a single editorial department that will serve online, TV, radio and print, with a single city magazine that will combine the functions of Agenda and Brussel Deze Week. The new department will be up and running by

tin from the internet. Child Focus said it had filed a legal complaint to show that such images could not be tolerated under any circumstances. The new managing director will be selected by Jobpunt Vlaanderen and the specialist recruitment agency Accord, which will screen applicants and approach candidates. Flemish media minister Sven Gatz will ultimately propose a candidate to the government, which will make the final decision. Hellemans took over as CEO in 2014, following the year-long absence of Sandra De Preter due to illness. A former sports journalist, he was previously director of production. \ AH

April or May, according to a press conference held by Marc Michils, chair of the board of directors, and editor-in-chief Jeroen Roppe, who had the job of drawing up the plan. The new entity will have closer ties with the Flemish public broadcaster VRT, including training for Bruzz staff and an exchange of content in both directions. Bruzz will have one executive solely responsible for innovation and the VRT will help with international development. All the various media will emphasise a multilingual presentation in Dutch, French and English. “No one will have to be fired and there will be no embargo on hiring, despite what was reported previously,” Michils said. The ratio of subsidies to advertising income – €8.5 million to €1-1.5 million – will be maintained, he said. \ AH

Audi Brussels to build new electric SUV The Audi plant in Vorst in Brussels has been chosen for the construction of a new electric SUV from 2018, when production of the Audi A1 comes to an end. The contract will ensure employment at the plant at current levels for the near future. The model is called the Q6 E-tron (pictured); the A1 will continue to be produced, but will move to Spain. The news of the contract comes from unions, who say their information comes from Audi in Germany. Audi in Brussels has declined to confirm or deny. The company is to meet the Belgian government this week. Last month the government announced subsidies of €100 million for the

production of an electric vehicle in Vorst, on top of a package from the three regions worth another €35 million. The total cost of the investment required to produce the Q6 is estimated at €600 million. Production figures are likely to be lower than the 100,000 A1 vehicles produced last year, even if the demand for electric cars is expected to increase greatly between now and 2018. “The production of such a large electric car is far more complex than an A1,” ACV general secretary Pascal Van Cauwenberghe told FM Brussel. “As well, Audi will attract a number of related activities. The battery for example will also be produced here. This is a positive sign that

Audi has confidence in Brussels. The company management was also satisfied with what the government put on the table,” he said. \ AH

\ InnoVAtIon

october 21, 2015

Behind the biotech scenes

WeeK in innovation scientists identify rare baby dinosaurs

vib brings medical breakthroughs to life at annual biotech day andy furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

vib.be

ext week, Flemish life sciences research institute VIB is inviting visitors to snoop around its labs at the Gasthuisberg campus of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), where among the activities are learning how to extract DNA from a kiwi and looking into the brain of a fruit fly. On the annual Biotech Day, VIB highlights its own research but also the work of the whole biotech sector in Flanders. This edition, the fifth, focuses on cancer and brain research under the banner “Levenslang gezond” (Healthy for life). “We want to showcase the entire process, from basic research to an effective treatment, like a medicine,” explains co-ordinator Sooike Stoops. “To develop a therapy against Parkinson’s disease, scientists first have to understand what exactly happens in brain cells.” VIB hopes to demonstrate how patients can benefit from the work in the labs in the long term. VIB is hosting nine guided tours around the labs, where researchers will explain how the results of an experiment under a microscope can bring them a step closer to developing a therapy. “They will show how transparent zebrafish embryos are used to understand better how blood vessels are formed and what the brains of fruit flies teach us about the human brain,” says Stoops. Visitors can discover the whole of Flanders’ biotech landscape at a fair, where stands provide information in an interactive way. KU Leuven’s computational neuroscience group presents its Brain Computer Interface through a mind game, for example. After visitors have memorised a playing card, the interface will guess which card they are thinking of. At another stand, researchers will give workshops in pipetting. Networking organisation FlandersBio invites people to sit down at the five tables in the Biotech Café, to chat with entrepreneurs about their latest innovations. De Kale Ridders (The Bald Knights) brewery from Landen in Flemish Brabant will offer its guests a taste of the newest beer styles developed thanks to scientific insights. BiotechDayincludesavarietyofeventsspecially for children. Young visitors can extract DNA

children get to grips with science at VIb’s 2014 biotech Day

from kiwis and explore how chickens, fish and fruit flies resemble and differ from one another, and in a child-friendly room, researchers will talk about things such as how brain cells determine how the body works. A unique activity is the performance Ik, Raymond Hamers by theatre company Productions & Zonen. In 20 minutes, actors will explain how the analysis of antibodies in the blood of llamas led to the foundation of Ghent drug company Ablynx. There are also short movies in a separate room, including one showing how Christine Van Broeckhoven is working to fight Alzheimer’s disease. All over Gasthuisberg, discussions and lectures will take place throughout the day. Journalist Joël De Ceulaer will grill several pairs of academics and entrepreneurs on how their collaboration can lead to breakthroughs, including VIB researcher Patrik Verstreken and Frederik Wittock of Janssen Pharmaceutica on how their institutions are working together

towards new medication against brain disorders. Another interview will deal with the issue of animal testing. Jef Arnout, director of the test animal facilities at KU Leuven, will explain how the animals are cared for, while KU Leuven researcher Liesbet Temmerman will talk about the alternatives to animal testing she is developing. VIB also offers a lecture programme on the financing of the biotech sector, including a debate in which stakeholders will discuss the reasons for investing in biotech. Erwin Lauwers of the non-profit Kom op Tegen Kanker (Come Up Against Cancer) will explain how his organisation chooses which projects to support. There is also a lecture programme featuring researchers who will explain their latest progress. One of the speakers is PhD researcher Mathias Wenes of the VIB’s Vesalius Research Centre. With professor and oncologist Hans Prenen of Leuven university hospital, Wenes will demonstrate the importance of immune cells in the fight against cancer. “While the immune system is originally programmed to battle cancer, a tumour can actually use it to develop more blood vessels, which helps the tumour to keep growing,” explains Wenes. “We have found the genetic cause for this phenomenon and hope to find a way to undo the change.” With UZ Leuven, Wenes and his colleagues at the laboratory of professor Max Mazzone have developed the innovative Monomark blood test to diagnose colon cancer. “Our test is faster and simpler than the current ones, while being just as efficient,” he says. “This new tool should help to screen more people and thus detect many colon cancers at an early stage, which will save many lives.” The lectures, interviews, debate and theatre performance are in Dutch. During other activities, explanations in English are possible

25 october Gasthuisberg campus Herestraat 49, Leuven

Q&a Jpeg is the most common file format for digital images, but it’s not without shortcomings, which were addressed at a recent workshop in Brussels. Professor Peter Schelkens (pictured) from Flanders’ digital research centre iMinds was one of the organisers, and Touradj Ebrahimi, based in Switzerland, gave a presentation. How prevalent is the jpeg? Ebrahimi: If you count the number of jpeg images that are captured and shared on social networks, this is several billion each day. Jpeg is like a brand name, recognised as easily as Coca-Cola or Apple, and people use it as a synonym for picture. But its popularity has also become the source of its problems. What kind of problems? Schelkens: The two main issues faced by jpeg right now are related to privacy and copyright. When people post pictures on

social media they often say “Oh, I shouldn’t have posted that”. But they have no control over what happens to those images once they’re out there. These pictures also contain a lot of extra information, such as location and time, which could be sensitive. The same goes for copyright. Once you upload your photos, there are no easy ways to ensure they won’t be used without your permission. Would it be hard to equip jpegs with security measures? Schelkens: The mechanisms are

perspective, it wouldn’t be hard at all. The first challenge is to identify the technology that cannot be easily hacked into. The second is the ecosystem. We need to make it backward compatible, so people don’t have to invest in new cameras or phones.

already in existence, from being able to easily remove faces from photos to creating access keys. But it’s a matter of three to four years before they become common standards. Ebrahimi: From the technological

Why haven’t companies like Facebook or Google addressed these issues? Ebrahimi: They have no incentive to do so. By analysing our photos, they learn about us and the better they know us, the easier it is for them to push targeted advertisements at us. But if we can control what’s shown in our photos, even when they’re hosted on their servers, they can’t analyse them.

Scientists from Ghent University and the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels have identified three skeletons of baby dinosaurs, the first of the species Saurolophus angustirostris to be found. The skeletons come from the Gobi desert in Mongolia. Many fossils of Saurolophus angustirostris have been found at the site, but until now only adult or half-grown specimens. The skeletons were originally dug up illegally and sold several times. A researcher found them and donated them to the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, which returned them to Mongolia. The Belgian scientists then received permission to analyse them.

Medical paperwork digitised by 2018 The paperwork that enables patients to receive a refund after visiting a doctor should be digitised by 2018, public healthcare minister Maggie De Block has said. “It will be possible to send the doctor’s fee in a safe way directly to the mutuality, so patients are refunded directly via their bank account,” she said on Radio 1. Those who specifically ask for it will still receive a paper certificate. In 2017, a digital certificate will prove incapacity for work, replacing the current paper doctor’s certificate. Later, the certificates from specialists will also be digitised. Prescriptions will also be sent directly to pharmacists. The system – called Recip-e – already exists, but many pharmacists don’t use it yet.

kortrijk tests innovative “trambus” Until 23 October, Kortrijk is testing a free trambus, the first to be used in Belgium. This hybrid between a tram and bus, said the city, combines the punctuality of a stable tram trajectory with the flexibility of buses. Two trambuses take passengers from the train station to the Hoog Kortrijk area in the south of the city, home to Kortrijk Xpo, AZ Groeninge hospital and the University of Leuven’s Kulak campus. The city is considering using trambuses permanently to improve the connection between the centre and Hoog Kortrijk, which would benefit students, hospital staff and patients and visitors to Kortrijk Xpo. \ AF

\ Interview by Bartosz Brzezinski

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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

october 21, 2015

More than just an evening class mechelen start-up offers broader horizons for busy people bartosz brzezinski More articles by bartosz \ flanderstoday.eu

backgroundeducations.eu

t university, Caro Lemeire majored in political science. Politics was what she lived for, and the multiple degrees she obtained took her on a career path that eventually brought her to the Flemish research institute Vito. It was there, some years after her time as a student at the University of Leuven, that she realised she wanted to continue her education. The only challenges were having a full-time job and little to no free time. “I wanted to follow courses in philosophy and psychology, but the only ones I could find were evening lectures at universities,” says Lemeire, from Mechelen. “But it’s next to impossible to combine work with classes that are four or five nights a week, so I started reaching out to various education centres that I thought could organise something with a more flexible schedule. They were all very enthusiastic, but they didn’t have the time or resources to take on the initiative themselves.” Instead of giving up, Lemeire took the matter into her own hands. “I contacted university lecturers to find out how much it would cost and started looking for locations to rent. In the end, I had a full curriculum that I really wanted to follow, and I knew that if I could only find enough people to share the cost, I could do it.” That’s how Background Educations started in early 2014. It’s a programme intended for adults who want to keep studying but don’t have time for a complete university degree. Each semester comprises two-hour lectures held every couple of weeks and you can sign up for courses in literature, psychology and philosophy, as well as digital technologies and economics. “You have a different lecturer every time, and every time it’s a different

caro lemeire’s initiative is aimed at busy working people

subtopic from the field,” Lemeire says. “Say you follow economics. You get one evening of microeconomics, one of macro, one of entrepreneurship, and so on. The idea is to provide you with information on a wide range of topics. The lecturers also give you a recommended reading list, so should you choose to do so, you can always research them in more depth on your own.” For now, the courses are in Dutch and held in Mechelen, Antwerp and Ghent. In early 2016, Brussels will join the list with courses

in English offered at Muntpunt library in the city centre. “The biggest challenge for us right now is to get more people involved,” Lemeire says. “It’s not that there isn’t any interest, because as soon as people find out about it, they react very enthusiastically. But it’s a new concept, one that isn’t easy to explain. I usually describe it as evening courses for adults, but then everyone looks at me and says, ‘But it’s so much more than that!’” The lecturers have also responded

positively. Professor Karl Verstrynge from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) gave a lecture on media ethics in Mechelen last year and will host another in Brussels. “When you teach in front of adult students, you’re confronted with people who have a lot more intellectual maturity,” he says. “I had a very lively group and there were some fascinating comments in the discussion afterwards. People attending these courses have a motivation that is different from that of younger university students. They’re not doing it for a degree but out of sheer interest in the topic.” Initially, Lemeire did all the administrative work behind Background Educations on her own. This year, she took a break from working at Vito to focus on the project with the help of nine assistants. “I’m not doing this to become rich,” she says. “I see education as the perfect way to do something positive for society, which is why in addition to our regular programme, we decided to organise lectures by academics who are refugees in Belgium.” Rather than speak of their experiences as refugees, these lecturers share their research and expertise. Some have arrived in Belgium as recently as this summer. “In the media, we always see them as poor people sitting in the park, but actually a lot of them are very well educated,” Lemeire says. “It’s important to show just how many of them used to be university professors because they are never shown for who they really are.” These lectures are free and are held in Brussels. “We wanted to put these men and women in the role of lecturers so we could look up to them and learn from them. It’s nice for them to know that people are actually interested in what they have to say.”

Q&a For his PhD thesis at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), Stefaan van der Jeught examined conflicting language laws in the EU and its member states. A book based on his findings came out last month. What was your starting point? In international law, states have the authority to determine what languages are used on their territories. This is naturally there to promote social cohesion. But on the wider European level, you have the drive for the free movement of people and the creation of a single market, which necessitates the use of fewer languages in areas such as product labelling and police co-operation. There is a clear tension here between the interest of the EU and that of the member states.

You call this “friction zones”. How do you propose to address them? The thing about language policy is that it’s not always very clear. In Flanders, there used to be a decree that required all labour contracts to be drafted in Dutch. It seemed natural, but the legislation was brought before the European Court of Justice, which ruled that it was in conflict with EU law. In my thesis, I developed a general rule. States may not prevent you from using your own language, but I would allow them to oblige

you to use the local one along with it. To avoid legal uncertainties, I would also favour a single reference language when it comes to European law. In theory, this could be any one of the EU languages, but when you look at the figures, nearly 38% of European citizens say they can use English very well.

Wouldn’t that diminish local languages? I recommend that the issue of learning the local language is put higher on the EU agenda to protect social cohesion. No one denies the importance of learning a local language when you move to a different country. It gives you access to more jobs and makes you part of the political process. Labour contracts in Flanders may now be drafted in English, but a recent decree obliges the parties to provide a translation in Dutch. The common language promotes European integration, while the national languages are still protected on their territories.

WeeK in eDUcation

Platform guides pupils to right course

The University of Leuven has launched Luci, an online platform that aims to guide students to the right academic discipline. It’s an expansion of the orientation test that indicates whether students have the necessary skills for higher education. The platform can be used in secondary school guidance programmes to help pupils in the fifth and sixth years choose what to do after leaving school. Like the orientation test, the platform is meant to prevent students from choosing a course of study that’s not right for them. The ultimate goal is to stop students from having to change disciplines, requiring more time to complete their diplomas. \ luci.be

Dual learning tested in six streams The government of Flanders has announced six study streams that will be organised on the basis of the dual learning system, in which students combine their studies with work. It concerns the electromechanic techniques, electric installations, chemical process techniques, basic construction, greenery development and management and nursing assistance streams. Dual learning means that, as well as learning at school, students spend at least 60% of their programme on the workfloor of a company. The goal is to achieve a diploma or professional certificates, and to prepare students better for the job market.

enrolments up at university colleges More youngsters in Flanders are choosing to study at a university college, according to the University Colleges’ Council.Inthepastdecade,the number of students at university colleges has increased by about 40%, with about half of higher education students in Flanders now studying at a university college. On 1 October, 117,262 students were registered for the basic studies of the university colleges, an increase on last year of 2.2% or 2,569 students. The increase is largest in business and management sciences, health care and industrial sciences and technology. The number of registrations for teacher training decreased for the second year in a row. \ andy furniere

\ Interview by BB

\ lIVInG

WeeK in activities elf and troll tour Walk through the decorated streets of Rijkhoven, with seasonal treats along the way. The Elf tour is suitable for all children while the Troll route is for braver souls. 24 October, 18.00-21.00, starts at car park of AldenBiesen Castle, Kasteelstraat 6, Bilzen, €1 for kids 3-12, €2.50 for adults \ tinyurl.com/elf-tour

Halloween Fright tour

For more than 20 years, the arboretum in Wijchmaal has been the location of an annual Halloween maze: more than 4km of scares and fun. 24 October, 18.0021.00, Bosarboretum Wijchmaal, Diestersedijk 6, Wijchmaal, €7 \ halloweenwijchmaal.be

Pumpkin regatta Bring your giant hollowedout gourd and take part in this pumpkin-boat race, or just come and enjoy the show. Prizes for the team with the best costumes. 24 October, race starts at 12.00, Ark van Noë, Arkstraat 6, Lichtaart, €10 per team to participate, free to watch \ pompoenregatta.be

ZombieZombie GPs Game Experience this team-building activity during a free tryout. Groups are either zombies or heroes and use their smartphones and a city map to play. Come alone or with friends; minimum age is 16. 22 October, 20.00, meet at Kotmadam statue on Oude Markt, Leuven \ zombiezombie.be

Halloween Dog walk Sign up for this fun (and scary?) evening walk with your dog. Guided groups depart every 15 minutes on a 6km interactive walk. Torch and fluorescent vest required. 23 October, 19.00, Hondenschool de Hondenhoeve, Klossestraat 64, Zwijnaarde, €9 for adults, €6 for kids 12 and under \ dehondenhoeve.be

youth Day A day to celebrate the thousands of people involved in the various Flemish youth organisations, such as Chiro, Scouts and the Red Cross. 23 October, across Flanders, free \ dagvandejeugdbeweging.be

\ 10

A walk to remember

brussels fashion event combines proven recipe with topical focus katrien lindemans Follow katrien on twitter \ @kcrlindemans

madbrussels.be

t the end of October, Brussels’ most fashionforward district will roll out the red carpet for the annual Mode Parcours. Organised by the MAD Brussels fashion and design centre, this 15th edition will again bring exhibitions, shop window installations, workshops and, of course, a party to the city’s Dansaert area. If you’re into fashion, the Mode Parcours needs no introduction. Every year, this fashion trail draws a crowd of some 7,500 national and international visitors to the capital. For this anniversary edition, MAD Brussels decided to stick to its proven formula of showcasing the work of the finest local designers. At the same time, this edition’s theme of diversity feels very topical. “We asked all the participating designers to work around the topic of roots, origins and diversity,” says Elke Timmerman, MAD Brussels fashion co-ordinator. “MehdiGeorges Lahlou is in charge of the artistic direction. He’s a FrenchMoroccan artist who often questions culture and religion in his own work.” Lahlou will also participate in the fashion trail. “He’s asked five female artists to make a video, to which five female fashion designers will create an answer with a fashion installation,” Timmerman says. “The designers are Sophie D’Hoore, Marina Yee, Annemie Verbeke, Johanne Riss and Sandrina Fasoli.” In total, 43 designers accepted the Mode Parcours challenge. Visitors can admire their answers in several shop windows and galleries across the city centre. “In addition, all the participating designers were asked to make

In Project runway-style, this year’s edition of the Mode Parcours tasked some 43 designers with exploring the theme of diversity

a patchwork carpet together, with each of them providing one piece,” Timmerman says. “Every piece of fabric should be linked to the designer’s cultural background or something historical that inspired them. The entire patchwork and an accompanying exhibition will be on display at the Chartreux Centre of Contemporary Art, which is also the meeting point for this year’s fashion trail.” Alongside the main fashion trail, there will also be a smaller one that focuses on the designers’ creative process. “For the first time, we asked some designers to open their workshop to the public,” Timmerman says. “To name a few, fashion designer Conni Kaminksi, jewel-

lery maker Sophie Heymans and costume-maker Costhea will invite visitors into their studio.” For those who want to know even more about the designers’ methods, there will be workshops too. Emmanuelle Lebas, for instance, will delve into the fine art of shoemaking, while Christ Vermandere will unveil the manufacturing process behind hats. An anniversary edition, of course, wouldn’t be complete without a party and a couple of surprises. “There’s a lot happening on Saturday evening,” Timmerman says. “At

22-25 october

around 20.30, we’ll hand out two awards – one for the best young fashion talent and one for the best installation.” The evening closes with a performance by DRC-born, Brusselsbased musician Baloji, followed by a party with the Kenzo fashion house, Brussels industrial designer Jean-François d’Or and Flemish costume-maker Café Costume. Head over to the former hat-making workshop of Christophe Coppens on the Nieuwe Graanmarkt if you want to join in the fun.

across brussels

bite deli by day, naughty bar by night The ironic cherubs adorning its walls may suggest the splendour of a Renaissance church, but the true spiritual inspiration of Antwerp’s newest concept restaurant Frank & Brut is more likely the Taoist yin and yang. Or Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. By day the place is a buttoned-up New Yorkstyle delicatessen that serves up soups, salads and sandwiches for the office lunch crowd. (There’s also a popular weekend brunch.) At 17.00, though, the joint drops its genteel front to welcome its other clientele: the champagneswilling, hot dog-scarfing happy-hour crowd. The daily metamorphosis from Frank’s Deli to Frank & Brut isn’t just in the name. The bar interior itself is transformed with surgical efficiency thanks to the work of Antwerp design studio Pinkeye, who sought – and succeeded – to bridge the baroque, the irreverent and the absolutely over-the-top. In just a few economical moves, this daytime deli becomes a naughty nightspot. Bar tables fold down from the walls, exposing images of

cherubs in various compromising positions. The reversible neon sign hung on the facade is duly switched. And, lo! Frank & Brut, your hot dog and champagne destination, is open for business. The bar’s centrepiece is a cheeky blacklight modification of the otherwise tasteful, classical nude exhibited near the front door. In the chaste light of day, this vestal virgin is basking languidly. But later, under the ultraviolet lamp, we find the fair maiden preparing to eat a hot

frankandbrut.be

dog in a most suggestive fashion. It’s Michelangelo meets Oscar Meyer meets Ron Jeremy. The adjoining dining room is even more deliberately kitschy. Indeed, this fun Renaissanceinspired exercise in surrealism looks like a Godfather film set redecorated by Michael Jackson. It boasts a 360-degree celestial mural, pristine pearl-hued benches, marble table tops and custom cherub statues. Then there’s the food. It consists mostly of hot dogs. There’s one recipe for each of the seven deadly sins, from the basic Sloth dog (dressed only with sauerkraut, bacon, onions and chutney) to the deluxe Gluttony dog (piled high with pork belly, guacamole, lime, sour cream, corn and jalapeno-coriander mayo). All dogs are available in vegetarian and glutenfree variants. There’s also a selection of sharing dishes that includes seafood, ribs and vegetables. It’s all delicious but let’s face it, the food is just an excuse to immerse yourself in the bizarro-baroque universe of Frank & Brut. \ Georgio Valentino

october 21, 2015

Get your creep on

flanders’ museums and cultural organisations are gearing up for Halloween rebecca benoot More articles by rebecca \ flanderstoday.eu

he days are getting shorter and darker, and pumpkins are everywhere: autumn is definitely upon us and so is Halloween. So if you fancy a fun-filled fright fest, a colourful yet gruesome walk through the park or a night of music and madness to celebrate, look no further for tips for a ghoulishly good time on 31 October.

Historical horrors

The Historium in Bruges focuses on the Golden Age of the city, namely the middle ages, and for this special occasion they’ll delve a little deeper into the darker side of this glorious period. It was also a time when the plague wreaked havoc, witches were tried and burned on the Brug and there were gallows on nearly every street corner. The building will be decorated and filled with dozens of shocking displays that will shed a little candlelight on a gruesome era. There will also be a chance to get your face painted, snacks, quizzes, mysterious walks and the opportunity to visit the Torture Museum for those of you who can’t get enough Halloween horror. 31 October-8 November, Historium, Bruges \ historium.be

Beachside beastliness

During the school holidays, Koksijde and Oostduinkerke have planned a week full of grisly goodness starting with the nocturnal Halloween mountain bike ride on 30 October. The next day you can enjoy pumpkin carving, costumes, music and a petrifying parade full of ghouls and ghosts on Grardplein in Sint-Idesbald, topped off with some frightful fireworks. The haunted houses Thriller and Freakcircus, created for the occasion, are also a must and will send shivers up your spine. There will be creative workshops for kids each day and werewolf-inspired walks. 30 October-8 November, Koksijde-Oostduinkerke \ koksijde.be

Murder on the dance floor

Radio Modern, known for its retro swing parties with live bands and 1950s rockers, has a special treat in store for us at Vooruit in Ghent. King B will be your host, guiding you through an evening of mad and mystifying

music. Get your freak on during a Halloweenthemed dance lesson and enjoy the demonic rock’n’roll by Italian devils Howlin’ Lou & His Whip Lovers. DJs King B and Blanche will bring down the house while the Modernettes will taunt you in their boudoir. So join the fun and put on your dancing shoes and a cutthroat costume because the most terrifying party animal wins a goodie bag from Ghentbased cocktail experts Jigger’s. 30 October, Vooruit, Ghent \ vooruit.be

Mystery in mind

On 31 October, which just happens to be the day that legendary illusionist Houdini died, the Night of Magic will fill Kursaal in Ostend with amazement, disbelief and frenzy. Illusionist Gili will be your host for this unique event, assisted by other mental tricksters

such as Nicholas, Jan Bardi, Tom Bibo, Kobe Van Herwegen and Aaron Crow in an evening full of spirits, magic and otherworldly atmospheres. So if you’re in the mood to contact a loved one, get in touch with the paranormal or simply be amazed by the sixth sense, head to Ostend this Halloween. 31 October, Kursaal, Ostend \ kursaaloostende.be

Tales of the unexpected

The open-air Middelheim sculpture museum is planning a mesmerising evening walk through their grounds. A mysterious being will guide you, telling you shocking and terrifying tales. Who knows what will be lurking behind the trees or statues? Things will definitely go bump in the night, so bring your torch. Aimed at youngsters and their parents, this walk is a must for little daredevils, so

join in and dress up as your favourite scary monster. 31 October, Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp \ middelheimmuseum.be

Art attacks

The Museum of Fantastic Art in Brussels is organising its annual Halloween festival, the jewel in its crown. Adults can visit the permanent collection of fantastical art full of paintings, sculptures and ingenious installations while the kids solve riddles and go in search of lost skulls. There’s face painting, costumes, afternoon tea and an abundance of pumpkin soup, during a frightening afternoon of family fun. Nothing is what it seems in this charming yet terrifying museum. 27 October to 4 November, Museum of Fantastic Art, Brussels \ fantastic-museum.be

50 weekends in Flanders: Run on quiet trails in the Brabant forests tinyurl.com/50weekends

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. The ancient forests of Flemish Brabant provide perfect running trails that take in lakes, farmland and village cafes. Here are five of the best woods for a weekend workout. ZOET WATER The trails at Zoet Water are popular with students at the University of Leuven (though you need a car to get out here). Several tracks and sunken lanes can be followed through

RODE KLOOSTER The ancient beech woods outside Brussels known as Zonienwoud provide endless possibilities for weekend running. You don’t even need a car to get out to the woods at Rode Klooster, which is just 10 minutes from Herrmann-Debroux metro station. Here you can find challenging slopes and silent trails deep in the forest.

the woods starting at the lakes. They take you through a varied landscape of farmland and forest. There are several cafes overlooking the lake where you can drink a local beer at the end of your run.

MEERDAALBOS You find a network of quiet trails in the Meerdaal woods (pictured) to the south of Leuven. The routes follow long straight tracks through mixed woodlands with occasional detours to avoid a military base.

TERVUREN The woods in Tervuren offer a variety of running experiences from gentle jogging around the lakes to wilder trails that run through the woods. Tervuren has several cafes clustered around the old church. HALLERBOS These woods near Brussels are particularly spectacular from mid-April to midMay when the slopes are covered with bluebells. Plan your run to start early if you come during the flowering season. But the woods are also attractive at other times with quiet trails running through a gently hilly landscape. \ Derek Blyth

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\ Arts

october 21, 2015

The rise and the fall

sidi larbi cherkaoui on finding a moment of quiet in a world under duress tom Peeters More articles by tom \ flanderstoday.eu

oPeraballet.be

In his first choreography for the Royal Ballet Flanders since his appointment as its artistic director earlier this year, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui offers a moment’s reprieve from the anxious times we are living in.

ntwerp-based contemporary choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has created his first piece for the Royal Ballet Flanders. This year, he became the new artistic director of the company that, following a merger with the Flanders Opera, now operates under the umbrella name Kunsthuis Opera Vlaanderen Ballet Vlaanderen. The choreography Cherkaoui wrote for the new Fall is set to music by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and is being staged with a previous work of his, 2009’s Faun, as well as two pieces by leading Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen, 1975’s Four Schumann Pieces and 1997’s Solo. This mixed bill guarantees interaction not only between different generations of dance choreographers, but also between the different moods of the times in which the pieces were created. “For a repertory company, it’s important to offer these kinds of dialogues between different zeitgeists,” Cherkaoui explains. Though the pieces of van Manen, now 83, are more static than those of Cherkaoui, 39, they share a mutual interest in group dynamics and innovation. “Today, his 1975 choreography may look ‘classic’, but back then it was revolutionary,” Cherkaoui says. “Just like van Manen, I’m driven by the question: What do I have to bring to the stage now? “At this moment in time I want to give solace to a world under pressure,” he says, answering his own question. Pointing out that he sees a lot of tension and anxiety as well as ignorance, he says: “I feel

sidi larbi cherkaoui says that taking the artistic reins of the royal ballet Flanders, based in his native Antwerp, felt like a homecoming

we cannot digest the information overload any more, so I’m offering a moment of contemplation. Hopefully it will come with some understanding.” Does Fall also play on the idea that we’ve arrived at the point at which our civilisation falls? “I haven’t looked at it that way,” he admits. “But that’s a nice way of putting it. On the other hand, if we understand our fears, they can drive positive action.” As a choreographer and director, Cherkaoui himself has had to find

ways to deal with the apprehensions of others. This year, three out of 14 members on the Royal Ballet Flanders’ board of directors voted against his appointment. “Change always brings tension. Some people were afraid, but they would have been afraid of anyone,” he reflects. “Luckily, I didn’t take it personally.” The knowledge that most choreographers helming ballet companies today have roots in the contemporary scene also helped. “Often choreographers also come

from other disciplines. Look at the Belgian scene: Wim Vandekeybus was a photographer first, Alain Platel a remedial educator and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker trained in classical dance before she went minimal.” In Cherkaoui’s view, this type of metamorphosis is typically human. “IsawthesamethingwhenIworked with the Royal Danish Ballet. The new director Nikolaj Hübbe came from a Balanchine background. As a result, he encountered a lot of resistance.” For him, this sort of opposition springs from ignorance. “If you don’t know, you can be afraid of people.” That why he sees it as a big advantage that he’s already worked with foreign ballet directors who have waded through similar waters. “I often call them to ask how they would solve a problem.” Aside from an increased workload and budgetary concerns, according to Cherkaoui, creating a choreography isn’t that different from steering Royal Ballet Flanders as an artistic director. “Both are the solution of a complex puzzle,” he explains. “Developing a choreography, I have my eureka moment when the dancers understand me and I am able to take away their fears. When a dancer is afraid of making a certain movement, it’s my responsibility to convince them their body is perfectly trained to do it.” For a physically challenging choreography like Fall, this type of reassurance proved especially crucial. “The idea behind the performance is the fact that falling is a natural thing. It comes with gravity. The question is: Do you always stand up? Do you always land back on your feet again?” Having developed strong reflexes himself, Cherkaoui knows what he’s talking about. “It’s called experience, isn’t it? Dancers are experts at falling and getting up again. For them, every fall is an opportunity. In Fall, we show the capacity of the

human body to rise again, with a lot of lifts and rolling motions.” Fittingly, Pärt’s music is also part of the 2013 Hollywood movie Gravity. How does Cherkaoui’s very physical choreography connect with the melancholic, spiritual mood of Pärt’s music? “His repetitive compositions are more complex than one may think at first,” he explains. “Just like my choreography, the music has an accumulative quality and unfolds gradually, making you curious after the next step. There’s a constant transformation, spreading nuances and tiny differences, just like a wave, or the track of a falling leaf. You know, there’s a whole process of discolouration before a leaf really disappears.” It’s this permanent evolution Cherkaoui had in mind when he opted to set Fall to the composer’s “Fratres” and “Spiegel im Spiegel” compositions. His new role at Royal Ballet Flanders felt like a homecoming for Cherkaoui. “Finally, I am able to do in my home town of Antwerp what I previously did for ballet companies in Stuttgart, Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.” Throughout his life, entering all sorts of dialogues has been key to major steps in his career: pursuing a degree in translation studies, studying at De Keersmaeker’s P.A.R.T.S. school, and establishing his own Eastman dance company internationally. “It’s not necessarily my aim to leave my mark here, but I do want to keep on making my work with a certain calligraphy,” he says. “I have a very strong feeling that precisely because the Ballet has been through a rollercoaster of experiences, there’s space to do things.” 22-25 October, Opera Ghent, Schouwburgstraat 3 30-31 October, 5-10 November, Opera Antwerp, Frankrijklei 3

more performance this WeeK atmosphere After intense rehearsal sessions at the Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul and cultural site Matterhorn in Borgerhout, Antwerp choreographer Marc Vanrunxt brings four young Turkish dancers to the stage in a piece that explores his fascination with time, space and politics. 27 October, Kaaitheater, Sainctelettesquare 19, Brussels; 28 October, CC Berchem, Driekoningenstraat 126; 29 October, STUK, Naamsestraat 96, Leuven; 30 October, De Spil, Spilleboutdreef 1, Roeselare \ kunst-werk.be

Canadian Stage • stan douglas

are we not drawn onward to new erA • Ontroerend goed / spectra

Would you like to see actors on stage while a black-and-white 3D film is simultaneously projected on stage? Then this latest piece by the discipline-crossing AfricanCanadian artist Stan Douglas is for you. Canadian Stage (pictured) takes you back to a post-war Vancouver where gangsters clash with corrupt policemen. (In English) 29-31 October 20.00, deSingel, Desguinlei 25, Antwerp \ desingel.be

This latest play by the boundary-pushing theatre company led by Alexander Devriendt does exactly what its title suggests. Like a palindrome, it takes you forwards and backwards, while William Basinski’s groundbreaking “Disintegration Loops” are played live by the Spectra Ensemble. 4 November 20.30, CC Berchem, Driekoningenstraat 126; 14 November 20.00, CC De Grote Post, H Serruyslaan 18A \ ontroerendgoed.be

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\ Arts

WeeK in arts & cUltUre John cleese brings show to Antwerp and brussels

John Cleese, a leading light of Monty Python and the creator of hotel manager from hell Basil Fawlty, will bring his one-man show Last Time to See Me Before I Die to the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp on 27 and 28 April next year, and a day later at Bozar in Brussels. The show consists of Cleese’s memoirs in the first half, and an audience Q&A in the second.

argosarts.org

new art museum to open in brewery

Next year will see the arrival of a new museum in the former Belle-Vue brewery next to the canal in Brussels. The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Arts (Mima) will open in March, with eight exhibition spaces and a grand hall measuring 1,000 square metres, and will exhibit art since the year 2000 with an emphasis on internet culture, including punk rock, hip-hop, tattoo art, street art and extreme sports. As well as the permanent collection there will be two temporary exhibitions a year.

Flemish artist hands work to Pope

In Rome last week, Pope Francis took possession of a new artwork, presented personally by Flemish artist Luk Van Soom. “Oh Superman” is a modern interpretation of “Christ Crucified”, depicting Jesus as a flying figure in a superhero cape. Van Soom said the work was inspired by the Pope’s Christmas message. “The Pope said he thought it was very beautiful and took it with a smile,” Van Soom said in a statement.

new direction for youth orchestra

The youth orchestra of the organisation Youth and Music Flanders (JMV) has split from its parent organisation and will continue under the name Amaj, co-ordinator Veerle Braem has said. According to the culture ministry, JMV had too many local affiliates and was involved in too many activities, making it impossible to track the destination of subsidy funding. The organisation will now concentrate on musical initiation, allowing the orchestra to go its own way under artistic directors and conductors Pieter Schuermans and Roel Willems.

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Pieter Geenen’s this land is My land. this land is your land., 2015

Blurred truths

audiovisual artist Pieter geenen on borders, migration and identity tom Peeters More articles by tom \ flanderstoday.eu

In a new solo show in Brussels, audiovisual artist Pieter Geenen uses hazy images and slowmoving visuals to explore identity as he follows in the footsteps of Flemish migrants to Canada.

russels-based audiovisual artist Pieter Geenen has a fascination for slow corroding images, sounds and words. In This Land is My Land. This Land is Your Land., his new solo show at Argos in Brussels, he takes his detached approach to the Canadian tobacco belt. In the footsteps of Flemish migrants, he researched what it means to have an identity. In the video The Land (2015), the camera follows Marc Vanden Bussche, as he guides the viewer around the Irrigation Learning Centre he manages. “We’re in the Delhi/Tillsonburg region in Southwestern Ontario,” Geenen explains. “A lot of Flemish migrants came here between the wars and just after the Second World War, when local tobacco growing was enjoying its heyday.” Vanden Bussche’s father was a pioneer in cultivating the land, starting his own irrigation company. What’s important from Geenen’s perspective is that he also established a lot of infrastructure for European migrants who were new to the area. With jerky camera movements the artist puts himself in the role of an explorer, just like the original colonisers of the land. “My angle is always contemplative,” he says. “Here, I’m taking the viewer from an environment of unspoilt nature to where culture and exploitation enter the landscape, raising questions about colonial structures. There are references to the past, but it’s strik-

ing that today it’s still white farmers offering seasonal employment, now delivered by workers from the Caribbean.” For Geenen, who travelled to the area five times during this threeyear project, there’s a personal connection. “When he was still a student, in the summer of 1967, my father worked in Tillsonburg to help the Belgian tobacco farmers with the harvest. His stories and memories were a trigger for me.” So are the letters shown here – correspondence between migrant

these layers and tell this complex reality in his very own quieteneddown and, at first sight, maybe not very significant way. As with most of Geenen’s art, a lot is suggested and unspoken. Photos are often hazy, and visuals move slowly. “This approach corresponds with my personality,” he explains. “I believe in the emotional impact of a subtle, more intimate approach. To me it’s more intense than a fast string of sensational and dramatic images. If you slow down things and freeze time, you’re forcing the

I believe in the emotional impact of a subtle, more intimate approach workers and the ones left behind in the home country – also personal? “Like with everything in this exhibition, I like to visit the border between fiction and reality,” Geenen says. “So it stays unclear. The correspondence is based on conversations I had with all kinds of people. For me it was an ideal way to create a certain geographical distance.” Geenen, who has a Master’s in photography and completed the postgraduate transmedia programme at Sint-Lukas school of art and design in Brussels, started adding text elements to his art in 2011. “It brings an extra layer of information to my work that isn’t resonated by images or sound, and it offers a certain rhythm. All the works here relate to each other. One can help to understand the other.” The challenge was not to put all the things he wanted to say in one documentary, but to combine all

visitor to take a second look and think again. Very explicit, ‘what you see is what you get’ images don’t offer such a reflexive environment.” A phone book opened to a page with the name Vanden Bussche emphasises the number of locals with Flemish roots and is perhaps the most in-your-face artefact you see here. “A telephone directory offers an index of migration waves. Other pages will emphasise the Latvian, Polish or German presence in the region.” Geenen was struck by the fact that almost all the Belgians he met are proud of their roots, even if they don’t live a very Belgian life. “They did maintain an archetypical, sometimes even artificial Belgian spirit, dominated by cliches, based on childhood memories and often

until 20 december

cultivated by the Belgian club they are in. As a result, national identity becomes a utopian ideal from the past.” Sometimes Belgian and North American culture interweave. Two images have a Belgian flag planted in the front garden. “Here the typical Belgian prudence is replaced by American pride. The attitude has changed, but not the roots.” For Geenen, it’s only human that migrantscomingthiswayseekeach other’s company and want to maintain their home culture. “Today all these national clubs in Canada may look rather anachronistic, but back in the day they were the only place where migrants could speak their mother tongue and practise their hobbies. Belgians tended to marry other Belgians, and often they met at the club.” It’s not the first time Geenen has displayed work about borders, migration and identity. He visited Lampedusa long before it was a headline in news stories about migrants, and soon he will be showing and commenting on an excerpt from Mirador, a video he shot at a panoramic site in Gibraltar, where the banality of the tourist conversations clashes with the raw reality on the other side of the water. “I always seem to connect the geographical to the social,” he says. “If I look at a map and see all these abstract lines, so-called borders, I want to check how they translate into reality. In real life, I always notice it’s not as black or white as indicated. There’s always a grey transition zone.” This blurred zone is the key to his works.

Argos

Werfstraat 13, Brussels

\ AGenDA

october 21, 2015

Celebrating a decade of reconsidering baroque

concert

B’Rock 10 22-23 october

en years after it emerged from the classical music scene in Ghent, baroque orchestra B’Rock is staying true to its mission to abandon the classic scenario where the conductor decides what the musicians will play. The dialogue between the members of the orchestra, their 18th-century modus operandi and the conductor has only deepened, as interdisciplinary experimentation continues to slip into their programmes. For their anniversary parties in Hasselt and Ghent this month, though, B’Rock is sticking to the usual suspects, highlighting top pieces of early music and selected contemporary works. To make it

leuven Yo La Tengo: One of rock’s most adventurous bands perform songs from their new album, Stuff Like That There, a mix of catchy pop ballads and noisy jams, shifting genre in typical Yo La Tengo fashion. 25 October 20.00, Het Depot, Martelarenplein 12

Hasselt & Ghent b-rock.org

more festive, they have gathered an exquisite choice of compositions in which their wind instruments can excel, such as Johann Sebastian Bach’s first Brandenburg Concerto, Georg Friedrich Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks and Johann David Heinichen’s Serenata di Moritzburg. The orchestra has always combined established works of baroque composition with a lesser-known repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. Another trademark is the urge to build bridges with music of the 20th century. They have previously contrasted Bach’s cantatas with the music of Flemish composer Karel Goey-

\ hetdepot.be

vaerts, and now they are following that up with one of Goeyvaerts’ lesser-known pieces: The violin heavy De zang van Aquarius was a preliminary study leading to his Aquarius opera. It will be followed by a baroque sonata for basso continuo by Bernardo Pasquini, emphasising how naturally the orchestra switches between styles and eras. B’Rock has developed structural

concert

performance

lizz wright

coup fatal

22 october, 20.15

Flagey, brussels flagey.be

AmericanjazzandrootssingerLizz Wright closes the tri-city Voix de Femmes festival in style. For a fortnight, venues in Brussels, Ghent and Liège have hosted dozens of events highlighting contemporary female artists across the various disciplines. Flagey has the honour of putting on this grand finale. Wright and her four musicians are set to perform songs from her latest studio album, Freedom and Surrender, which sees her expand her horizons beyond the American songbook. She even takes a stab at haunting British folk melancholia with her cover of cult singer-songwriter Nick Drake’s “River Man”.

29-31 october, 20.00 Musical theatre production Coup Fatal is the fruit of an ambitious international (and transdisciplinary) collaboration, combining contemporary African artists and baroque European composers – funded by an army of co-producing theatres and festivals from Belgium to Austria. Against a backdrop of macabre spent shell-

partnerships with De Munt and Muziektheater Transparant. Giving up to 45 concerts every season, both in Belgium and abroad, the orchestra regularly engages guest conductors, soloists and leading choral ensembles to keep their collective mind open. But in Ghent and Hasselt, they are conducted by their concertmaster, the BritishBrazilian violinist Rodolfo Richter. \ Tom Peeters

kets n

Balthazar: The Belgian indie pop and rock group present Thin Walls, their most intuitive and personal album so far, recorded in London with producers Ben Hillier (Blur, Depeche Mode) and Jason Cox (Gorillaz, Massive Attack). 7 November 20.00, Vorst Nationaal, Victor Rousseaulaan 208 \ livenation.be

brussels Vooruit, Ghent vooruit.be

casing sculptures (made from real ordnance by Kinshasa-based artist Freddy Tsimba), Congolese counter-tenor Serge Kakudji and a band of musicians interpret the likes of Bach and Vivaldi in a surreal fusion of classical, rock and traditional Congolese music and dance. You can also catch it at KVS in Brussels in November. \ GV

Bach Heritage Festival: Baroque specialist Philippe Herreweghe presents works by Bach alongside those of composers who were influenced by him, from the Romantic era to modernism, revealing the scope of Bach’s musical legacy. 21-25 October, Bozar, Ravensteinstraat 23 \ bozar.be

performance Ghent Christian Bakalov: The dancer presents his first own performance, Bright, a combination performance and light installation in a labyrinth filled with dark, phosphorescent bodies. 23-24 October, Vooruit, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 23 \ vooruit.be

visUal arts stan douglas: interregnum Stan Douglas literally makes history. TheinnovativeCanadianvisualartist uses a combination of photography and digital technology to indulge his fascination with mid-century film noir and Cold War-era conspiracy theories. His large-format works, including his latest six-screen video installation, The Secret Agent, use computers to transport his models back in time, making him an archivist of faux-history. The Wiels exhibition coincides with a special staging of Douglas’ theatre production Helen Lawrence at Antwerp’s deSingel (29-31 October). Created with Canadian screenwriter Chris Haddock, the piece is a live-action extension of Douglas’ groundbreaking multimedia practice. \ GV

brussels

classical

\ Georgio Valentino

until 10 January

get tic

wiels, brussels wiels.org

festival

event

brussels

slow talk #1 27 october, 20.00 The Brussels chapter of Slow Food International inaugurates a new series of “Slow Talk” conferences promoting sustainable food production and consumption. For the uninitiated, Slow Food is a global movement organised in reaction to industrial agriculture, fast-food culture and the enor-

recyclart, brussels recyclart.be

mous waste they generate. Indeed, waste is the theme of this inaugural Slow Talk. Speakers include an organic farmer, a shop-owner, a European policy professional and more. The event also boasts a tasting of slow eats. Entry is free but requires online registration. (In English) \ GV

German Jazz Nights V: Fifth edition of the festival featuring three diverse musicians from the German jazz scene: percussionist Jens Düppe, bassist Sebastian Gramss and trumpet player Frederik Köster. 22-24 October, Jazz Station, Leuvensesteenweg 193a \ goethe.de/brussel

family brussels Waffle Workshop: Learn how to make waffles, from preparing the dough, to baking and decorating with cream, chocolate and seasonal fruits in this 1.5-hour workshop for all ages, with no cooking skills required. Until 31 October, Grote Markt \ waffleworkshop.com

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\ bAckPAGe

october 21, 2015

Talking Dutch time for your digital bath

In response to: AB InBev bid for SABMiller accepted Darryl Davis: Not that I think such fears are founded, but if all beer must taste the same, it might as well be Belgian

derek blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

ardon? I thought, when I saw the headline. De Croo wil digitaal bad voor iedereen – De Croo wants a digital bath for everyone. Now, I don’t know much about digital applications, but I know it doesn’t involve hot water, or soapsuds. So what was De Croo talking about? Minister van Digitale Agenda Alexander De Croo wil de digitale competenties van zoveel mogelijk Belgen omhoog helpen – The minister of the digital agenda, Alexander De Croo, wants to help improve the digital skills of as many Belgians as possible. Hij wil kinderen in hun vrije tijd aan het coderen krijgen – he wants to get children coding in their free time, scholen aansporen digitaal te gaan – He wants to encourage schools to go digital, en ook werknemers die nog niet digitaal werken volop mee in bad krijgen – and to get employ© Ingimage ees who don’t work digitally to plunge themselves into the bath. Oh, right. He wants us to take a bath. But only if we don’t have digital skills. If we’re already working with a computer, we don’t need a bath, or even a shower. This is a serious matter, De Croo insists. In 2020 zullen volgens de Europese commissie negen jobs op tien digitale vaardigheden vereisen – The European Commission says that, by 2020, nine out of 10 jobs will require us to be digitally literate. Vandaag beschikken slechts

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zes op tien Belgen over genoeg digitale vaardigheden – But today only six out of 10 Belgians have the required level of digital skills. Zo is het de bedoeling om tegen 2020 minstens 20.000 kinderen een keertje aan het coderen te krijgen in hun vrije tijd – The aim therefore is to provide at least 20,000 children by 2020 with lessons in coding in their free time. But there’s a small problem. Some kids already spend too much time with digital devices. Artsen waarschuwen voor overmatig gebruik van beeldschermen door kinderen bij bijvoorbeeld tv-kijken, internetten en gamen – Doctors are issuing warnings about the dangers of children spending excessive time in front of screens, such as watching TV, surfing the internet and gaming, according to a recent report. Het advies aan ouders luidt daarom kinderen buiten schooltijd niet langer dan 2 uur per dag achter een beeldscherm te laten – Parents are therefore being advised to stop their children from sitting in front of a screen for more than two hours a day outside school, geen tv of smartphone op hun kamers te houden – not allowing TVs and smartphones in their bedrooms, en ze minimaal een uur voor het slapen gaan niet achter een scherm te laten – and making them turn off their screens at least an hour before bedtime. So they can still have a digital bath. Just not too close to bedtime.

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Poll

a. I don’t like it. They give with one hand and take away with the other. Why not tax the rich for a change?

58% b. I’m fine with it. The measures give workers more take-home pay, while taxing unhealthy products. What's wrong with that?

42% says will help create jobs. A majority – but not a huge majority – of readers are against the tax shift’s measures, which might put more money in your pocket but then just takes it away from you at the supermarket. That’s certainly true for anyone who consumes alcohol, tobacco or soft drinks. Although the price increase for soft drinks is pretty negligible –

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just one cent on a standard can. The minority celebrates more net pay for most people – up to an extra €100 a month for those on low wages, which ought to be more than enough to make up for the increased cost of the occasional can of fizzy pop. But the majority of you agree with the socialists: Where’s the tax on wealth?

Antwerp is to become the only city in Belgium to recruit its own police force (see p2). What do you think? Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!

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In response to: Red Devils top Fifa world rankings for first time Andrew Purvis: Unofficial world champions eh? ;)

In response to: No more road tax for clean cars in Flanders Sherif Abdelhamid: Flanders is the best in the west.

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what do you think of the tax shift, which cuts taxes for employers and workers and raises tax on some common items?

The long-awaited tax shift, which puts more take-home pay in workers’ wages, while applying additional sales taxes to products considered unhealthy, such as soft drinks and tobacco, was approved by the federal government earlier this month. Crucially, it also includes a reduction in employers’ contributions to social security charges, which the government

voices of flanDers toDay

ministering to the sick “Doctors are not above the law. They have to come into line.”

Maggie De Block warns doctors to abide by a new rule where they charge a nominal co-pay from some 1.9 million people on low incomes. Some doctors have refused

child’s play

“Let them just play, in the purest sense of the word. At that age, they just want to kick a ball around with friends. The result is less important.” Michel Robberechts, director of KFC Perk in Flemish Brabant, which has done away with referees and rankings for teams of players under age 10

Head held high

“If you’re poor, you have two choices. Either you stay strong or you let your head hang down and give up. I’ve done the first thing. Never let my head hang down. Never.” Dominic, interviewed in Het Nieuwsblad, is one of 170,000 Flemings living on less than €1,000 a month

football score

“I took the melody from one of my earlier albums, and within half an hour, I had the lyrics.”

Flemish singer Steve Tielens won the race to compose the first song supporting the Red Devils in the European Championships. Although the words “Red Devils” do not feature; the name is a registered trademark

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