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november 30, 2016 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ P2

Climate resolution

Politics \ P4

The Flemish parliament has approved a resolution consisting of measures to eliminate much of the region’s greenhouse gases by 2050 \4

business \ P6

living light

Thanks to researchers at UGent’s bioscience engineering department, a lamp fuelled by living bacteria could soon be on the market \7

innovation \ P7

education \ P9

art & living \ P10

Warm & Woodsy

Houses made of wood are becoming a thing, as homebuyers in Flanders have begun to order whole building kits from Finland \ 10

The man who would be king

a new film injects a shot of hope into deeply troubling political times

lisa bradshaw Follow lisa on Twitter \ @lmbsie

A new movie about a Belgian king travelling across the Balkans and the sea to handle a crisis in his homeland is funny, tender and more politically relevant than ever.

ast September, when Peter Van den Begin was walking the streets of Venice, passers-by would exclaim: “It’s the king, it’s the king!” The easy-going Flemish actor was a little embarrassed by the attention. But he’d better get used to it. Besides starring in King of the Belgians, which premiered to a 20-minute standing ovation by 1,400 cinema-goers at the Venice Film Festival, he played the lead in this year’s Everybody Happy and stars in next month’s Dode hoek (Blind Spot). That last one is about an Antwerp police commissioner who turns to the radical right and decides to enter politics. “So it’s pretty much got its finger on the pulse of society right now,” Van den Begin tells me. As does King of the Belgians, though it wasn’t really meant to. The film follows a week in the life of a fictional Belgian king as he struggles to make it home from Turkey during a “cosmic incident” in which solar storms have curtailed flights and disabled all communications systems. Returning is urgent, however, as Wallonia has seceded from the Belgian state. Travelling by broken-down ambulance, bus, tractor and, finally, a dangerously small boat, the king and his multilingual crew of advisors and PR personnel learn much about Europe – and about each other – on a journey that takes them across the Balkans. “When we were shooting the movie, there was no Brexit, there was no Trump, and the refugee crisis hadn’t really started in Brussels,” Van den Begin says. “So the reality has followed. It feels strange to see the film in this context now.” When he finally saw the movie in its entirety, he says, he realised that “the directors were real visionaries”. Ghent-based directors Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens do indeed make films that record cataclysmic events, the situations that lead up to them, and the human response that follows. Khadak is about the eradication of traditional nomadism in Mongolia, while Altiplano pits Peruvian villagers against the mining industry as a toxic spill poisons the local water supply. Their last film, 2012’s La cinquième saison (The Fifth Season), shows how residents of a small town in Wallonia react when spring never arrives, plunging them into perpetual winter. And it was an environmental incident that led to King of the Belgians as well: the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, which caused much of Europe’s air travel to grind to a halt. “In 2010, there was a convergence of several events,” says Woodworth. “There was a long-term political crisis in Belgium – remember when we had no government? – and then the Icelandic volcano, which caused many people to be stuck where they were.” Woodworth, an American, and Brosens, her Flemish partner in filmmaking and in life, saw a story in The New York continued on page 5

\ CUrrenT AFFAIrs

Het Steen to be tourist centre antwerp’s 13th-century riverside fortress will be fully renovated and extended alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

et Steen, the medieval fortress on the bank of the Scheldt river in central Antwerp, will be given a makeover and turned into a tourist centre, the city has announced. Works will begin in 2018, last two years and cost €9 million. Het Steen was built in the 13th century to repel Viking raiders and is Antwerp’s oldest surviving building. While the word steen in Dutch means stone, it is also used to refer to a palace or fortress, as in the Gravensteen castle in Ghent.

In its long history, Het Steen has served as a prison and a warehouse, and held the collection of the National Shipping museum until 2008, when it moved to the MAS museum. Currently, the building is used by children’s theatre company Het Paleis as a space for workshops. Het Steen (pictured) has also undergone numerous renovations and extensions but has become run-down in recent years. noAarchitecten of Brussels and Bruges won the contract to design alterations and an

extension to the building, which will consist of converting it into a welcome centre for cruise passengers and a tourist facility. A new tower will be constructed on the city side, and a new roof terrace will offer a view over the river, the port and the city centre. noAarchitecten previously worked on the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, Tour & Taxis in Brussels, the Texture Museum of Flax in Kortrijk and the newly renovated Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp, a stone’s throw from Het Steen.

Plan to cut lanes on E40 into Brussels is ‘madness’, says driving organisation

New alcohol guidelines: no more than 10 drinks a week

A plan by the Brussels-Capital Region to cut the E40 westbound from six lanes in each direction to four as it enters Brussels has been described as “madness” by the motoring organisation Touring. The plan was announced last week by the region’s minister-president, Rudi Vervoort. The project is part of the region’s overall plan for the public broadcasters VRT and RTBF sites and the adjoining Reyers complex. The space freed up by losing two lanes in each direction would be made into a wide avenue for cyclists and public transport. Office buildings on Kolonel Bourgstraat would be replaced with housing, and another boulevard would run alongside Reyerslaan. Part of the VRT site would be transformed into a public park, and the terrain would extend into the city boulevard planned for the land that used to be the Reyers viaduct (pictured). Touring has criticised the E40 portion of the plan, arguing that it appears to be government policy

Drinking more than 10 alcoholic drinks a week is now considered problem drinking, according to the new, stricter guidelines on alcohol consumption by the Flemish Association for Alcohol and Drugs Problems (VAD). For the first time, the guidelines make no distinction between men and women. Until now, the VAD has considered alcohol consumption to be problematic from three glasses a day for a man – so 21 a week – and two a day or 14 a week for a woman. About 12% of men and 11% of women in Flanders were seen as problematic drinkers. “We used to only make the distinction between people with an addiction and people without,” VAD director Marijs Geirnaert told De Standaard. “But

to create more traffic jams. The other motoring organisation, VAB, however, described it as “a perfectly logical choice”. Other European countries have been able to keep commuters’ cars out of city centres, a VAB spokesperson said. Exceptions, he said, are cities such as Oslo and London, which have working alternatives. VAB is in favour of the rapid completion of the Regional Express Network rail connection. \ AH

that doesn’t go far enough: we know now that each glass of alcohol is one too many.” Geirnaert referred to studies that indicate a link between alcohol consumption and cancer. The guidelines also feature a number of tips to limit the damage caused by alcohol, such as cutting out binge drinking and having a number of alcohol-free days each week. Geirnaert hopes that a national alcohol plan will soon be created, though talks with public health minister Maggie De Block haven’t yet resulted in concrete measures. The VAD advises substantially raising the price of all alcoholic drinks, banning sales in petrol stations, increasing the minimum age from 16 to 18 and restricting advertising. \ Andy Furniere

Tired seals get private pontoon in Blankenberge Flanders’ minister for animal welfare has opened the first pontoon for resting seals, in the marina at Blankenberge. Seals in open seas often come to the coast to rest but find the beaches too busy with people, while harbour areas are built-up and impossible to reach. At Blankenberge, they had been taking refuge on a pipeline used for dredging work, but that was closed during the summer. Locals noticed the seals’ plight and suggested a floating dock at water level that

the animals could use as a resting place. The idea came through to animal welfare minister Ben Weyts, and the government’s coastal agency worked with Sea Life in Blankenberge to find a solution. They picked a location close to the lockmaster’s former house, where the seals could find peace and quiet. “The seals’ well-being was the priority in choosing a location,” Weyts said. “We were looking for a place where the public would bother the seals as little as possible. But the

location still has an attraction for tourists.” Visitors will be able to see the seals only from a distance. Sea Life has placed signs advising the public that they may not touch or feed the seals. They also learn how to spot a healthy seal and what to do if one looks sick. In that case, Sea Life collects the animal and cares for it, before releasing it back to the sea. As the pontoon was opened, Sea Life released one recovered seal – named Ben – back to the water. “It’s good to see that we

can provide for animal welfare at the local as well as the Flemish level,” Weyts said. \ AH

€16.7 million

available for 60 new research projects supported by the cancer charity Kom op Tegen Kanker, €7 million more than last year and the highest figure ever

members of the Flemish parliament would be sufficient, according to speaker Jan Peumans. At present, membership stands at 124

% 71

35%

football players in the Jupiler Pro League are unhappy with the performance of Belgian referees, according to a poll by Het Nieuwsblad. However, 77% thought referees deserved more respect

extra annual funding from the Municipal Fund for Leuven if its population passes the 100,000 mark, parliament has decided. At the start of 2016, the population figure stood at 98,500

automatic increase in traffic fines that go unpaid starting in July of next year, finance minister Koen Geens has announced. The government hopes to halt the loss of €150 million a year in unpaid fines

november 30, 2016

WeeK in brief An estimated 20,000 people from the welfare, health care and culture sectors marched in Brussels last week to protest against cuts in funding, particularly in areas such as home care for the elderly. After the march, a delegation of representatives met with Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois, welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen and economy minister Bart Tommelein. The government promised to prepare an agenda for negotiations for a new social accord before the holiday recess. Municipal authorities in Flanders are increasingly active on social media, with 73% having a Facebook page and 65% a Twitter account, according to a survey carried out for the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities. Cities with more than 50,000 residents all have both, while three out of four towns with between 20,000 and 50,000 have a Twitter account. Brussels-City council has sold the site of the future national stadium to construction company Ghelamco for one symbolic euro. Ghelamco won the contract to develop the stadium on the Heizel complex. Ghelamco also plans to develop the site with hotels, offices, restaurants and loft apartments. As well as hosting the home matches of the national side, the stadium will also be the new home of Anderlecht football club. The federal police’s new Most Wanted website continues to be effective, with the capture in the Netherlands of Gabriel Fodderie, who was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years for killing a rival gang member and five years for an unrelated homejacking. Fodderie has been at large since and fled to the Netherlands shortly after the Most Wanted list went online. Dutch police recognised him and made the arrest. The Flemish Association of Journalists has issued a statement harshly critical of the prosecutor’s office in Bruges, after Bart Aerts, a

faCe of flanders reporter with the VRT programme Terzake, was detained for questioning in relation to leaked phone taps. The case in question was the contract killing of Stijn Saelens – the so-called Castle Murder. Aerts’ house was searched, his computer analysed, his phone confiscated, and he was held for questioning for several hours. According to the journalists’ union, the action was in breach of the 2005 shield law, which protects journalists’ sources. Khalid El Bakraoui, who carried out the suicide bombing at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels last March, was involved in a plan to extort money from insurance companies in connection with the theft of artworks from the Van Buuren Museum in Ukkel, Paris Match reports. The robbery took place in 2013 and included several works, which have never been recovered. According to the magazine, an undercover police officer presented himself as an intermediary to identify the extortionists. The federal government is spending €117 million to increase capacity and remove network blind spots to ensure that emergency and security services do not lose mobile network service in crisis situations because of lack of capacity. On the day of the bomb attacks in Brussels and Zaventem last March, some emergency workers were cut off the special network known as Astrid because of the pressure on the system. In addition, key figures, including ministers, senior police and military, will have priority on GSM networks. Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois has proposed that Flanders, the federal government and Luxembourg be allowed to sign investment agreements with foreign partners without the agreement of Wallonia and the BrusselsCapital Region. The proposal follows a situation in which Wallonia held up an agreement involving dredging work in Panama, which was supported by Flanders and Luxembourg. As a result of the delay,

Luxembourg went ahead and signed a deal on its own. The Brussels-Capital Region will no longer organise temporary slaughter facilities for the Feast of the Sacrifice, animal welfare minister Bianca Debaets has announced. The region will now discuss alternatives with the Muslim community. This year’s feast saw 655 applications to slaughter an animal at a new modular slaughtering facility, down from 1,566 two years earlier. The capital’s municipalities remain free to organise facilities in their own territories. Flemish microbiologist Peter Piot, a pioneer in research into the Aids virus and the co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, has been appointed to the Amnesty International chair of human rights at Ghent University. Piot was appointed “for his important role in the realisation of the universal right to health,” the university said. Two of the men suspected of being involved in the attackontheJewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014, in which four people were killed, have been released from prison awaiting trial. Nacer Bendrer was released on bail of €50,000 last week, while Mounir Attalah was released “several months ago,” according to the prosecutor’s office. The main accused, Mehdi Nemmouche, remains in prison on remand. Davy Kestens, the Limburg-born tech entrepreneur whose communications management platform TwitSpark raised more than €1 million in Silicon Valley financing in 2011 when he was only 23, has now attracted $20 million (€18.9 million) in venture capital for Sparkcentral. The latest round of financing brings the total funding of the company to €35.4 million. Clients of the platform include T-Mobile, Delta Airlines, Uber and JetBlue. The company is based in San Francisco, with its Europe and Middle East headquarters in Hasselt.

Last week saw the 25th anniversary of what is known in Flanders as Zwarte zondag (Black Sunday), when the 1991 elections saw Vlaams Blok go from two seats in the parliament to 12, and from one Senate seat to five, tripling its vote overall. All other parties in Flanders gave up seats to the Blok, which now goes by the name Vlaams Belang. Belgian society is as polarised now as it was then, according to Nadia Fadil, 38, one of Flanders’ most prominent academics and opinion-makers on the subject of diversity, multiculturalism and race. She was born in Borgerhout, a popular district of Antwerp, in 1978. Her Moroccan-born father worked at Opel Antwerp (now closed), and her mother was a cleaner. She studied sociology at the University of Leuven, later switching to anthropology. She now teaches at the same university within the Interculturalism, Migration and Minorities Research Centre. Her classes include anthropology of ethnicity and race, Islam and Europe and the postcolonial condition. She has published numerous articles in the academic and lay press and is frequently called upon as an

opinion-maker in areas involving Islam and diversity. In 2014, Knack magazine selected Fadil as one of the 10 most influential Belgians with an immigrant background, writing: “We praise her as a leading opinionmaker in the debate over diversity, with her clear and intelligent interventions.” On Zwarte zondag, Fadil was only 11, but already familiar with xenophobia. Her mother was refused service at the bakery because she spoke no Dutch. The secretary of her school was worried that her presence might encourage other Moroccans to enrol in the school. But she found several friends and allies, she told De Morgen last week, attributing her success to a teacher in secondary school who stopped a move to send her to a technical school. She also found support from friends at university and from a professor who saw her potential and took her on as a doctoral post-grad. Lookingbackon25years,shesays the debate is as polarised as ever. “That’s clear,” she told De Morgen. “Yesterday your newspaper gave space to someone [philosopher Wim Van Rooy] who thinks it’s a pity we can’t lock up all Muslims as a precaution. Do I have to draw you a picture?” \ Alan Hope

\ sparkcentral.com

flanders today, a weekly english-language newspaper, is an initiative of the flemish region and is financially supported by the flemish authorities.

offside dear sint Have your children started putting out their shoes for Sinterklaas? Then you could be doing it all wrong, according to the Sinterklaas Society, an organisation that really exists. LastweektheSociety,whichisbased, as you might guess, in Sint-Niklaas, announced that, strictly speaking, the tradition has it that shoes be set out by the fireplace only on the eve of 6 December, with children receiving their presents the following morning. In practice, children in Belgium tend to start putting out their shoes as soon as Sinterklaas sails from his home in Spain to land in Belgium. The fact that Sinterklaas still has

nadia fadil

a major place in local traditions is confirmed by Bpost. This year they dressed up 2,200 red postboxes across the country with a

bishop’s mitre and a white beard for the letters, which need no stamp if addressed to Sinterklaas, Spanjestraat 1, 0612 Hemel. If the sender’s address is also on the envelope, Sinterklaas will arrange for a reply. “Most letters are cheerful and fun to read,” according to Christophe Mairy, who works in the Secretariat of the Sint in the main Brussels sorting office. “But sometimes there’s a sad one in the mix.” This year has seen the total number of letters up by 40% on last year, possibly because the controversy over Zwarte Piet reminded parents to get their kids writing. \ AH

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

editor Lisa Bradshaw dePuty editor Sally Tipper contributing editor Alan Hope sub editor Bartosz Brzezi´nski agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino art director Paul Van Dooren PrePress Mediahuis AdPro contributors Rebecca Benoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Emma Davis, Paula Dear, Andy Furniere, Lee Gillette, Diana Goodwin, Clodagh Kinsella, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Arthur Rubinstein, 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

\ PolITICs

5th Column Peeters’ big gamble

Antwerp is Flanders’ political laboratory. In the past, it was the place new political parties, such as Groen and Vlaams Belang, first took off. City dwellers are less traditional, more willing to try something new. And as Flanders’ biggest city, Antwerp is always influential. In 2018, the battle for city hall will be particularly interesting because two political heavyweights will compete: current Antwerp mayor and N-VA party president Bart De Wever and CD&V’s viceprime minister Kris Peeters. Although their parties are coalition partners in both the federal and Flemish governments, they are not the best of friends. De Wever calls CD&V “the opposition within the government”. CD&V, centrist by nature, tries to counterbalance right-wing economic policies, with little success so far. This has led to resentment and what is known as the “squabbling cabinet”. Peeters, who is moving from Puurs to Antwerp to stand in the local elections, has little hope of becoming mayor. Christian-democrats have a stronghold in Flanders’ many towns, but in larger cities they lack popular support. In Antwerp, as in other cities, CD&V has only a small constituency, the reason the local party officials asked Peeters to move there. The vice-prime minister can, they figure, chip away at N-VA’s votes. In Antwerp, small electoral shifts often produce big results.Thatiswhathappened to the socialists SP.A: Losing some of its Muslim votes to Groen and PVDA two years ago resulted in it having to give up its number one position, and city hall, to N-VA. CD&V hopes for a similar scenario for mayor De Wever. Ideally, the party hopes to become indispensable to the new city coalition. That would put it in a position of kingmaker, giving it a choice between N-VA and SP.A, both much larger, as its partner and far more influence than its electoral strength. For De Wever, Peeters’ move is a manoeuvre to “carry me out between six planks”. He calls CD&V part of a “fourheaded dragon”, with leftist parties SP.A, Groen and PVDA. Peeters’ move is a big gamble, not just for his personal career but also for his party. The local elections in 2018 are seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2019 federal and Flemish elections. Whoever loses in 2018 will not be able to shake off the tag by the next year. \ Anja Otte

Flemish parliament approves ambitious climate plan no more cars that run on petrol or coal-burning boilers by 2050 andy furniere more articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

he sale of cars that run on diesel and petrol should be halved by 2030 and stopped altogether by 2050. That is one of the measures in a climate resolution approved by all parties in the Flemish parliament last week. The resolution consists of measures that the parliament hopes to see implemented by the government in the coming years and decades. In general, the resolution wants to replace the car as the “king of the road” by the bicycle, by giving priority to bicycle-friendliness in new road infrastructure. To reduce the number of cars on the road, the resolution suggests that the government supports car-sharing systems, car-pooling and other innovative transport

services. The use of company cars should be discouraged and more electric charging stations and hydrogen stations installed. This would, in turn, encourage the use of eco-friendly vehi-

cles. The resolution also suggests that boilers that run on fossil fuels such as coal and oil should gradually be phased out. The government should instead invest in sustainable heating through heat pumps or heat networks. Currently, an area of six hectares per day is being covered by construction in Flanders, a rate the resolution said should be halved by 2025 and eventually phased out completely. By 2030, the percentage of renewable energy in overall production should be raised from 10% now to 27%. Socialist MP Bruno Tobback told De Standaard that the plan constitutes a “new direction in climate policy”.

Charles Michel pays visit to British prime minister Theresa May

Lung infection keeps Smet out of commission until January

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel paid a visit to British prime minister Theresa May last week, the first meeting between the two since May took office in July following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. Speaking afterwards, Michel said he had expressed his desire to see what he called an “intelligent Brexit” – taking account of the economic interests of the UK, the EU and Belgium. It was the first time the two (pictured) had met privately since May was selected unopposed following the resignation of former prime minister David Cameron. May has promised to begin the procedure for her country’s withdrawal next March at the latest. Michel said he hoped the process would not be the start of “the dismantling of the EU. This must not give other countries the wrong idea, at a time when Europe is in need of unity”. Michel said he was pleased to have gained some insight into the British view on the subject

Pascal Smet, the minister of mobility and public works in the Brussels-Capital Region, will be out of action until at least January, as he is suffering from a serious lung infection, he has announced via social media. “I’m still in the hospital, but if I stay free of fever, I’ll hopefully be home soon,” he wrote. “Then I’ll have to rest for a couple of weeks. That means I’ll only be fully active after the Christmas holiday.” The condition could have been

from his talks with May. However, he repeated the advice given by others, including most recently the Dutch finance minister, that an à la carte Brexit in the UK’s favour was not on the menu. “I don’t think anyone can hold on to access to the European market and profit from all of the advantages of membership of the EU without meeting a certain number of conditions,” he told reporters, referring to the UK’s desire to have free access to the single market without accepting the free movement of workers. The two prime ministers also discussed other matters, including conflict in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism and relations with Russia. \ Alan Hope

Expert panel to support Flanders’ master architect

The government of Flanders has set up an expert group to support the region’s master architect in his function. Leo Van Broeck was appointed in July, the fourth person to hold the post of master architect, who is responsible for overseeing the quality of architectural and town planning projects in Flanders. The panel of experts will be drawn from disciplines such as architecture, property, construction and town planning. Members will be appointed for five years and will meet two to four times a year.

The panel will be tasked with working out a multi-year plan, as well as annual action plans. The group will be able to give detailed advice from the viewpoint of various disciplines, as well as helping create a strategic vision. “Given the growing diversity and complexity of the problems faced by the master architect,” said minister-president Geert Bourgeois, “they must be able to fall back on an advisory body in questions relating to strategic choices and important projects and decisions.” \ AH

fatal, he said, were it not for his good physical condition and his doctor’s precise diagnosis. The infection fully infiltrated his right lung, leading to pleurisy and pneumonia. “I know that my colleagues at the ministry will more than make up for my absence and ensure continuity. The work goes on.” He gave special thanks to fellow minister Guy Vanhengel, in charge of finance and budget, who has taken over his dossiers. \ AH

Flanders invests €12 million in development co-operation The government of Flanders has approved a proposal by ministerpresident Geert Bourgeois to invest just over €12 million in development co-operation projects concerning climate change, midwife training, agricultural support, women’s rights and HIV prevention. Three projects to fight climate change in Africa will receive a total of €5 million. Half of that goes to the World Food Programme’s action to tackle food shortages in Malawi. The Africa Climate Change Fund, whichreceives€2million,isworking to prepare for the effects of climate change. And the World Agroforestry Centre receives €500,000 to develop an interactive online map of the top 50 centimetres of soil in Malawi to allow farmers to make suitable choices of crops. A project for training midwives in Mozambique will receive €1.3 million towards financing the United Nations Population Fund’s efforts to increase the number of trained medical personnel, extending it from Cabo Delgado province into Tete province. “We want to … encourage other donors to invest in this project,”

Groundnut farmers in malawi

said Bourgeois. “By supporting local people and training them to become qualified medical personnel, we will be able to help reduce the high infant and mother mortality rates in Mozambique.” Other projects include sectoral support for agriculture in Malawi via the Multi Donor Trust Fund, and the Accelerating Women’s and Girls’ Rights Project in Mozambique, run by ActionAid Mozambique, which aims to empower young women and girls by teaching them about their rights and bringing them together in a network of girls’ clubs. Funding also goes to a project to raise awareness of the vaginal ring in preventing HIV. The programme, run by the International Partnership for Microbiocides, covers Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. \ AH

\ Cover sTory

november 30, 2016

The man who would be king a monarch is confronted by circumstances beyond his control in new movie

kingof.be

continued from page 1

Times about the Estonian president, who was stuck in Istanbul after the volcanic eruption. “He was forced to buy a minibus and traverse Europe, like in the days of old. He drove through the Balkans, and there was a photo of him, like, pumping gas. The whole thing was funny and charming and kind of nostalgic.” The directing duo do not make movies that could, by any stretch of the imagination, be called funny, charming or nostalgic. But they have now. King of the Belgians is in fact a comedy, shot in mockumentary style. As the king and his entourage make their way west towards Belgium, they are accompanied by a British documentary filmmaker – who thought the assignment to make the Belgian king look good on a trip to Turkey was going to be dull. The audience sees the action through this filmmaker’s camera. “We had no idea if we really had a comedy until we sat in Venice with an audience of 1,400 people,” says Woodworth. “And the laughter started, and they broke into applause three times during the film. They know our films very well in Venice, and no one expected us to deliver anything light or funny.” She laughs. “I think they were pleasantly surprised.” Although the film is “loaded with politics, it’s not a political film,” she insists. They chose Wallonia to declare independence rather than Flanders for that very reason. “In reversing that political situation, we establish right away that we’re in the world of fiction. If it had been any kind of reflection of reality, it would have added a darker tone to the story.” What they were really keen to do, she continues, “was look at this lonely figure who was born trapped. He has had no chance to determine his own destiny, and we find that really fascinating. A president is different, that’s a choice. But a king; they are born unfree.” So, like in their previous films, they introduce a crisis situation that works to alter one’s behaviour, which, says Woodworth, “is always transformed by circumstances.

Turtle out of water: A monarch and his entourage get lost in the balkans in king of the belgians

Protocol dissolves very quickly. What a fine moment for a man of this stature, to be confronted with something really challenging that would force him to wake up.” It’s a transformative role for Van den Begin as well, who should see an international breakthrough with this film. One of Flanders’ greatest character actors, he’s finally getting the lead dramatic roles that have previously eluded him. “It’s been a special year,” he admits. “I was so happy to do something different than was expected of me, and these are all really actor’s roles. They are like food and drink to an actor”. King Nicolas, he says, was not based on Belgium’s real-life King Filip, nor on any other king. Though he did watch footage of Belgian kings to see how they carried themselves. Then he went off to the coast by himself to get into character.

“I wanted to be on my own,” he says. “I walked a lot along the coast to search for a kind of loneliness. How he’s trapped in protocol, what it does to him physically. It was intense. And then we shot the film chronologically, so I really had the opportunity to get into the character.” Ironically, the actor experienced shooting on location in Bulgaria much like King Nicolas does. “I have never partied and danced so much in my life!” he laughs. “I really enjoyed life. Just like the king.” He also discovered a part of himself he’d never dared visit before. “My father actually died in Bulgaria when he was there on holiday 25 years ago. He had been there a few times with my mother. He always said he liked it because the people were so nice, and it was so beautiful. And now I get this role to play the king travelling through Bulgaria. I felt a sense of melancholy sometimes, as if he was there

with me. He lived the last days of his life here, where I was for the very first time. And that actually helped me to play this character.” We should be so lucky if all our leaders were subject to such transformative experiences. “I don’t know what a small film about the king of the Belgians can do in terms of a hopeful discourse,”

says Woodworth, “but it does have its place because we are all concerned. Decisions that are made in the near future are going to define the new age. If people in power actually look around and pay very close attention to ordinary people, then there’s hope for some sort of harmony, some sort of unity. It’s totally possible.”

Directors Peter brosens and Jessica woodworth

revieW: King of the belgians Belgian King Nicolas III is in Istanbul officially welcoming Turkey into the European Union. He is simultaneously the subject of a documentary shot by British filmmaker Duncan Lloyd (Pieter van der Houwen), hired by the queen to try to prop up the image of her quiet, dull husband. Try to show “his smiles,” she tells a bemused Duncan. In the meantime, Nicolas’ every word is carefully formulated by members of his entourage, and if it doesn’t come out quite right, they have to shoot it again. But the clearly

unhappy Nicolas is used to that. The king’s every word has always been scripted. He was born into a life run by the oft-mentioned “protocol”, which has turned him into a kind of robot, with no idea what he actually thinks or feels anymore. When word comes down that the Walloon region has declared independence, Nicolas and his people must return home at once. But a solar storm has not only grounded flights, it has disrupted all communications systems. There’s only one thing to do: Drive home

across the Balkans. It’s the set-up for a royal road movie that could have come off like broad comedy, especially as the king is played by Peter Van den Begin, not unknown to the genre. But in the careful, measured hands of directors Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens (The Fifth Season), it becomes so much more. From a daring escape with a group of Bulgarian folk singers to a broken-down vehicle in the middle of nowhere to drinking contests with snipers, Nicolas begins to come alive. In

a place where no one knows who he is, he’s finally figuring it out himself. Right down to – in one hilarious scene – winning an argument about who is going to drive. Under the gaze of Duncan’s camera, the king becomes as endearing as any great movie hero. He’s an ordinary man with an extraordinary job, on his way home to save a country. \ LB (In English, Dutch, French and Bulgarian)

\ bUsIness

WeeK in business Hotels marriott The American chain is closing its Brussels headquarters, with the loss of some 135 jobs. The headquarters was previously run by the Starwood hotel chain, operating under the Sheraton brand, which was taken over by Marriot. After the takeover, Marriot announced it was looking to save €250 million.

Travel eurostar The high-speed rail service between Brussels and London is cutting its number of daily trains from nine to seven in the face of reduced demand for travel between the UK and the continent. Each train, however, will have more coaches, pushing capacity to 900 seats per trip.

Insurance Ageas The Brussels-based insurance group is merging the activities of its UK Kwik-Fit affiliate into its British subsidiary. Ageas acquired Kwik-Fit in 2010 for €260 million.

biotech biocartis The Antwerp-based biotechnology group, specialised in molecular diagnostic platforms, has signed an agreement with the Thermo Fischer Scientific in the US to distribute its products on the American market.

Holdings verlinvest The Brussels-based holding company owned by some of the leading shareholders of beer giant AB InBev is investing up to €100 million to acquire Sweden’s Oatly, specialised in oat-based drinks. The deal would be Verlinvest’s second in partnership with China Resources after a recent agreement to develop retirement homes in China.

retail kiabi The French fashion retailer plans to open up to 12 stores in Belgium over the next five years, including in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp.

Construction besix The Brussels-based building group, which recently completed the 14-hectare Dubai Legoland theme park – the Danish company’s seventh worldwide – is bidding the €1 billion Dubai Tower, which is expected to reach up to one kilometre in height.

Flanders approves strategies for international markets

Health, food and data among priorities to improve region’s standing alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

he government of Flanders has approved two new strategies for improving the region’s position on international markets. The strategies were developed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DIV) and Flanders Investment & Trade (Fit). DIV questioned the various parties in civil society about the Flemish government’s trade and investment policy, and worked their responses into a document identifying the region’s main interests and policy targets. The document is intended to be used by all government departments in a bid for full policy coherency. Fit, meanwhile, consulted more than 150 companies, organisations, learning centres and government officials to consider the region’s future and come up with options. That led to a long-term strategy called Vlaanderen versnelt (Flanders at High Speed).

Among the important interests identified are strong data flows coupled with data protection; simple and clear rules on tariffs for goods and services; the implementation of the multilateral investment tribunal contained in the EU-Canada trade agreement; and promoting and protecting cultural diversity. “This trade strategy reinforces the idea that you can trust Flanders to trade fairly,” minister-president Geert Bourgeois said. “Flanders understands its interests and presents its targets in full transparency. Every negotiation is different, but it should be clear from this document that Flanders has no plans to build walls, that we support an open economy and want to integrate with the world economy with a positive vision for the future.” The Fit strategy, meanwhile, includes strengthening the region’s position in five areas: life

Koninklijk Circus management decision taken to Council of State Concert organisers Botanique in Brussels and Sportpaleis in Antwerp have decided to appeal to the Council of State against a decision by Brussels-City council to award the management of the Koninklijk Circus concert venue to Brussels Expo. Koninklijk Circus, located on Onderrichtstraat near Botanique, is owned by Brussels-City but has been managed since 1999 by Botanique. Last year, the city council rescinded the contract. Brussels Expo was then appointed to take over, but Botanique appealed to the Council of State, arguing that there had been no public tender for the management of the venue. When the city council then put the project out to bid, Botanique formed an alliance with Sportpaleis and bid for the contract. But in the end, it went to Brussels Expo Botanique/Sportpaleis are claim-

ing conflict of interest, given the council’s links with Brussels Expo, a non-profit chaired by city councillor for tourism Philippe Close. Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur is a member of its board. The appellants are also arguing that the decision lacks transparency. Based on statements made by members of the city council, the consideration of the bids took into account criteria that were not part of the tender requirements. A motion from the appellants to have the decision suspended while awaiting a final ruling was rejected by the Council of State. \ AH

Flemish investment group takes over Royal Dutch Mint The investment firm Groep Heylen of Herentals in Antwerp province has taken over the Royal Dutch Mint (KNM) from the Dutch state. For a cost of €3.6 million paid to The Hague, Heylen will now be responsible for producing all Dutch coinage, taking over the task run by the state since 1567. KNM not only produces coins in circulation as currency, but also makes special editions for collectors, medals and other coinrelated products. Heylen said production facilities for the Netherlands would remain in Utrecht. Heylen already owns several

Belgian companies working in the production of tokens and souvenir coins. “We are the largest private mint in Europe,” said CEO Didier Clerx. “The European market for coinage is shrinking, but volumes worldwide are growing.” KNM is not profitable, Clerx said, but there is no plan to reorganise. KNM employs 90 in Utrecht. “But we do want to make gains in efficiency,” he said. That includes shifting production to another location in the city. “The mint is now located in a historic building, which is not suited to modern production,” Clerx said. \ AH

sciences and health, food, engineering and technology, smart logistics and sustainable materials, resources and chemistry. Other priorities include encouraging more companies to go international, while bringing more international companies to Flanders, and reducing the obstacles to international trade.

Hotel Metropole staff go on strike Staff at the Hotel Metropole on De Brouckèreplein in central Brussels walked out last Wednesday in protest at the “tyrannical behaviour” of management, who they alleged have harassed housekeeping employee and union representative Luisa Da Motta. Work was resumed later in the day. According to hotel staff, since being elected as representative of the ABVV union, Da Motta, who has worked at the hotel for 20 years, has been subjected to increased work pressure and even harassment. At one point, according to ABVV, she was locked in a hotel room after complaining about the distribution of tips among house-

keeping staff. “There was indeed a mistake made inthedistribution,” GwenaëlOdongui-Bonnard, general manager of the hotel, told Bruzz. “There was no discussion necessary; we admitted the mistake right away.” She dismissed claims that locking the door of the room was intimidation, as the union claimed. In a communication sent to the hotel, the union demanded “respect and equal treatment” for all employees and the creation of a “constructive dialogue”. They also demanded a review of the percentage of tips to be shared by housekeeping and a retroactive payment. \ AH

Governor of Belgium’s National Bank is best paid in eurozone Jan Smets, governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), is the best paid of all of the central bank governors in the eurozone, Bloomberg reported last week. With a salary of €480,000 before deductions, Smets earns €94,000 more than European Central Bank president Mario Draghi. Smets (pictured) also earns more than governors in larger countries – 10% up on German Bundesbank boss Jens Weidmann, and 2.5 times as much as Janet Yellen, chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington. The explanation offered by De Standaard is that, unlike most central banks, NBB is a listed company, with half of the shares held by the government and the other half in private hands. That means his post is similar both to the other governors with whom he sits on the council of the European Central Bank and to the heads of

large companies. When looked at beside CEO remuneration packages, Smets’ looks less royal. Dominique Leroy at Proximus makes €618,950 plus stock options. At Bpost, CEO Koen Van Gerven makes €674,865. Smets also earns less than his predecessor, Luc Coene, who made €540,000. \ AH

\ InnovATIon

november 30, 2016

Surgery illuminated

WeeK in innovation

smart lighting design could cut infections in patients after surgery ian mundell more articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.eu

acteria floating around on currents of air are the last thing you want close to a patient in an operating theatre, yet not even sophisticated ventilation systems can stop them causing infections in around 3% of operations. The solution, according to researchers in Brussels and Leuven, turns out to be more sophisticated lighting above the patient. Lights are a problem because they can create turbulence in clean air that some ventilation systems pipe over the operating table. These eddies draw in unfiltered air from the rest of the room, which may contain particles carrying bacteria. These can then drop on to the patient’s exposed tissues or implants waiting to be fitted, resulting in infections after the operation is over. This problem had been known for some time, but no adequate solution had been found. So when UZ Brussel, the city’s university hospital, began to think in 2012 about expanding its operating theatres it asked the Free University (VUB) to set a PhD researcher the task of finding a way forward. The researcher was Valéry Ann Jacobs, a lighting specialist with an unusual background. After working as a photographer for several years she completed a master’s degree in astrophysics at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). “If you’re a photographer you have to deal with lighting constantly,” she explains. “How light falls on the subject, how it behaves when

From left: UZ brussel Ceo marc noppen, valéry Ann Jacobs and anaesthetist marc Diltoer

it hits the subject, and the visual environment that it creates.” The same considerations apply when you have to illuminate the place where a surgeon is working. Meanwhile, astrophysics gave her the technical background for working with light. “It’s the same whether you study an electrical light source or a star. The techniques are the same, and you use the same kind of detectors and equipment.” Her PhD also crossed disciplinary divides, and she worked closely with colleagues at several university departments: electrical engineering, energy technology and mechanical engineering at VUB; KU Leuven’s Light and Lighting Laboratory; and UZ Brussel itself. “We were all experts in our own fields of study, either lighting, medicine or ventilation, but we could only be successful when we worked together,” she says. “That

meant taking time to learn about the others’ research, to understand their difficulties and take care of them as a team.” The solution they came up with involves placing the lights inside the ventilation unit above the patient, so that they no longer obstruct the flow of clean air. This in turn meant designing a transparent ventilation unit. “We had to devise a light source and find out how we should place it to produce the right kind of beam, and then how the light behaves when we send it through the ventilation chamber,” Jacobs says. The beam of light required for surgery is very specific. “If you have shadows in the wound, that’s very disturbing for the surgeon, so you need to come up with a light source which is almost shadow-free. And if the light source moves, or if the patient is moved up or down, you still need to have enough light.”

The other challenge is that this new arrangement means the surgeon can no longer simply reach up and adjust the light source if it’s not quite right. “You have to build a robot that directs the light source where the surgeon needs it, and you have to build a controller to help the surgeon indicate where he wants the light and the direction from which it needs to come.” Technologies to do this had not been used before in surgical lighting, but could be found elsewhere. For example, the kind of robot that moves, pans and tilts the nozzle of a 3D printer inspired their system for directing the light source. By the end of Jacobs’ PhD, the concept for the integrated lighting and ventilation system was complete. “We validated it with computer software and showed that we could have equally good lighting and better ventilation than we had before.” For example, a reputable computer model showed that 66% fewer particles would get into the operating zone, which should result in much fewer infections. “Our next goal is to build a prototype at UZ Brussels and bring a product to the market,” Jacobs says. “This product will enable safer surgeries to be performed, so that patients will have less pain and discomfort.” It will also be good for hospitals and, ultimately, the government. “They will spend less time and less money on these post-operative infections.”

New living lamp harnesses the power of bacteria teresavandongen.com/sPark-of-life

tion of the microbial fuel With the help of cell technology that researchers from the university is workGhent University’s ing on, which allows bioscience engineercertain bacteria ing faculty, Dutch to produce elecdesigner Teresa tric power from van Dongen has organic matecreated a lamp rial like sugar, that doesn’t acetic acid or require a plug or wastewater. battery. Instead, The researchers it’s powered by developed a bactebacteria. rial fluid that is inteVan Dongen creates grated in the lamp. The design innovations based on alternative and © Hans boddeke bacterial community in this fluid is dominated by Geobacter natural energy sources, drawbacteria, but is diverse enough to ing inspiration from nature and science. She has a background in deal with differences in conditions biology herself, but for her Spark such as a change in temperature. of Life lamp she teamed up with The selected organisms are elecGhent researchers Korneel Rabaey, trochemically active bacteria that Jan Arends and Kristof Verbeeck, can emit small electrons in their who provided her with the right metabolism, thus producing elecmix of bacteria to power the plant. tric current. The lamp (pictured) is an applicaThe lamp consists of four compart-

ments with one special electrode, provided by the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito), in each compartment. The electrodes collect the electrons, powering four small lights. The light is not strong, but is ideal as mood lighting. To emit light, the bacteria need food: one teaspoon of acetic acid about every three weeks. The food can simply be added to the bacterial fluid inside each of the lamp’s four compartments. With this small amount of nourishment, the lamp works 24/7. It doesn’t currently have a switch, but in any case, the lamp can’t be switched off for long, as the bacteria need to stay active to live. Van Dongen imagines that having to feed it could result in a closer relationship between the lamp and its user. The vessel needs to be cleaned in the dishwasher every few months. Refilling is a matter of

filling it up with tap water, adding salt, vitamins and acetic acid. The bacteria remain in the electrode, waiting for the clean vessel to return. The project won a grant from the Netherlands’ Keep an Eye Foundation, with which Van Dongen plans to develop Spark of Life into a consumer-friendly product. “This kind of microbial fuel cell technology will never be a main way of producing energy, but it can be a sustainable alternative for batteries in remote places where replacing batteries is costly,” says professor Korneel Rabaey. “We could use bacteria from wastewater to power lamps in a toilet in a national park, for example.” Theresearchersarecurrentlyapplying the microbial fuel cell technology mainly to make production processes more sustainable. \ Andy Furniere

UHasselt unveils high-tech ecosystem chambers

Hasselt University has officially opened its new Ecotron centre for climate and biodiversity research. Ecotron, located in the Hoge Kempen National Park in Limburg, is made up of 12 ecosystem chambers, which allow scientists to measure, monitor and manipulate climate parameters such as humidity, temperature and concentration of CO2. “A variety of research groups will study the effects caused by climate change above and below ground,” explained project co-ordinator Natalie Beenaerts. Researchers will, for example, examine how longer and more frequent periods of drought influence the water and nutrient cycle in plants, soil and soil organisms. In Europe, there is only one other high-tech Ecotron, in the French city of Montpellier.

Get braces early, say orthodontists

In 2015, more than 10,170 children younger than nine in Belgium were fitted with braces. That is 27% more than five years ago, according to statistics from medical insurance agency Riziv. Specialists encourage parents to fit their children with braces from an early age because it can prevent problems later on. Braces are lighter and can be worn for a shorter period of time than for older youngsters. At an early age, removable braces are often efficient at correcting the problem so that more complicated braces or even surgery can be avoided at a later date, with some specialists recommending braces for children as young as four.

Fresh food donations are ‘perfectly fine’

According to Ghent University’s Department of Food Safety and Quality, food waste in Belgium amounts to 3.6 million tonnes per year. Food banks help reduce this figure but mostly distribute nonperishable products such as dry food and tins. “But there is a major need for more perishable products, like meat and vegetables, to complete the supply,” said the department in a statement. The department examined the limited supply of perishable products and found that, although they were near their expiry date, only one-quarter of the samples showed any reduction in quality. “While vegetables and fruit, for example, looked less tasty, their hygiene and safety were found to be perfectly fine”. \ AF

\ eDUCATIon

november 30, 2016

Sneaking in science

WeeK in eduCation

Point-and-click video game makes science lessons fun for schoolkids toon lambrechts more articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

ava-triX.com

o you know how to power a light bulb with lemons? Ava and Trix do. Together with their cat, Donder, the sisters embark on all sorts of fun adventures, from crafting the lemon-powered bulbs to building rockets out of plastic bottles and water. As you tag along, don’t forget to fill up your toolbox with some essential items – strands of wire, some batteries, a key and a magnifying glass – you’ll need them later. At the end of the journey, the trio have to solve one final riddle to ensure a successful ending, relying on the scientific know-how they picked up throughout the journey; your role is to help them. With the toolbox in hand, you conduct the experiment in real life, and hey presto. Ava & Trix is a point-and-click game for primary schools that adds elements of interactivity and fun to the classroom, with the aim of making science more appealing to children. “It’s a form of learning through experimenting,” explains Dieter Honoré of educational games developer Curious Cats. “We confront the pupils with a problem that they then solve by experimenting with common household items. It may have been designed for

We confront the pupils with a problem that they then solve by experimenting with common houshold items tablets, but Ava & Trix has a real-life component as well.” The focus is on nurturing young children’s passion for science. As a result, Honoré says, Ava and Trix’s adventures are less about the transfer of knowledge than about sparking enthusiasm for technology and experimenting, some-

Verenigde Verenigingen (VV), an umbrella organisation for civil associations, has introduced a new digital platform designed to help schools share their infrastructure with local associations. To encourage the schools to open up rooms, gymnasiums and other infrastructure that often lies unused, the website provides answers to common questions, gives concrete advice and refers groups to the right authorities. It also asks users to add their own advice and best practices. According to VV, the platform can help to improve relationships between schools, city councils and residents. \ slimgedeeld.be

70% more PhD graduates in Flanders © courtesy Curious Cats

thing that regular science courses often lack. The game format was also a clear choice from the very beginning. “One of our developers was really good at science as a student,” Honoré says. “But she decided to go into graphic design because nobody at school made her realise the fun and usefulness of science and technology. Her experience is what is inspired us to develop Ava & Trix for today’s classrooms.” Teacher Aurélie D’Haese of Sint-Bavo primary school in Ghent is convinced of the game’s benefits and has used it in the classroom on several occasions. “My pupils are very enthusiastic about it,” she says. “It is a completely different way of teaching a subject that’s not the easiest to relate to children. Both the characters and the stories are captivating, and the digital format works fine for both students and teachers.” Ava & Trix requires little extra preparations from her side. “For many of my colleagues, teaching science and technology is somehow a sensitive matter,” she says. “The app offers a ready-made method for getting my students excited about

science. We are definitely going to continue with this programme.” The game was launched in October to positive reception. So far 250 schools have put the digital science course into practice, confirming Honoré and the other developers’ idea that science is easier to learn when the pupils are engaged. “We see that children discover the joy in conducting experiments, and they develop skills to formulate and test hypotheses.” Most importantly, Honoré adds, “the app turns the usual classroom dynamic on its head. Ava & Trix does not appeal to common factual knowledge but to skills like trying things out and experimenting. Pupils who lag behind in other lessons often perform best when they work with our app.” With two girls in the leading roles, the game also offers a role model to girls interested in science and technology. “We frequently hear from teachers that Ava & Trix is very inclusive,” Honoré says. “That’s the best compliment we could ever receive.”

Seawater on tap: UGent opens new home for bioscience researchers Three research groups belonging to Ghent University’s (UGent) faculty of bioscience engineering have a new home on the city’s Coupure campus. The building, which was inaugurated on 16 November, not only brings the groups together with the rest of the faculty, it also aspires to high environmental standards. “In terms of construction and design, a lot of effort was put into making the whole building an example of sustainability,” says Marc Van Meirvenne, dean of the faculty of bioscience engineering. The Coupure campus, named after the nearby canal that cuts into Ghent from the northwest, has been the home of the bioscience engineering faculty for some time. Yet the three research groups remained separate, largely for historical reasons. The Laboratory of Aquaculture and the Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology were both in the centre of Ghent, sharing buildings with researchers in completely different fields. Meanwhile, the Laboratory for Animal Nutrition and Animal Product Quality was located at an experimental farm in Melle, some way out of the city. Their ageing facilities were sorely in need of improvement, which was one reason for

schools open doors with new website

moving them. “All the research facilities have been updated so that they are now the best available,” says Van Meirvenne. But the main motivation was to unite them with the rest of the faculty. “It’s about integration and making it easy for them to interact with other research groups on the campus, and that’s already making a big difference.” Researchers started to move into the new building over the summer. Now full, it has a population of some 120 people. The first and second floors have offices and laboratories, while the ground floor is home to part of the faculty’s training centre and a restaurant for staff and students.

ugent.be/bw

There are further laboratories in the basement, along with two 30,000-litre tanks of seawater. “The teams working on aquatic ecology and aquaculture do both freshwater and seawater research, and so they need seawater,” Van Meirvenne explains. Every week, she continues, “container trucks come in with seawater to fill up these tanks. Then it is piped through the building, so in the labs you have taps where sea water comes out.” As a matter of policy, UGent aims to make its new buildings environmentally friendly. Systems are in place to ensure that water and electricity are used efficiently, and the whole structure is thoroughly insulated to reduce the impact of heating it in the winter. For the summer, windows have been placed so as to let light in but minimise overheating, and the cooling system runs on rainwater collected from the roof. “We’ve also tried to design a building that is very friendly towards our neighbours,” says Van Meirvenne. Motors for elevators, ventilation and so forth are in a sound-proofed enclosure on the roof, and the use of wood and slate on the exterior is intended to help the building blend into the surrounding environment.

\ Ian Mundell

In the academic year 20132014, more than 1,700 PhD students graduated from Flanders’ universities, which is 71% more than in 2004-2005. The trend is mainly the result of the increased research funding allocated by Flanders and the EU. “This is a positive evolution, since the quality of PhD research here is still very high,” said emeritus professor Jean-Pierre Henriet of Ghent University. With a level of employment of more than 92%, Flanders’ PhD graduates are the most employable group on the labour market. Increasingly, fewer PhD graduates are becoming professors, with about one in five recent graduates currently working in academics.

ease language requirements, say universities The Flemish government’s requirements concerning the Dutch-language skills of foreign professors are too strict, according to University of Leuven vice-rector Didier Pollefeyt, who was interviewed by the university’s student magazine, Veto. Pollefeyt said that the current policy discourages top international researchers from coming to Flanders. Professors have to reach the advanced B2 level in Dutch-language skills within three years in order to become tenured at a Flemish university. Pollefeyt said that it’s not always feasible for researchers to obtain the B2 level in three years. KU Leuven has asked Flanders’ education minister, Hilde Crevits, to extend the learning period to five years. Ghent University has also expressed concerns about the language requirement. \ Andy Furniere

\ lIvInG

WeeK in aCtivities masters of Fire The masters of fire are experts at transforming landscapes into unforgettable vistas of light. Put on your hiking boots and warm coat, and follow the trail through Boekenberg Park, where you’ll see the water and woods as never before. 2 & 3 December 17.00, Unitaslaan 84, Antwerp; free \ ccdeurne.be

China lights After a two-year absence, this successful light festival from China returns to Antwerp Zoo, bigger and better than ever. Giant colourful creations in the form of animals and flowers light up the zoo, creating a spectacular and unforgettable world of fantasy. Advance tickets available via the website. 3 December to 15 January 18.0020.00 or 19.30-21.30, Koningin Astridplein 26, Antwerp; €10-€15 \ zooantwerpen.be

Flemish Ardennes ride Choose your distance (25, 45 or 55km for mountain bikes, 45 or 65km for cyclocross) and your start time (8.30 or 10.30) for this bike tour through the Flemish Ardennes. Changing rooms, showers and secure bike parking provided, with medical assistance and bike wash available. 4 December, Kluisbos, Poletsestraat 59, Kluisbergen; €5 \ funnybikers.be

Closing party in sint-Gillis Close off a year of festivities marking the 800-year anniversary of the founding of the municipality with a giant party featuring a soundand-light show with images projected on the town hall’s facade. Plus concerts, food and drinks and a market. 5 December 18.00-22.00, Van Meenenplein 39, Sint-Gillis (Brussels); free

Christmas magic During December, Merode Castle is transformed into a winter wonderland, where friendly elves greet you and fairy-tale figures come to life. During a one-hour tour of the castle, you and your family can discover beautifully decorated halls and enjoy skits and musical entertainment. Buy tickets online in advance. 7-23 December 16.00-21.00, Polderstraat 51, Westerlo (Antwerp province); €12 \ kasteelfeesten-westerlo.be

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Home is where the hout is from finland to flanders: arctic wooden housing is all the rage senne starckx more articles by senne \ flanderstoday.eu

Houten-Huis.be

he fleet of lorries driving from Finland to Flanders is growing each year. They’re transporting lumber, paper and Christmas trees – and entire homes. One lorry is just large enough to carry one dissembled house, in the form of blocks and beams of pine from above the Arctic Circle. “Due to the limited amount of sunshine in the north of Finland, trees grow there at a much slower pace,” explains Hugo Oeyen, who lives in a wooden house near Oudenaarde, East Flanders. In his spare time, Oeyen helps his son-in-law, the sole distributor of Finnish houses in Flanders. “Arctic pine is much solider than any other affordable wood,” he says, pointing at the growth rings on the cross-section of a log on his wooden table. And indeed, the rings are extremely close to each other. Oeyen’s house, where he lives with his wife, Bea, also serves as a show home for interested customers of their son-in-law’s firm, Finnloghouse. One of the first things that strikes as you enter is the smell of natural, untreated wood. It’s not just the materials that make a massive wooden house different from a traditional brick home: the construction method is also entirely different. The house is delivered to the site by a lorry as a giant box of building blocks, after which the building – or assembling – can begin. Finnloghouse offers its clients two formulas, depending on their budget and their willingness to roll up their sleeves: an all-inclusive option and a DIY-with-assistance package. Oeyen: “Most of our clients choose the second option. Assembling a wooden

Flemish home-builders are turning to wooden houses made from kits

house is much easier than building a brick one.” The assembly process is straightforward because every block and beam has already been cut to size in Finland. Long plugs made of birch wood replace nails and screws to keep everything together, and it takes only three months to put up an entire house. This short building period was definitely one of the reasons why Inge De Quick and her husband, Ronny, chose Finnloghouse to provide their new home in Lochristi, East Flanders. “But we both always dreamed of living in a house like this,” says De Quick. “I think it’s a result of our many holidays to Austria, because our house does look a bit like a holiday home in the Alps.”

So what’s it like to live in a wooden house? A major difference between wood and stone is the fact that wood is a breathing, “living” material, one that constantly exchanges water with the environment. Because of this, the humidity is between 30 and 40%, which makes it feel warmer than it actually is. De Quick’s house is also energy efficient, though the Energy Performance and Interior Climate index (EPB) doesn’t endorse that. “The problem is that the EPB didn’t consider the wooden walls as insulation, when in fact they are,” says De Quick. “I think the legislation here just isn’t ready for Finnish houses.” Are there no downsides? Of course there are.

bite

First of all, a wooden house is more expensive than a brick house of comparable size. Oeyen admits that. But he likes to counter it with the short building period. “If you’re paying a lot of rent every month while waiting to move into your new home, a wooden house could actually work out as the cheapest option.” De Quick can only name one disadvantage, but she and her husband have learned to live with it. “When you’re downstairs, you hear literally everything that happens upstairs. Some people might get annoyed by this,” she says. “But we would never want to live in a ‘cold’ brick house; every time we come home, it’s to our own holiday home.”

averbodemoment.be

monk business: cheese, beer and heavenly gingerbread at averbode abbey We think of monasteries as havens of peace and contemplation. In fact they’ve always been places of business as well. Since the middle ages, monks have divided their time between prayer and labour – ora et labora, the motto of the Benedictine Confederation. Monasteries used the products of their labour – bread, cheese, honey and of course beer – for themselves, and sold the surplus. And so it goes today. The monks of Averbode Abbey are Norbertines rather than Benedictines, but the principle remains the same. On the grounds of the abbey, where the three provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg meet, there used to be a print works. But the money has gone out of the printing business these days, so another purpose had to be found. That became Het Moment, an eatery and shop for people to gather in surroundings of peace and tranquillity and enjoy some of the abbey’s

products. Well, up to a point. In 2014, the abbey came to an arrangement with Brouwerij Huyghe of Melle, the brewers of Delirium Tremens, to produce an Averbode ale. Other licensees make Averbode bread and cheese. The premises are a mix of rustic and modern, bare brick, chrome and refectory tables. There’s also a large terrace, which was highly popular

in the summer. There’s also a bookshop, a cheese counter, a bread and beer section, and even a small bakery making sourdough bread for consumption in-house or to take away. It also provides a unique opportunity to try Het Moment ale, brewed on the spot in a nano-brewery, and sold only here. It’s fresh and light, only 5.7% compared to its big brother’s 7.5%. Averbode Ale is also available. The cheese is similar to Gouda in texture and taste, and comes in a cannonball round. The bread is perfectly acceptable, if anything slightly tame if you’re a big fan of sourdough. The pièce de résistance, however, is the gingerbread, made for the abbey by Vondelmolen of Lebbeke and a triumphal blend of sweet and spicy – dense, heavy, chewy and rich with honey and ginger. Good news: it’s also sold in Delhaize supermarkets. \ Alan Hope

november 30, 2016

Back to basics

ghent design triennial exhibition puts craftsmanship in the spotlight daan bauwens more articles by Daan \ flanderstoday.eu

Good design needs serious craftsmanship to back it up, as an exhibition in Ghent’s Design Museum shows.

designmuseumgent.be

Flemish Brabant demonstrate this principle of embodied knowledge. She travelled around India, North Africa and the Middle East for inspiration. Then she studied here’s more to what you the silversmith trade for a year in see than meets the eye. Design Antwerp before coming up with the Flanders, the organisation that mesmerising design of her lamps, promotes and supports which seem to be moving Flemish designers, went freely through space. across the region with Another instance this in mind, looking of Sennet’s notion for designs whose can be found in looks often conceal the the rugs by Sep craftsmanship behind Verboom, who them. discovered the techConsumers’ tastes change drasnique for his multi-coloured tically. Plastics and mass production, rugs while travelling through the Philhowever popular in the 1960s, are ippines. The textile he uses now belittled. Consumers comes from old ship demand authenticity, respect moorings, fallen into for nature and a human disuse and unravelled touch. So when Johan Valcke, by workers in impovdirector of Design Flanders, erished villages on those wanted to portray the future of islands. design for the Design Triennale, he set out Travel and cross-pollination seem to to find objects that met these new tastes. be some of the exhibition’s recurring His search took him to the workshops of themes. You can see it in the paper 120 independent designers and carbon-fibre and 40 companies. The canoes exhib70 objects he chose ited, and in the are now on show textiles by West at Ghent’s design Flemish designer museum in an exhibiMartine Gyselbretion called Hands on Design. cht. “The objects show that craftsmanship is Boro is an old weaving technique still around; in fact it never disappeared,” used by Japanese farmers and fisherhe says. men on the island of Honshu. At the same time, Valcke paid When clothes are torn, special attention to the women stitch square notion of “embodied knowlpatches over the tears. edge”. “It’s a term coined by Having discovered the American sociologist Richthis, Gyselbrecht started ard Sennet, referring to knowledge that experimenting with the technique is not written down but carried in the on her own loom. The designs she men or women who know their came up with were woven trade,” Valcke explain. “This into hundreds of metres of trade still tends to be passed textile by industrial weavon in the traditional way: through ers in Flanders. apprenticeships in craft workshops.” Other objects in the exhibition bridge The wrought iron lamps designed by Sarah the gap between authentic craftsDehandschutter from Tielt-Winge in manship and mass production in even more innovative ways. sundial Chandelier designed by maarten De Ceulaer & Alton, produced by Galleria nilufar

The wooden daybeds by Brussels design team Destroyers Builders are made with a gouge – a round chisel used for chipping away small bits of wood – on a plank of dark wood. The result is a natural and unique hand-crafted piece – unique until it is scanned and stored and laser-cutting machines make exact replicas. There are more objects bridging unexpected gaps. The “Honest Stool” by Brugesborn Cas Moor is the first open-source chair. Sharing the DIY manual on his website, Moor offers a cheap and easy-tomake solution for those who aren’t very experienced in crafts. Bulo, a manufacturer of office furniture in Mechelen, has decided to start mass production of the chair in the near future. But much more than exhibiting examples of cultural or technical cross-pollination, Valcke wanted to render the invisible visible.

“This architecture is a proposal for the way in which we see the nature of work changing,” says Caro Van den Hole, who designed the space with fellow architect-designer Bert Heytens. “Most houses built today are still centred on the living room, the place for leisure and family life,” Heytens says. “This stems from the fact that for a long time, work was supposed to happen outside the house. But now work is decentralised, people don’t work in one place anymore but in several places, including at home.” The organisation of the 18th-century residence – also the type of edifice that houses the design museum – served as a model for Van den Hole and Heytens in their layout of the exhibition space. “In these old houses, the front room is used for leisure and the back room for work. Both worlds connect. That was the past, but it’s the future as well,” Heytens says. Romantics put off by too much novelty can

However famous their names, designers can’t succeed without the help of workshop craftsman and their knowledge of materials “However famous their names,” he says, “designers can’t succeed without the help of workshop craftsman and their knowledge of materials. For example, a workshop foreman with his knowledge of the possibilities of machines. Designing an object is a result of these kinds of knowledge together. That’s what I intend to show in this exhibition.” Rendering the invisible visible is done by means of a daring scenography. Within the exhibition, each finished product takes a central position in a makeshift room with cardboard walls. Each “living” room is flanked by a “work” room where the initial drawings, raw material, tools, templates and moulds needed to make the object are on display. The architecture of the exhibition space connects the object with the crafts behind them. It also brings the world of leisure closer to the world of work.

retreat to the Hotel de Coninck, the museum’s classicist wing. Still, the sight of an Eames chair in wood-and-gold rococo interiors might strike some as pretty odd, as might a shining metal bean seat, welded by Bilzen’s Kevin Oyen from scrap stainless steel next to a 19th-century stove. The lavishly decorated interiors serve mainly as a backdrop for “older” design and design heritage. But even that should be taken with a pinch of salt. “In the design world, an object that was designed two years ago is already considered prehistoric,” Valcke jokes. “It makes my job – following new trends – a very hard one.”

until 5 march Design museum

Jan Breydelstraat 5, Ghent

Forty medals for Belgian beers at Brussels Beer Challenge brusselsbeercHallenge.com

Belgian beers have won 40 medals at the Brussels Beer Challenge, including the top award, which went to Oude Geuze Cuvée René from Lindemans brewery. The United States, however, took the most medals, with 45. The event was held earlier this month in the Beurs building in downtown Brussels, which will soon become the Belgian Beer Temple, but the results were kept quiet until yesterday when they were announced at the Horeca Expo in Ghent. This was the fifth

edition of the competition. Last year, American brewers pulled ahead of their Belgian counterparts for the first time. Belgian brewers tend to stick to tried and trusted formulas, like the triple, red and brown ales, geuze and abbey beers. US brewers, on the other hand, experiment with a wider range of styles and tend to do best in categories where the Belgians are not competing. Flemish brewer Lindemans, based in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, just outside of Brussels, won the most medals

of any Belgian brewery. Next to the prestigious Comac Award for

its Oude Geuze, it also picked up three gold medals: for Oude Kriek Cuvée René, for its Cassis fruit beer and for its Spontanbasil, a lambic flavoured with basil, developed in partnership with the Danish brewery Mikkeler. The duo-run Wilderen brewery and distillery in Sint-Truiden picked up two gold medals – for Wilderen Goud, a strong blond ale, and for Cuvée Clarisse, a strong dark ale. Other gold medal winners were Bruxellensis by Brasserie de la Senne, Bersalis Triple

by Oud Beersel, Affligem Blond by Alken-Maes and Goudenband by Liefmans – a former winner of the Comac Award. America’s gold medals went to four kinds of IPA and one beer in the bitter category, as well as a pumpkin ale, a porter, a Doppelbock, a coffee beer, an American-style pilsner and a German-style Märzen. More than 80 beer experts from around the world took part in the judging of over 1,100 beers, including 250 from Belgium, 240 from the US and 230 from Italy. \ Alan Hope

\ 11

Top-level universities

CV checks

Visits to EU institutions

Career advice from EU professionals

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ESTATE PLANNING • Marc Quaghebeur,

partner, De Broeck/Van Laere and Partners, « Make the best of your wealth »

• Alexandre Caudron and Frederic Helsen,

December 6, 2016

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• Registrations from 17h30 • Seminar starts at 18h00 sharp

notaries, Berquin, “An update on the latest legal changes”

• Dave Deruytter,

head of Expatriates and non-residents, ING Bank Belgium, “ Getting your Estate Planning priorities right as an Expat in Belgium.”

Free entry • Register before December 2nd at www.xpats.com/realestate

\ ArTs

november 30, 2016

Out of the frame

WeeK in arts & Culture

antwerp exhibition traces photography’s emergence as a visual art form bjorn gabriels more articles by bjorn \ flanderstoday.eu

muHka.be

ven though From Broodthaers to Braeckman: Photography in the Visual Arts in Belgium is titled with two alliterating household names, the focus of the new exhibition at the M HKA museum in Antwerp lies, at least partly, elsewhere. Lecturer and curator Liesbeth Decan, whose doctoral research and recent book Conceptual, Surrealist, Pictorial: Photo-based Art in Belgium form the historical backbone of the show, starts with the institutional setting in which photography found its way into Belgium’s visual arts scene. The way in which the developing contemporary art landscape gradually admitted photography is illustrated by a timeline featuring galleries, museums and other exhibition spaces, and a selection of magazines and book publications. This institutional focus is echoed in the first section of the exhibition, dedicated to Photoconceptualism. Following their affinity with surrealism and conceptual strategies, pioneering multimedia artists Marcel Broodthaers, Jacques Charlier and Jef Geys were all – each in his own way – very aware of the institutional context in which they presented their art. Their use of photography “unshackled” the medium from its strictly pictorial aspirations, be it as a documentary portrait or in the mode of classic art photography. Broodthaers was born in Brussels in 1924, and died in Germany in 1976. A retrospective of his work has recently travelled from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to Madrid’s Reina Sofia national museum, where it is currently on show. The first work in the M HKA exhibition is his “Portrait of Maria Gilissen with Tripod”. The 1967 photo shows the artist’s widow holding a camera with a tripod, while an actual phys-

marcel broodthaers’ “Portrait of maria Gilissen with Tripod”, 1967

ical tripod is placed in front of the canvas. In the same room, a wall is almost entirely covered with All Black-andWhite Photographs until 1998, which collects minuscule reproductions of thousands of black-and-white photographs Geys made over a 40-year period. In 1998, these contact prints were also presented in a hefty tome of 500 pages, and later as a nearly 36-hour film. Oddly enough, these monumental presentations stress the miniscule act of photographs as a personal inventory, a collection of daily impressions. Only a few steps away, Charlier takes

up an equally impressive surface area with Photographs of Openings (1975). In this series, the photographer aimed his camera at the art world itself, portraying people gathering at exhibition openings. Some of the subjects might recognise themselves from earlier visits. For all their – fairly mild – critique of the art scene and its documentary value, a significant number of the photos are difficult to see, either because they are mounted too high up on the wall or because the reflec-

tion of a spotlight hinders a clear view. Either way, the first section of the exhibition emphasises the act of collectingandshowingphotographs in a museum rather than the photographs themselves. This changes, to an extent, in the latter part of the exhibition, in which artists adopt more conceptual strategies. In the series Forcing the Body to Fit Inside the Photo Frame from 1946, Jacques Lizène playfully interrogates his own role as photographer. The black-and-white photos of a 1970s tennis court on which Philippe Van Snick drew lines with a marker recall the minimalist compositions of painter Raoul De Keyser. The exhibition’s final chapters even explicitly refer to painting, with “Red Nude”, taken in 1983 by Lili Dujourie, or even have a sculptural dimension, with “MM Lola” from the same year, in which Liliane Vertessen adds neon lights to her self-portraits. These works continue to explore the limits of photography, but along different routes in comparison to their conceptual predecessors. The exhibition’s other namesake, Dirk Braeckman, whose intriguing grey-toned photos stemming from unconventional developing methods are a highlight wherever they are on display, has repeatedly stressed the physical aspect of creating photos. He works with images as images, not as vehicles of some concept or narrative. The overview in M HKA halts in the early 1990s, but with Braeckman’s recent appointment as featured artist of next year’s Belgian pavilion at the Biennale in Venice, you can’t but realise that photographers have come a long way.

m HkA

until 8 january

Leuvenstraat 32, Antwerp

Burning Ice festival bids farewell with visions of the future Last February, the Burning Ice arts festival in Brussels launched its ninth edition under the banner End of Story, reflecting its apocalyptic view of climate change. Now the festival’s own story is ending with a 10th and final edition. Next year it merges with the Kanal Festival to form a new event in the autumn, covering both environmental and intercultural themes. This valedictory edition of Burning Ice emphasises the festival’s interest in artists whose work can help us make the transition to a sustainable society. “They do this by undertaking critical and uncompromising analyses of the current system,” the organisers explain, “by offering perspectives that allow us to deal with confusion and uncertainty, and by sketching out an alternative view of human beings and the world.” The festival’s premières include Mount Tackle by Brussels-based artist Heike Langsdorf, a huge heap of stuff (including people) that is part installation, part dance performance. Then there is Syden by

Niko Hafkenscheid, Pablo Castilla and Hedvig Biong, a mini-opera that explores the climate shift of southern holidays in wintertime. Tonight, Lights Out! is a theatrical experiment led by Belgian-German artist David Weber-Krebs, which gives each of 60 people a light bulb and a switch and asks them to go on a journey into darkness. And Worktable by the Brussels-based New Zealander Kate McIntosh issues an invitation to destroy everyday objects with a range of tools.

kaaitHeater.be

Safety glasses will be provided. Dutch duo Lotte van den Berg and Daan ’t Sas present two theatre pieces inspired by conversational practice among indigenous peoples. Parliament of Things wonders whether we can shift our attention from people to the things around us, while Time Loop Talk drops the here and now in favour of thinking of past and future generations. Both performances are in English. The top attraction, however, is the revival of We Don’t Speak To Be Understood, performed by Flemish artist Benjamin Verdonck and choreographer Pieter Ampe (pictured). This revisits Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with an eye to the distortions of climate change. Like the ice caps, tickets are disappearing fast. \ Ian Mundell

3-10 december

kaaitheater & kaaistudio’s Brussels

eight new michelinstarred restaurants in Flanders

The new Michelin restaurant guide for Belgium and Luxembourg has awarded five restaurants in Flanders their first star: Castor in Waregem, Colette in Westerlo, Kelderman Fish Restaurant in Aalst, ’t Korennaer in Sint-Niklaas and Vol Ver in Kortrijk. It also gives first stars to three restaurants in Brussels: Bozar Brasserie in the city centre, La Villa Emily near the Ter Kameren Abbey and Wine in the City in Jette. At the same time, Alexandre in the centre of Brussels and Le Passage in Ukkel have both lost their star. This year sees no new two- or three-star awards.

ellie Delvaux to eurovision The 16-year-old Brussels singer Ellie Delvaux will represent Belgium in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Flanders and Wallonia take turns choosing an entry to the international event, and this year it was Wallonia’s turn. Delvaux, who will perform under the stage name Blanche, was a contestant on season 5 of the RTBF’s The Voice Belgique. She made a big impression on her coaches and on composer Pierre Dumoulin, who co-wrote the song with her that she will take to Eurovision. Last year, VRT chose Laura Tesoro to represent Belgium, and she came in 10th. Belgium has only won Eurovision once, in 1986 when Sandra Kim sang “J’aime la vie”. The Eurovision final takes place in Kiev on 13 May.

new tax shelter for stage arts Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz said he is “elated” by a decision by the federal government to create a tax shelter for stage arts, similar to the one for audio-visual productions, such as TV and film, which has existed since 2003. The new plan allows anyone who invests in theatre, opera, dance, street theatre, classical music and even circus a tax deduction. The move will allow companies to raise money over and above the subsidy they receive from the government, Gatz said. The tax shelter for the audiovisual industry in Flanders has led to financing of more than €1 billion, the creation of nearly 450 films and TV series and a 23% increase in employment.

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\ ArTs

Between two worlds

emile verhaeren’s life in words and pictures at centenary exhibition bjorn gabriels more articles by bjorn \ flanderstoday.eu

mskgent.be

Poet and art critic Emile Verhaeren belongs to a generation of Flemish writers who gained international acclaim with publications in French. A memorial year includes an exhibition in Ghent showcasing art works that marked Verhaeren’s time.

“F

rench has grafted a Latin culture on to our primal Flemish being, on to our Flemish tongue and our Flemish mentality, turning us into hesitant double beings,” poet and journalist Karel van de Woestijne wrote in a portrait of his French-speaking colleague Emile Verhaeren, published in 1906. Like many others from the 19th-century upper middle class in Flanders, Verhaeren was constantly coming and going between Dutch and French, countryside and city, Belgium and France, tradition and avant-garde. And he was no stranger to seemingly conflicting positions. The son of an affluent cloth merchant, he sympathised with anarchist ideas and the fate of the working class in an increasingly industrialised society, but there are also photographs of him taking a seaside stroll with Queen Elisabeth and King Albert. After years of championing progress and international co-operation, his ideals apparently evaporated as soon as Germany invaded Belgium in 1914. His spiteful verses at the time gave free rein to one-sighted patriotism, all the while continuing his correspondence with his friend Romain Rolland, the French pacifistic writer who would win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915. Verhaeren was at the peak of his national and international fame when he died on 27 November, 1916, after trying to jump on a moving train at the station in Rouen, France. After moving to Paris at the turn of the century, he had gained widespread acclaim as a pioneer of free verse in French Symbolism, recognised by the likes of Stéphane Mallarmé, Stefan Zweig and Rainer Maria Rilke. Long before the federal state of Belgium would comprise of two de facto separate cultural communities, literature and culture in Belgium had one dominant language and one only: French. From Belgium’s independence in 1830 onwards, Flemish devel-

until 15 january

\ 14

Théo van rysselberghe’s portrait of emile verhaeren (1915)

oped as a language in which critics, artists and writers expressed themselves, such as in the historical novels of Hendrik Conscience, but the cultural and economic elite in Flanders remained largely

a “hesitant double being” trickles through the exhibition Verhaeren Revealed: The Writer, Critic and the Art of his Time. When visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, a stately building

Théo van Rysselberghe, also born in Ghent to a well-to-do Frenchspeaking family. This painting is the first of more to come that shows an essentially bourgeois act at the time – reading – in a typically middleto upper-class setting, a salon. But Octave Maus, a lawyer, was also the secretary of Les XX (Les vingt or The Twenty), an artist circle set up in response to the conservatism of existing artistic institutes. Among its founding members were ground-breaking artists James Ensor and Fernand Khnopff. In the same year as “Octave Maus Reading”, Verhaeren published his first poetry collection, Les Flamandes (The Flemish Women). In voluptuous verses, bursting with fiery descriptions of buxom figures, Verhaeren praised Rubensesque women – “masterful art, those girls are” – as well as the mythical Flanders they are part of. As an art critic, Verhaeren would always remain fond of the Dutch and Flemish masters – Bosch, Brueghel, Rembrandt and Rubens.

Ensor’s crazy pencil drawings are reminiscent of the oversized Rembrandts that were universally mocked French-speaking. Verhaeren, who as a boy had been familiar with the local Flemish dialect of Sint-Amands near the river Scheldt, would almost entirely lose that language after his francophone education. As would others. HeattendedtheeliteSaintBarbara Jesuit college in Ghent, a breeding ground for francophone Flemish writing talents. Verhaeren’s classmate and lifelong friend Georges Rodenbach would later write the novel Bruges-la-Morte in 1892, and a few years behind them, young Maurice Maeterlinck would be drilled in Greek and Latin at the same school. In 1911, Maeterlinck would win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Verhaeren, who like Maeterlinck had by that time traded in Belgium for the flourishing art hub of Paris, had been mentioned for years as a candidate for the award himself. The notion of Verhaeren – in Karel van de Woestijne’s words, the quintessential “Flemish man at the end of the 19th century” – as

msk Gent

Fernand Scribedreef 1, Citadelpark, Ghent

across from Citadelpark, you’re struck by a storyline that revolves around the notion of bourgeois culture. The selection of artworks Verhaeren wrote about and was influenced by (and sometimes vice versa) opens with “Octave Maus Reading” (1883), an early painting by Verhaeren’s friend

In them he saw grand artistic innovators: “Rembrandt revolutionised the art of engraving with the abruptness and decisiveness of a genius.” In Ensor, Verhaeren found a contemporary equivalent of Rembrandt’s genius. “Ensor’s crazy pencil drawings are reminis-

cent of the oversized Rembrandts that were so universally mocked that they just can’t be ordinary or bad,” he said. “They seem to have been made during hallucinations. First they astonish, then they impress.” The composition of Ensor’s painting “Willy Finch in the Studio” (1882) shows parallels with “Octave Maus Reading” and other interiors that depict people reading or artists at work. Ensor, however, used smudgy streaks and scraped away paint. Later, he would go even further and unmask bourgeois culture in depictions of masquerades and grotesque scenes. Verhaeren had more trouble going along with this line of work, but continued to regard Ensor as a truly unique artist. Along more classic lines of late 19th-century Symbolism, “Bourgeois Interior” by Xavier Melley, son of a gardener at the Royal Palace of Laken, gives a shady atmosphere to familiar settings. Verhaeren was drawn to the strong images of Symbolist art and would steer his own poetry along similar morbid paths before shedding his fin-de-siècle pessimism for love poems dedicated to his wife, and more celebratory reflections on the burgeoning modern world. In retrospect, somewhat reluctantly innovating writers such as Verhaeren would be overrun by the avant-garde of Paul van Ostaijen and his generation, certainly in Flanders (even though Italian futurist loudmouth FT Marinetti praised Verhaeren’s Les villes tentaculaires (The Many-Tentacled Cities, 1895) as a precursor). More often than not, history is less than kind to transitional figures.

more visual arts this month escaut! escaut! Emile Verhaeren reteams with his contemporaries and French-speaking writers Georges Eekhoud, Max Elskamp, Georges Rodenbach and Maurice Maeterlinck, each of them born around the Scheldt estuary. There are also walks, a radio series and a book. Until 29 January, Letterenhuis, Antwerp. \ letterenhuis.be

step up! Art and media centre Argos delves into its collection (pictured) to present a selection of Belgian works at the intersection of dance, performance and

visual arts from 1970-2000. The list of contributing artists reads like a who’s who of Belgian audiovisual arts. This is the first of three chapters focusing on Belgian dance and performance on camera. Until 18 December, Argos, Brussels \ argosarts.org

jim jarmusch On the occasion of his new film Paterson, Cinema Galeries presents an exhibition and retrospective of independent American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. The silver-haired director’s universe is populated by poetic punks, lonely lovers

wolfgang kolb, muurwerk, 1987, courtesy the artist

and solemn strangers, incarnated by a young Tom Waits in Down by Law, or by a fabulous Adam Driver as a bus driver and poet of the everyday in Paterson. Until 12 February, Cinema Galeries, Brussels \ galeries.be

\ AGenDA

november 30, 2016

Luminous New York

Saul Leiter Retrospective until 29 january

Fomu, Antwerp

he American William Eggleston is typically credited with inventing colour photography in the 1970s, but a retrospective at Antwerp’s photo museum FoMu gives the honour to painter and photographer Saul Leiter. Born in Pittsburgh in 1923, Leiter abandoned rabbinical studies and moved to New York’s East Village to become an artist. He bought his first rolls of 35mm Kodachrome slide film in 1948, when “gaudy” colour was only used for fashion and advertising. While contemporaries like Robert Frank were shooting in black and white, Leiter captured mid-century

New York in luminous colour. But it wasn’t until the 2000s, when German publisher Steidl produced

the book Saul Leiter: Early Colour that he received his dues. Leiter was originally a painter, and his New York resembles a Rothko more than a photo: complex, layered and highly charged. Whereas Eggleston’s world was super-saturated, Leiter’s was oddly muted – the result of using cheap, expired film. Leiter lived and work in the city until his death in 2013. Through his lens it appears elusive – often blurred, reflected in windows, or obscured by signs. Its inhabitants resist identification, too: in “Red Umbrella” (pictured), a woman presses on down a drab, snowy street, the bright umbrella obscuring her face. “Leiter was not a typical street

visual arts

theatre

adoption: between adventure and misadventure

Zwischen (between)

until 16 april It’s only natural that Ghent’s Museum Dr Guislain, located in what was Belgium’s first mental hospital, should analyse the art on its walls. This comprehensive exhibition takes the theme of adoption and traces its evolving representation through the history of art and storytelling. Some of fiction’s great-

museum Dr Guislain, Ghent museumdrguislain.be

est heroes – Superman, Tarzan and Anne of Green Gables, for example – were adopted. But there is also a dark side: Adoption can entail displacement and trauma. All of this is explored through the works of art themselves and historical documents that shed light on their social context. \ Georgio Valentino

until 11 december Flemish playwright Kris Cuppens of the artist-run theatre house Het Nieuwstedelijk introduced his family in the award-winning 2005 monologue Lied (Song). There was his father, his eightyear-old daughter and his then newborn son. Cuppens’ epic narrative told the true story of a particular family rooted in a particular place, namely post-industrial Limburg. Now, more than a decade later, the four real-life Cuppenses appear together on stage in an intimate family portrait directed by Suze Milius. The production also features original music by Antwerp saxophonist Benjamin Boutreur. (In Dutch. English surtitles in Brussels performance) \ GV

photographer; he was not seeking a ‘decisive moment’ or a trying to tell a story,” explains curator Rein Deslé. “His interest was in colour, composition, tone and form.” He also brought his singular gaze to fashion, contributing unusually lyrical images to the likes of British Vogue. They figure here alongside his black-and-white photographs, abstract paintings and “painted nudes” (black-and-white portraits he painted over). Most were buried in his archive until recently. Leiter wouldn’t have been surprised. He once said: “I always assumed that I would simply be forgotten and disappear from view.” \ Clodagh Kinsella

Across Flanders & brussels nieuwstedelijk.be

visual arts brussels Photo18 Festival: Inaugural edition of a contemporary photography festival, with the theme Loving Earth, an exploration of the link between humankind and the Earth, through the lenses of landscape photographers. Until 18 January, Hangar H18, Kasteleinsplein 18 \ h18.be

family De Zoektocht van Sinterklaas (Sinterklaas Search): Sinterklaas invites kids of all ages to take part in a treasure hunt in search of his missing belongings, with gifts and treats scattered along the way. 3 December 10.00-18.00, Century Center, De Keyserlei 58

Pierke van Alijn: Ghent’s traditional marionette puppet theatre stages a funny story about Sinterklaas for children ages three and up (in Dutch). 3 December 14.30, Het Huis van Alijn, Kraanlei 65 \ huisvanalijn.be

leuven short film festival

autoworld.be

\ deroma.be

Ghent

micro, bubble and Popular cars

3-10 december

Luka Bloom: The Irish folk singer performs numbers from his new album Frúgalisto. 3 December 20.30, De Roma, Turnhoutsebaan 286

\ centurycenter.be

festival Autoworld, brussels

Antwerp

eXhibition until 11 december

ConCert

sTUk, leuven kortfilmfestival.be

Mediterranean Film Festival: The popular annual film festival known as “The Med” features about 70 new and recent films from Mediterranean countries, in addition to concerts, exhibitions, lectures, debates and a Mediterranean market. 2-9 December, across Brussels \ cinemamed.be

Cars come in all shapes and sizes, and while most automobile enthusiasts have an eye for the outsized luxury sedans of old, there’s a growing demand for compact, affordable rides. This exhibition surveys the history of small cars from the German Messerschmitt bubble car to the three-wheeled British Bond

Minicar to the iconic Italian Isetta, built with the door in the front. The 1950s and ’60s were a particularly propitious time for these unconventional models. Not only were bold, new design principles gaining currency, but the first oil crisis created a demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. \ GV

Leuven’s Short Film Festival is a major showcase of movies under the 60-minute mark. Now in its 22nd edition, the event traditionally marks the end of Flanders’ film festival year and boasts hundreds of new shorts in all styles. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll marvel at cutting-edge animation. There is an emphasis on young talent, with

dozens of up-and-coming local and international filmmakers in the running for awards in various categories. There’s plenty of film and festivity off programme too, including a networking brunch for industry professionals and a spotlight on New Zealand’s short film scene. \ GV

marKet Antwerp End of Stock Book Sale: Endof-year stock sale of 25,000 new books at extra-low prices, featuring a wide range of categories, from children’s books and hobby guides to literature, psychological thrillers, romance novels and coffeetable-book gift ideas. Books in English, too. 2-4 December 10.00-18.00, Zuiderpershuis, Waalsekaai 14 \ facebook.com/boekmarkies

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november 30, 2016

Talking Dutch from the taxman with love derek blyth more articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

obody has ever been wildly enthusiastic when it comes to paying their taxes. But the Belgian government has come up with a cunning new plan. It’s called love. Door de herinneringsbrieven vriendelijker en directer te maken – By making the tax reminder letter friendlier and more direct, slaagde de fiscus erin om 18 miljoen euro achterstallig belastinggeld sneller te innen – the taxman has sped up the collection of €18 million in unpaid taxes, reports De Standaard. The new friendly form was put together by two Belgian behaviour experts – Jan-Emmanuel De Neve of Oxford University and Johannes Spinnewijn of the London School of Economics. Zo werd het afstandelijke ‘mijnheer, mevrouw’ op de aanmaningsbrief vervangen – So the haughty “Mr, Mrs” on the reminder form was replaced door het directere ‘’mijnheer Jan Janssens’ – by the more direct “Mr Jan Janssens”. It was as if the government had suddenly become your friend. ‘Hoogachtend’ werd ingeruild voor het minder formele ‘met vriendelijke groeten’ – “Yours sincerely” was replaced by the less formal “best wishes”. De verwijzing naar wetsartikelen – The reference to sections of the law – die toch niemand leest – which no one actually ever read – werd geschrapt – was scrapped. The official term for this is nudging. It means communicating by gentle persuasion rather than threats. Zo blijkt dat mensen sneller betalen – So it seems that people will pay more quickly als er vermeld wordt – if it is pointed out dat publieke taken als onderwijs, gezondheidszorg en veiligheid – that public services such as education, healthcare and security in het gedrang komen – will come under pressure als er te weinig

belastingen binnenlopen – if too little tax is collected. Could it really be that easy? Kleine aanpassingen – Small changes, maar het © Ingimage heeft een grote invloed – but they have a huge effect. Bij de Fod Financiën – Within the federal tax department steeg het aantal mensen die na zo’n herinneringsbrief binnen de 14 dagen betalen – the number of people who responded to a reminder letter within 14 days rose van 46 procent naar 54 procent – from 46 to 54%. Goed voor 18,7 miljoen euro die sneller binnenloopt dan normaal – That’s a tidy €18.7 million collected more quickly than normal. Die nudges werken in op typisch menselijke trekken – The nudges rely on typical human traits: onze aversie voor verlies – our reluctance to lose out en onze gevoeligheid voor een faire maatschappij – and our desire for a fair society. The two professors were as surprised as anyone at the results. Ze zijn sterker dan verhoopt – They are better than we expected, said De Neve. Het is verrassend dat een haast kosteloze interventie – It’s impressive that a relatively free intervention zo’n grote impact heeft – has such a huge impact. Which means you can expect a lot more love from the taxman in future.

PHoto of tHe week

voiCes of flanders today In response to Quirky Flanders: Take a night walk in Ghent Emilie M: A night walk is a must-do in Ghent: paradoxically, you can see things and details that are invisible during the day. :-)

In response to Talking Dutch: From the taxman with love Peggy-Sue Okoye: I’ve seen too many horror movies about this to know not to mess with the “taxman”

In response to Forty medals for Belgian beers at Brussels Beer Challenge Terese Van Oel: Jeroen Van Oel, Sharon Norton – a to-drink list?

In response to Eurostar is cutting its number of daily trains between Brussels and London Olga Hope: Noooooooooooo

In response to Het Steen in Antwerp to become tourist centre Luc van Craen: The sooner the better!

Sarah Hooper @SazzleHooper This was the first beer of the trip... it won’t be the last. Lunch time in Ghent equaled the girls getting beers and the boys getting soup!

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the last Word bittersweet

“The Brussels sprouts in the supermarket taste sweeter than before because we developed new seeds.”

According to Marc Smetryns of seed producer Syngenta, it took the removal of two of the 120 glucosinolates contained in sprouts to make them less bitter

boys together

“No plastic. That market is already saturated. I’m looking for someone who lives for music, not for fame.”

bear neCessities Giant bears parade through the Grote markt in brussels as the annual winterpret Christmas market and festivities officially begin. The celebrations will run until 1 January

Flemish rapper Slongs Dievanongs is a member of the jury of The Band, a new talent hunt TV series for boy bands, which premieres in the New Year

High tide

“Locks, gates and areas of the dunes can all give way. In the unlikely event that all of the weak points collapse at the same time, half of West Flanders would be under water.”

Patrick Peeters of the Hydrological Laboratory in Antwerp considers the chances of a thousand-year storm at the coast

christmas card

“This is not a healthy way to place a bet once in a while. It could be a trigger to keep on playing, so you’re better off not starting.”

Marijs Geirnaert of the Flemish antiaddiction agency VAD has criticised the National Lottery’s new scratchcard Advent calendar

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