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NOVEMBER 11, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2

politics \ p4

Something fishy

BUSiNESS \ p6

innovation \ p7

In their shoes

education \ p9

art & living \ p10

Lekker eten

An investigation has turned up the shocking news that one in three fish dishes in Brussels isn’t what you ordered

Tours in Brussels find students and members of the public walking in the footsteps of asylum-seekers

Flanders’ annual Week van de Smaak puts you in touch with tastes and smells of times past all across the region

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© Jo Voets/Caviar

“A story that needed to be told” The new film Black by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah shows the darker side of Brussels Linda A Thompson Follow Linda @ThompsonBXL \ flanderstoday.eu

The new film by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality in its portrayal of Brussels’ inner-city gangs.

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lack, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s electrifying new film, opens with what could be just another Tuesday in Brussels.

Armed with a fist-size rock, a teen rapidly walks up to a car idling at a red light. In one sweeping motion, he smashes the window and snatches the driver’s purse from the passenger seat. A civic-duty minded bystander promptly goes in pursuit but is left seething when the boy slips into a public elevator a fraction of a second before its doors close.

And then something odd happens. Rather than stick with the shot of the angry, white man, as, figuratively speak-

ing, most local filmmakers would have, El Arbi and Fallah thrillingly turn the tables of Belgian cinema and follow the teenager down to his Maghreb neighbourhood in what doubles as a mission statement for the film at large.

Based on two novels by the master of young adult fiction, Dirk Bracke, Black unflinchingly, and sometimes crudely, tells a love story between two youths who belong to rival gangs – a story that begins in a police department and ends on the cold, marble floor of a train station.

“A character like Mavela has never had a voice; you’ve never heard a character like Marwan,” says El Arbi, 27, referring to the film’s lead roles. “Moroccans in films were always either terrorists or criminals, or the complete opposite – the only truly stand-up guys.”

To a soundtrack of thumping French rap and an under-

current of violence, El Arbi and Fallah, who grew up in Antwerp and Vilvoorde, respectively, introduce the viewers to a bleak world of Brussels’ inner-city youth that has never been depicted in local cinema before.

It is the familiar picture that occasionally spills into brief news reports, one in which bored and nihilistic teens careen freely between petty crimes and acts of unspeakable violence. (Stromae, of the melancholy songs about the daily soul-sucking grind, absent fathers and our addiction to social media, declined to collaborate on the soundtrack because he felt the film was too harsh).

The lives of the youths at the heart of the film, which opens this week across Belgium, largely play out in and around metro stations like Ossegem and Beekkant, which are inconspicuous by day but can turn violent at night; the Africontinued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

Westhoek is “ticking time bomb” Unexploded shells more dangerous as time passes, says Ghent professor Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

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he deeper soil in the part of West Flanders known as the Westhoek is “a ticking time bomb” of unexploded wartime munitions, according to Professor Marc Van Meirvenne of Ghent University.

The Westhoek area, close to the French border, was the centre of fighting in Flanders during the First World War. Farmers working the land today regularly turn up old munitions (known as the Iron Harvest), which are dealt with by the army’s bomb disposal squad at their facility in Poelkapelle.

“The upper layer of 30 centimetres has been cleaned up by farmers over the past century,” said Meirvenne. “But beneath that, from 40 centimetres up to a metre under the surface, there are still a great many metal objects.”

Meirvenne borrowed the university’s non-invasive ground scanner, normally used for research in agriculture. He and his team used the sensor to scan the soil around Ypres and Heuvelland over the course of a year, where they discovered

© Francois Lenoir/Reuters/Corbis

Bombs from the First World War found last year during work to install new sewers near Ypres

420 metal objects per hectare, all at a level above one metre in depth.

Major fish fraud uncovered in Brussels restaurants Many restaurants in Brussels are selling customers a cheaper kind of fish than is listed on the menu, according to an investigation by the environmental organisation Oceana Europe.

The organisation took 280 samples of fish served in restaurants for analysis at the University of Leuven’s biodiversity department, to determine if the species on the plate matched what was on the menu. In 30% of the samples, it did not.

About three-quarters of the samples were taken from restaurants in the European quarter and the city centre, and 15% came from the restaurants within the European Parliament and Commission. The other 10% came from sushi restaurants.

Fraud occurred in 54% of sushi restaurants, 38% of European institutions and 29% of other restaurants.

When customers ordered sole, cod or bluefin tuna, for

instance, cheaper fish turned up on the plate in almost one in three cases.

“Restaurants cheated with bluefin tuna 95% of the time,” said Lasse Gustavsson, director of Oceana Europe. “This expensive species was replaced in 72% of the cases with yellow fin tuna and in 22% of cases with the over-fished bigeye tuna.”

There was also a lot of swapping out of sole (11% of cases) and cod (13%). “Sole is often replaced by other flat fish or by farmed freshwater fish. Cod is replaced by more than 10 different species, mainly pangasius, saithe and hake.”

Who exactly is responsible for the faulty labelling of the fish is not clear. “We don’t know at what level” the changes are made, Gustavsson said. “It could be it’s not the restaurant but the wholesaler that has used faulty labelling.” \ AH

Meat in Belgium found to be mislabelled Following news last week that Brussels restaurants are serving cheaper fish than advertised (see story above), meat producers have been accused of using misleading labels. The information is based on a study carried out by the European consumer organisation BEUC, of which local consumer rights group Test-Aankoop is a member.

The tests were carried out in seven countries, including Belgium. Here, the quality of filet américain, was tested, which should by definition contain a minimum of 70% beef. Producers were found to be using names such as préparé or préparé du chef to avoid meeting that standard. Those terms have no legal definition.

The tests also found that added water, often injected

into meat to make it weigh more and appear bulkier, was not being labelled. A legal obligation to indicate the water content above 5% was being routinely ignored, BEUC found.

Another problem was mechanically recovered meat, where the last scraps are removed from a carcass using high-pressure water jets and used in processed foods such as hot dogs and chicken nuggets. Mechanically recovered meat was not being indicated, BEUC said, while meat claiming to be lamb or veal often contained mechanically recovered poultry.

BEUC called on the European Commission to provide stricter definitions for meat products. “At the moment, it’s so easy to defraud the public that they have no reason to stop,” said BEUC’s director. \ AH

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“It’s logical that the metal should be found there, since the area was bombarded for four years with hundreds of millions of gas grenades and shells, some 5-15% of which failed to explode,” Meirvenne said. “The gas in those devices still works. If they explode, it will be released, and breathing it is deadly.”

The longer the munitions remain in the ground, the more dangerous they become, he said. “The sides of the grenade are constantly being rusted away, so the risk of leaking is increased. Then frost pushes that deadly munition slowly towards the surface, while farmers plough ever deeper with heavier tractors.”

Meirvenne has joined calls made previously by local mayors for legislation to deal with the problem. In France, where the problem is less extensive, some areas are closed to the public.

“Here, though, the whole front line has simply been opened up to one and all,” said Meirvenne.

Bruges bishop Jozef De Kesel appointed new archbishop Jozef De Kesel, bishop of Bruges, has been appointed the new archbishop of Mechelen and Brussels, the most senior of Belgium’s Catholic hierarchy.

De Kesel (pictured) succeeds archbishop André Léonard.

The announcement last week came as a bit of a surprise, as the favourite for the position has been Johan Bonny, bishop of Antwerp. Bonny is widely popular, including outside of the Catholic community, where his progressive ideas are welcomed.

De Kesel has only been bishop of Bruges for five years, appointed to replace Roger Vangheluwe, after Vangheluwe admitted molesting his nephew in the 1980s over a period of many years.

De Kesel’s name, however, had already been mentioned as a possible successor to Godfried Danneels when he retired in 2010. Danneels held the position of cardinal, but the red hat does not come automatically with the job as head of the church in Belgium. Instead

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of all unskilled jobs in Flanders are done by women, who make up 46% of the working population. Household help and cleaners accounts for half of all unskilled jobs

that post went to the conservative Léonard, now 75, who is planning to retire to an abbey in Wallonia.

De Kesel, 68, comes from Adegem, East Flanders, where his father and grandfather had been mayor. His uncle, meanwhile, was assistant bishop in Ghent, and De Kesel studied philosophy in Leuven before taking a degree in theology in Rome. He was ordained in 1972. \ AH

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67.4% tickets sold for the new FC De Kampioenen film in its opening weekend, the best result ever for a Belgian film in local cinema history

© Bisdom Brugge

1 in 5 road junctions to be fitted with intelligent traffic lights every year in Flanders. The lights can co-ordinate with each other to ensure the best traffic flows from minute to minute

place for Belgium in the English Proficiency rankings, with a score of 59.13, down from ninth place last year. Flemings scored 62.20, with Antwerp and Ghent doing best. The table is led by Sweden

retailers has refused to honour a legal guarantee of two years on products sold, according to TestAankoop. Last year the organisation dealt with nearly 7,000 complaints related to guarantees

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

WEEK in brief Brewery Timmermans in Itterbeek, Flemish Brabant, part of the John Martin group, has won a World Beer Award for its Oude Gueuze in the category Best Sour Beer. Vander Ghinste Oud Bruin, brewed in Bellegem, West Flanders, was voted Best Dark Beer.

Rosso from Rodenbach of Roeselare, also in West Flanders, was named Best Flavoured Beer.

Federal police chief Catherine De Bolle has become the first Belgian to be elected to the executive committee of Interpol, the international police organisation. The committee has a chair, three vicechairs and nine delegates chosen from among the organisation’s 190 member states. De Bolle will sit as European representative for three years.

Flemish mobility minister Ben Weyts is considering extending the road tax for lorries in Flanders to certain widely used regional roads, based on a report that shows that the tolls will push lorry traffic off of motorways and onto other roads. The toll of 11.3 cents per kilometre is being introduced on motorways next April for all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. The report suggests a toll on alternative roads of 10 cents, to prevent cut-through traffic.

Bianca Debaets, the BrusselsCapital Region’s secretary of state for ICT, has issued an invitation to the public to suggest locations for new hotspots offering free wi-fi connections. Last week the park around the abbey of Vorst became the 34th open hotspot in the region, part of the Urbizone network.

Federal foreign affairs minister Didier Reynders has issued an advice to Belgians not to travel to the Egyptian resort of Sharmel-Sheikh, after the downing of a Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew. Last week,

face of flanders Jetair cancelled flights to the resort, but ran aircraft for three days to pick up Belgians already there.

Holidaymakers were allowed only hand baggage; their suitcases will be sent later.

The government of Flanders, together with the city of Antwerp and Antwerp Zoo, is investing €90 million in a new conference centre inside the zoo. Flemish public works minister Ben Weyts, on a visit to the site last week, said the location of the centre would be unique in the world. Antwerp aims to become Flanders’ top conference city. According to Weyts, people attending conferences spend an average of €250 a night, compared to the €80 spent by an ordinary tourist.

Flemish media regulator VRM has fined Canvas €5,000 for breaking advertising laws when it displayed a screen of news headlines during off-hours with Radio 1 playing in the background – including the radio station’s ads.

According to the rules, ads are forbidden on public television, but not on the radio. Four other TV stations were also fined, including €2,500 for VTM for product placement of Kinder Bueno products during Belgium’s Got Talent.

The Brussels commune of Schaarbeek has started a campaign against men who harass women in the street. The campaign is organised by Huis van de Vrouwen, together with the municipal authorities and police, and aims to raise awareness of the need to ensure safety for women in public places. One aim will be to inform the public of the fines associated with street harassment – a sanction that has not yet been used, according to equal opportunities alderwoman Adelheid Bytterbier.

Silvio Aquino, one of the leaders of an alleged drugs gang based in Maasmechelen, was assassi-

nated by members of the Hamidovic gang, Het Laatste Nieuws reports. Aquino was gunned down by five men in two cars on a back road in Limburg last August. One of the attackers was later found dead, and four men are in custody.

The Hamidovic family, originally from Bosnia, is active throughout Europe in drugs and extortion and is considered to be particularly ruthless.

The federal police have announced a “blow marathon” – an all-night country-wide action against drink-driving – to take place during the night from 16 to 17 January. Federal traffic police will take part together with local patrols in more than 100 police zones, carrying out spot checks with breath tests “in the hope of catching not one single drunk driver”.

A man accused of a hit-and-run incident in Vilvoorde in which a 12-year-old girl was killed has turned himself in to police after fleeing to Hungary to escape arrest. Muhammed Aytekin, 21, from Schaarbeek is in custody awaiting trial. He has been banned from driving three times previously because he has no licence.

In the current case, he could face eight years in jail and a fine of up to €30,000. Last week more than 2,000 people attended the funeral of Merel Prins, who was killed at the scene.

Flemish tourism minister Ben Weyts has made €2 million available for owners of holiday homes to make them more accessible to people with a handicap and families on low incomes. The money will be invested in 56 holiday parks via Toerisme Vlaanderen. “These are investments that don’t produce an immediate return, and without government help would probably never be made,” he said. He hoped the investment would make holidays accessible to more people, he said.

OFFSIDE Top of the world For sale: penthouse apartment 140 metres above Brussels in prestigious building on banks of canal.

500 square metres, panoramic views, two garages. Offers over €500,000.

You read that right: a public auction last week of what might be considered the most covetable apartment in Brussels ended in a fiasco, with a top bid of a mere half a million euro.

For that price, you might expect to get an apartment of 150 square metres, depending on the area, with one parking place if you’re lucky. The top apartment in the Up-Site building is a shell: every-

© AMR Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters/Corbis

Georges Leekens Georges Leekens, former manager of the national football squad, now manager at KSC Lokeren, was in the news last week, but for something he didn’t do.

Leekens started his football career as a defender of such physical determination he earned himself the nickname Mack the Knife. Born in Meeuwen, Limburg, in 1949, he played for Club Brugge for nine years, helping make them national champions five times, reaching two European finals. He ended his playing career with Sint-Niklaas in 1984, having also played three times for the Red Devils.

From 1984 to 1997 he did the rounds of Belgian clubs as manager before taking over the national side for two years, then again for two years from 2010-2012. During his career, he gained a reputation for being as ruthless with his opinions as he had been with his feet. But he made the headlines last week for opinions he did not hold.

About 18 months ago, Bob Peeters, then manager of Lokeren, received a text message congratulating him on a win against Waasland-Beveren

signed “Georges”. In the months that followed, the text messages continued, Peeters by now convinced that the messages, to which he replied in a friendly if reserved manner, were from Leekens.

Then Peeters was sacked by Lokeren, and Leekens appointed in his place. Sure enough, a message came from “Georges” that seemed to him callous, even gloating. He mentioned the message – for the first time in 18 months – in Het Nieuwsblad.

And then Leekens came forward saying he had never sent any message to Peeters.

And so the joke unravelled: In fact, one Jeff B, a 27-year-old from Aalst who worked for the SBS TV channels, had chanced upon Peeters’ phone number a year and a half ago and decided to play a prank. The prank which was unmasked while he was in Thailand on holiday, unaware that Leekens had filed a legal complaint. In talks with Leekens’ lawyer last week, he got off with a written apology.

“It was never the intention to pit people against one another,” he wrote, describing the joke as “an error of judgement”. \ Alan Hope

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

thing still has to be installed, allowing the buyer total freedom of choice – no avocado bathroom suites for this new homeowner.

Up-Site is the tallest residential building in Brussels. And, while you might be on the top of the world, when you come down to earth you’re still in the canal area – a tough sell for many of the capital’s residents.

The apartment was bought a year ago by a businessman, who paid €3.55 million, but financial difficulties are forcing him to sell. No interested parties came forward, and he proceeded to a public auction.

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.

The highest bid of half a million is not the end of the story. Interested parties have until 19 November to come forward with a higher bid.

But if your bid of €500,001 turns out not to be enough, never fear: 50 of the building’s 251 apartments are unsold. \ AH

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, Denzil Walton General manager Hans De Loore Publisher Mediahuis NV

Editorial address Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden tel 02 467 23 06 editorial@flanderstoday.eu subscriptions tel 03 560 17 49 subscriptions@flanderstoday.eu or order online at www.flanderstoday.eu Advertising 02 467 24 37 advertising@flanderstoday.eu Verantwoordelijke uitgever Hans De Loore

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\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN Letters of note

Both the federal and the Flemish governments have decided on a number of budget cuts that have had an impact on Belgium’s municipalities. In an open letter, 48 mayors recently complained that the towns are being “squeezed dry”.

The municipalities have been on the losing side of a good number of measures. One of them is the scrapping of the tax on machinery. Most people feel that the tax has become outdated and counterproductive. Doing away with it seemed like a good idea but means that heavily industrialised cities like Tessenderlo and Genk will lose out on millions of euros.

The government of Flanders also got rid of a number of subsidies for culture, sport, youth initiatives, monuments and the environment, leaving the municipalities to foot the bills. The federal government has acted similarly, in contributing less to policing and taxing the utilities intercommunals, which are a source of income for the municipalities.

Cities and towns will either have to raise their taxes or cut back on services like road maintenance, the mayors warn. Their open letter is unique as the authors are not only from the opposition parties but include members of the Flanders’ three majority parties – N-VA, CD&V and Open VLD. They are urging Flemish MPs to look after the municipalities’ interests.

Interestingly enough, the same week, another open letter was published by another mayor.

Bart De Wever, the mayor of Antwerp, president of N-VA, and often dubbed “the shadow prime minister”. He, too, had some municipal grievances.

In a letter to the federal ministers for work, Kris Peeters (CD&V), and health, Maggie De Block (Open VLD), De Wever complained about the recent tax shift. This lowers the taxes employers pay, but only for the private sector. This, he argues, creates unfair competition between hospitals, some of which are run privately. He wants a level playing field.

In his letter, De Wever also demanded that the federal government contribute to the pensions paid by local governments. These have become increasingly burdensome to municipal finances. “It is not fair, nor is it realistic, that the local governments should be solely responsible for their pension expenses,” De Wever wrote.

De Wever’s letter received little response. As Flanders’ most influential politician, his colleagues believe he is well placed to find a solution himself. \ Anja Otte

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Crevits calls for international recognition of diplomas

“Unified framework” needed, says minister in speech to Unesco conference Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits has called for the creation of a global framework for the recognition of higher education qualifications. She talked about the issue during her speech last week at Unesco’s General Conference in Paris.

Unesco is currently holding its biennial twoweek General Conference, in which 195 member states are represented. The conference opens with a general policy debate, during which all member states highlight their own challenges.

Crevits represented Belgium.

Crevits (pictured) called on the member states to work towards the creation of a global framework for the recognition of higher education qualifications. There are already various regional conventions, but Crevits pleaded for a global convention that links the regional frame-

works. “A uniform worldwide framework would guarantee people who go to work abroad or who have to flee their country that the procedure for the recognition of their higher education diploma is done in a similar way no matter where they come from,” she said.

Crevits also emphasised the crucial role of education, science, technology and innovation in achieving sustainable development and battling climate change. She emphasised the importance of Unesco’s expertise in, among other matters, safeguarding access to education.

The Flemish education department is also closely involved in the debates on the action programme Education 2030, in which the Unesco maps out education goals for the future.

© Jasper Jacobs/BELGA

Researchers protest lack of policy for federal institutions

© Thierry Roge/BELGA

Transport pallets by water to reduce traffic, says Weyts Flemish mobility minister Ben Weyts has earmarked €1 million for a scheme to encourage the transport of pallet traffic by inland waterways. The goal is to decrease the number of lorries on the roads.

“Our waterways lend themselves extremely well not only to containers and bulk cargo but also to pallet cargo such as construction materials and return packaging,” said Weyts. Empty pallets, normally carried by road, can also be moved by water transport, he said.

The current transport of pallet

goods by water reduces road traffic by the equivalent of 8,000 lorryruns, Weyts said. The new plan would go one better. “By giving pallet water transport a boost, we can cut the number of lorries by thousands more,” he said. “The challenge is to allow our businesses to grow without growing our traffic.”

Businesses are invited to submit applications for co-financing via Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV or NV De Scheepvaart. The deadline for applications is 3 May 2016. \ Alan Hope

More than 60 Flemish researchers have collectively released a statement protesting against the uncertain future of federal institutions such as the Royal Library, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts and the State Archives in Brussels. The researchers from Ghent University, the University of Leuven, the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and Antwerp University have stated that there is a lack of vision and too many budget cuts.

“These institutions are the most important sources of research in the country for historians, archaeologists and literature experts, but there is currently no federal policy for them,” read the statement. “State secretary Elke Sleurs (pictured) is not giving us any answers, and this non-policy hurts the quality of research.”

Flanders’ largest party, N-VA, would like to see the responsibility for these institutions transferred to the regions, which are already responsible for 90% of science policy. Sleurs’ cabinet,

however, said that the institutions are not being neglected.

“We want to renovate the institutions so that they are in an optimal state in case of a new state reform,” a spokesperson said.

“There are no heavier budget cuts for them than for other institutions, and we allocated €11.2 million to compensate for the lack of investments.”

Sleurs promised to present a vision note by the end of the year.

The general principle is to make the institutions more independent and therefore less dependent on the federal government. \ AF

No end to stream of refugees entering Brussels The federal government has again increased the number of places available for refugees who have not yet been processed by the Office for Foreigners, as the stream of asylum-seekers arriving in Belgium continues unabated.

After a brief respite, the numbers of refugees arriving last week rose again, leaving the Office for Foreigners unable to cope with the daily demand. Those who cannot be processed are sent away with an appointment for another day, and as the numbers grow, those appointments are scheduled further and further in the future.

Those who have not been processed cannot be assigned accommodation by Fedasil, the government’s asylum agency. In the summer, that led to the tent camp set up by the Red Cross in Maxi-

© Thierry Roge/BELGA

milian Park in Brussels. As autumn approached, the refugees were moved indoors, to the WTCIII office building near North Station. The 500 places originally planned became 1,000.

When the numbers dipped, 500 of those places were taken over by post-processed asylumseekers, according to migration minister Theo Francken. Now that pre-processing numbers are rising again, they will revert to their original purpose.

Francken has asked municipal authorities to make a special effort to take in refugees, while awaiting a dispersal plan that he said should be ready by the first of the year.

The volunteer group that ran the tent camp for the Red Cross, meanwhile, has warned of large numbers of unprocessed refugees forced to sleep rough in the coming days. Some have been given appointments 10 days in the future, and the available places are limited. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

A story that “needed to be told” Though fantastical in its set-up, Black gets little details right

black-themovie.com

continued from page 1

can quarter of Matongé, which courses through Elsene; and the streets of Molenbeek, the heavily Moroccan neighbourhood that has experienced gentrification in fits and starts and where the unemployment rate has for years hovered around 30%.

“The violence they use is so awful and excessive that you can’t keep denying its existence,” says Fallah, 29. “We felt like this story needed to be told. We know this world; we understand some of its psychology.”

Pointing out that many young people with migrant roots grapple with questions of identity in a society that perpetually regards them as foreigners, he adds: “In gangs, these people feel like they’re someone. The toughness you find on the streets there is typical for what is happening in these neighbourhoods.”

Though there have been movies centred on Ghent’s Turkish community (Turquaze, Trouw met mij), after Nabil Ben Yadir’s 2009 Les Barons, Fallah and El Arbi are only the second Belgians of Moroccan descent to tell the story of Brussels’ inner-city life.

But they forcefully reject the burden of representation and reassert their prerogative as filmmakers to tell of the good, the bad and the ugly.

“It’s not our problem that there never was a Moroccan director before us,” El Arbi says. “It’s not our responsibility to prove anything to a community. Our only responsibility is to tell a story as efficiently as we can to the widest possible audience.”

Still, the pair make no qualms about their desire to put some much-needed colour into the local cinema scene. Following their 2011 breakout short Broeders (Brothers) and last year’s offthe-rails Image, this is the third time the filmmakers have chosen to tell a story partially or wholly set in Brussels’ migrant communities – a term the filmmakers themselves reject, arguing that the idea of a uniform Moroccan community is false.

Lofty ambitions aside, Black is a pioneering film in as many aspects as it is a problematic one.

Its grim story of a gang war is, after all, a far cry from the lives of most youths of migrant descent in Brussels.

This fact seems to be getting lost somewhere between the directors’ insistence that they modelled the story after Bracke’s novels – which in turn were inspired by real events – and their relish in telling anecdotes that seemingly bear out the thug-life narrative of the film. (Among other incidents, a fight broke out during a shoot in the Marollen, one crew member

© Jerroen Willems

Bad boys of Belgian cinema? Adil El Arbi (left) and Bilall Fallah

was threatened with physical violence during a Matongé shoot, and one of the actors was arrested on charges of what appears to be gang-related activity.)

The movie’s verisimilitude doesn’t help set the record straight either.

The filmmakers’ own ethnic backgrounds and their decision to cast unprofessional actors means

descent and, for that matter, his own neighbourhood. “This is cinema, so it’s just a story,” he says.

But when pressed, Bensaihi, 19, admits to being irked when reporters conflate him with the character he portrays in the film.

Among other offences, Marwan shoplifts, smokes weed, gets

We can’t let the cinema and art be suffocated by misplaced political correctness because that doesn’t help that this movie gets just about all the little things right – the multilingual reality of Brussels, the simmering racial tensions between Moroccans and blacks, the playful banter between Marwan and Mavela, down to the unofficial uniform of the city’s on-the-dole youths (the hideous cuffed track pants).

Speaking on the day of the film’s preview screening at the Ghent Film Festival, Molenbeek native Aboubakr Bensaihi, who plays Marwan, at first seems indifferent to the damning portrayal of Belgian youth of Moroccan

arrested (twice) and appears to have given up on the idea of going to school.

“They ask me all these questions, but I can see what they’re getting at,” he says. “So I corner them before they can corner me, and I tell them that I had to play a character, and that character is not me.”

He also tried to show the reporters how different he is from Marwan “through the way I talk, through my clothes and through the small details, which will hopefully change something in people’s minds”.

Martha Canga Antonio, 20, who gives a breathless performance as Mavela (pictured on cover), admits to feeling ambivalent about both the film’s narrative and the one that has come to surround it. In an interview with the Flemish daily De Morgen, she debunked the “Slumdog Millionaire-type story being created around them” and the idea that the actors were all street kids.

“It doubles in meaning because of its portrayal of reality, but it nevertheless remains a film,” she says, referring to the movie’s focus on street gangs. “You want to raise awareness around the issue because people don’t like to discuss it. At the same time, you don’t want to focus exclusively on that. It’s a complex feeling.”

It would be wrong, she says, to stop telling these stories with Black. “If we can push ahead and also show other aspects of what it’s like [in inner-city neighbourhoods], I think we’re on the right track.”

Law enforcement officials and researchers have diverging views on the phenomenon of Brussels gangs. According to 2012 figures from the Brussels prosecutor’s office, the capital counts 31 gangs and 566 gang members.

Local criminologists, however, say there simply are no US-style urban gangs in Belgian cities but

rather groups of “seldom organised” youths who “only occasionally cluster together and have a varying composition”.

Even though El Arbi and Fallah are writing a new chapter in the history of Belgian cinema by casting a dark-skinned black woman in the lead role and giving all the meaty roles to migrant youths, they also reinforce vicious stereotypes of black men as sexual predators, of young Moroccans as thugs and of Molenbeek as an economic wasteland where hope goes to die.

But the filmmakers are quick to fend off such criticism. El Arbi and Fallah, who love to present themselves as the bad boys of Belgian cinema – be it through liberally dropping the f-bomb or embracing street culture through their speech and attire – say they are not interested in being or portraying Uncle Toms.

“We can’t let the cinema and art be suffocated by misplaced political correctness because that doesn’t help,” El Arbi says. “If we don’t tell these stories, no one will. It’s time to grow up. We can talk about these problems, and we don’t need to avoid them.

That’s what people of Moroccan descent but also Belgians in general are – masters of avoidance. Fuck avoiding, let’s talk about this.”

\5

\ BUSINESS

week in business Brewing AB InBev Leuven-based AB InBev, brewer of Stella and Jupiler, is recruiting 40 graduate trainees from the Benelux countries, with the offer of an international career in one of three areas: global management, supply management and sales and marketing. The application deadline is 30 November. \ bestbeerjob.com

Energy Eoluz The solar panels fitter, based in Kapellen, Antwerp province, has acquired the Dutch Oskomera company and the Overijse-based Sunthing firm to develop its activities in the Benelux.

Hotels Errol Rainess The US developer is bringing a super-insulated hotel boat to the canal in Brussels, offering 60 rooms in a completely passive construction. The hotel boat, which is being built in Rotterdam, is a converted former barge fitted with 25cm of insulation. It is due to open in about a year.

Marketing Selligent The Brussels-based company has acquired the US StrongView developer of email and digital marketing applications.

Retail Bodum The Danish design group has opened a store on Guldenvlieslaan in Brussels. The shop includes a coffee bar and sells the company’s whole range of kitchenware and household appliances.

Sport Football Union The Royal Belgian Football Union saw its debt increase from €7 million to €17 million in the last year and salary payments from €13 million to €22 million because of the Red Devils’ qualification for the World Cup. Each player made €350,000 for qualifying and for the final rounds.

Transport Mobiloo Electric rickshaw operator Mobiloo is relaunching its service in Brussels, with a new class of vehicle better able to cope with the city’s cobblestones. Mobiloo launched the tuk-tuk service in April with two vehicles, but a planned expansion was postponed. The threewheeled electric vehicles can carry two passengers.

\6

Cantillon suspends production due to warm temperatures

Lambic beer fermentation impossible with nights above five degrees Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

B

russels brewery Cantillon stopped production of its lambic beers last week because the temperatures were unseasonably high for November. The brewer, located in Anderlecht, makes lambic by a process of spontaneous fermentation that sees large copper vessels sitting in rooms with the windows and vents wide open.

Lambic is only made in Brussels and Flemish Brabant: wild yeasts and bacteria work to ferment a boiled solution of malted barley as it lies exposed to the natural elements. To avoid having the lambic – the basis for gueuze, kriek and other traditional beers – infected by unwanted organisms, the exposure only takes place when the temperatures drop overnight to

between zero and five degrees.

That would normally be the case in November, but recent temperatures have been unusually warm. “I’ve been in this business for 15 years, and

this is the second time this has happened,” said owner Jean Van Roy. “My father never experienced it. Clearly, Cantillon is the victim of climate change.”

The brewery hopes to be able to start up production by this week, once temperatures return to normal, in time for a planned public brewing day on 14 November. “That’s the only day of the year when we brew on Saturday,” Van Roy said. “People come from all over the world for the event.”

Cantillon recently doubled its brewing capacity by acquiring storage space where the beer can mature. A stoppage of one week is, Van Roy said, “no disaster,” but anything longer would be.

“Then we would lose one-tenth of our production.”

Muyters to reform part-time work experience system

Number of bankruptcies fell drastically in October

Flemish labour minister Philippe Muyters has unveiled the basics of his planned reform of the system that gives job-seekers temporary work experience. The aim of the changes, he said, was to make the system more suited to the needs of job-seekers.

The reform is part of the second phase of the government’s Jobs Pact, as set out in the governing accords. The temporary work system is aimed at job-seekers with a lack of skills or of recent work experience. Those who are receiving unemployment benefits will be referred by the employment and training agency VDAB; others, including those on permanent benefits, can be referred by other agencies.

Temporary work experience lasts for one to two years. Each entrant will be guided by a VDAB project manager and by supervisors on

The number of bankruptcies in Belgium fell in October for the fourth month in a row, to 870, or 17.85% fewer than the same month last year. The number of job losses as a result was down 10%.

Broken up by region, the number of bankruptcies in Flanders last month was down by 18%, and in Brussels by more than 8.5%.

“Slowly but surely, we are measuring figures that are comparable to the situation prior to the financial crisis,” commented Eric Van den Broele of business intelligence bureau Graydon, which tracks the figures.

In the first 10 months of this

the work floor. The workplace will be selected by the project manager according to the jobseeker’s intentions and the skills to be gained.

The new system, Muyters said, should provide sufficient rotation of workplaces to allow the jobseeker to gain as much experience as possible. VDAB is currently developing a central database of workplaces for learning and experience gathering, which will be open to project managers and others using the system.

“With this concept note, we are setting out a number of clear intentions for the future system,” Muyters said. “We are emphasising that the system is temporary and should lead unemployed people to more recruitment possibilities. All of our efforts are directed toward making job-seekers stronger and helping them find work.” \ AH

€8 million in EU funding for Flanders’ dairy and pig farmers Flemish agriculture minister Joke Schauvliege has reached an agreement with the farming sector on the distribution of a crisis fund of more than €8 million from the EU. The money is part of a €500 million fund to compensate farmers across the EU for low market prices.

Belgium receives €13 million, of which €8,235,000 is allocated to Flanders. Dairy farmers will receive €3,867,500, via a premium for each calf or heifer of around €30; the average farm is expected to receive €700.

Pig farmers are allocated the same global sum: a premium per suckling pig expected to bring in an average of €1,600 per farm,

with a special sum of €500,000 for breeders of the Flemish Piétrain species. A further €500,000 will be spent on advice vouchers with which farmers can pay for consultations on matters such as taxation or cash flow planning.

The funding will start being paid out in January, Schauvliege said. \ AH

year, meanwhile, the total number of bankruptcies was down by 6.58% in Flanders, compared to the same period in 2014, but the number increased in Brussels by nearly 6.8%. The number of job losses as a result of bankruptcies was down by more than 11.6% in Belgium as a whole, to 19,272 year-to-date.

A significant figure is the number of older established companies in the total. In 2008, companies set up before 1990 formed barely 7% of the total number of business failures; in 2015 the number had gone up to 13.8%. \ AH

Jet Airways considers moving base out of Brussels Airport Staff of the Indian airline Jet Airways, based at Brussels Airport, have been warned of the possibility that the company will move, according to a representative of the socialist union BBTK, De Standaard reports.

During a staff meeting at the weekend, staff were told Jet Airways could pull out of Zaventem as early as 31 March.

Earlier in the day, the company had begun talks with airport management with a view to “new developments” in its operations.

“In fact nothing is certain,” the spokesperson said. “Among other things, it’s not clear whether they mean a partial or a complete withdrawal.” A procedure to buy slots at Schiphol in Amsterdam is not yet complete, he pointed out.

The airline employs 30 people directly at Zaventem, but their

© Uday Bararia/Wikimedia

departure would have an effect on about 300 jobs indirectly, including service staff, baggage handlers and caterers. Jet Airways flies from Brussels to Newark, Toronto, New Delhi and Mumbai.

Brussels Airport said it was not aware of any announcement from the airline. News of the airline’s departure from Zaventem has been rumoured since 2013. The airport said that, if the rumour turned out to be true, it would go in search of other companies who want to fly from Brussels to India and North America. \ AH

\ INNOVATION

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Bacteria to the rescue

week in innovation

Flemish researchers stumble upon sea bacteria with restorative powers Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

B

acteria that produce electricity are helping keep marine life safe from toxic chemicals, a team of researchers has found. The team includes scientists from the Free University of Brussels (VUB), the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research and Utrecht University.

The researchers have been working in Lake Grevelingen in Zeeland, the Netherlands, which used to be an offshoot of the North Sea. Coastal areas commonly see levels of oxygen in the water fall during the summer months, especially in highpopulation areas, where toxins – including agricultural runoff and human sewage – are pumped into the sea. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change exacerbate the problem.

At the same time as oxygen levels drop, quantities of hydrogen sulphide build up in the sediment on the bottom. Hydrogen sulphide is known to us as the rotten egg smell of stink bombs, but to marine life it’s poison.

Sometimes it breaks through the surface of the sediment, with disastrous effects for marine life. In one instance, large numbers of lobsters beached themselves rather than stay in the water when the sulphides broke through.

“Oxygen depletion happens quite a lot, but the sulphide release is less common. It happens in just one system in Zeeland,” explains professor Filip Meysman, a researcher at VUB and the Dutch sea research institute. “It’s not common in the North Sea at the moment, maybe it will be after 100 years of climate change.”

But in other waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi river, “it returns every year, as it does in the Adriatic Sea and at the coast off of Shanghai,” he says. “There are many people living in these areas, so there’s a lot of wastewater and run-off from agriculture entering the sea.”

sediment, which causes a transfer of electrons and the production of an electric current.

“They love the sulphides because they are energy-rich,” explains Meysman. “The iron remains behind and becomes oxidised, and that creates a rusty layer on top of the sediment. The iron is actually a waste product of their metabolism, which then prevents the sulphide from escaping the sediment to pollute the water.”

It’s good to know that you’re lucky, but it is much better to know why you’re lucky © Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research

A researcher from the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research holds a water sample that contains cable bacteria

The team set out to study the effects of oxygen depletion on the waters of Grevelingen, an arm of the sea north of the Zeeland island of Schouwen-Duiveland, now closed off by the Brouwersdam road connection.

“The research was designed to look into the consequences of oxygen deficiency in the water,” says Meysman. “Then we stumbled onto these electric bacteria, and now they’re the main focus of the research because they’re very intriguing and unusual.”

Made up of a long chain of cells, these cable bacteria are about five centimetres long and one micrometre thick (or one-millionth of a metre).

The bacteria feed on the iron sulphide in the

The bacteria, the team found, colonise the area in springtime, year after year – luckily for the oyster farmers in the lake, whose beds would be devastated by any upsurge in sulphides. The existence of cable bacteria firewalls has been confirmed, the team found, in other coastal areas in the world associated with sulphide pollution.

“The ecological and fisheries impact of these sulphide cataclysms can be enormous, but, luckily, they are really exceptional,’ Meysman says.

“The problem was that we didn’t really understand why these events are so rare. It’s good to know that you’re lucky, but it is much better to know why you’re lucky.”

Their study, he says, “now demonstrates that there is a natural firewall mechanism in place that delays or even prevents the escape of sulphide from sediments”.

Revamped platform makes patient data sharing easier, safer zorg-en-gezondheid.be

Flanders is working hard to digitise its primary health-care services. The government’s aim is to enable general practitioners, home nurses and pharmacists to easily and safely share patient data on a digital platform.

That e-platform, which is called Vitalink, has already existed for a number of years, but because much of its software needed to be updated, the platform has only recently come into full operation.

“Vitalink serves as a virtual vault for patient data,” says Joris Moonens, a spokesperson at the Agency for Care and Health, which develops and implements the government of Flanders’ public health policies.

The health agency has been – and still is – updating the software that health professionals need to consult patient data. In addition, the agency has been working on a tool for patients to consult their own health data: the patient health viewer.

With this tool, patients can also find out who has consulted their

private data. “That’s important,” says Moonens, “because a patient can withdraw data-sharing permission.”

Vitalink has become the foundation for Flanders’ e-health policies in primary health care. “Via the platform, health professionals can easily share information about an individual patient that can be relevant for someone else,” says Moonens. “This includes medication schedules, short summaries of patient files and information about vaccinations.”

But is Flanders’ health-care sector ready to move online? “The idea for Vitalink came up at a conference organised by health professionals in 2010,” says Moonens.

“So the sector itself is calling for this.”

Moonens admits that not every doctor and nurse will be eager to use the e-platform. A mentality shift may be needed. “Health professionals have to realise that they’re not working on separate islands. They are constantly in contact with other professionals

© Ingimage

who are working with the same patient.”

Meanwhile, Vitalink remains a fairly abstract concept to patients.

But after the health-care sector has fully jumped on board, he says, the Flemish health agency will start promoting the patient health viewer tool. “Next year, we will integrate data in Vitalink that’s particularly interesting for patients themselves. Physical data about newborns, for example, or

personal invitations for cancer screenings; things like that will trigger people to actively consult their personal health data.”

One of the key concerns that goes hand-in-hand with e-health is privacy. Will patients’ data be safe in Vitalink? “All the data is encrypted,” says Moonens. “That means that information is only legible to the patient and to the health professional. That also means that the government can’t read this data.”

Every patient first needs to give permission for the data to be shared, and patients can withdraw that permission at any time.

Meanwhile, the Belgian E-health platform, a federal agency, ensures that only accredited health professionals can consult the patient data.

“In fact, only professionals that have an active therapeutic relationship with a patient can have access,” says Moonens. “And even then, patients can decide whether or not they want to share their data.” \ Senne Starckx

Fingertip sensors to detect smuggled drugs

Researchers from Antwerp University have developed fingertip electrochemical sensors to detect smuggled cocaine quickly and effectively. They are now integrating these sensors into gloves, which will make it easier for customs officials to check suspicious substances in containers and luggage and carried by travellers.

Currently, customs officials at the port of Antwerp, for example, screen for cocaine using colour tests. “To rule out mistakes, the colour test needs to be confirmed in a specialised laboratory, which takes time and money,” said professor Karolien De Wael.

With the new gloves, she said, it will be possible to detect cocaine on the spot without needing any pre-treatment.

The price will be less than €1 per glove, and in future, other drugs could be detected using the same method.

Doctors fear antibiotic-resistant colon bacteria Flemish doctors are warning about the dangers of enterococci bacteria, which live in our intestines and are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. The bacteria don’t pose a danger to healthy people and even help the digestion process. But among weaker people, they can end up in the bloodstream and cause fatal blood poisoning. Resistant enterococci are often transmitted to weaker people by healthy family members, doctors and health-care staff. There were 18 cases of resistant enterococci in Belgium in 2009; the number rose to 103 in 2012 and to 381 so far this year.

Website warns students about hearing loss A University of Leuven student has launched the online platform De Tuut van Tegenwoordig (The Buzz of Today) to warn other young people about the risk of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. Bert Lecomte, 21, has suffered from the condition for three years. A study at Antwerp University Hospital of 5,000 Flemings aged 14 to 25 showed that about 15% suffered from a permanent ringing in the ears. Threequarters of them had experienced temporarily tinnitus, largely caused by a lack of ear protection when attending concerts. \ Andy Furniere \ detuutvantegenwoordig.be

\7

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\ EDUCATION

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

In the footsteps of refugees

week in education

Brussels students taking tours of places frequented by asylum seekers Senne Starckx More articles by Senne \ flanderstoday.eu

tochtenvanhoop.eu

E

very day hundreds of individual asylum-seekers start their journey through Brussels, which brings them to all the locations and agencies involved in their challenging quest for safety and shelter.

Due to the increased media attention on the refugee crisis in August and September, most of the public is familiar with Maximiliaanpark where thousands of refugees spent weeks in tents waiting for their initial interview session at the nearby Immigration Office.

But there are other, lesser-known yet indispensable stops that refugees pass through in the capital. Take North Station for example, where dozens of them still weather the night alongside the local homeless population.

Or take the Saint Roch church, where the NGO Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen distributes hot soup every day at lunch. Or the historical site Klein Kasteeltje, former barracks that have for decades served as an open reception camp.

Or finally, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, which deals with the refugees’ dossiers and decides on their political status.

To show this journey across Brussels to those of us who have the luxury of a Belgian ID, the Tochten van Hoop Brussel (Journeys of Hope), a non-profit organisation supported by the Flemish Community Commission, organises guided walking tours along this journey.

The aim of these tours is to show sparks of hope: social initiatives, community projects and groups of volunteers determined to make the best of it. Schools, companies, clubs and organisations can all apply to take part in Tochten van

Asylum-seekers at Brussels’ Klein Kasteeltje, one of the stops on the tour

Hoop.

And there are more tours, as well – on poverty, unemployment, loneliness and inequality. In short, the typical social problems associated with a large metropolitan area.

Since the current refugee crisis is dominating news coverage, the walking tours focused on asylumseekers have become hugely popular. Schools, particularly secondary schools, are using the initiative to teach and inform their students about what it’s like to arrive and live as an asylum seeker in Brussels.

“Since the beginning of the crisis, the number of tours with the tagline ‘In the footsteps of asylum seekers’ has doubled,” says Pol Arnauts from Tochten van Hoop.

“It seems that the current events have urged schools to focus on the matter and to discuss it with their students.”

The narrative presented by the Tochten van Hoop’s guides is constantly updated to reflect the current reality and assumptions, such as that most asylum-seekers come from war-torn Syria. In the Klein Kasteeltje or on the walls of the office of Voyaach (a nonprofit that gives support to undoc-

umented residents in Brussels), says Arnauts, “you can read which wars are being fought around the world. Syria, of course, is not the only conflict-ridden country.”

So how are the tours received by the students? “We’ve noticed that many of them have only a vague knowledge about the issue,” he says. “By telling the stories, we open their eyes. It’s like the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas once said: ‘Meeting people and listening to their stories opens more doors through which we

We’ve noticed that many students have only a vague knowledge about the issue want to study the issues further’.”

Arnauts thinks that when we are touched by personal stories, we create a sense of solidarity. “A lot of young people engage themselves as volunteers or as professionals in the on-going refugee situation,” he says. “Their engagement appeals to the students we guide

Q&A

Why are there so many vacancies in the space industry?

Over the past couple of years, we have been witnessing a real overhaul of the space sector. Until

whole situation,” he says.

Arnauts observes that the walking tours have proved an instructive experience for most groups that have participated so far. He says the tours are “an experience enriched with bits of reality that most of us only know from television”.

youspace.be

Philip De Man is a programme manager at YouSpace, a platform that brings students together with space professionals What is YouSpace exactly?

YouSpace is a platform where students and young professionals interested in working in the space industry can connect with people who are active in the field. The idea is to open up career opportunities to Belgian students and, by extension, help the European space industry – and in particular Belgian space companies – to fill the increasing number of vacant positions with talented individuals.

on our tours.”

During the tours, the groups also come into contact with asylum seekers. “This concerns mostly those people who have already been here for some years and either have or still haven’t acquired a residence permit,” Arnauts explains.

“These asylum-seekers also offer support to the newly arrived refugees.”

Raf Van der Veken is one of Tochten van Hoop’s guides. He confirms that there’s an overall feeling of understanding among the students. “But we’ve also experienced some criticism,” he says. “The typical argument that we can’t take care of the entire world is frequently being used. And many people think that the cultural differences between us and the asylum-seekers are just too wide for any successful integration – which, in any case, is a long economic and social process.”

According to Van der Veken, the reactions of the students are sometimes really moving. “There were students who admitted that they felt really uncomfortable about the

recently, most people in the industry were engineers working in aerospace or astrophysicists conducting scientific research.

Such restrictions gave the space industry a reputation of being nearly impenetrable.

However, with the multiplication of space applications, the types of jobs have considerably increased and diversified. As a result, the space sector is now looking for not only people with specific scientific and engineering backgrounds, but also professionals with degrees in law, international relations, economics and psychology. What’s more, 35% of all people working in the European space industry are between 48 and 58 years old.

try, including the humanities, are unaware of the career opportunities in the sector, or they think such aspirations are unrealistic.

The challenge is to make the scientific and technical fields more accessible to them.

Within the next 10 years, as they retire, the sector will face a real shortage of employees.

Isn’t that great news for graduates?

Students in areas typically not associated with the space indus-

How will YouSpace do this?

The website lists a number of profiles of mentors – professionals from the space sector and academia – who are ready to offer advice and coaching to the students. Students choose the profile most fitting for their aspirations, register as mentees, and we match the two together. To encourage this interaction, YouSpace will organise annual meetings between students and professionals at all major local universities.

Call for digital literacy certificate The Dutch Cyber Security Council has advised Flanders to integrate a “digital literacy and cyber security” course in primary and secondary schools. Students should be required to obtain an internet certificate, just as they have to get a swimming certificate, the organisation said. According to Saskia Van Uffelen, CEO of telecommunication company Ericsson Belux, an internet diploma would help deal with the shortage of cyber security experts and other challenges on the job market. “Sixty-five percent of today’s jobs will no longer exist in 2020,” she told De Morgen. “Throughout all sectors, digital skills are becoming essential.”

Fewer students in top sport schools Flanders’ top sports schools have lost more than one-third of their student numbers over the last five years, according to figures in Gazet van Antwerpen. At the same time, the paper reported, the number of students with top sport statutes in regular education has halved.

Flanders has six top sports schools: in Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Vilvoorde, Hasselt/ Genk and Bruges. Each has seen numbers fall since 2010, except in Vilvoorde, where the number remained stable.

Education minister Hilde Crevits said: “It’s important we keep giving talented youngsters the chance to prepare for a national and international sports career.”

The reason for the decrease, she said, is a more ambitious policy and stricter selection criteria.

Budget cuts criticised in Vlor report The Flemish Education Council (Vlor) has released a report in which it criticises the government’s education budget. According to Vlor, the education ministry’s advisory board, the government is planning new budget cuts. Universities would receive €20.4 million less annually, university colleges €9 million less and higher education institutions in Brussels €1 million less. Among other issues, the cuts will lead to staff shortages, said Vlor. “Staff will no longer increase according to the number of students,” says the report, “while this had already become difficult because of the budget cuts of the past few years.” Vlor also said it was worried about the impact on students, who face higher registration fees. \ Andy Furniere

\ Interview by Bartosz Brzezinski

\9

\ LIVING

week in activities Sinterklaas House

The Sint’s House is one of the main attractions in SintNiklaas, “the city of the Sint”.

Every year, children and their parents can see where Sinterklaas lives, including his bedroom, bathroom, workshop and toy room. Sinterklaas himself is home on Wednesday afternoons and at weekends. Until 6 December, Stationstraat 85, Sint-Niklaas, free \ stadvandesint.be

Houtem Market An annual tradition going back to the middle ages, the winter horse and livestock market in Sint-LievensHoutem, located in the Flemish Ardennes, is on the Unesco list of intangible world heritage. Hundreds of stands, local products, historical procession and more. 11-12 November, Marktplein, Sint-LievensHoutem; free \ sint-lievens-houtem.be

Fox Expedition A night-time walk through the woods, where mysterious figures offer refreshments or issue challenges. Complete the challenges and win a prize. Reservations required.

14 November 18.30-21.30; Natuurhulpcentrum, Industrieweg Zuid 2051, Opglabbeek (Limburg), €5 kids/€7 adults \ natuurhulpcentrum.be

Art Day for Children More than 200 organisations across Flanders offer a range of activities for kids aged up to 12. Search the website for tours, workshops, performances and more. Reservations recommended. 15 November, free or nominal charge \ kunstendagvoorkinderen.be

Staying power

After 90 years, village cinema De Keizer hasn’t lost any of its charm Toon Lambrechts More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

cinemadekeizer.be

I

t’s hard to imagine in this era of super-sized suburban multiplexes, but once there was such a thing as the local village cinema. Often with a single auditorium, they brought the magic of the silver screen to the Flemish countryside.

Over the years, virtually all of them have disappeared, but Cinema De Keizer in Lichtervelde, West Flanders, has survived the test of time.

The lights dim in the De Keizer.

The audience gathered within eagerly awaits the screening of the film Don Juan by Alan Crosland. It is 6 August, 1926, the opening day of Cinema De Keizer.

Two years earlier, Gerard Debaillie purchased the building that also housed a cafe. Debaillie had been organising screenings outdoors or in parish halls.

The pastor of Lichtervelde was against his plans to open a movie theatre, but Debaillie persisted.

The town would get its very own cinema, he insisted, even though it lacked even a basic electrical grid.

Lichtervelde may have only been a small town, but Cinema De Keizer quickly grew into a household name in the world of Flemish cinema-going. When Debaillie died in 1972, his daughter Agnes took over the enterprise.

Her passion for film became legendary.

Big names in Flemish cinema, such as director Stijn Coninx (Daens), were charmed by the local cinema.

A number of Flemish films would have their first screenings in this small West Flemish town.

After the death of Agnes in 2012, Cinema De Keizer was hanging by a thread. But the desire to save

© Bas Bogaerts

On its opening day, Cinema De Keizer played Alan Crosland’s adaption of Don Juan

this unique building was strong in Lichtervelde – and beyond. It was eventually taken over by a group of investors and volunteers.

Sofie Eeckeman is the co-ordinator of the venture. “I knew Agnes, the former owner, very well,” she says. “We shared a passion for cinema. She was a real folk figure who stood out from the crowd.”

Many of the volunteers get involved, she says, “because of the charm of the Cinema De Keizer. It has a rich history. It is an authentic and unique place. As one of the few remaining village cinemas, it is important that it continues to exist, both because of its heritage and for Lichtervelde as a commu-

nity. A village cinema is a social spot, a place where people go out and meet each other.”

Cinema De Keizer deliberately opts for Flemish and familyoriented films. Currently on view are FC De Kampionen 2, Ay! Ramon, Pan and D’Ardennen, which all fit the bill.

“That’s what our audience wants,” Eeckeman says. “But we also screen some more alternative films from time to time and host other events. Our main goal, however, is to continue offering authentic cinema in a unique place with a rich history.”

De Keizer is not the only village cinema that has survived the

competition from the big chains.

Spread throughout Flanders, there are still a handful of them left.

Cinema Albert in Dendermonde, East Flanders, is probably the oldest in the country.

The first films were screened in the building as early as 1914, but it was only after the First World War that it became a full-fledged movie theatre.

Cinema Capitole in Aalter, East Flanders, opened its doors in 1957. Although the auditorium was renovated and the equipment modernised in 2008, the ’50s decor was preserved, and the cinema remains a must-see place for retro-enthusiasts.

First World War Walk In 1916, the Mechelse Heide nature reserve was a training ground for German troops.

A park ranger will point out remnants of trenches, bunkers and artillery craters and discuss what impact the occupation had on the local area. (In Dutch) 15 November 14.00, Mechelse Heide Shelter, Joseph Smeetslaan 280, Maasmechelen, €2 \ tinyurl.com/mechelseheide

Ghent Senior Week An annual city-wide initiative aimed at older residents, with an interesting mix of activities like guided walks, creative workshops, lifestyle expo, concerts and more. Registration recommended. 16-22 November, across Ghent, free \ stad.gent/seniorenweek

\ 10

BITE Ghent caterers introduce Europe to edible insects at world expo \ bugsworldsolutionfood.com

Italy had its first chance to feast on bugs when the Belgian Pavilion at Milan’s World Fair hosted a press conference on entomophagy – the practice of eating insects. Preparing the nosh for the event were Liesbet Minne and David Creëlle from Bugs World Solution Food in Ghent.

The couple became interested in insects as a food source after visiting Asia and seeing local children catching crickets after school to eat for lunch the next day. They began to wonder if insects could be a solution to the world’s food shortage and the high environmental costs of meat production.

About two years ago, they started to put their ideas into practice, establishing a small restaurant in the

Belgian Ardennes. The concept was an immediate success, and patrons streamed in from across Belgium and Europe to try their insect cuisine.

Now the concept has evolved into a catering business, and the pair was asked to prepare a selection of dishes for the entomophagy event.

On the menu in Italy were bug balls, cricket croquettes and mealworm spring rolls.

Getting the food to the event was a major challenge as insects are not considered fit for human consumption in Italy. Italian customs first requested that the insects undergo testing in Belgium at the University of Leuven. After passing a battery of tests there, the Italian authorities

then insisted that additional testing be done in Milan. Final approval was given just a week before the event.

But Milan is not the only thing keeping Minne and Creëlle. They’ve just announced that a major Belgian supermarket chain will start stocking their products beginning in late November. The initial offerings will be the same three dishes that were

served in Milan.

On 14 December, the Bugs World Solution Food cookbook will be launched, showing people how easy it is to prepare insect dishes at home. It’s packed with beautiful images to get mouths watering.

Minne, a teacher by training, is also publishing a series of lessons for children that she hopes schools will use to raise awareness of bugs as a food source. “The younger generations are more open to the idea of insects as food and will eat them quite readily,” she says. “Through the lessons, we’ll show them how to make an insect garden and why it’s important to eat insects for sustainability.” \ Dan Smith

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Food reminiscing

Week van de Smaak returns with a sprawling, nostalgic programme Dan Smith More articles by Dan \ flanderstoday.eu

weekvandesmaak.be

T

he Week van de Smaak (Week of Taste) just gets bigger every year. The 2015 edition kicks off on 12 November and includes more than 400 food-oriented events across Flanders around the theme of VergETEN? (A play on the words for “forgotten” and “food”.)

It’s all about remembering, whether that is food traditions, recipes or even the kitchenalia Flemish cooks have used over the centuries. This year there are four standout events that bring the theme of food reminiscing to life.

One of the most ambitious is Table 24.

“Everything on or near the table is handmade, including the chairs, cutlery, dishes and glasses,” says Eef Rombaut, co-ordinator of Week van de Smaak. Students at the Vrij Technisch Instituut in Kortrijk are currently putting the finishing touches to the table itself, which was designed by architect Bart Lens.

Anyone can enter the competition to win a place at the table during the Week van de Smaak. “Everyone has to bring enough food for four people,” Rombaut explains. “Just enter your name and the dish you would like to bring via our website.”

A well-known Flemish chef is in charge of each lunch or dinner and will create a central dish for the entire table, with the chefs selecting the dishes that will accompany the main course. “The table will visit five special locations in Brussels, Bruges, Genk, Ghent and Roeselare,” says Rombaut.

“In each city, we’ve selected a unique setting for the meal.”

Joining 20 selected diners at each sitting will be the chef and three artisans. “That might include a cheesemaker or a beekeeper, or a craftsperson who makes glassware or dishware,” Rombaut explains. “The idea is that it will be like dinner with friends, with everyone sharing their knowledge or stories about what they have made.”

In keeping with the spirit of this year’s Week van de Smaak, the table will have a new life after Table 24. “The last dinner is at Design Flanders in Brussels, where the table will become part of an exhibition,”

© Mauro Rongione/Johnér Images/Corbis

La Fourna, Belgium’s first community bakery, is hosting mobile baking workshops as part of Week van de Smaak

says Rombaut. “After that, it will go to the Vlaams huis van de voeding (Flemish Nutrition House) in Roeselare where it will be used for events and workshops. And who knows, next year it might be back for the 2016 Week van de Smaak.”

The theme of remembering forgotten tastes is picked up in the De Smaak van Toen (Flavours of the Past). Week van de Smaak organisers visited a number of retirement homes where they used a suitcase of culinary props to stimulate food memories in

the elderly residents.

“Flavours and smells are triggers that bring back memories,” says Rombaut. “We collected a lot of recipes, cookbooks and equipment from the residents.” This tangible food heritage will be on show at the Vlaams huis van de voeding during Week van de Smaak.

The organisers will also issue an invitation to people who want to take these memories and develop something for next year’s edition. “It can be anyone – product devel-

opers, designers, big industries that cater to retirement homes… We want to see what they can develop by next year, particularly for elderly people. It might be a new recipe or different cutlery. The resources will be available to everyone.”

Meanwhile, renowned Flemish food blogger Louise De Brabandere is the figurehead for this year’s edition. De Brabandere is hosting seven Op de koffie (Coffee Hour) gatherings where people can bring along examples of their culinary heritage to share with others.

Each venue is hosting a special programme and many will offer a small gift to the first people who arrive.

From the information submitted by participants, De Brabandere will put together a small book of the culinary stories and recipes uncovered during the chat afternoons.

“It’s another way in which we will try to pass on our food history to the next generation,” Rombaut says.

The last major event is La Fourna, a series of mobile baking workshops that will tour Brussels. Vol-au-vent, the organisation that runs Week van de Smaak “recently won a competition to build Belgium’s first community bakery,” explains Rombaut.

“It will take about two years to get everything up and running. In the meantime, we are using a food truck with an oven to do baking demonstrations and get people involved in the project.”

Organisers have lined up a number of non-professional bakers to give the workshops. “They will work with a professional baker who will help them to prepare for the demonstration.” Each one will explore the speciality of a different baking tradition, such as Turkish börek and sweet and sour breads. This project will continue in 2016.

Almost all of the events held during the Week van de Smaak are organised locally by cities, schools, libraries, cultural centres and other institutions and groups, so it’s worth checking the website to find out what’s happening in your neighbourhood.

Whatever your food passion, it’s unlikely your taste buds will forget Week van de Smaak.

50 weekends in Flanders: Gueuze breweries in Pajottenland 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.

Some of the world’s finest beers are brewed in small Flemish villages like Lennik and Beersel. Located to the west of Brussels in the Zenne valley, the breweries create beers using a mysterious process involving wild yeasts carried by the wind. You can tour the local bars and breweries over a weekend, sampling the different sour ales along the way.

OUD BEERSEL When the 19th-century Oud Beersel brewery closed down in 2002, it looked like the end of the road for its distinctive lambic beer.

DRIE FONTEINEN A small lambic brewery in the village of Beersel creates several beers including the superb Schaerbeekse Kriek. Served in a chunky glass tumbler, this is a sour, complex beer that gets its flavour from cherries fermented in the barrel. \ 3fonteinen.be

But two young enthusiasts have revived the business and scooped several international awards for their both their Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek. \ oudbeersel.com

LINDEMANS The Lindemans family have been brewing gueuze in Vlezenbeek since the 19th century.

Here they create the deep red sour beer Lindemans Kriek Cuvée René, served on cafe terraces across Belgium all summer. \ lindemans.be

DE TROCH An authentic craft brewery located in a brick farmhouse just outside Brussels. The friendly

owners create gueuze using ancient equipment. They sell bottles out in the courtyard or you can eat stoverij (stew) made with the brewery’s prize-winning Chapeau in the relaxed local brasserie De Wijze Expressie. \ detroch.be

CANTILLON The Cantillon brewery in Anderlecht is the last surviving traditional gueuze brewery in Brussels. The building is a beautiful industrial relic that has barely changed in a century. The cobwebs you see are essential to the brewing process, as is the big open tank in the attic where fermentation happens.

You can visit the brewery most days and then sample a beer at the end. This week is Cantillon’s Open Brewery Day (see p6). \ cantillon.be

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NOVEMBER 11, 2015

A short-lived retirement

Dani Klein of Vaya Con Dios returns to the stage with a tribute to Billie Holiday Christophe Verbiest More articles by Christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

O

n 25 October 2014, thousands of fans of Vaya Con Dios gathered in Brussels for the very last concert of the band centred around Brussels singer Dani Klein. Vaya Con Dios have sold more than 10 million singles and albums during a career spanning almost three decades.

You might know them from “What’s a Woman”, “Just a Friend of Mine” or “Puerto Rico”. The singer, who turns 63 on New Year’s Day, accounted for this goodbye by saying that she wanted a quieter life.

And yet, just a year after that farewell gig, Klein already has a new album out. Dani Sings Billie was produced in collaboration with the bass player Sal La Rocca, who had played with Vaya Con Dios during the band’s later years. La Rocca also heads his own jazz quartet that will accompany Klein for upcoming concerts.

So whatever happened to working less? “My life is much calmer now,” says Klein (pictured). “I never said I would stop singing. I was just fed up with the big machinery that Vaya Con Dios was. No more long tours for me.”

For the upcoming concerts, she says, “I’ll leave home at noon and afterwards I’ll sleep in my own bed. Maybe the dressing rooms will be smaller, maybe we’ll eat a slice of bread with cheese instead of salmon on toast, but I couldn’t care less.”

The Billie in Dani Sings Billie is of course Billie Holiday, the jazz singer who died at the age of 44 in 1959 after a difficult and tragic life. It’s not the first time Klein has recorded one of Holiday’s songs.

The B-side of the very first single

by Vaya Con Dios, “Just a Friend of Mine”, was “You Let Me Down”, a single Holiday released in 1936.

“You know how Vaya Con Dios started?” Klein asks. “A friend of ours opened a clothing shop in Ghent, and we were asked to perform a few songs there.

We didn’t have much time to rehearse. It was a period when I was immersing myself in Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday, so we performed two songs of the former and one of the latter.”

And, she continues, they liked doing it. “The three of us decided to keep playing together, and we wrote ‘Just a Friend of Mine’. We urgently needed a B-side, but we didn’t have any other songs. It had to be in English, so no to Piaf. And that’s why in the end we recorded ‘You Let Me Down’.”

Fast-forward 27 years when La Rocca invited Klein to sing with his band at the Théâtre Marni in Brussels. “After the concert, the director came to see us,” La Rocca recalls. “She wanted us to do a project together during the first River Jazz Festival, which was going to be held in January 2015.

And off we went. We had already tried some things before, but they didn’t work out.”

“Back when we were still in Vaya Con Dios,” Klein adds, “we attempted to write some new material and give a jazz makeover to some very diverse songs, from Abba to Barbra. But it never worked out well.”

Théâtre Marni’s request encouraged them to try again. Klein came up with the idea to cover Holiday.

“I’m not a fan of modern jazz,” she says. “It’s often too contrived and too intellectual. I prefer music that evokes emotions. I really love the jazz that was born right after the blues, the music from the swing era. That’s why I proposed Billie Holiday.”

Dani Sings Billie shows it was the right decision. Klein, however,

VAYACONDIOS.BE

chose not to focus on the darker side of Holiday’s repertoire because it has been highlighted so often. “That’s why we do the songs that sound more optimistic,” La Rocca explains. “And there

has dwindled, the future looks ominous. I didn’t want to add to that. And then those songs in which the woman is the victim of an abusive man, who she keeps on loving anyway: been there, done

I’m not a fan of modern jazz.

It’s often too contrived and too intellectual are plenty of them. People tend to forget that she was a cheerful woman who had a lot of fun with her piano player.”

“The world is a dark place these days,” Klein adds. “Optimism

that. I prefer ‘A Fine Romance’ with its line ‘We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes. But you’re as cold as yesterday’s mashed potatoes.’ It makes me laugh.”

Klein and La Rocca were very

satisfied with their concert at Théâtre Marni. “Don’t ask me why or how, but there was magic in the air,” Klein says. “So we decided to release the batch of songs that we had rehearsed. At least for us, it’s sheer luck that the album coincides with the centenary of Billie Holiday’s birth. Maybe the record company had thought about it.”

They won’t say yet if there will be a follow-up to Dani Sings Billie. It all depends on how successful the album will be. But they certainly would love to play together some more in the future.

The 6 December Dani Klein & Sal La Rocca Quartet show at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels is sold out. Check the Vaya Con Dios website for info on shows in early 2016

More new music this month Willem Vermandere

Kris De Bruyne

Black Box Revelation

14-18 En wat nu! • Universal For nearly his entire life, Willem Vermandere has lived near Flanders Fields. It didn’t come as a surprise then that he toured last year (and is touring again) with a song and story cycle about the First World War, a subject that has featured regularly his lyrics over the past decades. The album 14-18 En wat nu! (And What Now!) was recorded during those concerts. The singer and clarinet player is accompanied by a band of seven musicians who lend the folky songs a majestic quality. A record by a 75-year-old poet and philosopher whose music is still as beautiful as ever.

In levende lijve • CNR A year ago, Kris De Bruyne, played a radio concert with loads of guests (Mauro Pawlowski, Neeka, Clara Cleymans) and the performance has now been released as the double CD In levende lijve (In the Flesh). It shows again why the 65-year-old singer has been called the Flemish Dylan, an honorary title he certainly deserves. At the piano or with a guitar, De Bruyne always delivers thanks to his amazing songs, many of which have entered Flanders’ collective memory.

Five formerly unreleased tracks are added to the concert, a few of them recorded with Gorki singer Luc De Vos, who died last year.

Highway Cruiser • Caroline Jan Paternoster has become the most unexpected star of this year’s edition of the television show De slimste mens ter wereld. But he is first and foremost the singer and guitar player of Black Box Revelation, the twosome he forms with drummer Dries Van Dijck. Their bluesy mix of sleazy guitars and flaming drums is a bit toned down on their fourth album, Highway Cruiser. It gives way to more subtle emotions – love is blooming in Paternoster’s heart as it has never done before, it seems – and at times a more soulful approach, thanks to the presence of Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens.

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\ ARTS

week in arts & CULTURE West Flanders arts centres join forces Festival van Vlaanderen Kortrijk and De Kreun will merge in 2017, the arts organisations have announced.

Their new joint home will be in the Track music centre, which will be renovated at a cost of €4 million to the city of Kortrijk. At the same time, arts centre De Werf in Bruges will merge with Vrijstaat O from Ostend. De Werf specialises in jazz and experimental theatre; Vrijstaat O covers music, stage, visual arts and literature. The next major round of subsidies from the government of Flanders – for the years 2017-2022 – will be decided next year, and the question of future subsidies is a major impetus towards merging.

Flemish directors head up Peaky Blinders, House of Cards Antwerp-based director Jakob Verbruggen is heading to the US to direct two episodes of the popular Netflix series House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Verbruggen is known for his work on the Flemish TV series Code 37 and the British series The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson. Flemish director Tim Mielants, meanwhile, has been hired to head up the entire third season of the BBC2 gangster drama Peaky Blinders. The series stars Cillian Murphy (The Dark Night, Inception) as the ruthless gang family boss Tommy Shelby. There is also part in the new Peaky Blinders season for Flemish actor Jan Bijvoet (D’Ardennen). The first season of Peaky Blinders premieres in Flanders this Thursday on Acht.

Lier begijnhof to get €2 million makeover Flemish heritage minister Geert Bourgeois has approved a grant of €2,198,000 for restoration to the begijnhof in Lier.

Begijnhoven were originally special housing quarters reserved for single women who wanted to live a religious life without taking the vows of a nun. The Lier begijnhof is thought to date from the 13th century, making it one of the oldest in Flanders, but most of the remaining houses date from the 17th and 18th centuries. There are 26 remaining begijnhoven in Flanders. Eight of Lier’s 162 houses, together with what remains of the old convent, are being restored and modernised to serve as single-occupancy homes.

\ 14

Where regions meet Cross-border festival celebrates artists with a vision Ian Mundell More articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.eu

nextfestival.eu

The Next Festival brings together three border areas in Europe and five cultural houses with very different missions, all with one aim: to introduce their audiences to artists who push the boundaries of what art can be.

I

t’s been a good year and a bad year for the Next Festival, which stages contemporary theatre, dance and performance across the region where Flanders, Wallonia and France meet.

The good news is it has been named one of Europe’s 12 most trendsetting arts festivals, alongside such big names as the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Finland, Ars Electronica in Austria and the peripatetic Manifesta biennial of contemporary art.

The bad news is that the EU funding that helped the festival reach this pinnacle has come to an end. “I hope it is not obvious to the public, but this year is a lighter version than last year,” says co-ordinator Benoit Geers about this month’s festival. “And we are looking now at how we will manage it next year.”

The European Festivals Association award, which recognised both the artistic quality of the festival and the innovation of its cross-border approach, may help unlock new funding. But it is just as important for morale. “It is good to get this recognition, to reinforce the festival’s commitment and ambitions,” Geers says.

Next was created in 2008 as an arts festival for the Eurometropolis, a cross-border economic development initiative that brings together Lille in France, Kortrijk in Flanders and Tournai in Wallonia.

Culture was a low priority in the project, and so five arts and performance houses decided to come together to fill the gap.

They were the Buda Arts Centre and the Schouwburg in Kortrijk, the Maison de la Culture in Tournai, Espace Pasolini in Valenciennes and Rose des Vents in Villeneuve d’Ascq, near Lille. Technically, Valenciennes is not part of the Eurometropolis region, but it was brought in “for artistic reasons” explains Geers.

These institutions remain the core of the festival, with other partners brought in on a yearly basis to extend its coverage of the region.

This year they come from Ypres and Menen on the Flemish side of the border and from Lille, Tourcoing, Roubaix and Armentières in France.

In all, the eighth edition will involve 35 productions, with 70 performances across 10 towns.

The programme each year emerges

© Fred Debrock

Lies Pauwels’ Het Hamiltoncomplex is one of several performances that upsets conventional theatre expectations

from discussions among the partners. “These are five very different houses with very different artistic missions, and very different political and social contexts,” says Geers. This can be challenging, but also produces the edge for which the festival has now been recognised.

Then there is Teatrocinema from Chile, which creates a theatrical performance in an animated decor reminiscent of a graphic novel.

The company uses this innovative approach to recount a story of love and violence in Histoire d’amour.

The cross-border character of the festival reveals itself in where

It is crazy that culture no longer has an important role in defining Europe The aim is to show work that is innovative, setting new standards in performance or creating new trends. “This can be on an aesthetic level or how they develop new techniques or work with different layers or genres,” explains Geers. “It can also be how artists position themselves in a political context, and which artists are currently important in talking about the world.”

A good example is Israeli choreographer Arkadi Zaides, whose performance Archive creates a dialogue between dance and images filmed by people living with the violence of the Occupied Territories. Innovation of a different kind comes from Brussels-based David Weber-Krebs, who explores the communication between people and animals in Balthazar, a performance in which a donkey sets the pace.

performances are placed, with work familiar in one part of the territory being showcased in the others. This year, for example, much-talked about Flemish choreographer Jan Martens takes his performance about physical intimacy, Sweat Baby Sweat, to Roubaix.

Similarly, Lies Pauwels takes Het Hamiltoncomplex to Lille, where its startling choreography of thirteen 13-year-old girls and one bodybuilder will find a new, young audience.

The festival also likes performances to tour in the region, so Brusselsbased Salva Sanchis performs his series Islands in formal and informal venues in Kortrijk, Ypres, Villeneuve d’Ascq and Valenciennes,

13-28 November

before a new compilation performance premieres in Kortrijk.

At the same time, the public is encouraged to cross borders in a free bus service between the towns. “In the bus, we offer them a warm welcome and an introduction to what they are going to see,” Geers explains. “They are dropped off at the door to the venue and picked up afterwards.”

Every effort is made to ensure that performances with speech are accessible for French and Dutch speakers, while international productions can be found in English, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian and even Swahili.

In past years, the festival has also commissioned work that explores cross-border issues, but this kind of project has fallen victim to budget cuts. “We want to work more with artists on how the crossborder context can inspire them to create new work and to share their vision on the subject,” says Geers.

“But during times when financial cuts are upon us, that is not easy.”

The festival has been particularly hurt by changes in EU support for inter-regional projects, so that cultural activities are no longer eligible for funding. “It is crazy that culture no longer has an important role in defining Europe, in removing the negative effects of the borders between countries and in stimulating sustainable collaborations,” says Geers, with feeling. “That’s really hard for us.

But we want to continue.”

Across Flanders, Wallonia and France

\ AGENDA

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Movements of the mind

DMNT

12 November to 28 December

D

ance is often about the body, but how do you dance about the mind?

This is the challenge Flemish dancer and choreographer Ugo Dehaes set himself when he decided to create DMNT, a performance about dementia.

He was inspired by seeing someone he loved slowly lose their faculties, and the distress this caused, both to that individual and his family. “But rather than imitating people affected by dementia, we tried to find a physical translation of what goes on in their minds,” he explains.

Dehaes and two other dancers use unusual movements and complex

CONCERT Damme Flip doet het zelf (Flip Does it Himself): Flemish musician Flip Kowlier of hip hop group ’t Hof van Commerce goes solo. 14 November 20.00, De Cultuurfabriek, Stationsstraat 22

Across Flanders kwaadbloed.com

patterns to represent the shift between lucidity and confusion in the mind of someone with dementia. “Many movements in DMNT are based on old memories of the dancers,” he adds. “They tried to remember how they moved as kids, what physical memories are still present in their bodies after all those years.”

As the performance progresses, movements are lost or the dance comes to a standstill, before resuming with a feeling close to violence. This represents the brain’s effort to make sense of what is happening. “With our own bodies, which are quite young, we try to experience how it feels

\ damme.be

PERFORMANCE Antwerp to lose control over the body,” Dehaes explains.

Meanwhile a fragment of a glider’s wing slowly revolves above the dancers’ heads, symbolising the ungraspable disease that might await any of us.

Yet as well as dealing with the distress of dementia, Dehaes hopes the performance captures

something beautiful. “As dancers, we are very conscious of our bodies and all of their movements. In DMNT we try to forget what we know and start off from a ‘naive’ body. This results in beautiful but unintended movements, based on distant memories.” \ Ian Mundell

FAMILY

Sarah Morris

Sinterklaas arrives in Antwerp

Contemporary British artist Sarah Morris uses film and painting to explore the relationship between social space, identity and power.

Despite their abstract visual language, Morris’ works are very specific in their thematic content, reflecting commissions in cities in unique historical situations.

M Museum, Leuven mleuven.be

Recent travels have taken her to Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing and given her a front-seat view of social issues as diverse as prostitution, propaganda and policing. All are grist to her creative mill. This Leuven exhibition includes a selection of these works as well as a new mural. \ Georgio Valentino

14 November, from 13.00

CONCERT

Blind wine tasting

Hozier

19 November, 19.00 Fiona Morrison knows wine. The Belgian-based Scot is one of the country’s only three certified Masters of Wine and puts her expertise to work as a producer, a consultant and a writer on all manner of vine-related subjects.

Brussels expat club Full Circle invites Morrison (pictured) to preside over a blind wine tasting for members and non-members alike. After 30 years of experience in the field, Morrison has concluded that this is the best way to get to know wine. Forget the labels, forget the guides and dive right into the glass. \ GV

Brussels fullcircle.eu

Across city centre tinyurl.com/intredesinterklaas

Sinterklaas is coming. The man with the long, white beard and great, big book and his entourage of Zwarte Piets (which this year will be sporting soot stains rather than blackface) demand pomp and circumstance. The celestial figure is set to arrive on a steamer via the Scheldt and be received solemnly on the Steenplein by a delegation of local luminaries, headed by Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever. Thence Sinterklaas and Co parade down the Suikerrui to Grote Markt, where the sacred one will deliver a balcony address to all the assembled families. \ GV

FOOD&DRINK

26 January, 20.00 Back in 2013, Irish singer-songwriter Hozier became an overnight internet sensation with the haunting, Grammy-nominated “Take Me to Church”, a searing criticism of the Catholic church’s general hypocrisy and outdated views on sexuality. He has since built up a formidable reputation for live shows and released a strong debut

\ facebook.com/Standupantwerp

VISUAL ARTS Bruges

VISUAL ARTS Until 20 March

Stand-up Antwerp: Englishlanguage comedy night featuring George Egg, Sully O’Sullivan, Gordon Southern and resident host Nigel Williams. 18 November 20.15, De Groene Waterman (cellar), Wolstraat 7

Goedele Peeters: Solo exhibition by the Flemish artist, featuring sketches, sculptures and video installations. Until 27 December, Pinsart, Genthof 21 \ pinsart.be

FAMILY Bruges The Magic Piano: Pianist Nikolaas Kende performs works by Chopin set to short animated films (ages 6+).

15 November 15.00, Concertgebouw \ concertgebouw.be

EVENT Ghent

get tic

kets n ow

De Community Gent Expat Night: Free event in English, featuring an introduction by Ghent mayor Daniël Termont on how the city works to help expats living and working in Ghent, and a talk by professor Barney Jordaan on “Surviving in the Corporate Jungle: what we can learn from Nature”, followed by drinks and socialising. 19 November 19.30, Vlerick Business School, Reep 1 \ decommunitygent.be

Vorst Nationaal, Brussels vorst-nationaal.be

album in which he perfected the delectable blend of folk, rock and smouldering rhythm & blues that made his breakout single such a chart hit anomaly. He knocked it out of the park during previous shows at Ancienne Belgique and Rock Werchter, so you know what to do. \ Linda A Thompson

TALK Brussels AngelSessionBXL: Innovative Marketing: Free series of talks by various speakers in English, including Clo Willaerts, Wim Vermeulen, Hans Similon and Bert Marievoet, on the importance of entrepreneurship and how to market a bright idea to the world, followed by drinks and opportunities for young entrepreneurs to pitch their idea or project to potential investors. 18 November 18.00-20.30, Muntpunt, Munt 6 \ muntpunt.be

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\ BACKPAGE

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Talking Dutch I ain’t got no beef with that exploding chicken Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

Hoe chill is uw Nederlands? – How cool is your Dutch? asked De Standaard in a recent quiz. Doe de taaltest en ontdek hoe chill uw Nederlands is – Take the language test to find out how chill you are when you speak Dutch.

Then came a list of trendy Dutch words that you would only know if you were really cool, like this one: Designerbaby. Ha! No problem there. That’s a designer baby.

Plofkip? Well, plof means to explode. And kip is a chicken. But a plofkip is not an exploding chicken, happily, according to a lively online discussion among translators on LinkedIn, who finally concluded that it was an overfed battery chicken.

Onetrickpony? Easy. Aarsgewei? No idea about that one, but someone on Twitter has helpfully defined it as a lower back tribal tattoo.

Kangoeroewoning. A kangaroo house? No, I know that one. It’s a house where two generations live happily together under one roof, like a baby kangaroo in a pouch. Couchsurfen. Well, no prizes for getting that one.

Herkent u hierin uw eigen taalgebruik – Do you recognise this as the language you speak yourself, De Standaard asked, of is dit betekenisloos gebrabbel? – or is this just meaningless gobbledegook?

Well, some of those words are English, so that’s not such a problem. But I was stumped by aarsgewei. And that exploding bird.

The next challenge set by De Standaard was to puzzle out entire sentences. Like this one: Als couchsurfend belandde hij bij een cougar in een kangoeroewoning – While couchsurfing, he ended with a cougar in a kangaroo house. (Not a real cougar, you probably guessed,

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but an older woman who dates younger men.)

Or how about this one: Guy Verhofstadt spreekt Dunglish in het Europees Parliament – Guy Verhofstadt speaks Dunglish (a mix of Dutch and English) in the European parliament.

And then came this: Yolo, dacht hij, tot ze aan zumba begon te doen in een demikini – You only live once, he thought, when she began to do zumba in a monokini.

And finally: De eerste keer dat hij beef had met een flexitariër – It was the first time he’d had a beef (argument) with a flexitarian (a vegetarian who sometimes eats meat).

As I worked through the six-minute test, it became clear that most of the cool Dutch words came from American and British street slang. And that could be annoying if you were a Dutch speaker. Ik heb niets tegen Engels, maar we hebben ook een eigen taal – I don’t have anything against English, but we do have our own language, someone complained on an internet forum.

You might agree, but most Flemish people seem to be totally chill about speaking Dunglish.

Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

Mary Novakovich @mary_novakovich Preparing for my return visit to Bruges later this month by doing important research, namely watching In Bruges for the umpteenth time.

Kolby Schnelli @kolbyster Hasselt, Belgium. (not snow.. soap bubbles. some sort of film set) http://bit.ly/1kFdtf2

Lily D’Penha @LilyDPenha Bruges left me high. Ghent has me hyperventilating. Greetings!

timmy @GybelsTimmy Chewbacca and me, waiting for the tram in Ostend back to De Haan. Weekend at the north sea #chewie… https://instagram. com/p/9eoLlMzBNR/

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the last word

Should the reactors at the Doel nuclear power plant be taken out of commission permanently after the latest incident? a. That would be a knee-jerk reaction. The incident had nothing to do with nuclear safety so isn’t relevant to the plant's future

50% b. Yes, only one of the four reactors is currently operational anyway, and this is yet another warning

50% while half think the latest event was not serious and should not distract from the reality of nuclear energy being safe and – in the case of Belgium – needed to maintain the power grid. It’s hard to find fault with either position, as you’ll find experts lining up on both sides of the argument, too.

The Doel reactors – like their counterparts at Tihange in Wallonia – do seem to be showing their wear. Do we want to keep on tempting fate? On the other hand, nuclear power has a fairly strong safety record. And besides, what is Belgium’s alternative? The vote reflects the reality: There is no easy answer.

\ Next week's question: Kris Peeters plans to overhaul the laws governing the use of fireworks for the first time in 50 years. What do you think?

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

\ 16

In response to: Major fish fraud uncovered in Brussels restaurants Alessandro Gianini: Not surprised! And what about the fact that some of them serve “ready to eat food” – at least based on the findings from the garbage, few years ago?

In response to: Explosion and fire at Doel nuclear plant over weekend Joey Putseys: Nothing to worry about regarding nuclear accidents, TFOs tend to blow up in Belgium.

Poll

This is something we don’t see often: Opinions are evenly split on the question of whether the nuclear reactors at Doel in East Flanders should remain in operation. After a recent explosion and fire, the safety of the site’s reactors made headlines again.

Half of our readers think Doel should be closed down entirely,

VoiceS of flanders today

Change is gonna come Smoking gun “The old-fashioned picture of a white, Catholic, homogenous Flanders is never coming back.

There’s no use complaining about it; that’s just the way things are.

We have to learn to live with migration.”

Migration expert Johan Wets of the University of Leuven predicts decades more migration to come

Keeping up appearances “I want to help people who are deeply unhappy with their appearance by breaking down the taboo around plastic surgery and hair transplants.”

Ivan Vermeer, AKA Flemish crooner Ivann, has opened the country’s first travel agency for cosmetic surgery tourism, concentrating on trips to Turkey

“We’re hoping this first closure will have a shock effect, particularly when owners realise they don’t get to choose when they have to close.”

A court has issued a closure order on a bar in Ghent for flouting the smoking ban for the first since the law was introduced in 2011

Arch bishop “Everyone wants to know, am I to the right or to the left, progressive or conservative? A person doesn’t even know himself sometimes, so it’s interesting to see where others place you.”

Jozef De Kesel, the new archbishop of Brussels and Mechelen, isn’t giving much away

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