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february 22, 2017 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.org current affairs \ p2

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People power

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The party line

Bart Somers has beat mayors from much larger cities to take the World Mayor Prize, based on Mechelen’s handling of the refugee crisis

A Brussels-based start-up has designed an interactive programme that lets citizens talk to local politicians – and they’re listening

It’s Carnival time across Flanders, with a huge number of cities and towns dressing up and dancing through the streets

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Think small

art & living \ p10

Nanoparticles offer fresh ammunition in battle against cancer Senne Starckx Follow Senne on Twitter \ @SStarckx

Cancer research stands on the brink of a new revolution in Flanders, with novel diagnostic tools and nanoscale particles that battle tumours right at the source.

ancer diagnostics and treatments have evolved significantly over the past two decades. But the way most patients are treated still follows the traditional model of “the big three”: radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. Each of these treatments has its own advantages and disadvantages. With surgery, for example, normal, healthy tissue is left alone, while with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, many healthy cells suffer as much as the targeted cancer cells. One way to diminish side effects – which can sometimes be even more dreaded than the tumour itself – is to lower the

dose of the cancer drugs or the radioactive substance. This is only possible if the chemicals are delivered more precisely to the malignant cells, sparing the normal tissue. A promising method of doing this is the use of nanomedicines. These are toxic substances (in chemotherapy) or biomarkers (in radiotherapy) that are attached to nanoparticles, which put them where they need to be: in the tumour’s bloodstream. Nanoparticles can be used to “lock up” therapeutic molecules until the cancer cells are reached. About 10 nanocancer medicines are already in use today in hospitals around the world, but, in terms of the precise delivery of the toxic load, the main challenges remain. “What is generally clear at the moment is that current nanomedicines aren’t succeeding in delivering the substances into diseased tissues,” says professor Stefaan De Smedt, who investigates the design, evaluation and fundamental under-

standing of “nanocages” for the delivery of biological drugs at Ghent University. De Smedt was one of the speakers at the Nano World Cancer Day conference, held in Brussels earlier this month and organised by the European Technology Platform on Nanotechnology (ETPN). The platform aims to highlight the incorporation of “engineering on the smallest level” into the fight against cancer, a disease that kills more than eight million people a year. Belgium has an elaborate network of researchers working on nanomedicines, a few of whom are working on nano cancer drugs specifically. The ETPN lists 58 hospitals, research groups and companies in Belgium. But for De Smedt, the number of academic groups working on nanocarriers for cancer therapy is still limited. “It’s true that there’s growing interest from industrial players, continued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

Fatal train crash in Leuven

One killed and more than 25 injured in weekend derailment outside Leuven station Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

ne person was killed and 27 injured after a train came off the tracks outside Leuven last Saturday afternoon. The accident happened as the train, heading to De Panne, passed over a set of points. One carriage left the rails and derailed the others. The cause of the accident is not yet known. Rail traffic was suspended and replaced by a bus service. Disruptions and cancellations to the train schedule have continued and are expected to last until the end of the coming weekend as infrastructure company Infrabel works to clear the wreckage and repair overhead lines.

According to rail authority NMBS, traffic could be affected until 26 February, with the worst affected being the peakhour, or P-trains, from Genk, Landen and Liege-Visé. The S-train travelling to Brussels-Luxembourg has been scrapped, but ICE and Thalys trains are running normally. A 21-year-old man died in the accident, while most of the injured suffered minor injuries. The Leuven prosecutor’s office is carrying out an investigation into the cause of the accident and said that a report should be ready by the end of the week. © Olivier Gouallec/Newzulu

Top orchestra leaves UK for Antwerp over Brexit fears

Bill Gates visits prime minister and royal palace

A highly regarded British orchestra that trains young musicians is to leave its home in southern England to move to Antwerp, amid fears of the effect of Brexit on migration possibilities, The Guardian reports. The European Union Baroque Orchestra was founded in 1985 and receives funding from the EU’s cultural programme. It recruits 20 to 25 young musicians every year from about 100 who audition, and offers them intensive training and experience in performing under the guidance of music director Lars Ulrik Mortensen and an array of guest conductors. The group, based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, has also recorded four CDs and plays in concert halls and at summer festivals across Europe. According to general manager Emma Wilkinson, the move to Antwerp at this time is “wise” while uncertainty remains over the effects of Brexit on EU citizens living in the UK. The British government has so far refused to give a clear assurance that they will be able to stay after the country leaves the EU. “I do worry that European orchestras will not be inviting talented British musicians to work with them,” Wilkinson told the paper. “It will just be too bureaucratically difficult.” The paper also reports that the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) is making its own contingency plans to move to the EU mainland if necessary. The orchestra has been based in London since it was created in 1976. “If we do land with a hard Brexit, it is really difficult to see how British musicians will be able to continue to take advantage of the opportunities that the EUYO and other EU initiatives have been able to offer generations of European musicians,” chief executive Marshall Marcus is quoted as saying. \ AH

Bill Gates, the American tech entrepreneur who created Microsoft to become the richest man in the world, visited Brussels last week, where he met with both prime minister Charles Michel and the king and queen. Gates, who now occupies himself full-time with philanthropy and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is on a world tour to promote innovation in health care, particularly in the developing world. Gates and Michel were joined by Alexander De Croo, who is the federal minister of both development co-operation and the digital agenda. “Research into neglected diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis is primordial,” Gates said during a roundtable event organised by Friends of Europe. He also praised Europe for its rapid response to the Ebola epidemic and its important role in research into the disease, including the ground-breaking work of professor Peter Piot in identifying the virus at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. Gates also explained his foundation’s focus on neglected tropical diseases such as guinea worm disease and lymphatic filariasis, which hit the very poorest people, leading to seven million deaths a

Bill Gates at the Shaping the World event organised by Friends of Europe

year from a lack of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The Gates Foundation has been sponsoring research into these diseases for nine years and has discovered a downward trend in investment by governments, while private R&D spending has risen. Later in the day, Gates was received by King Filip and Queen Mathilde at the royal palace. \ AH

New driving test to be rolled out over next few months Some changes to the theory and practical driving tests in Flanders are ready to be introduced on 1 March, according to Goca, the organisation representing driving exam centres. Further changes are due to come into force on 1 June. The first change to the theory exam concerns language: Starting in March, learners who do not speak Dutch may be accompanied by a registered interpreter as usual, but languages interpreted are

restricted to English, French and German. Starting in June, questions on the written exam will be worth five points or one point, depending on the seriousness of the situation posed in the question. Exams contain 50 questions, and a candidate needs 41 points to pass. The changes to the practical test also come into force in June. At present two manoeuvres are required: parallel parking and a three-point turn in a narrow street. In

95,000

278 10.9 million animals killed on Belgian roads in 2016, about 30,000 a day, according to Natuurpunt. The main victims were toads, hedgehogs and foxes

future, there will be two compulsory operations from a longer list: three-point turn, reversing in a straight line, parallel parking between two vehicles or parking in reverse in a parking space. A risk perception test designed by Goca is also being added, as is an assessment of the ability to drive independently, with and without a GPS but without instructions from the examiner. \ AH

200

€29,000 cyclists on average between 8.00 and 9.00 in Brussels during counting periods in January, May and September last year, a 30% increase on the same periods in 2015

acquired in fines in a single morning last week from transport companies trying to escape road tolls by switching to overloaded small vans, which were inspected at a motorway car park at Wetteren

of the more than half a million cars currently on the roads in Brussels daily will not be permitted once the capital’s low emission zone comes fully into force in three years, according to Febiac

temporary workers to be hired by Volvo Trucks in Ghent, as the factory has to increase production from 186 to 2,010 trucks a day. The factory produced 44,758 trucks last year

february 22, 2017

WEEK in brief After being informed about the support actions taking place around the world, Ahmadreza Djalali has ended his hunger strike in an Iranian jail. The researcher from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) is being held under threats of a death sentence for scientific collaboration with “foreign enemies”. Djalali had refused to eat for 59 days and had lost 20 kilograms. The Brussels fire service has reached an agreement with unions regarding workforce. The service is testing a new measure that puts six firefighters on each engine instead of five. But the number of active firefighters is so stretched that each one has an average of 400 hours of overtime leave – which cannot be taken because of shortages. The new measure ends on 1 March, with 30 new firefighters arriving in June. Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois met with Bolivia’s foreign affairs minister Fernando Huanacuni last week in Brussels to discuss expanding the co-operation between Flanders and the South American country. In 2015, the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding Bolivia’s management of water quality and reserves. Huanacuni stopped in Brussels following an appearance at the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding his country’s dispute with Chile about access to the Pacific Ocean. The city of Antwerp is making 20 vehicles from its fleet available to the public in a car-sharing scheme. After a year, there will be an evaluation, which, if positive, could see the arrangement extended for a further three years. The candidates to share the cars will be selected in May, and the project will start in July. Sven Gatz, the minister responsible for Flemish policies in Brus-

face of flanders sels, and his French-speaking counterpart Rachid Madrane have launched a citizens’ cabinet at a pop-up cafe in the middle of Brussels Central Station. Like Gatz’s previous citizens’ cabinets for youth and culture, the project aims to gather ideas and opinions from residents, this time about the present and future of the capital. Both ministers were present at the opening last week to talk directly with commuters. The debate now moves online, after which 150 contributors will be invited to discuss the ideas in more depth. \ burgerkabinet.be

TV reporter Martin Heylen has begun a project to get nursing home residents to write their memoirs. The project was launched at the Antwerp Book Fair last autumn, and last week seniors attended their first course in writing their life stories. As well as passing on information and wisdom to succeeding generations, the act of writing down memoirs stimulates memories and is considered generally therapeutic for older people. Hakim Elouassaki, 24, has been convicted by a court in Antwerp to 28 years in prison for the shooting death of a hostage in Syria. Elouassaki was recruited to go to Syria to fight and was arrested upon his return to Belgium four years ago. He was part of the Majilis Shura Al Mujanhideen while in Syria, which took hostages for ransom. Brussels Airport is at number 25 in a ranking of European airports compiled by Airports Council International Europe, a fall of five places since 2015. Following the bombing in March, Brussels Airport closed the year with a total number of passengers down 7% to 21.8 million, at the same time as European airports in general saw passenger numbers rise by an average of 7%. Heathrow remained in first place, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol.

According to figures from the first two weeks of Antwerp’s low emissions zone (Lez), 95% of Belgian vehicles entering the city were in accordance with the new regulations. The city also revealed that French and Dutch vehicles entering the zone could not be fined, even if they are in breach of the emissions rules. Access to their vehicles database is not permitted, as the treaty allowing access was signed by the federal government, and Lez is a Flemish matter. In order to be able to identify offending vehicles, the Flemish government will have to sign a separate treaty with France and the Netherlands. Queen Paola, the mother of King Filip, has undergone surgery at the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels after breaking her hip, the royal palace has announced. She fell at her home in the Belvedere castle, part of the grounds of the royal residence in Laken. The 79-year-old queen mother also suffered a fall in December last year, when she fractured a vertebra. The Constitutional Court has approved a measure that makes language requirements more demanding for parents of students in Brussels’ Dutchspeaking secondary schools. The system reserves 55% of available places for parents with the required language knowledge, with requirements now more demanding than in the past. The new standard comes into force for the school year 2018-2019. The city of Brussels is looking for three artists to decorate bottlebanks in the Bockstael area of Laken. The competition is part of the city’s neighbourhood contract with the Bockstael area, one of the busiest of the municipality and a major transport hub. Artists can submit their ideas until 10 March.

outstretched arms. The tree is known locally as the “thousand-year oak”, but scientists agree that it’s probably closer to 750, said Koen Luts, who wrote a

Kaat Thijs

youtube.com/user/Kaatjeuh1997

There are many young musicians out there on YouTube, all trying to get noticed, build a following and perhaps – unlikely as it might seem – be discovered and swept to international stardom. It happened to Justin Bieber, right? So it could happen to you. Except the chances are extremely slim. Users upload 300 hours of video to YouTube every minute, and viewers (often the same people) are watching 323 days of material every minute. So the chances of your excellent cover of Adele’s “Hello” being noticed by anyone are vanishingly small. Except it happened to Kaat Thijs. The 19-year-old from Nijlen, Antwerp province, had created her own video channel, as so many do, and uploaded her versions of songs by not only Adele but Rihanna, Meghan Trainor and Zayn Malik. Suddenly she was contacted by an American producer, who informed her that her tracks

had been played by DJs, and that record labels were interested in her. No sooner was the contact made than her song “Unbeautiful” was in the Billboard charts at number 21, just two places above Ed Sheeran (who is not only successful on his own behalf but wrote Bieber’s hit “Love Yourself ”). “It’s completely unreal,” Thijs told Het Nieuwsblad. “I’m only now beginning to realise. All of a sudden I got a mail that they wanted to record a single. They thought I had a great radio voice [she does], without too strong an accent.” Being Belgian, she said, provides “an exotic side, which is something Americans like. And he said I looked like a sweet sort of person [she does], which is also a good thing, to be a kind of role model”. She’s now in the process of recording a second single to follow “Unbeautiful”, after the first was picked up by Belgian radio. Then next step? Antwerp Sportpaleis. \ Alan Hope

\ tinyurl.com/bockstael

OFFSIDE Neverending story The 750-year-old oak tree in Lummen, Limberg, is assured of a future. Last week a group of British enthusiasts arrived to gather genetic material that will be used to propagate clones of the magnificent oak, to be planted all over the world. The Lummen oak (pictured) is what is known as a knoteik in Dutch, referring to the way its branches were at one time cut back to create a particular shape. That hasn’t happened in a long time, and the imposing tree now stands 25 metres high with a trunk which, at ground level, takes four or five adults to encircle with

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

book about it. “Still pretty impressive,” he says. The Ancient Tree Forum, which records and works to protect and manage ancient trees, arrived in Lummen together with tree surgeons. Members hung from bungee cords to gather twigs from the uppermost branches, where the spring buds were growing fat and ripe. Back in the UK, the twigs will be grafted onto existing oak samples, to produce clones of the Lummen oak, which can then be provided to anyone who wants one. The thousand-year oak will last an eternity. \ AH

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\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN It’s not about the money

Why did the scorpion sting the frog, knowing they both would drown? The question is applicable to N-VA and SP.A, who have been at the centre of a series of events that left both of them damaged. It started with revelations earlier this month that Flemish politicians were active in organisations linked to Publifin, the intercommunal at the heart of a remuneration scandal in Wallonia. This led to the resignation of Ghent city councillor Tom Balthazar (SP.A), who was a favourite to become the city’s next mayor. Soon after, it emerged that Antwerp city councillor for finance and mobility Koen Kennis (N-VA) combined no less than 17 paid mandates. Mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) called a net income of over €7,000 a month justifiable, as Kennis “works hard and came from the private sector”. To many, this statement showed how much politicians have become estranged from ordinary working people. In Ghent meanwhile, sights turned on Siegfried Bracke (N-VA), seen as being responsible for Balthazar’s resignation. Bracke is speaker of the federal parliament, which makes him the best paid politician in the country, ahead even of the prime minister. This hardly puts him in a position to accuse others of being money-grubbers. Then it emerged that Bracke held an advisory function at telecommunications firm Telenet, which created a possible conflict of interest. During a tumultuous council meeting, Ghent mayor Daniël Termont revealed that Bracke received a fee of €12,000 annually from Telenet. By the end of the meeting, Bracke had quit his Telenet position. Kennis soon announced that he was also a Telenet adviser but had never received the fees. Instead, they were paid for several years to Leen Verbist (SP.A), also on the city council. Neither Kennis nor Verbist had noticed the mistake. That politicians could lose track of €30,000 was to many people again proof of their alienation. Verbist resigned from the council. SP.A and N-VA are now both associated with profiteering. At a press conference on Monday, Bracke announced that he did not in fact get paid for his Telenet post but that he will not lead the N-VA list for Ghent next year. De Wever said that his party was “hurt”. Indeed it is, and all the more so because attention has shifted away from identity and migration, the issues that suit N-VA best. \ Anja Otte

Mechelen’s Bart Somers wins World Mayor Prize Cited for leadership in successful integration of newcomers Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.org

art Somers, mayor of Mechelen and former minister-president of Flanders, has been awarded the World Mayor Prize. Somers (Open VLD) becomes the first Belgian mayor to ever win the prestigious honour, beating 37 other international nominees to win. The biennial prize is awarded by the City Mayors Foundation, an international organisation that promotes and facilitates open communication and good practices between city governments. It awards the prize to a mayor who “has made exceptional contributions to his or her community and whose vision for urban living is relevant to towns and cities across the world”. According to the prize citation, Mechelen “has shown Europe that people from many different countries and cultures can come together and be proud citizens. Bart Somers believes that

all people in Mechelen are unique and different. They have different dreams, do different jobs, lead different lives. But Mechelen is their home, their city”. The foundation gives Somers (pictured), who became mayor in 2001, credit for turning Mechelen

into a role model for integration. One in five people in Mechelen has North African roots, there are 128 nationalities, and no young men from the city have travelled to Syria or Iraq to fight. This is the third time a Flemish mayor has figured in the World Mayor Prize. Antwerp’s Patrick Janssens was nominated in 2008, and Ghent’s Daniël Termont was nominated in 2014, coming in second. “I believe that true social cohesion is only possible if we prevent segregation,” Somers, 52, wrote in his nomination essay. “That is a task for the government. The government should set an example and make it clear that we all need to integrate in diversity. It is not only up to the newcomer to adapt. Everyone has to adapt to the New Normal, to a diverse society. That is what we try to do in Mechelen.”

Flemish government pays faster, saves on interest

Libyan delegation in Flanders for tips on local government

The government of Flanders paid its bills faster in 2016, paying 25% less in penalties for late fees than the year before, finance minister Bart Tommelein has announced. The total bill in interest for late payments, which usually involve suppliers and contractors, came to €3.7 million in 2016, which is nearly €1.3 million less than in 2015. Various factors were involved, Tommelein explained, including “strict adherence to verification and payment terms, improved digitalisation and the unification of financial procedures within the Flemish administration”. The results are good, he said, but not good enough. “We recently decided that government contracts worth more than €8,500 would require an electronic invoice,” he said. “That’s one of the measures by which we hope to further reduce penalty interest.” Wiping out such interest entirely is impossible, he admitted. In many cases, delays in payment result from an invoice being contested, which is part of due diligence in the verification procedure. \ AH

A delegation of representatives from local authorities in Libya has completed a three-day visit to Flanders. The visit was part of a programme to gather advice and information on the workings of local government, following the virtual collapse of government institutions in the country since 2011. The EU institution Committee of the Regions (CoR), of which Flanders is a member, organised the trip. “In 2015, CoR established contact with Libyan local authorities to identify ways in which it could use its institutional role in the EU and the experience of its members to help them,” explained Sam Vandenabeele, director of bilateral relations at the Flanders Department of Foreign Affairs. “This outreach led to a programme aimed at improving public services to Libyan citizens and, simultaneously, connecting Libyan elected local governments with the international community.” The Libyan delegation included the mayors of Zintan and Sirte, as well as officials from various Libyan cities, including the capital, Tripoli. Many of the visitors were involved in finance and budgeting. They met Luc Van den Brande, chair of the Flanders-Europe Liaison Agency Vleva, and Koen Verlaeckt, secretary-general of Flanders’ foreign affairs department. They also visited the government’s Agency for Local Governance, the NGO Transparency International, which works in the field of accountability and anti-corruption, and the European External Action Service, part of the EU. In the longer term, Flanders is committed to continue working through CoR to help Libyan municipalities with support and advice on budgetary matters, Vandenabeele said. “We did not promise any budgetary contribution, but we did offer a programme focused on strategic governance, budget planning and transparency.” \ AH

SP.A leadership calls for end to paid posts on intercommunals Flanders’ socialist party SP.A is seeking a decree that would eliminate all payments to mayors and municipal councillors related to holding a seat on the board of intercommunals. The decision follows the news that two city councillors in Ghent, one of whom later resigned, received a generous stipend for sitting on the board of the intercommunal Publipart. Intercommunals are public utilities run by a group of cities or towns, sometimes in partnership with private concerns. “Intercommunals are there to carry out functions more efficiently, in co-operation with various municipalities,” said Joris Vandenbroucke, leader of the SP.A fraction in the Flemish parliament. “Mayors and councillors who are there to represent their municipalities are doing so as part of their job and don’t need to be paid extra.”

The party said that it will propose a decree to the Flemish parliament that would restrict the number of board positions for elected officials to a maximum of 10 per intercommunal, scrap stipends for mayors and councillors and publish a list of how many meetings other board members attended and how much they were paid for doing so in the intercommunal’s annual report. In the case of Ghent, housing and urban planning councillor Tom

Balthazar and finance and innovation councillor Christophe Peeters both held seats on the board representing their departments in the city council. The council owns 12% of Publipart’s parent intercommunal Publilec. The 17 board members were paid a total of just over €350,000 in a year, or around €20,000 each. SP.A president John Crombez (pictured) called on the other parties in the Flemish parliament, where the socialists are in opposition, to support his party’s proposal. “This is too important to make it a game between majority and opposition,” he said. “Only by applying the openness, sobriety and professionalism that people expect from intercommunals can we restore trust.” Meanwhile the speaker of the federal parliament, Siegfried

Bracke (N-VA), has stepped down as a paid adviser to telecommunications company Telenet. Bracke is the fraction leader of N-VA on Ghent’s city council and had called for an investigation into the city councillors who were board members of Publipart. According to Ghent mayor Daniël Termont, speaking at a special meeting of the city council last week, Bracke was paid €12,000 a year to act as an adviser to Telenet, despite the company’s main competitor, Proximus, being part-owned by the government and despite legislation passing through parliament for the reform of the company. Earlier this week, Bracke said that he never actually received any fee from Telenet. As speaker of the federal parliament, Bracke is the highest-paid politician in the country. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

february 22, 2017

Think small

A elaborate network of researchers is working on nanomedicines to tackle cancer continued from page 1

as they start to recognise the strategic role nanotechnology plays in advanced products for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the future,” he says. But compared to existing drugs, “nanomedicines are very complex structures,” he continues. “We will need skills and procedures to produce highly qualitative and safe nanomedicines, which will impose new challenges for the pharmaceutical industry as well.” It’s clear that the nanomedicine revolution has to start with the “nano” part. And so a large part of the innovation can come from research that’s not necessarily connected to cancer, or even to medicine. Another speaker at the ETPN conference was Franky Van Herreweghe, who works with nanoparticles as sensors in diagnostics tools at Phoreon, based in Leuven. The company aims to develop a miniature sensor for clinical diagnostics, based on a rapid but reliable identification of molecules. The miniaturisation process has brought Van Herreweghe and his colleagues into the realm of the nano world. Their technology is based on “nanogold rods” – golden cylinders that measure 15 by 45 millionths of a millimetre – which they use as a sensor. “This requires us to make gold of an exact – and incredibly small – size and shape, and to put different sorts of molecules on top of it.” Phoreon’s unique nanogold expertise is catching the eye of more and more scientists who are investigating the potential use of gold in next-generation cancer therapies. Van Herreweghe: “That’s why we’ve decided to commercialise some of our gold nanorod products for academic cancer research.” The idea that one of the most desirable materials in the world could play a major role in cancer treatment seems a little bizarre, but if you look closer at the properties of this noble metal, everything becomes clear. “First of all, golden nanoparticles are extremely small,” says Van Herreweghe. “They’re small enough to pass through the blood supply system of a tumour. Secondly, the nanogold can be coated with molecules that recognise cancer cells. Those help to ensure that the nanogold will only stick to or enter cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched.”

Professor Stefaan De Smedt investigates “nanocages” for the delivery of biological drugs at Ghent University

Finally, nanogold inside the body also reacts to light or X-rays, “which has interesting diagnostic – and even tracking – possibilities”. So what will a future cancer treatment based on nanogold look like? Van Herreweghe: “When it’s loaded with chemotherapeutic molecules, nanogold becomes lethal to

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, to which 10-nanometre spherical gold particles have been linked. The nanotubes can be detected in the body by using X-rays and heat produced by lasers. This may allow more accurate intervention in cancers that are inaccessible to current surgical techniques

cancer cells, just like a precision bombardment.” The key challenge here for companies like Phoreon is to coat the nanogold in such a way that the therapeutic molecules still work when they are put on to it. “But in principle, the nanogold can be coated with all molecules imaginable,” says Van Herreweghe. Two categories are important, he explains: the cancer drugs themselves and antibodies. In many cases, the nanogold is coated with both types of molecules. Antibodies recognise specific structures on the surface of tumour cells – known as biomarkers – to allow exclusive targeting to tumour cells. “The antibodies on the surface of the nanogold act as a key that fits in the lock of the biomarker,” he says. “Once the key-lock connection is made, the nanogold will not come off easily anymore. This intimate contact between the nanogold and cancer cells allows the hitch-hiking cancer drug to exert its tumour-killing effect.” Nanogold also has the potential to infiltrate the other two treatments of “the big three”. A surgeon could light up the golden nanoparticles with a CT scan, which helps localise and visualise the tumour. Or a radiologist could use infrared laser light to heat the nanogold locally so the tumour cells are literally burned away. But, as Van Herreweghe emphasises, all these cancer therapies are preclinical – read: experimental, and still far from being introduced. If one evolution has contributed significantly in recent decades to a decrease in the number of cancer deaths and to better survival rates, it’s early diagnosis. And it seems that the nanoworld can also provide a new weapon in this area. Professor Inge Mertens investigates extracellular vesicles, or EVs, which are secreted

by both healthy and malignant cells. These nano-size blisters end up in our bodily fluids, carrying a tiny part of the molecular content of their mother cell. The ultimate goal of Mertens and her

and encourage growth, progression and even drug resistance of the tumour.” But there’s also a positive aspect about EVs: They betray the presence of the enemy within. Mertens sees two main challenges in her

Nanogold will only stick to or enter cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched colleagues at the Flemish Institute of Technology (Vito) and Antwerp University (UAntwerp) is to create an extremely powerful tool to diagnose and identify tumours, based on the molecular content of the EVs. “It’s important to realise that these EVs are actually responsible for what makes cancer so deadly, namely the metastasis process,” says Mertens. “They abuse the normal method of communication between cells

Franky Van Herreweghe develops nanogold rods to carry toxins directly to cancer cells

work. “First, we need to learn how we can isolate an EV from other complex body fluids, like blood. And second, we have to identify the molecules that can be used as specific and sensitive biomarkers for certain types of cancer.” In the meantime, a research network has been developed to tackle these two challenges. Mertens works at the Centre for Proteomics, run by Vito/UAntwerp, which focuses on the protein content of the EVs. Other private partners are looking at the lipid and nucleic acid content, while the Antwerp University Hospital is collecting blood samples to see if valuable EV fractions can indeed be derived from blood. If Mertens and her colleagues succeed in identifying the right biomarkers for specific cancer types, a next step is designing a test that can be used for preventive screening campaigns. “The current tests, like the one used to detect colorectal cancer in stool samples, have major flaws, such as false positives. If we could replace these tests with a routine blood test that can be incorporated in a yearly check-up at the GP, this would be an enormous step forward.”

\ BUSINESS

week in business

Building products Wienerberger The Kortrijk-based roof-tile and building products manufacturer has acquired France’s Cérabati, producer of floor coverings and ceramic tiles, to become France’s largest player in the business.

Football Cercle Brugge Bruges’ football club, playing in the second tier of the Belgian league, is being sold to Association Sportive Monaco, current leader of the French championship. AS Monaco is owned by Russian magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Food Colruyt The family holding company of the country’s leading supermarket has acquired Ojah, the Dutch producer of the Plenti range of meatfree soy and vegetable-based proteins.

Culture Katoen Natie The Antwerp logistics company is investing €30 million in partnership with multi-media entertainment giant Studio 100 to build a state-of-the-art performance and concert hall in a 15,000 square-metre warehouse in Beveren, on the left bank of the Scheldt. Studio 100’s musical 40-45 will be staged in the hall in 2018.

Retail Würth The German building products wholesaler has opened a store with no staff in Zaventem, its first in Europe. Wholesale customers can register to access the shop 24 hours a day, scan their own purchases and receive an invoice later.

Banking KBC Flanders’ largest financial institution has identified Ireland as one of its next growth markets. The bank has plans to invest heavily in its Irish activities to build its market share to 10%. For many years, KBC Ireland had been one of the bank’s problems, but it now believes it can successfully implement its business model there despite the potential impact of Brexit.

Marketing Gemaco A leader in the development and manufacturer of promotional items and advertising gifts, the Mechelenbased Gemaco is being sold to Germany’s Capiton investment fund.

Economy minister in Brexit talks with industry, politicans Kris Peeters was in London last week to discuss effect on trade Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

ederal economy minister Kris Peeters last week paid a two-day visit to London for talks with government and business representatives concerning Brexit, the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. He expressed the Belgian government’s hope for a rapid transition to a new economic relationship with the country. “The United Kingdom is one of Belgium’s most important trading partners,” Peeters said after the visit. “In the longer term, Belgian businesses would like to see an economic co-operation with the UK on a level close to the single market. What struck me in London was that our businesses are moving along the same lines as the British business world.” At the same time, he admitted, “it is clear that it will not be legally or legislatively possible to negotiate the future trade relationship together with the Brexit. That means there will have to be a transition period if we are to limit economic damage.” Peeters (pictured) met with David Gauke, chief

secretary to the treasury, and with Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry. He also took part in a round table with about 20 representatives of the British financial services industry. Gauke assured him that the government intends to stick with its timetable of triggering Article 50 – the beginning of Brexit proceedings – next month. In his talks with business representatives, meanwhile, Peeters said that he found the British to be broadly in agreement with their Belgian counterparts in seeking close co-operation with as much openness as possible. “It would seem that Belgian and British companies have the same concerns,” he said. “For companies it’s not as important whether Brexit is hard or soft. Far more important is that the new relationships that result ensure trade and economic growth. What counts is a soft landing – a transitional arrangement that gives governments and businesses the chance to prepare for the new situation.”

Deurganck dock to operate 24 hours a day The Deurganck dock in the port of Antwerp will carry out 24-hour operations from next month, in an effort to ease the pressure of freight traffic on the city’s ring road. The change affects the container terminals MPET and Antwerp Gateway, the two largest in the port, which now operate from 5.00 to 21.30. Starting on 20 March, they will be open for loading and unloading 24 hours a day during the week. That will allowed freight traffic to be spread out over 24 hours, the port said, reducing congestion on the notorious Antwerp ring. “The transport sector has been pleading for years for a better spread of freight traffic,” said Philippe Degraef of industry federation Febetra. “Existing infrastructure needs to be put to better use.” But logistics experts said the effect was likely to be minimal. In 1999, logistics

company Noordnatie carried out a test on 24-hour loading and unloading and abandoned the exercise shortly after, said a spokesperson for sector association TLV. “We have to get somewhere with our cargo during those off-peak hours,” he explained to De Standaard last week. “Imagine: a lorry picks up a container from the port at 3.00. Most are destined for a client within 150 kilometres or less. The lorry is at its destination within two or three hours, but factories and businesses are usually only open by 9.00, so the driver has more than two hours to wait.” That means, the spokesperson said, that the gains from avoiding sitting in traffic are lost from drivers being paid to wait for factory gates to open. The only solution, he said, was for the entire logistics chain to operate 24 hours a day, not just two container terminals. \ AH

Engineer shortage doubles in three years The shortage of engineers in Flanders has about doubled in three years, according to figures released by Flanders’ employment and training agency, VDAB and published in De Tijd. At the end of 2013, there were 2,214 vacancies for civil, industrial or bio-engineers, and at the end of last year, there were 4,120 such vacancies. Nine in 10 of the empty jobs concern industrial engineers. “In the whole of 2016, VDAB received 8,110 job postings for engineers, also twice as many as three years ago,” said VDAB spokesperson Shaireen Aftab. A large number of the jobs go to recent graduates, with many of them securing jobs even before graduating. But as the number of new engineers remains stable, the demand is increasing. Despite these figures, some 2,000 engineers in Flanders – mostly over 40 – are unemployed. According to Peter Demuynck, general director of technology industry federation Agoria, this group needs additional training to bring their skills up to date. Agoria also emphasised that more work needs to be done to improve the reputation of technical education so that potential students realise the job market value of an industrial engineering degree. \ Andy Furniere

RCS Anderlecht will not move to new Eurostadium Football club RSC Anderlecht has decided not to take part in the development of the new Eurostadium planned for the Heizel complex in northern Brussels. The club’s decision follows a similar decision by the football union. However, project developer Ghelamco said it would carry on. “With what we know at present of how things stand with the Brussels Eurostadium, and following the submission of the environmental impact report and the applications for environmental and planning permits, the board of RSC Anderlecht carried out an evaluation,” the club said in a statement. “The club has communicated its serious concerns, and the decision that it is not in the

interests of the club to take part in the project, to Ghelamco.” The stadium was to be the new home for the national football team, but since they play a limited number of home matches in a year, the ground needed a full-time tenant. Now that both

Anderlecht and the union have pulled out, critics describe the completion of the project in time for the European Championships in 2020 as “unattainable”. Johan Van den Driessche, fraction leader of opposition party N-VA, says that rather than carry-

ing on with the construction of a football-only stadium nobody appears to want, the money should be used to renovate the existing King Boudewijn stadium to create a modern arena for multiple sports. Ghelamco claimed at the weekend that Anderlecht had not abandoned the project. “That cannot be, given the documents the club submitted during the public tender procedure, and in particular their signing of the initial accord,” the company said in a statement. “We have always behaved as a loyal partner and will continue to do so. We have been given a task, and will do all we can to carry it out. We expect our partners to do the same.” \ AH

\ INNOVATION

february 22, 2017

Tune in to your city

week in innovation Promising virus therapy developed

Brussels start-up gives residents a voice in city policy Ian Mundell follow Ian on Twitter \ @IanMundell

citizenlab.co

russels start-up CitizenLab wants to make it easier for people to have a say in how their towns and cities are run. Beginning with places such as Hasselt, Ostend and Vilvoorde, the company now works with almost 20 towns and cities across Belgium and has plans to expand abroad. The idea for CitizenLab came from the young founders’ personal experience of modern life in Brussels. “As millennials, we felt frustrated that there was, and still is, this communication gap between citizens and the government,” says Wietse Van Ransbeeck, the company’s chief executive. In the internet age, he continues, it shouldn’t be this way. “It takes so many steps and so much time to get in touch with your government and communicate your frustrations, your ideas and how you want to improve the city.” Van Ransbeeck and co-founder Aline Muylaert got a positive response when they approached municipal authorities, who were aware that traditional methods of involving people, such as neighbourhood meetings, were not getting through to all sections of the community. “They wanted to increase their audience, to get more feedback, more data and information for making better decisions for the municipality,” says Van Ransbeeck. The pair, who were both studying at the Solvay Business School in Brussels at the time, thought this looked like a good business opportunity. Together with web developer Koen Gremmelprez, they set up the company in 2015 and started to build a product to do the job. CitizenLab allows councils to present their constituents with plans, canvas their reactions and give feedback on subsequent developments. It also offers a way of receiving spontaneous suggestions for improving city life. Meanwhile, municipal authorities can crunch the data gathered

The Citizenlabe team. Founder Wietse Van Ransbeeck (far left) believes the platform can have a significant impact on how cities are governed

and use it to inform future developments. Different stakeholders can be identified and their opinions mapped – by age group, for instance, or by neighbourhood. Developing the software was relatively simple, at least compared to finding out how the municipalities worked. “We had to collaborate with local governments to better understand how they work internally, what their processes and organisational structures look like and who would use the product,” Van Ransbeeck explains. “We did quite a lot of research on that, and one of the strengths of our product is that it follows the processes that the municipalities already use. They don’t need to change.”

The next hurdle was finding an adventurous city to try the system out. This was Hasselt, which last summer used CitizenLab to canvas opinion on plans to renovate the large Kapermolenpark. “In the beginning, citizens could submit any idea and be very creative,” says Van Ransbeeck, “and then the city gave feedback on these ideas, encouraged the citizens to elaborate on them collectively, and then picked several to be integrated into the plan for the park.” These include wi-fi in the park, a longer running track and better integration of the nearby river. Work on the park begins this year. “We had a very tangible, direct impact there.”

Ideally, he adds, the system should be used across the full range of a council’s activities so that people are continually engaged. “That is one of the biggest lessons we have learned: Projects shouldn’t be too narrow or specific, because then the engagement will decrease drastically.” This is how CitizenLab is being used by Ostend and Vilvoorde, for example, with people able to comment on all ongoing projects or share ideas out of the blue. “In Vilvoorde, every month the city council picks out three of the best proposals made by citizens and gives feedback on them,” Van Ransbeeck says. “And that feedback is crucial in determining whether people come back to the platform and get some satisfaction from sharing their thoughts.” So far CitizenLab has not seen any of the disruptive behaviour that blights some social media sites. “Of course, you sometimes have a substantial discussion about things, but that’s just freedom of speech,” says Van Ransbeeck. “It’s good to have some opposition and that people sometimes challenge decisions that have been made.” Future plans for the product include making deeper connections with council business so that information on decisionmaking can be fed back to the public. And the company also has plans to expand, building on the 20 or so clients it already has in Flanders and Wallonia. “The next steps for us are to go into France and the Netherlands,” Van Ransbeeck says. “We have our first Dutch customer, Schiedam, and we are also going to do a project in Denmark.” And what about Brussels? “We are talking to the region, but also reaching out to the municipalities. We would love to have one of the Brussels municipalities,” he adds. Luckily, there is a lot of choice. “The complexity of the Belgian system, with so many different levels of government, is very interesting commercially. We have so many potential customers.”

BeCentral brings digital hub to Brussels Central Station A group of 28 experts with varying digital backgrounds has founded the BeCentral digital hub in Brussels Central Station. The focus of the initiative is to enable those with less access to digital applications – such as the elderly, secondary school drop-outs, the unemployed and refugees – to connect with the digital world. BeCentral is located in office space above the station’s ticket counters. It will offer lessons, workshops, work spaces and meeting places. There is space for start-ups, for example, and for school groups. The 28 initiators come from start-ups, academic institutions, the venture capital sector and the technology and internet sectors. Among them

are investor Frank Maene of Volta Ventures, Karen Boers of Startups.be and professor Omar Mohout of Antwerp Management School.

becentral.org

Alexander De Croo, federal minister for the digital agenda, is also one of the founders. “The technological revolution shouldn’t only benefit those who are already skilled in participating in it,” De Croo told De Standaard. “We have to help people get the skills needed to play a role in the digital economy.” External organisations will also set up educational programmes in BeCentral. The first is BeCode, which will offer free training in programming to those with no prior experience. Although BeCentral is already operating, a grand opening will take place later in the year when renovation works have finished.

Researchers from Ghent University and the Flemish life sciences research institute VIB, in collaboration with the Geisel School of Medicine in the US, have developed a new antiviral strategy to fight human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), which causes respiratory tract infections and affects 34 million children under the age of five worldwide every year. Current methods of treatment rely almost exclusively on supportive care, like administering extra oxygen or anti-inflammatory drugs. The team developed nanobodies that target the protein the virus needs to enter lung cells. The nanobodies neutralised the virus in in vitro tests and in mice, thus providing protection against RSV infection and related inflammation.

Primary health care reform creates ‘care teams’ Primary health-care professionals will in future work more as a team, and all patients will have care plans adjusted to their needs, according to a reform of the primary health-care system presented last week by Flemish welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen. Because of the ageing of the population and the evolution in medical science, the number of people requiring ongoing care is increasing. To cope with the higher demand, primary health-care providers like GPs, pharmacists, home nurses, dentists and psychologists will have to collaborate much more effectively, Vandeurzen said. One of the goals would be to put the patient in a central role regarding decisions related to the care plan.

UGent studies health and happiness Ghent University (UGent) and insurance company Delta Lloyd Life are supporting research on the complex link between health and happiness, and the factors that influence them. Perspectives on a Healthy and Happy Life is led by professor Lieven Annemans, a health economist at UGent. The programme will provide researchers with a better insight into these links, through studies carried out among the Belgian population. The research will study aspects of social evolutions related to health and happiness, such as robotics, stem cell therapies, 3D applications, telematics and alternative energy sources. \ AF

\ Andy Furniere

\ EDUCATION

february 22, 2017

New frontiers

week in education

Flemish entrepreneur takes teens – and their parents – to Silicon Valley Ian Mundell More articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.org

NEXXWORKS.COM

lemish entrepreneur Peter Hinssen has been taking business leaders on inspirational tours for some time, visiting places like Silicon Valley, Berlin and the booming cities of China. But the tour that begins this coming weekend is different, comprising 17 curious teenagers and 17 parents. They are all off to Silicon Valley to find out about the day after tomorrow. “It’s about trying to look into the future, at this day after tomorrow, with new ideas, new concepts, new business models and new technologies that might change society,” Hinssen explains. The idea for the tour came directly from the executives Hinssen has travelled with on past occasions. “The number one comment we get at the end of the week is, ‘My son or my daughter should have seen this’,” he says. “And we got so tired of hearing this that we decided to do something about it.” The tour is organised by Nexxworks, a Ghentbased start-up Hinssen found in 2014. It is aimed at local students from 16 to 20 years old – old enough to put what they will see into context, but young enough that the experience might inform their choices in life. “Some of the people joining are either in their very early university years or still have to make a choice in what they want to do in their later studies,” Hinssen says. “And that’s exactly the kind of confrontation that we are looking for.” The tour is not just about seeing the next cool gadgets and apps, but thinking about their consequences for the economy and society, for instance through job displacement or the collaborative economy. Participants will visit some of the big names in the Valley, such as Google and YouTube. “These companies are the dominant players and platforms, and they can supply not only an enormous opportunity for the next generation but also provide some interesting discussions about data and privacy,” Hinssen says. They will also go to some earlier start-ups, small teams with a dream of changing the world, but living with the knowledge that it could all crash and burn from one week to the next. “That’s where you get the raw essence of the start-up life in Silicon Valley.” As well as companies, the tour will visit people

Peter Hinssen has been taking business leaders on inspirational tours to Silicon Valley for some time. Now, he says, it’s their kids’ turn

removed from the commercial side of the Valley, such as Pieter Abbeel, head of the artificial intelligence research laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. And there will be more personal stories. “We’re going to hear from families who live out there,” Hinssen says, “about how they look at their world, how their children are studying and how the competitive environment of Silicon Valley also gets into the competitive scene at school.” This has some disturbing consequences, he adds, such as a higher than usual teen suicide rate. “We want to show the wonders, but be cautious of the shadows as well.” The idea of bringing parents and children was partly a practical move, but also to encourage debate. “I know that the executive visits to Silicon Valley have sparked a lot of conversations in their families,” Hinssen say, “and I’m hoping that we can continue this and build an interesting dialogue between the generations.” He knows this well, thanks to his 17-year-old daughter. “I come home with stories about things that I’ve seen or experienced and then she’s the one who brings me down to earth or gives me an unexpected perspective.” She will be one of the participants on the trip. “Because this is the first edition, and especially

because my daughter is joining, I’m probably more nervous about this than anything I’ve ever done in my entire life,” he confides. Another worry is what the kids will do with the experience. All should be inspired, but that inspiration might take a dramatic turn. “Every time we go with a group of executives to Silicon Valley there are always one or two who drop out,” Hinssen says. That’s not to say they drop out of the tour, but they decide to abandon the corporate rat race and do something else. “I’ve no idea what that is going to mean for the 16- to 17-year-olds. There could be a chance that some of them will say, ‘The most successful people here are high school drop-outs and, y’know what, I’m not going to go to college’,” Hinssen says. “I have no idea what I’m going to say to those parents when that happens.” Families with a connection to past executive tours were given priority on this first Youth Inspiration Tour, and all the places were quickly taken. The wider public will have to wait for future editions, which Hinssen is confident will follow. “I also have a 13-year old son who is a little disappointed that he wasn’t able to join in this time,” he says, “so I promised him I would certainly, absolutely do it again, until he is the age when he can enjoy exactly the same thing.”

Q&A Caroline Pauwels is the rector of the Free University of Brussels (VUB), which recently launched an initiative aimed at helping academic staff balance their personal and professional lives What led to this initiative? There were indications that academics had too high a workload, caused by publication pressure and administrative burden. In a joint initiative with the unions, VUB wanted to prepare a plan to improve the working environment. The measures are a result of research into the professors’ workload. How do you hope to achieve this? The university will provide counselling to our professors and introduce management practices, under the supervision of a human resources director for academic affairs. We also want to establish an email

policy and to examine the worklife balance, especially for staff with young children. They seem to have the most difficulty combining the two worlds and are the most likely to work late in the evening, even in the middle of the night. All of this should lighten the professors’ workload. The initiative is part of a general strategic plan. What does the larger plan set out to accomplish? One of my main goals is to transform VUB into the leading point of reference for work and study. In order to become more evidence-

based, we’ve introduced a human resources strategy and a policy on scientific research into the university’s own staff. One of the first research subjects was the professors’ workload and its impact on their wellbeing. You describe wanting to make VUB a “warmer” place to work. What do you mean by that? We are striving for a better balance between result-oriented and people-oriented working methods. Output should not be the only criterion. That is why we are pursuing a scientifically based and peopleoriented staff policy for our professors. The measures that were implemented as a result of the research aim to increase our professors’ wellbeing.

Will this help foster more equality between male and female professors? For four years now, the university has been executing a gender action plan, specifically aimed at closing the inequality gap.

New toolkit tackles cyberbullying Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits and youth minister Sven Gatz launched a toolkit for schools to help primary and secondary schools develop a policy against cyberbullying. CyberScan devotes attention to prevention, detection, tackling approaches and aftercare. It outlines phases that schools have to go through, like looking at the current policy and setting up an action plan with concrete goals, roles and responsibilities. Flanders’ centre for media literacy, Mediawijs, created CyberScan with Antwerp University, whose research indicates that about one in 10 students has recently been a victim of cyberbullying. The government has invested €25,000 in the development of the toolkit.

Project brings artists and culture to schools To spark an interest in arts and culture among pupils, regardless of their background: That is the ambition of the action plan presented in the Flemish parliament last week by culture minister Sven Gatz and education minister Hilde Crevits. The ministers want to see more regular communication between schools and cultural institutions and for the two sectors to work more closely together. Four technical and professional schools were selected to develop a pilot vision on culture in collaboration with a cultural partner or artist.

High praise for immersion courses Teachers in Flanders find teaching non-language courses in another language extremely useful to students, and students feel the same way, according to a survey carried out across 20 schools in the region. The Content and Language Integrated Learning (Clil) system of immersion education became available to schools in 2014, with more than 60 secondary schools in Flanders and Brussels providing non-language courses in a language other than Dutch – specifically, in English, French or German. Courses in history, geography and mathematics are among the most common to be offered in one of the other languages. According to the survey, students, teachers and directors see the system as extremely beneficial and want to see it “expand sustainably” all over Flanders. \ Andy Furniere

\ Interview by Emma Portier Davis

\ LIVING

week in activities Folk dance ball Limburg is hosting dance evenings with live music on a regular basis. This one features three groups playing on acoustic instruments, including the accordion and hurdy-gurdy. There’s a folkdance workshop during the afternoon for the uninitiated (registration required). 25 February, 20.00-2.00, De Markthallen, Markt 2, Herk-de-Stad; €13 \ folkinlimburg.be

Krakelingen & Tonnekesbrand This double festival is recognised as Intangible Cultural Heritage by both Flanders and Unesco. First a parade with costumed participants depicts the history of the town dating back to Roman times, ending with city officials throwing krakelingen (a kind of roll) into the crowd. In the evening, a huge bonfire chases winter away. 25 February, from 15.00, Geraardsbergen; free \ geraardsbergen.be

Comic-Con Brussels It’s the biggest gathering of fandom in Belgium: for one weekend, comic books, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming and cosplay enthusiasts can geek out to their heart’s content. Meet actors from Star Wars, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, see costume contests, buy original art and toys and more. 25-26 February, Tour & Taxis, Havenlaan 86c, Brussels; €15 \ comicconbrussels.com

Winter walk and BBQ The day starts with a hearty breakfast, with staggered starting times for three different trail lengths. Rest stops and snacks are provided along the way. The day ends with an outdoor pig roast. Registration required. 26 February, 9.00-19.00, Fiets- en Eetcafé Paalse Plas, Holststraat 85, Paal; €20-€37 \ tinyurl.com/fietseneet

Register for Banad The Art Nouveau and Art Deco Biennale has been renamed and will now take place every spring, instead of every other autumn. For three weekends in March, the public is invited to tour some of the most beautiful architecture in Brussels. Limited spots; advance registration is required. 11-26 March, across Brussels; €30 for weekend pass \ banad.brussels

\ 10

Giraffes in the streets

Krokusfestival celebrates 20 years of performing arts for all ages Diana Goodwin Follow Diana on Twitter \ @basedinbelgium

KROKUSFESTIVAL.CCHASSELT.BE

ver the past 20 years, Hasselt’s Krokusfestival has established a reputation as the premier arts festival for young audiences in Flanders, attracting well over 10,000 visitors last year. This is the 20th anniversary of the festival, which gets its name from the annual spring school holiday, and it’s celebrating with commemorative activities and, of course, a birthday cake. The festival opens on Friday night with an original retelling of the story of Helen of Troy, based on Homer and Euripides but with actors, puppets, video screens and live music. Theatre Froe Froe, from Antwerp, is an award-winning company that specialises in “theatre as rock-n-roll for young and old” and has been a long-standing festival favourite. The programme features dozens of performances geared at children as young as two, ranging from theatre to dance and music, but often with an interdisciplinary and interactive component. Each listing includes the age group of the intended audience, and many are geared at all ages. Families are encouraged to attend and participate together. The hallmark of the festival is its original and surprising content: a wordless dialogue between a juggler and a drummer; an acrobatic dance tour through the open spaces of the city; a pop-up soup restaurant for toddlers; an interactive make-believe session about fear and death. You’ll see things that you might not expect to find at a children’s festival. That’s because Krokusfestival isn’t just a platform for children’s entertainment but an ongoing project aimed at encouraging new talent

build, and then make dance; an open creative lab with challenges and games; and a world made out of clay that everyone can help shape. The festival takes place all over Hasselt, with its headquarters and ticket office at the city’s Cultural Centre. Some performances require ticket purchase, while others are free.

More krokus holiday fun Youth Film Festival International films for children will be screened in Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent and Kortrijk. Workshops in filmmaking, stunt work and special effects offered, too. Until 5 March, across Flanders \ jeugdfilmfestival.be

Spinrag

and developing artistic strategies for working with children. Throughout the year, the festival organises master classes for local and international artists and commissions original works that are presented during the festival. The festival is part of the Push project, along with theatre and dance companies from Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. The participating artists are investigating three themes in relation to arts programming for children: gender/identity, migration/ borders, and safety/protection. Eilidh MacAskill of Scotland will present the results of the Push Lab

24 February to 2 March

on Gender and lead a master class for other artists. A new addition to the festival this year, as part of the anniversary celebrations, is the Museum of Us. Children are invited to bring a special object, something that has a story attached to it, and leave it with a note explaining why it’s important to them. The objects will be displayed in the museum during the festival and returned to their owners afterwards. There are free activities happening alongside the programme, too, including a family of life-size giraffes wandering through the city centre; a giant that you help

Across Hasselt

This children’s arts festival in Kortrijk includes theatre, dance, storytelling, films and creative workshops for kids aged three and up. 24 February to 5 March, across Kortrijk \ spinrag.be

Underground Treasure Hunt Little Charles V has lost the secret code to his treasure chest and needs your help! Kids get a backpack with tools to help them solve the puzzle. Suitable for ages five to eight. Reservations required. 25 February to 5 March; 7 Paleizenplein, Brussels; €4 \ coudenberg.brussels

BITE Menu Next Door rekindles joy in sharing food with neighbours

MENUNEXTDOOR.BE

Thanks to the immense success of companies like Uber and Airbnb, the sharing economy is on everyone’s lips these days. Having changed how we travel and get around, this collaborative approach to consumption is now in the process of reshaping the food industry. With Menu Next Door, Brussels-based entrepreneur Nicolas Van Rymenant wants to revolutionise how we eat. But his project is less about revolutionising than finding an innovative take on an old idea: sharing food with your neighbours. The idea for Menu Next Door was born when Van Rymenant visited his aunt in the United States around Thanksgiving. “I knew she was an amazing cook, but I was surprised to see that she was basically cooking for her whole neighbourhood,” says the 30-year-old. “One neighbour after another dropped by to pick up a dish. What struck me the most was this strong sense of community.” A few months later, Van Rymenant – who is not new to the start-up world, having co-founded

three other companies before – launched the business. It’s a take-away concept that allows anyone to sign up to offer their own home-cooked meals. Neighbours can then pre-order and pick it up themselves, adding a social component to the mix. “The cook will normally invite you inside for a drink,” Van Rymenant says, “which not only allows you to have a look at their kitchen and put

an end to potential hygiene concerns, but also gives you the chance to get to know them and ask questions.” Cooks vary from trained chefs like Eldar Kabiri, who has worked in the kitchens of several Parisian restaurants and shares his culinary creations on Instagram, to enthusiasts like Woo Kim, who just wants to introduce people to her native South Korean dishes, made the way her mother taught her. The prices of three-course menus range between €10 and €15, and cooks get rated on the website, just like Airbnb hosts. “Menu Next Door is really adapted to today’s way of life,” says Harold Heine, a passionate hobby cook active in the community. “I have a lot of friends who don’t have the time to cook and eat properly, and this offers a healthy alternative for a reasonable price, while meeting new people. I really enjoy the direct feedback of the people who trust us.” \ Sarah Schug

february 22, 2017

Lander’s laboratory

week in arts & CULTURE

Flemish jazz drummer’s eclectic style wins fans and critical acclaim Tom Peeters More articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.org

rummer and composer Lander Gyselinck recently won his second Music Industry Award for best Flemish musician, just a month after he received the Flemish Culture Prize for Music. For someone who’s not yet 30, that’s quite an achievement. He says he’s just doing the same thing as a decade ago. “When I started my career, I had a very busy schedule, playing as often as I could,” he explains on the eve of a new tour and album with his band LABtrio. Back then, his shows often took place at Hot Club de Gand, a jazz club in his hometown of Ghent; now he’s also playing on the national and international scene. “When do people think you’re successful? For me, it’s all about being able to be creative and to expand your ideas,” he says. “Ten years ago, I was already trying new things, and I remember people were pleased with it. Maybe on a smaller scale, but still. After every concert there would be two blokes coming up to me, saying ‘Wow, that was cool. How old are you?’” When Gyselinck answered, truthfully, that he was 18, he would often hear: “Really? We thought you were only 13.” Combining this youthful appearance with a playful and exploratory attitude, he quickly found a following on the national scene. Appreciated for his idiosyncratic drumming technique – influenced by his hero Tony Williams, known for his fusion work in the second Miles Davis Quintet, and by more recent evolutions in electronic music and hip hop – he takes advantage of the fact that he has no favourite genre. “I’m absorbing good music from every style,” he says. This fusion of influences becomes obvious when you take a closer look at the bands he’s joined and led over the years. There’s LABtrio, celebrating their 10th birthday with a third album; BeraadGeslagen, his quirky

side project with multi-instrumentalist Fulco Ottervanger; Howard Peach, the band featuring his friends from New York; and STUFF., a funky crossover quintet. “What unites all these bands is their function as a laboratory,” Gyselinck says when asked what defines him as a musician. “I like a stylistic exercise or playing on a pop album from time to time, but those can never be whole projects. All my bands need to be flexible, gathering musicians with different frames of reference.” This openness dates back to his childhood, when music was all around the home, with parents and older siblings listening to everything from Bach to Neil Young. After Gyselinck was given a drum kit by Sinterklaas, he started to develop a serious interest in jazz. This was perfected at Ghent’s Royal Conservatory – and, most of all, by playing and experimenting. This month, LABtrio, one of his first bands, introduce their new album, Nature City, with a European tour and four Belgian release concerts – one of them in the chapel where they played their first show. What’s cool about the trio with double-bassist Anneleen Boehme (the A of the LAB) and pianist Bram De Looze (the B), he says, is that “when we play together, our different influences are somehow neutralised, so we can still become one and impose our multi-layered language”. Witness, for instance “Elevator”, the opening song of Nature City – according to Gyselinck “a weird mix of ’90s cocktail jungle over ’70s Herbie Hancock frenzy and free improvisation”, in that order. The compositions based on Bach’s Fugues or a Stravinsky harmony have these different layers, just like the more pop-oriented tracks, such as “Mental Floss” and “Happy Famous Artists”. Occasionally, De Looze’s Fender Rhodes creates texture. Other bands featuring Gyselinck are

LANDERGYSELINCK.WORDPRESS.COM

colder, she and her dog try to adapt. The director of this novel take on Robinson Crusoe will be present at the screening, which will have English and Dutch subtitles. Ethel & Ernest (pictured) is an animated version of Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel inspired by

Following Antwerp’s Mercado, Ghent is the latest city in Flanders to get a covered food market. Though, like Mercado, the Holy Food Market is only partly a market. The focus is a collection of eateries under one roof – in this case under the roof of an old abbey. Opening on 24 February, the Holy Food Market is home to 15 vendors, offering a diverse selection of food and drinks, from Lebanese to Russian to cocktails. Located in a 16th-century abbey in the city centre near Vrijdagmarkt, the market will be open from 11.00 to 22.00 six days a week (until 23.00 on Saturdays) and is offering free wine tasting on opening night. \ holyfoodmarket.be

Support for dream projects in Brussels

Lander Gyselinck has become known for his idiosyncratic drumming, which he puts to good effect in numerous musical match-ups

more heavily influenced by contemporary electronics. Last year, BeraadGeslagen released a first EP, while STUFF., sounding like a DJ set by a live band, became one of the live revelations of the last few years. They will release a second album in April. Gyselinck calls it “an exercise in being ourselves”. In the meantime, a dance project with his sister Femke, a choreographer for dance company Rosas, is scheduled for May, while a new album with pianist Kris Defoort and a live recording with Howard Peach are lined up for later releases. During a short Belgian tour with his American band in December, Gyselinck saw the difference in attitude between the New York scene and the local one. “When I said to the saxophonist, ‘Maybe we

can start with this track’, he replied, ‘Sure, you’re the boss’, instead of reflecting for a moment about the set list himself. In New York, musicians often think from a sideman perspective; here they’re in real bands.” That doesn’t mean Gyselinck doesn’t have side jobs himself. In Known Alone, he even has a solo project, and has just started working on a PhD at University College Ghent. The title, “Kind of Brew: ‘live-evil’ meets claps, beeps en booms”, sums up the worlds he has always wanted to reconcile: a drum vocabulary influenced by multiple contemporary genres and live improvisation. LABtrio, BeraadGeslagen and STUFF. perform across Flanders until May

Animation for all at Brussels’ annual festival Anima, the Brussels animation festival, kicks off this year with the gentle melancholy of Louise by the Shore and closes with the equally constrained Ethel & Ernest. But in between there’s a rollercoaster of moods and emotions, from the silliness of Solan & Ludwig: The Great Cheese Race to thought-provoking anime about gender in Your Name and zombie horror in Seoul Station. In Louise by the Shore, by veteran French director Jean-François Laguionie, an elderly woman on holiday at a small seaside town misses the last train back to the city at the end of the summer. As the weather gets

Ghent next to get covered food market

the lives of his parents. The story follows the pair (voiced in this English version by Jim Broadbent and Brenda Blethyn) from their courtship in the late 1920s to their deaths in 1971, contrasting their modest lives as a housemaid and a milkman with world events. Director Roger Mainwood will attend the screening. The festival also has a rich selection of international short films, with a special focus on Italy and Portugal, and plenty of shorts by Belgian

24 February to 5 March

ANIMAFESTIVAL.BE

animators. From Flanders, look out for the cat-obsessed Catherine by Britt Raes, the dystopian The Gap by Patrick Vandebroeck, and Kiekenfretter by student Pauwel Nomes, which recasts Brussels as a city of foxes and hens. There will also be exhibitions, a section devoted to virtual reality, and animation workshops and other activities for kids. A selection of films will also travel to Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven and Genk. \ Ian Mundell

Flagey

The King Baudouin Foundation and the Brussels-Capital Region’s minister for equal opportunities have joined together to select 18 young people – called Future City Champions – to realise their dream projects. A jury made up of representatives from business, media and culture selected the 18 from among those who responded to a call for submissions last year. Many of the successful projects have a social aspect to them, including a meeting place for young cyclists, organising cultural trips for seniors and a common space for parents of handicapped children and carers to come together. Other ideas include a mobile gourmet snack truck, a multi-cultural hairdressing salon and a shop for used and vintage motorcycles. \ futurecitychampions.brussels

Campo selected for Germany’s top theatre festival Five Easy Pieces by the Swedish stage director Milo Rau and the Ghent performance arts centre Campo has been selected for Germany’s Theatertreffen festival in May. The Theatertreffen is a selection of the 10 best productions performed in Germany in the last year and rarely includes a foreign production. The controversial Five Easy Pieces is performed by seven Flemish children between the ages of nine and 14 and paints a portrait of the history of Belgium – using as a jumping-off point the biography of child killer Marc Dutroux. The piece is staged on 25 February in Genk. \ campo.nu

Heilig-Kruisplein, Brussels

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\ ARTS

february 22, 2017

No man’s land

Flanders’ world-famous abandoned spaces photographer heads into new territory Lisa Bradshaw Follow Lisa on Twitter \ @lmbsie

eople always ask Henk van Rensbergen the same questions. “Is it legal to go inside? Do you take someone with you? Is it dangerous? Have you ever found a dead body”? The answers, he says, are: “No, sometimes, no and not yet.” Van Rensbergen isn’t just a photographer of abandoned places; he’s quite possibly the first one. A world-renowned pioneer in the genre, he was the first to build a website dedicated to his photographs of long-empty factories, hospitals, mansions and numerous other buildings. Having spent three decades travelling the world in search of “new” material – made easier by his job as a pilot for TUI – the 48-year-old is now taking a new direction. A small sample of it is on view in the Concertgebouw cafe in Bruges. He moved on partly because he’s completely mastered the art of photographing abandoned spaces and partly because the field has become saturated with copycats. “The urban exploration scene that I helped pioneer has grown, and a lot of people are now having fun exploring abandoned buildings,” he says. “And that’s fine with me. But with all the websites, everybody is just copying each other. People see photos of the building, and they find out the address and go take the same photos. There’s no artistic challenge to that.” He’s seen plenty of photos similar to his own work. “That makes my photos all of a sudden possi-

Find Arlette and other animals prowling around abandoned places in Bruges’ Concertgebouw cafe

ble copies as well, because you never know who has copied who. So that’s the situation I wanted to get away from.” In the Concertgebouw lobby is a retrospective of van Rensbergen’s photographs of abandoned places, but in the cafe hang five altogether different works – part of van Rensbergen’s new series In No Man’s Land. The first to greet customers is “Arlette”, a creature who seems at once out of place and right at

home. Arlette is an orangutan, and I think I have never been more disappointed in my life than when van Rensbergen reveals that he did not, in fact, simply happen upon her in this abandoned hotel lobby. The same is true of the other images on the eatery’s walls: chickens wandering across a hallway, a vulture lurking in a dilapidated caravan; flamingos sunning themselves amid the remains of a long-

disused terrace. Van Rensbergen has created the images by superimposing photos of animals and photos of abandoned spaces. Technically, the images are perfect; it is impossible to find evidence that the animals are not where they appear to be. The five prints in Bruges are just a small taste of the more than 50 that van Rensbergen has made for a book he’s preparing. “My starting point is that humans have disap-

peared overnight,” he says. “No dramas, no nuclear wars. We’re just gone.” And then, what would happen to the animals? In terms of domestic animals, “some of them would starve to death,” he admits, “but some of them would escape. Many animals would survive in a world without humans. And many of them would end up wandering through our houses and shopping malls.” A few more images of In No Man’s Land can be seen on van Rensbergen’s website – including a cow at the top of an escalator in what could very well be an abandoned shopping mall. The photographs tend to be amusing, such as this one, when they are not foreboding, such as a chimpanzee hunkered on one of dozens of creaky-looking cots in what looks like an old hospital or asylum. The images, says van Rensbergen, form a story that the viewer can make up for themselves, using their own imagination. As for the end of humankind, he quite likes the idea. “Imagine the world if we’re no longer there. The silence. The instant end to pollution. No more religion, no more wars, no more arguments, no more traffic. I mean, the world would be perfect. Except of course that we wouldn’t be there to enjoy it. So can something be perfect if the creatures judging it as perfect are no longer there? Do animals think in terms of perfect?”

Childhood memories take over Brussels museum of urban art MIMAMUSEUM.EU

With more than 44,000 visitors under its belt after its first show, City Lights, the Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (Mima) is presenting Boris Tellegen: A Friendly Takeover. The retrospective of the 48-year-old Amsterdam artist offers everything from small graffiti drawings to myriad giant robots – one even playing electro music. First achieving fame as a street artist under the pseudonym Delta in the early 1990s, Tellegen’s work has branched out into visual arts, graphic design, architecture, music, fashion and film – all displayed in freestyle, non-chronological order over three of Mima’s four floors. But, as both one of Mima’s founders, Raphaël Cruyt, and Tellegen make clear, the walls – somewhat ironically – remain bare. “Graffiti is the foundation of my work, but it’s difficult in a museum,” Tellegen explains. “I am flirting with graffiti

again, but I wasn’t always a graffiti artist.” Tellegen trained as an industrial design engineer, and this schooling is evident in the wealth of toys showing the beauty of industrial design, from a special Centaur

pinball machine, with Tellegen’s distinctive black-and-white artwork to geometrically patterned T-shirts and designer shoes. “It never seems like he’s working,” says Cruyt. “He just wants to play.” It’s hard to pick out highlights from this fascinating show, but the video of the graffiti-covered Deutsche Bahn train is mesmerising. “I still do the occasional graffiti workout,” Tellegen says with a smile. “But it’s with a different intention now. I go back and do this as an artist, not as a graffiti artist.” But the show’s pièce de résistance is on the second floor: a mammoth, white robot (Tellegen prefers the term totem), with its legs sticking out of the windows and a model railway train running around inside. And with “Do not touch” signs nowhere in sight, everyone is welcome to clamber on board. There is a Russian 1920s Constructivist feel to much of Tellegen’s

oeuvre, from his little patterned pictures and collages to huge sculptural installations. Three monochrome wood-block artworks on the first floor form a particularly striking triptych, and Cruyt calls the large-scale painting of a starship shooting up one wall “spatial art”. Tellegen is reluctant to admit these influences. “Sometimes all these references to Russian art in my work make me feel old,” he says. But with a visible sense of pride, he says that since 2009, all of his sculptures have been made from recycled and recovered materials – “what you can get from the local skip”. Though he feels a bit embarrassed to “have all the toys and the pinball machine,” the cabinet of curiosities on the ground floor, he explains, is

Until 28 May

“like a shelter to hide away from the big, bad world outside.” The room is filled with his graffiti sketchbooks, drawings, toys and smaller sculptures. “These are all special things, each one has meaning,” he says, pointing to the various pieces. “My sevenyear-old daughter, Mia, made this robot out of a CD rack and paper cups.” The glass case filled with Transformers figures was put together by his 10-year-old son, “like mass-produced totems, items to worship”. As a child, however, Tellegen played more with Lego and model aeroplanes; the show includes his collection of Manga figures. “Collections… you want to have them, and then they become a weight on your shoulders.” \ Liz Newmark

Mima

41 Henegouwenkaai, Brussels

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\ ARTS

Life is short

Annelies Verbeke’s new collection of short stories is surrealistic genius Rebecca Benoot More articles by Rebecca \ flanderstoday.org

Annelies Verbeke has released her third collection of short stories, with protagonists including a clairvoyant baby and an author who turns into a bear.

about her home town of Ghent. “I wrote about my daily life in the city from the viewpoint of de auteur, which also became quite surreal,” she says. “By creating de auteur, I could talk about myself as if I were a character and make myself do things I wouldn’t or couldn’t normally do. I liked that character so much, I decided it should come back in other publications.” The mood of “De Beer” conveys her own state of mind at the time. For a while she was very tired and sad,

nnelies Verbeke is a true wordsmith. Whether she’s writing novels, (screen) plays or short story collections, her elegant prose and mix of styles and genres is a thing to admire. In Halleluja, her third collection, she takes storytelling to the next level. Verbeke, 41, enjoys reading short stories herself. “I love their intensity,” she says. “There’s no background information about the characters; you immediately become part of someone’s life. And by writing them in the short term, you add a certain emotional fervour that could get lost in a novel.” The 15 stories in Halleluja revolve around one theme: the beginning and the end. “Using a central theme in a collection gives you the opportunity to look at that theme from different perspectives,” she explains. In a novel, “you have to stay true to one idea or to one voice for a long time, which is rather exhausting. Short stories are also the perfect way to experiment with form and content.”

novel”. With Halleluja, Verbeke has created an array of situations and characters who long for some form of catharsis: a baby who can see into the future, a couple who go back to basics and live like cave people, a woman who wakes up in someone else’s life, an architect

sional dark tone, the collection sports much fantasy and a sense of humour; Verbeke walks the fine line between reality and the surreal with aplomb. The characters, in any case, are people of flesh and bone with recognisable emotions – loss, fear, despair – even if the setting and

By making stories just a tad surreal or adding metaphors, it becomes easier to talk about certain subjects The first story, “Huilbaby” (Cry Baby), is the perfect example. As it’s told from the point of view of an infant, “it isn’t a voice I could have maintained for an entire

who believes the end of the world is nigh. Verbeke (pictured) chose the title because it can be used in so many contexts. Despite its occa-

circumstances might be out of the ordinary. “You shouldn’t add surrealism just to be a bit different,” Verbeke says. “It has to be there for a reason.”

Sometimes, she believes, it actually makes things clearer. “In my whole oeuvre there’s this deeper, darker layer shining through our daily lives. Literature is the perfect way to make it tangible. In Halleluja I may have made it a little more surreal than usual, but by making stories just a tad surreal or adding metaphors, it becomes easier to talk about certain subjects.” In “De Beer” (The Bear), a female author wakes up as a male bear. Verbeke: “It’s a way to talk about a particular sadness within this character without having to be too literal.” The character in “De Beer” is called de auteur (the author) and is Verbeke’s alter-ego. She first made her appearance in a story for Flemish-Dutch cultural organisation DeBuren as part of a series called Citybooks, in which Verbeke wrote

) is published in Halleluja ( Dutch by De Geus

Audrey & Anne • Jolien Janzig (De Geus) During the autumn of 1957, Otto Frank visits up-and-coming movie star Audrey Hepburn at her Swiss chalet. He wants her to play the part of his daughter, Anne, in a movie about her life. Audrey and Anne were both born in the same year, though they led very different lives. Both came into contact with fascism, but the outcomes couldn’t have been more different. Novelist Jolien Janzing’s take on this story is fresh, alluring and powerful.

Een paar is twee (A Pair is Two) • Toon van Mierlo (Vrijdag) 2010 was a year of crisis. Not just in Europe and in Belgium, where a government couldn’t be formed, but also in the lives of Stef and Danny, brothers-in-law whose marriages are about to be tested by infidelity. They each decide to resolve things in their own ways, but in 2010, nobody gets off scotfree. Toon van Mierlo’s second novel is an interesting take on how we deal with setbacks and deception.

she says, “and after I wrote that story, it was over. Making yourself into a character can be quite cathartic”. Halleluja is a dark but often funny collection that shines a light on life’s hidden depths, despite its heightened sense of reality. Verbeke has created strong characters that are real and relatable, in an original, diverse and wildly entertaining reading experience that should be slowly savoured.

More new books this month Pertinenties van Polly Dewit (Pertinences of Polly Dewit) • Gerda Dendooven (Polis) Polly Dewit had a column in De Morgen for years, becoming famous for her candid take on the daily life of modern women. Her funny, occasionally acid, critique gave her confident essays an air of illumination. Whether she was talking about mothers, husbands or lovers, her pieces were best described as scientific voyeurism. Here, illustrator Gerda Dendooven has compiled a collection of her best musings.

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Billie & Seb • Ivo Victoria (Lebowski) Flemish author and journalist Ivo Victoria tells the tale of 17-yearold Seb, whose soulmate, Billie, is in a coma. Banned from visiting her, Seb shuts himself up in his room, away from the cruel world. When he receives an air gun for Christmas, he loses himself in battles with his friends at a deserted farmyard. Slowly but surely he loses touch with reality as his inner and outer world collide. A haunting, surreal observation of friendship.

\ AGENDA

february 22, 2017

Before the fast

CONCERT

Carnival 26-28 February

Across Flanders fenvlaanderen.be

eople in Flanders may no longer fast during Lent – the period of atonement preceding Easter – but they still like to throw a good party to mark Shrove Tuesday, historically the last day when Catholics were allowed wine, meat and cheese before the liturgical fast began. Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the centrepiece of Flemish Carnival is a colourful parade characterised by the wearing of fantastical costumes, upsetting social norms and flaunting the status quo. Many cities in Flanders will host Carnival parades on the last Sunday before Lent, which falls on 26 February this year. The most famous Carnival celebration in Flanders is in Aalst. The three-day event was recognized as a Masterpiece of the Intangible and Oral Heritage of Humanity by Unesco in 2010, but the

tradition goes back to the middle ages. The main parade on Sunday features, in addition to floats and beautiful costumes, satirical depictions of politicians and other public figures and a great deal of lewd and raunchy humour. The fun continues on Monday with an abbreviated version of Sunday’s parade and the appearance of the Gilles of Aalst – men in distinctive historical costumes who perform ageold rituals to ward off evil and welcome spring. On Tuesday, the voil jeanetten, or dirty Jeannettes – men in weirdly accessorised

women’s dress – take to the streets. In Limburg, meanwhile, Genk celebrates with a children’s parade on Friday, an international carnival parade on Saturday, and a giant pub crawl on Monday. Blankenberge has its main parade on Sunday, a children’s parade on Monday and its own dirty Jeannettes on Tuesday, as well as a week-long fun fair. FEN Vlaanderen, the umbrella organisation for carnivals in Flanders, maintain a list of all the celebrations on its website. \ Diana Goodwin

CONCERT

Klank/Beeld

Brussels Jazz Orchestra plays Gil Evans

Multimedia experimentation has been a hallmark of modern art since German composer Richard Wagner advocated the “total work of art” over 150 years ago. Since then artists from Bertold Brecht to David Bowie have sought to marry sound and vision. Concertgebouw’s Klank/Beeld continues the tradition. The programme pairs musicians and visual artists perform-

Concertgebouw, Bruges concertgebouw.be

ing specially commissioned works. Double bass player Peter Jacquemyn and performance artist Sigrid Tanghe open the show with an improvisational performance. They are followed by a poetic interlude by soundtrack composer Annelies Van Parys (pictured). Experimental cellist Arne Deforce closes the evening, with calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander. \ Georgio Valentino

23 & 25 February

Brussels & Antwerp brusselsjazzorchestra.com

Brussels Jazz Orchestra joins forces with young American conductor Ryan Truesdell (pictured) to pay tribute to 20th-century composer and band leader Gil Evans. BJO have tackled the jazz giant before. In 2002, the ensemble revisited the seminal 1960 Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaboration Sketches of Spain at The Hague’s North Sea Jazz Festival. Their current project is different, though. Curated by Truesdell and informed by his deep knowledge of Evans’ life and repertoire, the programme is comprehensive. It includes the pioneering composer’s landmark pieces, his famous collaborations and a few obscure, even heretofore unknown works.

Belgian photographer and PhD student Johanne Verbockhaven explores the relationship between visual images and anthropology in this exhibition of photographs taken in the barren wilds of Iceland. The region in question, the fjord-scarred Hornstrandir peninsula, once had a thriving economy

Imaginary Frontiers: French art historian Louma Salamé curates this collection of contemporary art exploring borders and intercultural encounters. 23 February to 30 April, Villa Empain, Franklin Rooseveltlaan 67

\ museumdd.be

LITERATURE Antwerp

When Silence Speaks: Heart of a Forgotten Land

Contemporary Flemish choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez and her company Voetvolk aren’t afraid to stare down fear itself. Performed by Gruwez and Nicolas Vladyslav, We’re Pretty Fuckin’ Far from Okay expresses the widespread unease permeating contemporary life through tortured gestures. Voetvolk’s house composer Maarten Van Cauwenberghe provides the soundtrack in the form of sound collages based on breathing patterns. The performance earned positive reviews at its premiere at last year’s Avignon Festival. Now Gruwez and co are coming home to unsettle audiences across Flanders. The tour kicks off with a three-night stand at Campo in Ghent. \ GV

\ concertgebouw.be

Kamrooz Aram: Ornament for Indifferent Architecture: The New York-based Iranian artist uses sculpture, painting and collage to forge an ornamental brand of minimalism in which geometric figures co-exist with rich patterns. Until 9 April, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Museumlaan 14

We’re Pretty Fuckin’ Far from Okay voetvolk.be

Flanders Symphony Orchestra: Bolero: Led by French conductor Adrien Perruchon and featuring Czech violinist Josef Spacek, the orchestra perform a programme of Spanish-inflected pieces by Ravel and Copland as well as a new composition by young Flemish pianist Mathias Coppens. 1 March 20.00, Concertgebouw, ’t Zand 34

Sint-Martens-Latem

VISUAL ARTS Until 19 March

Bruges

\ villaempain.be

PERFORMANCE Across Flanders

CLASSICAL

Brussels

\ GV

22 February to 31 March

\ thescabs.be

VISUAL ARTS

CLASSICAL 2 March, 20.00

The Scabs Unplugged: Founding members of veteran Flemish punk-rock group reunite for a months-long acoustic tour spanning the whole of Flanders. 23 February to 26 May, across Flanders

ADAM, Brussels adamuseum.be

and a modest but satisfied population. It is now deserted. With her field work, Verbockhaven seeks to shed light on the socio-historical process of desertion. In addition to their academic merit, her photographs, with their sweeping natural landscapes and eerie architectural ruins, are visually striking. \ GV

Erika Fatland: In a preview of next month’s Passa Porta literary festival, Norwegian writer and anthropologist Erika Fatland, recently named one of 10 “New Voices from Europe” by Literary Europe Live, discusses her work. 23 February 20.00, Permeke Auditorium, De Coninckplein 25

\ passaporta.be

PARTY Ghent Club 923: For those who like their parties to start before midnight, this one’s especially for you. It runs from 9-2-3, get it? Irish coffee and artisanal cupcakes start you off, then you get DJ sets by Hektor and Lotto. 25 February 21.00-3.00, Vooruit, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 23 \ vooruit.be

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\ BACKPAGE

february 22, 2017

Talking Dutch

VoiceS of flanders today

What a load of rubbish

In response to: Fur real: the Cat Museum opens in Brussels RĂłisĂn Healy: You were looking for something cultural today Li Se! đ&#x;&#x2DC;?

Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really not that complicated, but some people just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to get it. Vlaming kent niet veel van sorteren â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Flemish donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know much about sorting rubbish, said a headline in Metro. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not that they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be bothered, the newspaper explained. De Vlaming wil wel sorteren â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Flemish really want to sort, maar doet het vaak fout â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but they often get it wrong. The paper was reporting on Het Grote Afvalonderzoek â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Big Rubbish Survey â&#x20AC;&#x201C; carried out recently by Radio 2. First the good news â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 90% van de mensen geeft aan thuis bewust te sorteren â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 90% of people said that they deliberately sorted rubbish at home. But there are some things people still canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to understand. Vooral de vraag of een verpakking al dan niet bij PMD hoort â&#x20AC;&#x201C; More than anything, the question of whether packaging belongs with the PMD zorgt voor verwarring â&#x20AC;&#x201C; causes confusion. The researchers concluded that people were not following the instructions printed on the bags. Zo gooit bijna twee op de drie gebruikte keukenrol bij het papier

en karton â&#x20AC;&#x201C; So nearly two-thirds of people tossed used kitchen roll in with the paper and cardboard, terwijl dat eigenlijk bij het restafval hoort â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whereas it actually belongs with the general waste. Of course it does. And it gets worse. EĂŠn op vijf â&#x20AC;&#x201C; One in five people denkt ten onrechte â&#x20AC;&#x201C; wrongly thinks dat aluminiumfolie bij het PMD-afval mag â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that aluminium foil can be put in the PMD bag. And stop right there, sir, with that broken cup. EĂŠn op de acht heeft geen idee hoe een kapotte koffietas te sorteren â&#x20AC;&#x201C; One in eight people hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a clue how to dispose of a broken coffee cup, trying to sneak it into their glass bin. Die moet bij het restafval â&#x20AC;&#x201C; It has to go out with the general rubbish. And what about that empty shampoo bottle you are about to throw in the bin? Een op de tien â&#x20AC;&#x201C; One person in 10 zou een lege bus shampoo bij het restafval gooien â&#x20AC;&#x201C; throws their empty shampoo bottle in with the general waste. No! No! No! How many times do we have to tell you? Shampoo bottles go in the bag marked PMD (which stands for plastic, metal and drink cartons). The level of ignorance is aston-

In response to: Mechelen mayor Bart Somers wins World Mayor Prize Lisseth Bravo: Mechelen the place to be...

In response to: Talking Dutch: What a load of rubbish Mike Chambers: The problem is the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;blue bagâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Even though I try to follow the instructions I keep getting it rejected. Now I only put in drink cartons and drink tins.

ÂŠ Courtesy Fostplus

ishing, according to the rubbish research team. De helft van de Vlamingen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Half of the Flemish heeft geen idee hoeveel de omhaling en verwerking kost â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have no idea how much it costs to collect and dispose of rubbish en zegt niet te weten â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and claim they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know hoeveel kilo afval een gemiddelde Vlaming jaarlijks produceert â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how many kilograms of rubbish are produced by the average Flemish person every year. The answer is 486 kilograms. And going by this survey, most of it ends up in the wrong bag on the wrong day.

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