Ft 16 01 20 lowres

#413 Erkenningsnummer P708816

january 20, 2016 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2

politics \ p4

Call me

BUSiNESS \ p6

innovation \ p7

Different by design

education \ p9

art & living \ p10

Real-time comedy

The #CallBrussels campaign, which invited anyone in the world to call phones installed in public squares, was a big success

This year’s recipients of the Henry van de Velde Awards for the best in local design include an Antwerp studio that will stop at nothing

An unlikely combination of improv comedy and hip-hop comes to Brussels in English, and we’ve got tickets to give away

\2

\ 10

\ 15

© Jan Liégeois

A design for life

Housing, shopping and art breathe new life into canalside industrial site Dan Smith More articles by Dan \ flanderstoday.eu

The man behind Kanaal in Wijnegem describes his vision for a project that mixes modern housing, positive energy, art and commerce to revitalise a once-thriving distillery site.

T

he Kanaal residential and commercial development in Wijnegem, just outside Antwerp, will see the creation of a new village from disused industrial buildings on the banks of the Albert canal. When work is complete in the spring of 2017, the complex will include a foundation dedicated to arts and antiques, high-end shopping facilities and 100 artistically inclined apartments.

Kanaal is taking shape in buildings originally designed for a jenever distillery that opened in 1869. The distillery became one of Flanders’ largest, exporting its spirit as far away as Australia. In 1919, a law came into force prohibiting the sale of hard liquor in Belgium and effectively ending distillery operations.

Over the next two decades, the buildings were used by smaller industrial businesses that appreciated the site’s proximity to Antwerp and direct access to the canal. Around

the end of the Second World War, Heineken acquired the site and turned it into a malting house. During this period, eight silos were added to the existing buildings.

Axel Vervoordt, one of Flanders’ leading art dealers, visited the site in the mid-1990s when he was looking to expand his growing antique and interior design business, as well as his extensive art collection. “I saw the first building and bought it immediately,” he says. “There’s a purity in industrial buildings – they show the marks of time. And I like giving old things new energy.”

Over the next decade, Vervoordt acquired all the buildings on the site and developed his grand plan, now known as Kanaal. The first spaces opened in 1999 to house parts of Vervoordt’s collection and offices.

By June of 2000, the monumental “At the Edge of the World” sculpture by British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor had been installed in a small, nondescript building in the middle of the site. “We wanted to give contemporary art a central position,” explains Vervoordt. “The Kapoor sculpture was a gift to the wider Kanaal community. Our goal was to instil positive energy and a sense of peace at the centre of Kanaal.”

Peace and optimism are central to Vervoordt’s methods. “I don’t collect or deal in art that is political or aggressive,” he says. “Today, our society needs peace and universal knowledge. When the foundation spaces are finished, it will be a spiritual experience.”

Though the areas dedicated to the Vervoordt Foundation are among the last to be completed, some parts are already in place. The most breathtaking is the space referred to as Karnak – named after the temple on the Nile renowned for its repeating rows of columns. In the Kanaal version of Karnak, the columns were created in the 1940s to support the vast silos that stored grain for the malting house.

The Karnak room houses the Vervoordt Foundation’s collection of sculptures from the Mon-Dvaravati culture, which emerged in central Thailand around the sixth century AD. The sculptures date from the seventh to eight centuries and represent different interpretations of Buddha. Housing them in this cavernous and spookily lit industrial space highlights the fragility of each sculpture and gives the viewer space to consider them as individual pieces.

For Vervoordt, the room itself is an artwork and an exprescontinued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

Nearly 13,000 calls to Brussels residents during campaign People from 154 countries dialled a stranger on the street as part of #CallBrussels Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

call.brussels

T

he #CallBrussels campaign launched earlier this month to freshen up the image of the capital following the publicity surrounding terrorist connections took nearly 12,700 phone calls in just five days. Footage of some of the residents picking up the phone have now been compiled into a video, released on Monday.

The campaign by tourism agency Visit Brussels involved three interactive signboards on Kunstberg, Flageyplein and Gemeenteplein in Molenbeek (pictured). Each was equipped with a telephone that passers-by were invited to pick up when it rang.

Callers took to the campaign’s website to call one of the phones, allowing anyone in the world to ask locals questions about Brussels. The connections were followed by a

webcam.

Almost three in four calls came from another country, with 154 countries represented, Visit Brussels said. The calls came from Europe but from also as far as the US, Japan, Brazil and Australia. “The hashtag #CallBrussels went around the world and was seen by 9,370,000 people,” a spokesperson said.

The website now shows a video made up of clips from the webcam footage. Questions asked by callers include: “Do you see some people fighting with guns or bombs?” (Answer: “No. Oh my God no way.”) “Is it safe for this moment?”

(Answer: “Of course it’s safe. It’s very safe.”)

Observations included: “There’s lots of people, everyone is smiling and relaxed.” And according to one Australian: “There’s waffles, and you can’t say no to waffles.”

© Courtesy Visit Brussels

Applications for electric car rebates now being accepted Purchasers of new electric cars can now apply for a premium of up to €5,000 towards the price, the Flemish Energy Agency has announced. The premium covers all zero-emissions vehicles, including electric and hydrogen-powered cars, excluding hybrids.

For models with a book value of less than €31,000, the premium is €5,000 for cars bought this year, going down by €1,000 each year to 2019. The most expensive models, costing more than €61,000, attract a premium of €2,500 decreasing by €500 a year to €1,000 in 2019.

The premium is available for four-wheeled

passengers vehicles seating a maximum of nine people and light goods vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tonnes. The vehicle must be purchased new after 1 January and be registered in the Flemish region.

Only privately owned vehicles are eligible, not lease or company cars.

Applications can be submitted online, where information can also be found on how much of the budget remains. The government of Flanders has set aside a budget of €5 million for 2016 – the equivalent of at least 1,000 grants. The website will provide a running tally of successful applications. \ AH

© Mariordo/Wikimedia

Brussels reveals proposal to alter traffic around pedestrian zone Brussels-City council has presented an amended traffic plan for the city centre, two months ahead of the end of the trial period for the pedestrian zone. The new plan sees a return to the previous situation in a number of areas In the Sint-Goriks quarter, Lemonnierstraat towards the South Station and Duquesnoystraat behind Grote Markt, traffic returns to the way it was before the pedestrian zone was introduced six months ago.

As well as closing off the central avenues to all traffic between De Brouckere and Fontainas, the zone also saw changes to traffic entering the city from north and

south, as well as the creation of a wide loop of one-way streets to guide traffic around the pedestrian zone.

The pedestrian portion of Zuidstraat remains car-free except for deliveries, while the remainder, from Bogaardenstraat to Rouppeplein, becomes one-way in the direction of South Station.

The main change can already be seen in De Brouckereplein, where one lane was opened up to traffic between Wolvengracht and Maxlaan last autumn, to allow cars and coaches access to the front entrance of the Hotel Metropole. The city council describes that amendment as a minor change, but critics point out that it effec-

\2

tively undermines the plan of mayor Yvan Mayeur to turn the square into a centre for events and gatherings, with a monumental sculpture. \ AH

Police in East Flanders have broken up what is being described as the country’s biggest-ever human trafficking operation.

The group of Iraqi Kurds are thought to have smuggled as many as 3,000 migrants through Belgium to the UK in recent months.

The syndicate loaded about 20 migrants a day, sometimes entire families, into lorries in motorway service areas at GrootBijgaarden on the E40 and on the E17 at Kalken and Waasmunster in East Flanders. Each migrant paid a fee of €2,000. The lorry drivers are not thought to have been aware of the activity.

“We’re talking about life-threatening conditions,” said the prosecutor’s spokesperson. “The migrants were often placed in refrigerated transports.”

An investigation was started by the prosecutor’s office in East Flanders last year.

The eight men involved were traced and arrested between May and November.

The operation was completed when two key figures operating from the UK were arrested two weeks ago in a joint operation with the National Crime Agency.

Authorities have asked for the two to be extradited as soon as possible. \ AH

23,460,018

45,311

people started their own business in Flanders in 2015, 2.7% more than the year before, according to figures from Unizo. Antwerp led the provinces, with a 5.2% increase

© Courtesy Brussels Observer

Police break up largest-ever human trafficking operation

Belgian franc banknotes still in circulation, 14 years after the currency was replaced by the euro, for a value of almost €151 million.

Unlike BF coins, the banknotes can still be exchanged

passengers passed through Brussels Airport in 2015, 7% more than in 2014, a result of the growth of the low-cost sector, the arrival of Japanese airline ANA and the success of Brussels Airlines

650,000

of employees in Flanders travel to work in a private car, according to figures from HR consultant Securex. A further 11% use a company car

bottles of counterfeit wine and 25,000 bottles of fake cognac and whisky were destroyed by the Leuven prosecutor's office. The goods were seized in a major fraud investigation in 2007

january 20, 2016

WEEK in brief Investigators in Paris have identified the man who blew himself up in an apartment in Paris on 18 November as Chakib Akrouh, 25, a Belgian national who lived in Brussels before leaving for Syria in early 2013. His DNA was found in a car used in the attacks in Paris on 13 November. Akrouh killed himself during a police raid several days later in which a woman thought to be his cousin also died.

Between 80 and 250 families in Flanders are evicted from their homes every week as a result of a ruling by a justice of the peace in a rent dispute, according to figures from the universities of Leuven and Antwerp. Nine in 10 of them involve people on low incomes who are unable to pay rent along with utilities, food and other essentials.

The Flemish Agency for Nature and Forestry (ANB) is to release 80 hamsters into the wild over the next three years, in an attempt to revive the severely reduced population, nature minister Joke Schauvliege has announced. The initial releases will take place in a 50-hectare area of suitable habitat near Tongeren in Limburg.

Once the hamster population in Limburg and Flemish Brabant is re-established, the programme will turn to other provinces.

Islam researcher and academic Montasser Alde’emeh has been charged with forgery of a deradicalisation affidavit he provided for a terrorism suspect, after some of the information in the document was alleged to be false. Alde’emeh was detained briefly by police last week. Shortly afterwards, the lawyer of the suspect, who had been on the point of departing for Syria, was also detained and charged with use of false documents.

An app that connects parents and babysitters has attracted

face of flanders 4,000 potential sitters and 7,000 customers, barely two months after being launched, the owners said. AirBsit shows available babysitters, together with their rating by other users, and covers Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and all of Wallonia.

The Gravensteen in Ghent, known in English as the Castle of the Counts, is to become a moated fortress once again this summer.

Works on the embankment on the water side started in 1999 and required the construction of a dam to expose the area needing restoration. Those works are finally due to be completed this summer, when the dam can be taken away, allowing water to once more surround the castle.

At the same time, the construction site on the Geldmunt side will be cleared, and the former park recreated.

Brussels commune Molenbeek has launched a competition to find the Molenbekenaar of the Year, in a campaign designed to rehabilitate the commune’s image following the terrorist activity now associated with it in the international media. Nominations can be submitted by mail to mer@ molenbeek.irisnet.be by 20 January for consideration by a jury.

The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

Brussels Airport has introduced 18 new security gates to add to the six already in place. The gates are equipped with facial recognition equipment allowing them to check the identity of travellers automatically. The new doors will be able to handle more than 46,000 EU passengers from outside the Schengen area every day.

The Constitutional Court has struck down the automatic right of fathers to give their name to a newborn child in the event

that parents cannot agree on the surname. Since 2014, the law allows parents to give a baby the surname of the mother or father, or a combination of the two. If they cannot agree, the decision reverted to the pre-2014 situation, where the father’s surname is automatically applied. The court agreed that this is discrimination, and the law must change by the end of the year. The court declined, however, to offer an alternative in the event of a dispute.

A species of bee native to the south of Europe has been spotted in the Brussels area for the first time since 1967, the result of climate change, according to the bee and wasp study group Aculea.

Male specimens of Hylaeus punctatus, the yellow-face bee, were seen in Laken and on the grounds of Tour & Taxis in Brussels. The bee has a distinctive yellow and white mask on its head, likes sandy ground with little ground cover and lays its eggs in the soil.

Police in Halle-Vilvoorde are investigating the death of a newborn boy found in a shoebox at a bus stop in Sint-Genesius-Rode last week. Only a few days old, the baby showed no signs of violence and may already have been dead when it was abandoned. Police have appealed for witnesses.

The European Commission has rejected a complaint by the City of Leuven against the Uplace shopping and leisure complex.

The city claimed that mobility works in the Vilvoorde-Machelen area being carried out as part of the plans for the complex constituted an illegal state aid. The Commission found that the works – including a new exit from the ring, works on the Woluwelaan, public transport access and cycle paths – were a general benefit to the whole area and not to Uplace alone.

OFFSIDE Sweet sweet music The singing trio K3, aimed at preadolescent girls, has an image that’s saccharine-sweet and produce an indigestible form of bubblegum music. But all that sugar isn’t just an image, according to Dutch lobby group The Alliance to Stop the Marketing of Unhealthy Food to Children.

As well as being a multimedia sensation to youngsters in Flanders and the Netherlands, K3 are also a money machine for Flemish media giant Studio 100. As well as featuring onstage, on TV, in movies and on records, K3’s smiling faces are also on backpacks, lunch-boxes and snacks like biscuits, potato

© Courtesy VTM

crisps and ice cream.

“All products containing too much sugar, salt and fat,” argues the Alliance, a body made up of consumer rights representatives, paediatricians, scientists and health advocates.

The original K3 are currently on a farewell tour, and the new K3

© Katrijn Van Giel / ImageDesk

Herman Van Goethem There must be many reasons to want to become rector of a university in Flanders, though wanting to create a more metropolitan image for the host city is probably a rare one. It’s the one cited, however, by Herman Van Goethem, who last week became the first candidate to declare himself for the election to head Antwerp University (UAntwerp).

“Antwerp is not a great metropolis, though it is regarded that way in Flanders,” he said. “As a university, we have to be more daring in adopting the profile of a great city. I have the feeling we haven’t exploited that identity enough.”

Van Goethem was born in nearby Mortsel in 1958 and studied both law and history in Antwerp at the same time – the latter without attending any lectures. He wound up with a doctorate in law and a Master’s in history. Now considered a historian, his interest in human rights is clearly a result of both studies.

In 2008, Van Goethem became

involved with the creation of a Holocaust museum in Mechelen on the site of the former Dossin Barracks, which had been the transit point for thousands of Jews and Roma picked up by the Nazi occupier across Belgium and northern France.

The museum, now called the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum and Documentation Centre on the Holocaust and Human Rights, was opened in 2012 by Flanders’ then ministerpresident Kris Peeters, architect Bob Van Reeth and curator Van Goethem, as well as members of the Jewish community.

The university’s gain, then, would be Dossin’s loss. “The two functions would be difficult to combine,” he said. “It will be hard to leave it behind, but becoming rector of UAntwerp is of another order.”

Shortly after Van Goethem announced his candidacy, so did vice-rector Johan Meeusen.

The deadline for submission of candidacies is now closed. The election takes place in March. \ Alan Hope

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

(pictured) stand ready to take their place not only on the stage but also on merchandise. “This is a good moment to decide if they’re willing to use their talent and popularity to do something good, or to continue to support sweets and cookies,” said Bart Combée of the Alliance.

Studio 100 is not deaf to the appeals. The company is reported by the Dutch supermarket chain AD to be considering how to “fine tune” its policy in the light of the evolution of views on nutrition. The Alliance also points out that other Studio 100 characters feature on food packaging, like Kabouter Plop. \ Alan Hope

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

Editor Lisa Bradshaw DEPUTY Editor Sally Tipper CONTRIBUTING Editor Alan Hope sub Editor Linda A Thompson Agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino Art director Paul Van Dooren Prepress Mediahuis AdPro Contributors Rebecca Benoot, Bartosz Brzezi´nski, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana Goodwin, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, 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

\3

\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN Back to their roots

Two coalition parties, CD&V and Open VLD, have rescheduled their leadership elections, but it was N-VA that took the limelight again last week, with one simple statement. The Flemish nationalists want to reopen the institutional debate.

Two reasons prompt the party to make the suggestion. Flemish nationalists are just that: The region’s independence has always been the party’s long term goal. N-VA has been demonised over the issue by the French-speaking parties as it would mean the end of Belgium as we know it.

However, shortly before the 2014 elections, N-VA shifted its focus to economic reform.

That is what would serve the Flemish best, the party stated.

This also made it possible to find a French-speaking ally, prime minister Charles Michel’s MR, equally eager to ditch the socialists. An “institutional peace” for the duration of the government term sealed the new federal coalition of N-VA, CD&V, open VLD and MR. The peace, it turns out, was only a truce. The recent announcement came after complaints from a group of hard-line nationalist organisations. These are not always taken seriously, but it is where N-VA comes from.

Another reason for the change of course has to do with N-VA’s political personnel. The move is an elegant way to relieve Hendrik Vuye of his duties as federal speaker, as he is appointed to translate N-VA’s “confederalism” into bills of law.

Rather unexpectedly, the move created some commotion among N-VA’s parliamentary group, as more than one person sees themselves fit to succeed Vuye. It’s not yet clear if the new speaker will be Peter De Roover, believed to be the leadership’s candidate of choice, if only because his roots, too, lie in the Flemish movement.

Amongst French speakers N-VA’s announcement created even more unrest. Michel was somewhat embarrassed as he was not informed about his coalition partner’s move. At the start of his term, he said that he “had been wrong about N-VA”. The French speaking socialist opposition now says that he was not wrong at all, rather he “has been wronged by the nationalists”.

CD&V party president Wouter Beke has vowed that “not everyone in Wetstraat needs to put on a gasmask every time the N-VA farts”. But this new strategy might set out to do more than briefly linger in the air. \ Anja Otte

\4

Multinationals must repay millions to Belgium, says EU

Commission orders Belgian state to recoup tax breaks it calls illegal Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

T

he federal government must recoup €700 million from 35 multinational companies that the companies saved under a complicated system of tax advantages, the European Commission has ordered. The commission considers the system a form of illegal state aid.

“Excess profit rulings” are intended to make Belgium more appealing to multinational corporations. The government made such agreements with 60 multinationals, though the commission’s objection relates to only 35, for a total of €700 million over the last decade. The system was scrapped early last year.

The excess profits ruling was just one of a series of advantages offered to companies and investors

© Johannes Jansson/Wikimedia

interested in setting up in Belgium. It allowed the Belgian part of a multinational to write off part of its taxable income as attributable to the existence of the group – in the form of know-how, management expertise, co-operative purchase of materials or international reputation. The exact extent of the deduction allowed was determined

by agreement with tax authorities.

“Belgium allowed a select group of multinationals significant tax advantages that are in breach of EU rules on state aid,” the Commission said.

“This is a distortion of competition, since smaller companies that are not multinationals do not receive the same conditions.”

Federal finance minister Johan Van Overveldt said that he will seek talks with EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager (pictured) and investigate a possible appeal against the order. “At the moment we are ruling nothing out,” his office said.

He pointed out that the recovery of the illegally paid sums would be extremely complex and would be a blow to the companies concerned.

Flanders and South Africa agree to better terms for diplomats

Minister-president calls for review of constitution

The governments of Flanders, Belgium and South Africa have signed an agreement to change the status of the partners of diplomats to allow them to take paid work in the country where they are posted. At present, that is not permitted under internationally recognised diplomatic rules.

The agreement was signed in Pretoria by the Flemish general representative Geraldine Reymenants, who looks after the interests of Flemish diplomatic personnel in the South Africa, Belgian ambassador Hubert Cooreman and South African foreign affairs minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

“Agreements like these improve equal opportunities for men and women with a diplomatic career,” a spokesperson for the international department of the Flemish government said. “The days when the partner of a diplomat – usually a woman – had to put her own ambitions to one side and be satisfied with charity work and being a hostess at events are relegated to the past.” \ AH

Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois has called for the Belgian constitution to be open for review by 2019, to allow a new phase of state reforms to take place. Bourgeois was speaking at the Flemish People’s Movement’s (VVB) New Year reception.

Bourgeois (N-VA) said that the silence on community, or institutional, matters at the federal level that was agreed to when the new federal government was forming in 2014 did not mean his government was not executing Flemish policy.

“The community truce does not prevent a party from thinking about how to prepare for the future of Flanders,” he told

Crevits takes steps against Overijse Catholic school Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits is planning to take steps against the conservative Catholic secondary school Sint-Ignatius, which opened in Overijse last year.

The school, located in the Maleizen convent, has strongly criticised the regular Catholic education network in Flanders, which is forbidden by education regulations.

After being approved by the education inspectorate, Sint-Ignatius (pictured) was officially recognised by the government in November. The school adhered to regulations such as the eindtermen –final requirements for students to graduate. Sint-Ignatius doesn’t receive subsidies because it has fewer than 83 students.

The school has been the cause of some concern in the region, however, because it bases its religion lessons on the Mechelse Catechism, which was published for the last time in 1954. Flanders’ Catholic education network and the archdiocese of Mechelen and Brussels – the most senior of Belgium’s Catholic hierarchy –

the audience. “It’s my opinion that the constitution should be open to review in 2019.” That is the date of the next federal and regional elections.

Bourgeois also called on VVB and other non-party organisations to give consideration to the steps required to achieve an “emancipated Flanders”. During the reception, the matter of increased autonomy of Catalonia and Scotland had come up, and Bourgeois called for international recognition of new states.

“The EU membership of former regions ought to be self-evident without having to go through the whole application procedure,” he said. \ AH

Female researchers have less chance to get PhD grant have now spoken out against the school’s curriculum, saying that it is dangerously outdated.

The founders of Sint-Ignatius, on the other hand, have publicly denounced regular Catholic schools because they allow “atheists and Muslims to teach” and their teachers “encourage the use of contraception”.

Crevits has arranged a second visit by education inspectors to Sint-Ignatius, and also asked the education department’s Management Commission to determine whether the school’s criticism of the Catholic education network constitutes an “attack”. A government circular explicitly forbids school managements to attack other education providers. \ Andy Furniere

Female graduates have less chance than their male counterparts of being awarded a grant for doctoral research, according to Katia Segers, a member of the Flemish parliament for SP.A. Segers, who is also co-director of the Cemeso social research department at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), gathered 6,500 applications for doctoral grant funding over the last 10 years. The results showed that male applicants had more than a 30% chance of being successful, while women had less than a 28% chance.

“There are currently more female Master’s students than male,” said Segers, “and their scores are better, yet female students have less chance of being awarded a grant by the Fund for Scientific Research.”

Grants ought to be awarded on the basis of performance and not gender, said Segers. She pointed to research by the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research, which showed similar results: men are 3-4% more likely to be given a grant than women in the Netherlands.

One problem, Segers said, is the number of women sitting in the committees that judge applications: one in three rather than half. That problem, in turn, is a result of bias. “To sit on such a committee you have to have a variety of publications and research to your name,” she said, “and that’s another area where there’s a problem.”

Flemish labour minister Philippe Muyters has pledged to review the procedures of the committees, together with the Fund for Scientific Research. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

january 20, 2016

© Jan Liégeois

A design for life

Art collector values purity of industrial site, now a trendy housing complex KANAAL.BE

continued from page 1

sion of its time. “You wouldn’t design this today,” he says. “The columns would be hollow and more slender, for example. Old walls are abstract frescos of time – only the passage of time can create them. It is so powerful and good for the spirit.”

The Kanaal site includes about 15 buildings. While most date from the site’s various industrial periods, new structures have also been added. Principal among these are the four Cubes.

Designed by Bogdan & Van Broeck Architects from Brussels, every apartment has an “indoor terrace” with a window five to six metres high and four metres wide. From the outside it’s impossible to tell how many floors there are in the building, or where each apartment starts and ends.

The cylindrical Silos were adapted

by Ghent architect Stéphane Beel.

Two of the eight have been cut off at the second floor and replaced with square sections enclosed by glass. As well as allowing light to enter each apartment, these spaces provide a conventional square room that’s central to the home. Smaller windows have been cut into the silos themselves to provide light and maximise the views from the highest buildings in the development.

All the work has been carried out using high-quality materials, says Vervoordt. “We prefer to use materials that age well and that will last.

I don’t believe in today’s throwaway mentality – that approach is completely unsustainable in the long term.”

Every space in Kanaal has been defined using the “golden ratio”, a mathematical formula used since ancient times to calculate the proportions of good architecture and design. The result is that no

two apartments are identical.

Even the smallest apartment in the complex has a feeling of generosity and personality that modern developments generally don’t replicate. Each apartment also includes an indoor garden to

external spaces. Landscaping is being carried out by Michel Desvigne Paysagiste and will see green roofs and naturalistic planting soften the buildings’ hard forms.

Footpaths will provide groundlevel access as cars are limited to

When the foundation spaces are finished, it will be a spiritual experience maintain a connection with the green and watery environment that surrounds Kanaal.

Attention has also been paid to

the underground car park.

Most buildings on the site are multi-purpose. The ground floor of each one is dedicated to commer-

cial activities or forms part of the Vervoordt Foundation. The first and second floors typically house office spaces, artist studios or one of Vervoordt’s antiques and design businesses. Apartments are on the upper levels to maximise the available light and capture the views over the canal.

In keeping with the village atmosphere, a supermarket, bakery and wellness centre will open later this year. The supermarket will be a Cru, Colruyt’s new farmers’ marketstyle shop. Poilâne, one of France’s leading bakeries will open here by the summer.

While the city says that the construction of Kanaal has caused difficulties for locals, city authorities are pleased to see the old buildings reused. “This development

is much better than the factory that operated here,” says community secretary Emiel Sysmans, who praises the residential aspects of the development.

Concerns remain over traffic on Stokerijstraat, which is used as a shortcut to Antwerp harbour during tailbacks on the E34, though, as Sysmans points out, this is not new. “We are confident that the Kanaal development won’t add to the problem,” he says. “We’re also working with the Flemish government to adapt the motorway and decrease the amount of traffic entering the area.”

Vervoordt believes that the project serves as a model for other disused industrial sites. “I firmly believe people will fight to live at Kanaal in the future,” he says.

Who is Axel Vervoordt?

Axel Vervoordt was born in Wilrijk, Antwerp province, in 1947. Already at 14, he was beginning to acquire art and antiques that would later form the basis of his business.

By the age of 22, Vervoordt (pictured) had been able to buy 16 Renaissance houses in central Antwerp. He set about renovating them, turning them into home furnishings and antiques businesses, exhibiting historic pieces alongside contemporary furniture.

“Every piece of art was contemporary when it was created,” he says. “You need to appreciate the aura of an item and integrate it into the home. You need to use it and appreciate it for what it is.”

This approach was revolutionary and quickly enhanced Vervoordt’s reputation as a dealer. In 1972, he married May Schelkens, and the couple began to develop a range of fabrics and upholstery to complement the art and antiques side of the business. The offering has since evolved into the Home Collection, which includes both furniture and soft furnishings.

Since 1982, Vervoordt has regularly exhibited at international art and antique fairs in Paris, New York and Venice. He has also published a number of books on art and antiques and is highly regarded as an expert in the field.

In 2008, he and Schelkens established the Vervoordt Foundation, which looks after their extensive collection and carries out educational activities.

Their two sons have also entered the business. Boris looks after the Axel Vervoordt Company, which includes the art, antiques and Home Collection businesses, while Dick is in charge of Vervoordt r/e, which is responsible for the group’s property ventures such as Kanaal.

© Viktor Bentley

\5

\ BUSINESS

week in business Banking Dexia The ailing Belgo-French financial institution specialised in loans to local authorities is selling its prestigious headquarters in Paris as part of its drastic cost cutting. The company is still burdened by some €238 billion of liabilities following its 2011 rescue by governments of both countries.

Biscuits Lotus The producer of cookies and pastries, based in Lembeke, East Flanders, has taken over Britain’s Urban Fresh Food company specialised in fruitfilled biscuits sold under the Bear and Urban Fruit brands.

The move follows Lotus’ acquisition of Britain’s Nakd healthy snacks brand.

Brewing ABInBev The world’s largest beer group, headquartered in Leuven, is issuing $46 billion in bonds to finance its $110 billion acquisition of the London-based SAB Miller.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Asahi Brewery has expressed interest in taking over SAB Miller brands Peroni and Grolsch, which ABInBev may consider selling to alleviate competition concerns.

Car Parts Carglass The windshield replacement affiliate of the Brussels-based D’Ieteren group is to spin off its Brazilian affiliate to create a partnership with the local Advisia Investimentos. The move follows disappointing results on the Brazilian market as a result of the poor economic environment.

Cinemas Kinepolis The Ghent-based cinema chain has taken over the 14-screen Rouen complex in Normandy from the French UCG group. The facility had 400,000 visitors in 2015 and will be Kinepolis’ 10th operation in France.

Feed Evonik The Antwerp-based affiliate of the German chemical group is building a production unit specialised in feed for shrimp and lobsters. The company has extensive operations in the Port of Antwerp area with some 10 units in the fields of nutrition, materials and infrastructure.

Retail Uniqlo The Japanese fashion brand is opening a second store in the Wijnegem shopping centre in April. The first outlet on Antwerp’s Meir has been a runaway success.

\6

EU investigates state aid to Antwerp port businesses

Inquiry to consider whether arrangement counts as unfair advantage Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

T

he European Commission has begun an investigation into possibly illegal state aid to two of the port of Antwerp’s major businesses: container terminal operators PSA Antwerp and Antwerp Gateway. The complaint was lodged by a third business, logistics company Katoen Natie.

The two companies were granted the concession for container handling at the Deurganck dock in 2004, under an agreement that included a penalty clause imposing a fine if too few containers were handled in any given year.

That was the case in the years between 2009 and 2012, yet no penalties were levied.

In 2013, the agreement was made more flexible, with retroactive force. The Port Author-

© Courtesy port of Antwerp

ity lowered the minimum container volume so that the fines due were reduced by millions of euros. Katoen Natie filed a complaint.

The commission’s investigation will look into

International organisations provide 121,000 jobs in Brussels European and international institutions are the largest employers in Brussels, accounting for 121,000 jobs, according to a report by the region’s tourism authority Visit Brussels.

The Brussels-Capital Region is home to 20 European institutions, 42 intergovernmental organisations, 20,000 lobbyists, almost 1,000 foreign journalists and 5,400 diplomats – the largest diplomatic corps in the world, which includes missions to Belgium, the EU and Nato.

The latter two organisations are the most prominent, but the list also includes offices of the United Nations, the European Space Agency, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank, among others.

Together, they employ 81,000 people directly and 40,000 indirectly – a total of 16.7% of all jobs in the region, bringing more than €5 billion to Brussels’ economy. That makes Brussels the leading congress city in Europe and the second in the world.

More language are spoken in Brussels than any other city but London, said Visit Brussels. The capital is third

© Koen Broos/Visit Flanders

for regional GDP, sixth for infrastructure, seventh for financial networks and eighth most business-friendly.

“This economic and cultural wealth is unique to our region, and is something we should be proud of,” said ministerpresident Rudi Vervoort. \ AH

whether the Port Authority granted an unfair competitive advantage to PSA and Antwerp Gateway (pictured), in which case the action could be seen as illegal state aid to industry.

According to Katoen Natie CEO Fernand Huts, the start of an investigation is only logical, as the practice of ignoring the original container minimum continues, with uncollected fines now approaching €100 million. The Port Authority is announcing record figures for container traffic, Huts said, at the same time as it cancels fines blamed on the slow economy.

Katoen Natie has also been offered a reduction in its fines, he said, but he has insisted on paying the full amount.

Bruyninckx calls for closer co-operation with port of Rotterdam Antwerp port authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx has called for the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to join forces in creating a “critical mass” of harbour facilities to serve central and eastern Europe. That would better position them, Bruyninckx told the Dutch Financieele Dagblad, to compete with the growing power of ports in the south of Europe, such as in Greece, Turkey and Romania.

China is eyeing these smaller ports as a southern entry to Europe, which could mean savings worth billions in reduced transport costs and time.

Rotterdam’s port authority, however, responded negatively to the appeal. “You don’t co-operate just for the sake of co-operation,” spokesperson Sjaak Poppe told De Volkskrant. “Bruyninckx has not presented a concrete plan.”

Rotterdam agrees with Bruyninckx’s analysis that future growth lies in Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary but sees no need to increase its joint operations with Antwerp. The two ports currently work together in the field of petrochemicals.

According to one expert cited by the paper, Rob Zuidwijk, lecturer at the Rotterdam School of Business, co-operation makes sense for chemicals and steel, but not for container traffic. “You have to weigh the operational advantages against the strategic competition,” he said.

Rotterdam would do better, he said, to seek what advantages it can in working with competitors in the south. “If you can’t beat them, join them,” he said. \ AH

Either Uplace or Neo but not both, says Rudi Vervoort The Brussels-Capital Region has room for one new major shopping centre but not two, according to minister-president Rudi Vervoort.

“I don’t think Neo and Uplace can exist side by side,” he said. “There is only room in the market for one project of that size, and, in my opinion, it will be Neo.” Neo is the project backed by Brussels-City, planned for the Heizel plateau and consisting of shops, a congress centre and housing. Uplace is a private project in Machelen, just outside Brussels, featuring shops, a hotel and entertainment complex. A third project, Docks Bruxsel, at the Van Praet bridge on the border of Schaarbeek and Laken, is also under construction.

Vervoort considers Docks Bruxsel to be in another category. “Docks is not only smaller,

© Architectural impression of Neo

it’s offering something different,” he said. “In Brussels, major brands not found elsewhere in Belgium will only be found at Neo.” Docks is aimed more at city residents, he said, while Neo and Uplace, both situated on the ring road, will attract a large part of their clientele from outside Brussels.

Uplace has borne the brunt of the criticism, including legal challenges based on the effect of the complex on the environment, on mobility around the capital and on town centres from Vilvoorde to Leuven. Neo, which is chaired by former Brussels mayor (and Vervoort’s party colleague) Freddie Thielemans, has escaped similar criticism, although last month the Council of State expressed concern about amendments made to the regional plan for the project. It, too, contains too few guarantees for mobility and environment, the Council said.

Vervoort said he expected that the two projects will strike a deal under which only one will remain. Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois, whose government has approved the Uplace plans, did not react to Vervoort’s comments. \ AH

\ INNOVATION

january 20, 2016

Fashion forward

week in innovation

Antwerp clothing projects rewarded for sustainable focus

VIB and Ilvo join forces lesrebellesdanvers.be maakbaar.be

Dan Smith More articles by Dan \ flanderstoday.eu

A

ntwerp’s Duurzame Stad (Sustainable City) initiative aims to create the most appealing environment possible for residents and visitors and to demonstrate that cities offer a positive and long-term future. But it’s not just environmental issues that are being addressed. The funding initiative also recognises projects that can reduce waste and provide local employment.

During the most recent round of funding, two new fashion projects each received €20,000 grants. The money will allow them to test their ideas in real life. Both initiatives are likely to further Antwerp’s reputation as a centre for fashion innovation.

Founded by Emelie Vervecken and Veerle Spaepen, Les Rebelles d’Anvers (The Antwerp Rebels) is working to create a “clothing library” where you can rent contemporary fashion at democratic prices. “We want to see if Belgian consumers are ready for this,” says Vervecken.

To find that out, the women are opening a pop-up shop that will run from April to June. Although they considered establishing an online presence, they wanted to test out the idea in a real shop first. “It will enable us to get feedback directly from customers so we can get our pricing model correct and find out what types of clothing are in demand,” Vervecken explains.

The shop will rent out clothing by both established and emerging designers. According to Vervecken, the concept holds particular appeal for new designers. “It gives them access to consumers and allows them to get the feedback they need to develop, without the need to create a full collection,” she says.

“And because we’re not tied to the seasons, established labels can use our outlet to generate income from stock that would otherwise sit in a warehouse.”

Vervecken and Spaepen intend to stock clothing for both men and women, with a focus on daily wear.

They are considering different payment options – from a monthly subscription that would enable

Flemish companies to save energy through new network

© Courtesy Abstrakt

Les Rebelles d’Anvers founders Veerle Spaepen (left) and Emelie Vervecken want to create a “clothing library” that rents out contemporary fashion

customers to borrow as many clothes as they want to a fee that would let them rent a maximum of 10 items within a fixed period.

“Once items have been rented a few times, we will sell them through the store,” Vervecken adds. “We will do this every month; that will provide additional revenue for the designers.”

tive to create a library of digital designs that can be tailored to each customer. The designs will be shared via a website and produced in a local “maker-space” such as Maakbaar.

“Each piece is made only when someone orders it,” says Dutch designer Martijn van Strien, who started the project. “There is no need for unnecessary stock, and everything is made

There is widespread overconsumption, and a massive amount of generic product is being sold The pair are in talks with a number of designers and labels as well as shop owners in Antwerp. Although the concept of a fashion library has been tried before, they’re confident it will be a success. “As they say, everything has been done before – but not by us. Maybe we can do it better!” Vervecken says.

By contrast, Maakbaar, the other Duurzame Stad recipient, is working with The Post-Couture Collec-

to fit. That prevents unworn clothes ending up in the trash. An additional advantage of local production is that it creates new manufacturing jobs in the city.”

The project was born out of van Strien’s belief that the fashion industry is an industry of excess. “There is widespread overconsumption, and a massive amount of generic product is being sold,” he explains. “For me, the word ‘fashion’ stands for

most of the irrational and amoral aspects of the garment industry: excessive runway shows, bloggers, perfumes, the need to bring in all this marketing just to sell more of a product nobody really needs.”

He is quick to point out, however, that he has nothing against beautiful clothes or looking good. “As long as we enjoy it consciously and without damaging people and the environment. But in order to have a positive influence on the choices consumers make, you have to offer them an alternative that is both more attractive and ‘better’ than the existing model.”

Van Strien has approached a number of recent graduates of the Royal Academy’s fashion department and asked each of them to create a look for the collection. “I’ve asked them to create a piece of wearable clothing in their own style,” he says.

In an earlier project, ONE | OFF, van Strien created a similar collection using fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. “This time we will take the designers to the Paris Fabric Fair to find the materials.

Our focus will be on using sustainable fabrics.”

Limburg researchers detect lung cancer with blood test A team made up of researchers from Hasselt University (UHasselt) and the East Limburg Hospital in Genk has developed a method to detect lung cancer via blood samples. The innovation was part of Evelyne Louis’ PhD research.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in Belgium, but early detection increases the chances of survival significantly. Currently, diagnoses are made via computed tomography (CT) scans, but this method can deliver incorrect results.

Louis searched for a more reliable screening method, focusing on cell metabolism. “Cancer cells want to grow quickly, so their metabolism is interrupted,” said Louis, “which is

Flemish life sciences research institute VIB and the Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research (Ilvo) have signed a collaboration agreement. The combination should help the two organisations to translate scientific discoveries more rapidly into tangible value for farmers, society and the environment. The alliance will accelerate breakthroughs in agriculture and the agrifood chain, the organisations said. VIB will be responsible for basic research, and Ilvo will use applied research and field work to study results in greater depth. They will work together on projects such as climate-resilient crops, examining which soil organisms are beneficial to agricultural crops and detecting allergenic food components.

different from normal cells.”

Louis investigated the possibility of tracking down that disrupted metabolism process through metabolites – molecules that are intermediates or products created through the metabolism process – in the blood’s plasma. “We could detect lung cancer in patients through an analysis of a simple blood sample,” said Louis.

The new method would make it possible to get a reliable analysis much more quickly and cheaply than is currently the case. However, the results still have to be validated; a largescale study has been launched. \ Andy Furniere

© Ingimage

Industry federation i-Cleantech Flanders has launched the new Vleen network. Vleen stands for Vlaamse Lerende EnergieEfficiënte Netwerken, or Flemish Learning Energy-Efficient Networks. It brings together nine Flemish companies from a variety of sectors – including Conwed Plastics, Farm Frites and Moderna Printing – to collaborate on energy efficiency. “The idea is that companies in the network examine activities where too much energy is currently lost and learn from each other’s experiences,” explained i-Cleantech Flanders’ general director Bart Vercoutere. The concept originated in Germany, where more than 260 companies collaborate in more than 50 networks.

Together, the companies saved 2% to 3% of their energy costs annually.

Researchers find remedy for IBS pain University of Leuven researchers have discovered the cause of abdominal pain in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is thought to affect 15% of the population and is characterised by pain, bloating and either diarrhoea, constipation or both alternating.

Doctors have known for some time that the bowels of IBS patients contain high levels of histamine, a compound involved in inflammation. The Leuven team found that the histamine has an effect on pain receptors in the gut, overstimulating them. Based on that finding, the team turned to ebastine, which blocks the effect of histamine on pain receptors. \ AF

\7

Your dailY news

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

\ EDUCATION

january 20, 2016

Finding the connections

week in education Children don’t drink enough water

Collaborative schools project aims to tackle risks of radicalisation Senne Starckx More articles by Senne \ flanderstoday.eu

ARKTOS.BE

R

adicalisation was definitely one of the words of 2015. And though a new project called Connect is officially aimed at severe behavioural problems in general, the subsidy it’s just received wouldn’t have been granted if radicalisation and terrorism hadn’t been in the spotlight.

Connect will be run by Arktos, a Flemish training centre for youngsters, and has received €100,000 from the education ministry to support its work. “The goal of this project is to help schools cope with students who are clearly exhibiting risky behaviour,” explains Ellen Goovaerts of Arktos.

To maximise their success, she says, “we will take both a curative and a preventive approach. In the first case, we can offer help to the school’s management, its student guidance centre or to its teachers to deal with individual cases.

For the latter, we can offer flexible and made-to-measure advice to strengthen the school’s culture.”

Any Dutch-speaking school – in Flanders and in the Brussels-Capital Region – can apply for support.

Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis according to its gravity and urgency. Goovaerts: “We are still finalising the application procedure with the Flemish government, but I expect that once we get started, we’ll have to make a tough selection.”

Deradicalisation has only emerged on the political agenda since the terrorist actions in Paris last year – both the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January and the deadly raids on 13 November. The government of Flanders set up an action plan against radicalisation last spring.

One of the most notable actions was the Tegendiscours, or counter-discourse, collaboration. A

© Courtesy Arktos

network of volunteer imams and Islamic teachers discuss the peaceful and tolerant teachings of Islam in schools.

How experienced are the people of Arktos in dealing with radicalised youngsters? “There’s no magic solution to fight radicalisation,” admits Goovaerts. “We see violent radicalisation as a severe behavioural problem, and in this area, we have years of experience.”

One of the keywords in Arktos’ approach to dealing with youngsters with problematic behaviour

is “connection”. “That’s also why we work with customised approaches.

The extent of ‘connectivity’ within a school environment is often very unique.”

When students feel connected to their classmates, their teachers and even the head, they become much more resilient and able to cope with negative influences from outside the school environment.

“Sometimes a student needs individual coaching to make them more resilient,” says Goovaerts.

“Sometimes a better approach is

to work on the level of the entire class, through which we can incorporate the relationship with the teachers. Important objectives we focus on here are safety, collaboration, communication and an overall positive atmosphere.”

Just as there’s no magic bullet, there’s also no teacher’s manual for identifying students who are at risk of radicalisation. “This is a very subjective thing,” says Goovaerts.

“But I think the teachers are in the best place to judge whether one of their students needs extra attention or not.”

Arktos also focuses on the role of parents. “Close involvement with what their children are doing is a very good shield against radical influences,” she says. “So it’s important that parents are told quickly when their son or daughter shows risky behaviour at school.”

Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits believes that Arktos is the ideal partner for this job. The organisation “has built up huge expertise in reinforcing youngsters’ resilience against radical influences,” she says. “The target group of Connect is Flemish schools with a high concentration of youngsters showing extremely risky behaviour. I’m convinced that these youngsters and the whole school can benefit from Arktos’ high-grade support and guidance.”

Crevits also thinks that education is one of the most important tools in the fight against radicalisation. “Education has an important preventive mission,” she insists.

“Children and youngsters learn how to deal with diversity in the classroom and in the playground. Recognising the other with respect, developing an identity and generating tolerance are issues that take definite shape in a school environment.”

Q&A University of Leuven researcher Elke Van Hellemont recently completed a PhD study on gangs in Brussels – a topic that’s been in the news, following the release of the gritty smash hit film Black Why can’t police and experts agree on whether Brussels has gangs?

A definition has never been developed for what exactly constitutes an urban gang. In Brussels, to a large extent, this depends on the perception of the police, and what we see is that the police’s registration method contributes to an overestimation of the problem.

There are gangs in Brussels, but it’s a very complex phenomenon, so we actually call it a “gang phenomenon”, and young people participate in it in a very fluid manner. The majority of the time, gang members don’t do anything exceptional for their age; it’s only at very precise

moments that they act differently.

What characterises this phenomenon?

Fiction. They construe an image, build up a certain reputation – but that reputation is only partially true. They insinuate a lot, and a lot of what we would call the excessive violence is just a very small part of the violence these young people commit. It’s a type of violence that springs from maintaining that myth – the part fiction, part truthfulness of a gang. So, for instance, when someone says their group is not a real gang, they respond with violence to make it clear that they are.

I don’t see anything that looks like gang activity when I go to the Matongé quarter To be honest, the majority of these young people in general wouldn’t

hurt a fly. It’s important to understand that there’s a measure of crime there, but that crime has little to do with the gang phenomenon. It’s crime they would have also committed if they weren’t in a gang. Take for instance the overwhelming majority of the marijuana business: many young people participate in it to cover their cost of living. There are very few types of crimes that are related to the gang phenomenon.

What I found most disturbing about the movie Black was that it pretended that the most extreme thing to ever have happened in these black African groups is everyday business. So it’s partially true, but the scope it appears to take in the film is simply the product of imagination. \ Interview by

Three-quarters of primary school children in Belgium drink too little water and 92% don’t like using the toilets at school, according to a study by Ghent University (UGent) commissioned by water producer Spa. From September to November 2014, UGent scientists examined pupils’ hydration levels and the schools’ drink policies.

The study was based on urine samples collected at the start of the school day and after each visit to the toilet. The researchers found that 75% of the children were insufficiently hydrated when arriving at school and 53% remained insufficiently hydrated during the day. Hydration levels were higher in schools that provided water during sports activities or at lunch.

UGent awards first DiverGent prize Ghent University (UGent) and the City of Ghent have awarded the first annual DiverGent prize, which rewards the best thesis focusing on diversity and gender. The winner was UGent sociology student Christof Bex, who examined why a disproportionate number of unaccompanied foreign minors – meaning they arrived in Flanders without a parent or guardian – end up in professional education or drop out of school altogether. “Study choices at the start of secondary education are influenced by teachers and guardians but also by a lack of Dutch language skills, financial means, experiences going to school and residence papers,” said Bex. “The support of guardians, teachers and volunteers was essential for their progress.”

Fewer students bullied at school The number of students being bullied at schools in Flanders has decreased significantly over the last four years, according to a study by Ghent University (UGent) carried out at the request of the World Health Organisation. While in 2010, nearly 25% of Flemish students were bullied at least once in a two-month period, this was only the case for 19% in 2014. The researchers surveyed nearly 9,600 students ranging from the fifth year of primary school to the final year of secondary school.

The decrease is the result of campaigns to raise more awareness around the issue, according to Gie Deboutte of Antwerp University’s communications science department. \ Andy Furniere

Linda A Thompson

\9

\ LIVING

week in activities Holiday Fair Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to start planning your next vacation.

Trips to suit every taste, from adventure to luxury travel. Free dive initiations, exclusive deals, ladies’ day and more. 21-25 January, Antwerp Expo, Anton Rijswijcklaan 191, Antwerp, €7 \ vakantiesalon-vlaanderen.com

Winter Evening’s Walk A guided walk through Oud-Rekem, winner of “the prettiest village in Flanders”, through cobblestone streets lit by candles and lanterns. The route includes the main points of interest, plus a storyteller and a drink afterwards.

Reservations required via the website. 22 & 29 January, 5 & 12 February, 20.00, Rekem tourist office, Kanaalstraat 11 (Limburg), €2 \ visitlanaken.be/winteravonden

Spring-Sprong Festival Two days of indoor fun for kids. More than 1,000 square metres of bouncy castles and other games, like an obstacle course, ball pit, giant slides and more.

23-24 January 10.00-13.00 and 14.00-15.00, Sporthal Iham, Bautersemstraat 57, Mechelen, €5 \ moedigenvrij.be

Little Red Riding Hood A traditional English pantomime based on the beloved fairy tale, with comedy, music, song and dance (in English). Reservations recommended on 03 202 46 46. 23-25 January, Arenbergschouwburg, Arenbergstraat 28, Antwerp, €8-€16

\ batsantwerp.be

Winter Walk and Swallow Spectacle An experienced birdwatcher leads this 5km winter hike around Nieuwdonk Lake, ending with the nightly return of thousands of seagulls to their nesting place. Wear hiking shoes and bring your own binoculars. 24 January 14.30, entrance to Nieuwdonk Lake, Nieuwdonk, Overmere (East Flanders), free \ natuurpuntscheldeland.be

Lego Building Day Paradise for Lego lovers: more than 20,000 blocks in one place and other Lego enthusiasts to play with.

Duplo blocks for the little ones. 24 January 13.30-18.00, parish centre, Dorp 22, Nazareth (East Flanders), €1 \ kwb.be/nazareth-eke

\ 10

Young tastemakers

Henry van de Velde Awards fete upstart studio with eclectic interests Catherine Kosters More articles by Catherine \ flanderstoday.eu

haveitmade.be designvlaanderen.be

F

landers’ annual Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels honour homegrown design talent. This year, the Young Talent Award went to Made, an Antwerp studio founded by college friends Simon de Smet and Timothy Macken.

How does it feel to get Flanders’ most prestigious design award?

Simon de Smet: Winning an award was never the objective, of course, but it’s nice to get a pat on the back.

I must say we were surprised to be labelled a ‘young talent’ considering we started our company nine years ago. I guess we flew under the radar for some time, and now that we’ve become more visible, people are like: ‘Who are these guys?’

So, who are you guys?

Made is a design and innovation studio that focuses on products, including digital products, and services. With every project, we try to see things from an end user’s perspective. That way, we guide our clients towards practical solutions.

For example, one of our clients is Barco, a global leader in media displays and visualisations. Their know-how is so technical that they sometimes miss low-hanging fruit.

We pick that fruit for them.

Your list of clients stretches far

A mock-up of the smart mailbox system by Made

and wide. Is it an advantage to work in so many different sectors?

As a company, it is actually sometimes a disadvantage. We start from scratch whenever we take on a new project. But on a personal level, it is a huge advantage, and we try to take the experience we gain in each new sphere with us as we go.

What makes Made unique?

In the last couple of years, we have developed a methodology that places us at the intersection of market research and product development. In Belgium, that combination is quite unique.

Is it a sign of the times that a company like Made, which offers a variety of tailored services

The Henry what?

• The awards were named after

Henry van de Velde (18631957), one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium, and have been awarded by Design Flanders since 1994 • Paul Verhaert received this year’s Career Award for his lifetime achievement steering

Verhaert Company, which creates products and services for other businesses, ranging from furniture manufacturing to space technology • The Company Award went to the Leuven-based Materialise, a pioneer in “rapid prototyping” in the Benelux and now the biggest

3-D printing factory in Europe

• The public prize went to Daily-

Needs, modular chicken coops and gardens for urban farming • The Ovam Ecodesign Awards went to stroller rental service Buggybooker and Rubbish 2.0, which makes wood floors out of reclaimed materials

BITE Where’s the beef? Be Burger disappoints Be Burger, housed in Zaventem’s Stockmansmolen, boasts beef of “culinary delicacy” and a menu created by a “chef renowned in the world of gastronomy”.

Except for the Wagyu, which goes for a whopping €17.50, Scottish Black Angus dominates on the airport-themed menu. I order what seems the most basic burger, the “BRUSSELS (BRU)”: bacon, beer-onion confit, gherkins, iceberg lettuce, “cheese” (the server says it’s cheddar), mustard, “sauce” (the server isn’t sure).

A beeper tells me to come and get it. The paper enveloping the burger encourages patrons to do the right thing, but on the way back to my table I witness several desecrations by fork and knife.

Local dining habits aside, such sacrilege might be forced by inundation: when chefs apply more than one sauce, tsunamis ensue, drowning the meat and turning the bun into an unseizable mush.

© Be Burger

I peek under the envelope. Whole corn flakes – the breakfast cereal kind – crust my bun. Still, I keep an open mind.

I take the burger in hand for Test One: it handles well, can be turned over and back without losing its innards. After two bites, bottom bun integrity is compromised: what should be a firm bed is a soggy mattress torn asunder.

Mustard, “sauce”, melted cheddar – none of

instead of just one product, won this award?

It’s just the way we evolved as a design studio. In Flanders, there are still a lot of companies that specialise in one thing. We wanted to taste everything before we decided and, in the end, we didn’t feel like making a choice at all.

• While the awards honour people and companies, the Henry van de Velde Labels spotlight products. Sometimes, there is overlap. Made, for example, helped develop two products that also received a Label: a digital interpreter station for Televic and Bringme, a “smart” mailbox.

belgianburger.be

which I can discern – become a concoction worthy of squirting into a durum. I can’t taste the meat. Normally, the grind should be thick and the patty loosely gathered to make it chewy.

This grind is too fine or was overworked: either can produce a glutinous mass that disintegrates in the mouth like overcooked liver.

The burger itself isn’t that bad, but it’s a broken heap. I chomp on it, and the patty squirts free and lands with a thud on the pulpy envelope. I try to reassemble, but it’s a mess. And I’m a mess. And my plate is hidden beneath crumpled napkins.

Be Burger, listen up! The fundamentals: the burger is a sandwich; the meat juices are the most important sauce; and bun integrity must be maintained from first bite to last – that is what the bun is for.

And from the burger, only flavour – the meat above all – should burst. Boast about your beef when you can keep it in your bun. \ Lee Gillette

january 20, 2016

My name isn’t “hey sexy”

New book by Flemish journalist reveals undercurrent of sexism in contemporary society Rebecca Benoot More articles by Rebecca \ flanderstoday.eu

W

ith the attacks on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, sexism has been in the headlines more than usual of late. Although the scale of that incident shocked the world, the problem isn’t new.

Last year, Yasmine Schillebeeckx posted a piece on her blog titled Mijn naam is niet “hey sexy” (My Name Isn’t “Hey Sexy”). The 24-year-old described how tired she was of being catcalled and harassed on the streets. When Flemish daily De Morgen subsequently ran the post as an op-ed, it racked up thousands of views and shares.

By and large, women applauded Schillebeeckx for taking a stand, but several men, most notably veteran columnist Marc Didden, said she was overreacting.

In response, a handful women, including Schillebeeckx, created the website wijoverdrijvenniet.org (We Are Not Exaggerating), where they invited other women to share their experiences of street and sexual harassment.

Not long after that, former Limburg governor Steve Stevaert was accused of rape. When it was revealed that the victim pressed charges after keeping quiet for three years, VUB dean Willem Elias loudly questioned her credibility on Facebook. (He would later resign from that role following the firestorm that erupted over his comments.)

In the wake of these events, Flemish journalist Cathérine Ongenae, who has long written about women’s issues, got a call from publisher Harold Polis: They wanted her to write a book about sexism today.

Ongenae leapt at the opportunity. “Inke Hutse at Charlie Magazine also wrote a piece about her experiences, and more than 150 women responded to it,” Ongenae

Ongenae’s new book, #seksisme: Nee we overdrijven niet, takes a broader view. “The website Wij overdrijven niet is mostly about sexual intimidation, but I wanted to do something about sexism in general as that’s more subtly present in our society.”

She went in search of women already working to raise awareness around women’s issues. “I looked for pieces from different types of women, women who could each write about a distinct aspect, whether it was professional sexism or about their private lives.”

Women are often not even aware

ally proves my point,” she says. “If something is considered inferior because it’s all-female, we definitely need this book.”

Though Ongenae acknowledges that men can also be victims of sexist attitudes, she says that this book was meant to focus on women’s experiences. “They are the core group when it comes to sexism,” she says. “My intention was to inform women of what happens on a daily basis, including to them, and I wanted to tell them that they aren’t to blame.”

According to a recent Ghent University study, there are fewer

I wanted to show women that they aren’t to blame

© Koen Broos

Not exagerating: Cathérine Ongenae

says. “She created an interesting dialogue by talking about issues that women deal with every day but that are basically taboo to discuss. If you object, you’re either a nag, or you can’t take a joke. Society just doesn’t want to address

these matters.”

In the weeks that followed the publication of Hutse’s essay, more women started talking about their experiences of sexual harassment and, in the process, put a face to the problem.

of the effects of sexism, she says, “but when you start to question everyday situations, like how you’re the one staying home with your child, you get so much feedback – because you’ve touched on something that is so fundamental in our society but also so fundamentally unfair.” #seksisme features a wide array of women talking about their experiences, from traditional gender roles to unattainable beauty standards to blaming the victim. Across the book’s 10 chapters, the writers prove that sexism goes much further than the wage gap, workfloor discrimination or even sexual intimidation.

Despite the strides women have made in many areas, Ongenae says that misogyny is an ongoing battle. “Many men at the VRT editorial office where I sometimes work said that they wouldn’t read my book because there were no male contributors, which actu-

50 weekends in Flanders: City tripping in Brussels 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.

Brussels can be a difficult city to love, especially in the wake of the last few months of terrorism news. But take a weekend to wander around, and you will stumble across some of the places that make the capital special, like the small art galleries, forgotten squares and hidden shops. \ visitbrussels.be

VISIT BELVUE MUSEUM This former hotel is an excellent place to get a grip on Belgium. It has a fascinating collection of relics related to the royal family,

including the corduroy jacket King Albert I was wearing when he fell to his death while climbing in the Ardennes. You can also visit the foundations of a vanished palace and eat a healthy lunch in a private courtyard under ancient trees. \ belvue.be

SHOP AT PEINTURE FRAICHE This beautiful art bookshop sits in the shadow of an old baroque church. The shelves are lined with gorgeous books on art, architecture and fashion, many of them in English. Students come here from the city’s art and design schools to pick up textbooks at reduced prices. The shop also stocks international art magazines that are hard to find anywhere else. \ peinture-fraiche.be

women working in media today than five years ago. The lack of female CEOs is also baffling, given that women today graduate from universities at higher rates than men.

“No-one knows what happens, but men eventually gain the upper hand,” she says. “Because there are fewer women than men in the workplace, they feel they have to compete more, so there’s little solidarity.”

Women, in Ongenae’s view, also police other women. “What’s expected of us as women is actually forced upon us by women – from how to be a good mother to female circumcision. If you realise what’s going on after reading this book, you will hopefully share this with your own children so that they can be aware of society’s pitfalls.” #seksisme is published in Dutch by Uitgeverij Polis TINYURL.COM/50WEEKENDS

EAT AT DE NOORDZEE Bang in the heart of the food district, De Noordzee fish shop (pictured) serves up fresh seafood at a long counter on the pavement. The order is cooked up on the spot. You can stop off for a plate of calamars à la plancha or a simple bowl of Véronique’s fish soup, washed down with a glass of Chilean white wine. \ vishandelnoordzee.be

DRINK AT MONK A group of locals rescued this handsome old bar after it went bust in 2012. They have kept the wood panelling, mirrors and piano dating from 1894, while the back room has been turned into a restaurant serving generous helpings of spaghetti bolognaise. The beer list has some interesting bottles, and the Sunday afternoon dance sessions are a big hit with hipsters. \ monk.be

STAY AT SWEET BRUSSELS Book a room in this stunning 19th-century town house on a tree-lined avenue in the heart of the city. The bedrooms have high ceilings, big windows and old-fashioned bathtubs. The neighbourhood, once neglected, is starting to look Parisian. \ Derek Blyth © Courtesy Noordzee

\ sweetbrussels.be

\ 11

Your guide to life in Belgium The autumn issue of The Bulletin Newcomer is your guide to making the most of life in Belgium. It mixes practical information with features on the new cultural season, accessibility for people with reduced mobility, parenting, finance and lifestyle topics.

Newcomer THE DEF INIT IVE

GUID E TO SET TLIN G IN BEL GIUM

Curtain up on the new arts season How hand icap-friendly is Belgium?

The chall enges of pa renting abro Your hand ad s-on guide to expat life

COME IN ...and make yourself at h o m e in Belgium

Plus our new Health Guide – 25 pages of interviews, articles and essential addresses, in response to the massive demand by Belgium’s international community for information on the country’s medical sector.

AUTU MN 2015 €4,95

PLUS HE ALTH

GU ID E: INTE

001_001_NC 1502_cover_ P.indd 2

DEPOT BRUXEL LES X

RV IEWS, AD

VI CE & ES SE

NTIA L AD DR

ES SE S

OUT SOON

Pick up your copy at newsstands or at www.thebulletin.be

IT’S EASIER THAN EVER TO WORK ABROAD. IN A CHANGING WORLD,

FREE PREMIUM PACK* Expats, make your life in Belgium easier:

3 multi-currency accounts + online banking + Gold credit cards* + many more advantages!

To help you settle in, BNP Paribas Fortis offers you personalised solutions, from day-to-day banking to savings & investments, from insurance to loans.

Visit your nearest BNP Paribas Fortis expat branch.

bnpparibasfortis.be/expatinbelgium

* Subject to approval of your application. More info via bnpparibasfortis.be/expatinbelgium Publisher: A. Moenaert, BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV, Montagne du Parc/Warandeberg 3, 1000 Brussels, RPM Brussels, TVA BE 0403.199.702, FSMA n° 25,879 A

\ ARTS

january 20, 2016

Dance of a new era

Theatre group close crisis trilogy with a sense of hope and a bit of advice Tom Peeters More articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu

NIEUWSTEDELIJK.BE

Nieuwstedelijk’s follow-up to Greed and Angst looks for the positive following years of economic and political crisis, with the art frequently imitating life.

I

t took a while for theatre director Stijn Devillé to find the hope he was looking for as the closing chapter of his crisis trilogy.

Hebzucht (Greed) from 2012 and Angst (Fear) from 2014 showed the depressing state of our economic and political system, and the news hasn’t been getting any better.

But we’ve just arrived, says Devillé, in a far more fundamental era of change. “The fact it took a lot of sweat to find out where the hope was hiding is one of the reasons Hoop (Hope) is set in 2018,” he explains. “I just presumed the world wasn’t ready for this yet.”

But eventually, time turned out to be on the side of his Nieuwstedelijk team, still under the Braakland/ZheBilding umbrella when he launched the trilogy in 2012.

In recent months, there has been an increase in all sorts of bottomup co-operatives and sharing initiatives aimed at sustainability, Devillé has noticed. “Or take this bloke from the Netherlands who wants to reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans and started a crowdfunding campaign to reach his goal. Two years ago, I didn’t think we would have got so far.”

That Dutch CEO of The Ocean Cleanup could be a role model for Egon Starck, the young entrepreneur Devillé introduces in Hoop, which is on tour now. While eating steamed vegetables (prepared in his washing machine) and working out, he gradually succeeds in convincing friends – and enemies – of the future potential of his smart transport plans, which he calls Hypertube.

Devillé found the inspiration for this high-speed, energy-efficient transport system when taking a closer look at the Hyperloop by

© Katrijn Van Giel

Sara Vertongen (left) plays the finance minister and Erik Van Herreweghe her dead father in Hoop

engineer Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors.

Other aspects of the play also coincided with current events such as a political discussion around extending the operations of nuclear facilities. “But they debated it a week before our show opened,” says Devillé. “And what’s even more striking is that the energy minister in our play claims distortion of competition is one of the reasons she doesn’t want to restart the old nuclear reactors.”

In Hoop, old reactors have already been written off and are preventing other companies from investing in sustainable energy. “That’s exactly the same criticism our government received.”

Devillé believes in the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction: “After restarting these reactors,” he says, “I hear we will have to subsidise gas-powered plants since they won’t be profitable any longer.”

Actor Sara Vertongen is promi-

nent in all three parts of the trilogy.

“Actors always seem like visionaries in Stijn’s work,” she says. “But that’s only an impression. He just absorbs and processes the ideas he picks up during his research.”

Audiences reacted to Hebzucht and Angst with powerful emotions such as indignation and anger (“No, that can’t be true!”, “We can’t let them get away with that!”) but with something more like empowerment to Hoop.

“Sometimes you just need someone who gathers it all together,” says Vertongen. In the role of Gwendolyn Lallemand, she started the trilogy as a young professor of public finance, soon became the rising star of the liberal party and eventually finance minister.

In Hoop, we meet her as the minister of economy and energy in a new government. As a citizen, Vertongen is already convinced that the planet needs to head in a more sustainable direction. As

Lallemand, she needs to suffer her own personal disaster before she can see clearly and take some drastic decisions.

“It’s always nice to play a character whose personality is ideologically the opposite of your own,” says Vertongen. “Sadly, this shift only takes place when the clock starts ticking. People are only prepared to change their behaviour when there’s a knife at their throat.”

While Vertongen is still waiting for a moment of mass indignation and some kind of revolution, Tom Van Bauwel, who plays the Christiandemocrat Luc Ackermans, believes in evolution. The prime minister in Angst is now mayor of a major city and personifies the growing power of local authorities in this new era.

“This was one of the most inspiring things I discovered during

Until 25 March

my research,” says Devillé, pointing out that 40% of all Europeans live in cities in which the mayor has signed a climate protocol. “In Belgium, it’s local authorities who are taking the major actions.”

Major media now report on influential books by Benjamin Barber (If Mayors Ruled the World) and Jeremy Rifkin (The Third Industrial Revolution), both of which were important research material for Hoop, Van Bauwel points out. “Where we used to shrug our shoulders and say ‘But what can we do about it?’, now I see people inspired by local initiatives and more open to discussions.”

By the end of Hoop, even the former European commissioner Tina (“There Is No Alternative”) Krimp is dancing to the tune of the four Es of the new era: enable, encourage, exemplify, engage.

Only Lallemand’s father, a former politician and bank director, keeps resisting. A small detail: He died in 2008. But throughout the performance, he is there as a harsh symbol of a former era. Ultimately, it’s a child (a role played by Devillé’s daughter Lena) who deals with this ghost of the past.

As a symbol of innocence and a part of the next generation, the child now takes a firmer and more empowering attitude than in the two former chapters of the trilogy. “At the end of Angst, she asked the audience not to be afraid and to choose another way of life,” says Devillé. “Now she offers the audience concrete suggestions about how they can take their life in their own hands again.”

The ultimate decision, though, is in the hands of that audience. The strength of Hoop is that it doesn’t just show the paradigm shift, it also evokes it in both content and form.

Across Flanders

More performance this week Montaigne • Dadanero/Koen De Sutter What does anyone really know for sure? Trying to answer that question was the mission of 16th-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne. In this monologue, Antwerp actor and director Koen De Sutter, a huge fan, explores what his heritage means today. (In Dutch) 19-20 January 20.00, Bourla, Graanmarkt 7, Antwerp; 22-23 January 20.30, Kaaitheater, Sainctelettesquare 20, Brussels \ koendesuttermontaigne.be

Unisono • Abke Haring This isn’t the first play Antwerp-based actor Abke Haring has performed for Toneelhuis. She recently received the Dutch theatre award Théo d’Or for her leading role in Toneelhuis director Guy Cassiers’ Hamlet vs Hamlet. After a rather chaotic ensemble play, she has shifted to a quiet solo

with the intensity of a ritual (pictured). (In Dutch) 21 January 20.15, CC Maasmechelen, Koninginnelaan 42; 3-4 February, Campo Nieuwpoorttheater, Nieuwpoort 31, Ghent \ toneelhuis.be

Muziekjes en Mechaniekjes Dilbeek’s cultural centre welcomes some of the most inventive musical stage productions for kids in the Low Countries. Musicians Nicolas Rombouts (Dez Mona) and Joris Caluwaerts (STUFF.) become sound machinists in Station (6+). Drom (5+) relies on suggestive double bass plucking and flute playing. In AaiPet, toddlers learn from magicians how funny iPads can be. 24 January, 13.30-18.00, CC Westrand, Kamerijklaan 46, Dilbeek \ westrand.be

© Kurt Van der Elst

\ 13

\ ARTS

week in arts & CULTURE Rock Werchter is musicians’ favourite festival

The Rock Werchter music festival, which takes place every summer near Leuven, has won Artists’ Favourite Festival in Europe at the European Festival Awards (EFA) in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Pukkelpop near Hasselt was also nominated in the category. Werchter was nominated in three EFA categories, including best overall festival and best line-up. Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel was also nominated for best lineup. Rock Werchter started as a one-day event in 1974 and has since become one of the largest and most celebrated music festivals in the world, hosting 88,000 visitors a day for four days. It has been voted best festival in the world by the International Live Music Conference, the most prominent gathering of concert industry professionals, six times, the last one in 2014.

Japan theme of Brussels flower carpet The theme of Brussels’ flower carpet on the Grote Markt this summer will be Japan, organisers have announced. This 20th edition of the biennial event that sees most of the square covered in flowers in specially designed patterns coincides with the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan. The flower carpet will be on view from 13 to 15 August.

Artist wants to erect giant egg above Hasselt Genk-based artist Koen Vanmechelen, famous for his cross-breeding Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, has revealed a proposal for a giant transparent egg to be mounted on top of the water tower on the former Philips factory site in Hasselt.

The plant was built in the 1950s in the Banneux district to the north of the city. It shut down in 2004 and is now home to the Corda Campus, which houses innovative start-ups and event facilities. Vanmechelen’s egg, he said, would be called “The Future of Now” and provide amazing views across Hasselt but also act as a functional space for meetings and other gatherings. “The egg symbolises the hatching of innovation and creativity that the Corda Campus is today,” he said.

“That’s why the egg would look as if it’s hatching; life emerges.”

Vanmechelen is now looking for funding for the project, which he says would cost between €5 and €6 million.

\ 14

Koen De Bouw (left) and Titus De Voogt in Broer, much of which was shot in Ireland. The movie by Hasta La Vista director Geoffrey Enthoven combines oddball twists with more weighty musings

Getting even in Ireland Geoffrey Enthoven’s new film Broer pulls an In Bruges, in reverse Ian Mundell More articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.eu

T

hanks to the film In Bruges, we know what happens when an Irish odd couple ends up in Flanders.

Now, the favour is returned in Broer (Brother), in cinemas now.

Directed by Geoffrey Enthoven, the film finds two ill-matched Flemings travelling to Ireland in search of riches and revenge.

One of them is Mark, a man who has hit rock bottom. The hotel he runs is bankrupt, and his brother Michel has run off with his wife.

The fact that both subsequently died in a car crash is little comfort.

He still sees them everywhere in the deserted building, phantoms having sex, betraying him.

Then a message arrives from one of Michel’s old flames, Grace, saying that she wants to meet again now that her husband has died. She lives in Ireland. She is beautiful. She is rich. Mark decides to take Michel’s place, take his woman and take his money.

He is urged on by Ronnie, the closest thing Mark has to a friend.

He talks his way into the escapade, hoping for a windfall when

broerdefilm.be

Mark marries the rich widow.

And off they go, one as inept as the other. Grace is scarcely fooled for a moment. Mark and Ronnie, however, are much slower to realise that all is not as it seems.

demand the most of Koen De Bouw (Het Vonnis), who as Mark has to be foolish and funny, yet also serious and sympathetic.

The Antwerp actor is no stranger to weighty roles, but his comic

We wanted to have a really hapless duo, who had to be funny together “We wanted to have a really hapless duo, who had to be funny together,” says Enthoven.

“Those two going to Ireland to get a fortune – it’s impossible! But that’s just one side of the story.”

The other concerns Mark’s relationship with his brother, and the possibility of a second chance in life. “It’s never too late to find things out, and to change,” the director says.

Weaving together dark and light themes such as these has become a trademark for Enthoven, through films such as Hasta la Vista and Halfweg. The two strands of Broer

turns are rarer and smaller. It was one of these, in the lowbrow, low-budget Los Flamencos, that tipped the balance. “He had a really small part as a cop, and he was so funny,” Enthoven says. “I was convinced then that he could do it.”

Titus De Voogt (Welp) proves an excellent comic partner, his clowning accentuated once Ronnie is kitted out in hunting tweeds after a plot twist deprives him of his usual clothes. “It has something Tintin-ish about it as well,” Enthoven observes.

De Bouw’s other foil is Koen De

Graeve (Halfweg), who plays Michel, the memory that haunts Mark. This is not exactly a ghost story, Enthoven insists, referring back to the vindictive phantom in Halfweg. “You need just enough information to know why Mark does what he does. So Michel has to be there at the moments when you feel Mark’s relationship towards him is changing.”

A final important casting decision was the location. After plans to shoot in Canada fell through, the film was homeless for a while.

Looking around Europe, Ireland had immediate attractions – easy to reach and with rural settings that felt far away and mysterious.

When Enthoven and producer Mariano Vanhoof saw Bantry House in Cork, with its long flight of steps leading down to the mansion, they knew they had their key location. But then, Ireland was already in their blood.

“When we were students, we wanted to visit Ireland because of the music, because of the myths and the atmosphere,” he recalls, “so for us the whole picture was complete.”

Flemish artists pay tribute to David Bowie Several Flemish musicians paid tribute last week to mega-star David Bowie, who died on 10 January of liver cancer. Among the many tweets and Facebook posts from politicians and artists were the statements of Flemish director Ivo Van Hove, who directed the stage production Lazarus, based on Bowie’s music.

Lazarus opened in New York last month, and Bowie and Van Hove, the artistic director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, came onstage to take their bows on opening night. Van Hove was one of the very few people outside of Bowie’s family who knew that he had cancer.

Bowie appeared fit on stage, Van Hove said, but “back stage, he just crumpled. He was finished.

It took 20 minutes for him to recover. When he

The Lazarus team, from left: Sophia Anne Caruso, Michael C Hall, Ivo Van Hove, David Bowie and Cristin Milioti

got into his car, I knew it was probably the last time I would ever see him”.

Flemish singer Ozark Henry also had a personal

relationship with Bowie, having met him after the British pop legend was impressed by Henry’s early work in the 1990s. “He expressed admiration for my work at a time when the label was questioning if there was a public for it,” Henry said this week. “But David said: ‘There is absolutely a public for it; he is simply ahead of his time.’ That really opened doors for me.”

Henry covered Bowie’s 1977 song “Heroes” on his latest album, Paramount, recorded with the Belgian National Orchestra. Bowie, he said, “made an album, did promotion, but he was apparently very sick. He carried it so very well.”

Henry also referred to Bowie’s ever-youthful attitude. “He always looked timeless and immortal.

Bowie is forever.” \ Lisa Bradshaw

\ AGENDA

january 20, 2016

Forbidden love, revisited

CONCERT

Romeo en Julia Until 4 February

A

ntwerp’s youth theatre company Het Paleis is reviving one of its most successful stage plays of the last few years. Simon De Vos’ infectious 21st-century update of the Shakespeare classic was shown for the first time in 2013, receiving rave response from both teenagers and their parents.

Ironically, it’s just because the young director didn’t stray from the original text that the performance is so refreshing. A story that’s been told again and again doesn’t necessarily need fancy ornaments or plot changes, as long as it is able to translate the original emotions.

Antwerp

STUFF.: Both a stripped-down show and a late-night dance party featuring the Flemish band known for energetic hip-hop, electronica and futuristic fusion funk, featuring phenomenal drummer Lander Gyselinck. 22 January 20.00 & 22.00, deSingel, Desguinlei 25

Het Paleis, Antwerp hetpaleis.be

Featuring a cast of young actors, an effective lighting design by Mark Van Denesse and a music score by the talented jazz drummer Jens Bouttery, Romeo en Julia evokes the leaping hearts and the grandeur of a forbidden love that’s about to be torn apart.

Last year, while creating a realitybased monologue about the closing of car manufacturer Ford in Genk, De Vos said: “There was only one condition to do this: Everything we said had to be true.” The result was a boulevard — or rather an empty car park — of crashed illusions, but also a heartwarming story about loyalty and solidarity.

That is a sort of mission for

\ desingel.be

© Kurt Van der Elst

Sermoen, the theatre company De Vos established in 2007 while still studying at the theatre academy in Maastricht: Trying to evoke the true nature of the world, in all its complexity (and sometimes innate cruelty), without losing an eye for basic and universal feelings such

CLASSICAL

DANCE

Gavriel Lipkind

The Nutcracker

26 January, 19.30 Berlin-based Israeli cellist Gavriel Lipkind has performed with some of the world’s most celebrated classical musicians on some of the world’s most prestigious stages.

This recital, however, finds him on his own, interpreting Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites in their entirety. Written for unac-

CC Hasselt ccha.be

companied cello and containing some of the 18th-century composer’s signature motifs, the Suites are often excerpted but rarely performed from start to finish – a 2.5-hour feat of physical fortitude as well as musical virtuosity. \ Georgio Valentino

as compassion.

This production suggests that youth are entitled to hold up a mirror to the world, at its best and at its worst. \ Tom Peeters Romeo en Julia tours Genk, Kortrijk and Brussels later in February

24-31 January

Stadsschouwburg, Antwerp

10-14 February

Opera Gent operaballet.be

The ballet of ballets returns to the Royal Ballet Flanders after a 16-year hiatus. This new production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker takes the ballet back to its roots, stripping away over a century of stage interpretation to rediscover the gothic whimsy of the original tale on which it was adapted, namely ETA Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Young Argentinian choreographer Demis Volpi creates a new world, slightly darker and more cinematic, for the familiar characters. Fiona McGee and Wim Vanlessen star as Clara and her Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s score is performed live by the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. \ GV

Irish comedy hip-hop trio Abandoman come to Brussels with its award-winning blend of live music and gonzo comedy. The crossover act combines the wit of standup comedian Rob Broderick and the musical talent of Sam Wilson and Dan Attfield. After five years touring the world – with appearances at such high-profile events as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Glastonbury – these three performers are a well-oiled improv

machine. They are able to take cues from the audience and create novelty hits in real time without missing a beat. (In English) \ GV WIN TICKETS! Flanders Today has three pairs of tickets to give away to Abandoman. Email editorial@flanderstoday.eu by noon on Friday, 22 January, with “Abandoman” in the subject line. Winners will be notified the same day.

The latest instalment of Bozar’ Electronic Music Series boasts an international line-up of experimental performers. The main event is the Belgian premiere of SHXCXCHCXSH’s new audiovisual show.

The Swedish group created the piece in collaboration with visual artist Pedro Maia. Also appearing is Greek duo Mohammad, a fusion of throbbing, machine-generated noise and improvised live strings. Both the instruments and computer programs are handmade.

Finally, Pieter-Jan Van Assche’s solo project Innerwoud deconstructs the double bass. The Flemish musician (pictured) uses every neglected nook and cranny of his instrument to make brand new sounds. \ GV

CLASSICAL BPO winter concert: The Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra presents Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and R Vaughan Williams, featuring flutist Delphine Tchaousouglou and conducted

by David Navarro Turres. 24 January 15.00, Concert Noble, Arlonstraat 82

Antwerp

dbddbb: Brussels-based American dancer and choreographer Daniel Linehan and his company Hiatus perform a piece for five dancers/walkers/singers who search for what it means to be an individual within their rhythmic community .

27-28 January 20.00, deSingel, Desguinlei 25

\ desingel.be

Bozar Electronic Music Series ffact.be

\ handelsbeurs.be

PERFORMANCE

Abandoman

27 January, 20.00

ow

Diamanda Galás: The American singer with Greek roots, who draws international acclaim for her highly original and politically charged performance works, presents Death Will Come and Have Your Eyes. 20 April 20.15, Handelsbeurs, Kouter 29

\ bpho.be

FESTIVAL TTO Theatre, Brussels

kets n

Brussels

STAND-UP 26 January, 19.00

get tic

Ghent

Brussels

Bozar, Brussels bozar.be

In Spite of Wishing and Wanting: Ultima Vez perform a reprisal of Wim Vandekeybus’ 1999 production about a world populated only by men, with footage and dance sequences that flow into monologues about power, fear and a longing for security. 26 January to 5 February 20.00, KVS, Arduinkaai 9 \ kvs.be

VISUAL ARTS Hasselt

Toegepast 20: Looking for the In-between: Winners of the Cultuurplatform Design competition for young designers, featuring graphics, textile, jewellery, architecture and more. Until 6 March, Z33, Zuivelmarkt 33

\ z33.be

© Stefaan Temmerman

\ 15

\ BACKPAGE

january 20, 2016

Talking Dutch It’s a question of ham

In response to: Talking Dutch: It’s a question of ham Emily Darrow: Crying! Top notch reporting 

Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

O

nce again, a headline in a Flemish newspaper had me stumped. ‘Omhoog?’ – “Up?” it read, is de hamvraag in de bergen – is the ham question in the mountains.

It was about a meeting of American bankers in a mountain resort to discuss a possible rise in the interest rate.

I got all that, but I didn’t get the bit about the ham.

In search of an explanation, I visited the website of the Genootschap Onze Taal – Our Language Foundation.

‘Dat is de hamvraag’ betekent ‘dat is de cruciale vraag’ – “That’s the ham question” means “that’s the key issue”, the site explained; ‘dat is de vraag waar het allemaal om draait’ – “that’s the question on which everything hangs”.

Now it made sense. The bankers were holed up trying to decide whether it was a good idea to raise interest rates, or whether that would just make things worse.

That was the ham question. But why ham?

It turns out to be a catchphrase from the early days of Dutch radio. It was coined in the 1950s in a programme called Mastklimmen – Mast Climbing.

Hoe meer vragen de deelnemers juist beantwoordden – The more questions the contestants got right, hoe hoger zij opklommen in een in de studio geplaatste mast – the higher they climbed up a mast placed in the studio. Bovenin hing als hoofdprijs – Hanging at the top was the prize: een gerookte ham – a smoked ham.

Wie het juiste antwoord gaf op de laatste en belangrijkste vraag – Whoever gave the right answer to the final and most important question, de hamvraag – the ham question, mocht de ham uit de mast pakken – could take the ham down from the mast.

That explained the ham, but what about mast climb-

CONNECT WITH US

In response to: Multinationals must repay €700 million to Belgium, says EU Peter O’Reilly: Belgium and Ireland share a lot of difficulties when they are doing their best to compete with giant economies

© Ingimage

ing? Mastklimmen was een spel dat al eeuwen geleden werd gespeeld – Mast climbing is a game people started playing many centuries ago.

In mei 1668 – In May 1668, werd een mastklimwedstrijd te Brussel gehouden – a mast climbing competition was held in Brussels, ter ere van het Viktoriefeest – to commemorate the Victory Festival (held, in case you’re wondering, to commemorate the Battle of Woeringen in 1288).

De klimmers moesten langs een met zeep ingesmeerd touw naar boven klimmen – The climbers had to climb to the top using a rope smeared with soap, om van den top van den mast een stuk vlees af te halen – and grab a piece of meat at the top, according to a 1688 newspaper report.

In its discussion of the hamvraag, the Genootschap Onze Taal compares it to “the $64,000 question” in English. This term also originated in a 1950s radio programme, this time in the US. But while the winners in the American show won enough money to buy a family home, the Dutch got a lump of meat.

Why the difference, you might be wondering. That, surely, is the ham question.

Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

Do you agree with researchers at KU Leuven that parents-to-be should not test their foetuses for a variety of disabilities? a. No. Parents-to-be have the right to be forewarned and to take action if they choose to. It’s their baby

45% b. Yes. The technology is unreliable, and couples are being scared into paying for no reason

45% c. Yes, and the practice should be outlawed. Society was never meant to be “perfect”, and this borders on eugenics

10% are unreliable, don’t offer a guarantee of perfect health and could lead to parents aborting foetuses unnecessarily.

A small minority of you favour a complete ban on these prenatal tests. Children are who they are, and such tests are just the beginning of “designer babies”, you argue.

The rest were remarkably evenly divided. While half of you think a couple should be ready for what may come, the other half thinks the tests could cause a great deal of anguish for no reason – or prove useless in discovering a problem that is actually there – so what’s the point?

\ Next week's question: A study has shown that schoolchildren are insufficiently hydrated throughout the day. Should schools better regulate students’ consumption of water?

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

\ 16

Giovanni Lapenta: Good luck with that.

Betty Tang @beteezy Pinch me, this town feels like a fairytale #ghent @ Belfry of Ghent

Ina Danova @modern_iq Finally a real winter in Brussels @ Parc de Woluwe

Sarah De Deken @SarahDDeken Thanks to my background in the west of flanders, I can understand what my collegues are saying. #onlyonefromantwerpatwork

LIKE US

facebook.com/flanderstoday

the last word

Poll

Pharmaceutical companies in Belgium are offering DNA tests to pregnant women to detect a number of conditions in their foetuses, such as if the baby has a good chance of being born blind, deaf or with Down syndrome. Researchers at the University of Leuven recently spoke out against the test, saying that they

VoiceS of flanders today

Night moves

Music hath charms

“It’s not the slightly tipsy people out and about early in the evening who present the greatest danger, but those who keep drinking and drive home in the middle of the night. But they barely have to worry about being tested.”

“Children have less of a problem accepting us than grown-ups. You see them sometimes standing in the audience, arms crossed and a stern look on their faces. We have to do everything to sing and dance that look away. The great thing is that it really works.”

Anti-drink-driving campaigner Jeremy De Meyer on figures showing that only one in 10 alcohol checks takes place between midnight and 8.00

The new K3 are gradually making their way into the hearts of Flanders, according to Hanne (the red-haired one)

Future perfect

Licking the problem

“I may not know exactly what I want to do, but I know who I want to be.”

“We went to a lot of trouble to limit noise nuisance. For example, we gave the students lollies as they set off for home. Because it’s hard to shout with a lolly in your mouth, you see?”

Actress and communications student Martha Canga Antonio, the break-out star of the film Black, looks forward to 2016

Frank Bax of Hasselt University students’ association on complaints from people living near the Diepenbeek campus, which has 2,075 students and only one place to go out at the weekend

5ELNGFR*bbgbbj+[K\N