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Never let me go

More 30-somethings than ever before have a higher education degree in Flanders, with figures that beat European targets by a wide margin

Waves not wind will provide the energy needs of the future, say researchers and entrepreneurs who are using the North Sea as a testing ground

A new project allows people with early-onset dementia to record their thoughts and memories and have them sent to loved ones in the future

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Chapter and verse Bruges international literature festival celebrates authors from far and wide Ian Mundell follow Ian on Twitter \ @IanMundell

Brutaal harks back to Bruges’ golden age as a cosmopolitan city that drew intellectuals from around Europe, with best-selling authors gathering for a programme of readings and talks in sometimes unusual places.

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fter contemporary art and music, Bruges has turned to literature for its latest international, city-wide festival. Brutaal is part of a strategy to deepen the city’s cultural offering, both for its residents and for potential tourists.

Cultural tourism dominates the economy in Bruges, which means that investment in culture is also an investment in the prosperity of the city. Yet rather than playing safe and concentrating on the city’s medieval heritage, mayor Renaat Landuyt has pushed through some bold decisions.

The first was to revive the Triennial of contemporary art in 2015, which invited international artists to place challenging works in some of the city’s most famous public spaces. Tree-houses appeared in the Begijnhof, a large mirrored pyramid appeared on the Markt, and a fizzing, popping electricity pylon was dropped into one of the canals.

Landuyt was delighted with the results. “People could walk around the pieces of art and get another sense of the city, and that worked for both people living here and visitors. They were surprised that they came here for the past, but they saw the future.”

He dismisses the idea that this risks alienating tourists. “The six million people who visit Bruges each year are not all the same, there are very big differences between them,” he explains. “We are always looking for those who want more than chocolate and beer, who value the atmosphere of the city.”

Naturally he is quick to add that pleasing one group of visitors does not exclude the other. “If they want beer and chocolate, we have wonderful beer and chocolate.”

After the success of the Bruges Triennial, Landuyt and his collaborators set out to devise other cultural events that might have a similar effect. One was B Major, a biennial festival of music that ran for the first time in March this year. And now comes Brutaal, an international literature festival.

“For Bruges it is important to use the past to show that we are a modern city, to show that we are a city with potential,” Landuyt says.

In the case of literature it means reminding people that Bruges was once a cosmopolitan city that drew writers and intellectuals from all over Europe.

He quotes Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, “who said that our continued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

Record number of diplomas Almost half of 30- to 34-year-olds in Flanders have a higher education degree Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

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record number of people in their early and mid-30s in Flanders have completed higher education, according to the EU’s statistics agency, Eurostat.

Almost half (47%) of 30- to 34-year-olds living in Flanders have a higher education degree – the highest percentage in a decade, education minister Hilde Crevits said.

The European target for the percentage of higher education graduates aged between 30 and 34 is 40%. Both the Brussels-Capital Region and Flanders have been achieving this for several years, and Flanders wants to reach 47.8% by 2020.

The number of people leaving school without completing secondary education is also at a record low. Only 6.8%

of 18- to 24-year-olds in Flanders don’t have a secondary education diploma, which is comfortably lower than the EU’s 10% threshold.

Lifelong learning remains a point of concern for Flanders and Belgium. Eurostat examined how many of those aged 25 to 64 have followed a formal or non-formal form of education or training course in the previous four weeks, and for the past several years Flanders has only achieved 7% in this respect.

The government’s long-term strategy paper “Lifelong learning and a dynamic career” stresses its aim to boost lifelong learning. © Courtesy UGent

‘Keep smartphones out of children’s bedrooms’

New Zealanders perform traditional haka dance on Anzac Day at Menin Gate Last week’s Last Post ceremonies in Ypres were particularly significant: Not only did they include the unveiling of the Menin Gate Lions – returned to their original home from Australia – but a group of New Zealanders from the county’s armed forces commemorated Anzac Day with an impressive haka dance.

A Last Post ceremony is held every evening at the Menin Gate – through which forces passed on their way to the front during the First World War. The ceremony includes bands and the laying of wreaths.

Every year on 25 April, representatives of New Zealand and Australian forces mark the losses of their troops in the battles of the First World War. The traditional haka dance of the native Maori people followed the Last Post ceremony that evening and involved military staff performing the war dance that was meant to intimidate the enemy.

Australia suffered an estimated 62,000

casualties in the First World War, and New Zealand up to 18,000. The two nations commemorate the war together on Anzac Day, the anniversary of their joint mission at Gallipoli. The commemoration always includes a ceremony at the Menin Gate.

Also last week, the two stone lions originally placed under the Menin Gate were unveiled, having been returned to Belgium

by Australia as part of the centenary of the First World War. The Menin Gate lions were gifted to Australia by the Belgian government in 1936 as a mark of respect for the lives lost in a conflict.

Since that time, they have stood outside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

They are now back at the Menin Gate temporarily. A small exhibition about the lions is running concurrently in Ypres’ In Flanders Fields museum. \ Alan Hope See a video of the haka dance at tinyurl. com/hakaatmenin

Parents should not allow children younger than 12 to use tablets and smartphones alone in their bedroom, according to a researcher from the West Flemish university college Vives, who examined the online behaviour of 375 children aged between 10 and 14.

“Children take real risks when they can use the internet outside the supervision of their mother and father,” Peter Dejonckheere told Het Nieuwsblad. Children in their own room are more likely to download a paying app, share passwords, post pictures of themselves, use a webcam, arrange to meet someone they only know via social media, end up in arguments or fall victim to bullies.

“Very young children don’t realise the impact of what they do online,” said Dejonckheere, pointing out that their internet habits have an effect on how children feel.

“Children who are often online indicate more often that they are sad or feel lonely.”

Typical parental monitoring strategies – like installing software to monitor chil-

dren’s surfing behaviour or block sites, and becoming friends with them on Facebook to check their account – don’t help, he says. “Children can easily circumvent filter software and they just switch to other sites if they feel their parents are monitoring them too much on Facebook.”

Children older than 12 start to become more independent and thus more able to use the internet safely, he adds. “They are increasingly online outside the house, so parental monitoring has less and less effect.” \ AF

Empty properties mapped in unique new study Flanders has nearly 60,000 properties that have been vacant for more than a year, half of which could be put to some use, according to a study by the Flemish government’s environment department. The list includes some 32,600 homes, 15,645 retail properties and more than 11,500 deserted industrial sites.

According to the study, the re-purposing of vacant properties would fulfil some of the need for new construction in Flanders, as well as preserving unused public property.

The study brought together information from municipal

and governmental databases as well as records provided

by Locatus, which specialises in tracking available retail sites.

At least half of the vacant properties are ready for immediate use, the study showed, while the others might be more difficult for reasons of location, size or the original use of the property – for example, vacant apartments located above vacant retail properties. In total, 31,500 sites could be readily turned to new use without significant renovation.

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€1.2 million

to be invested by the city of Ghent next year in solar panels on city buildings, to provide some 8% of the city’s energy needs, councillor Martine De Regge said

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In a series of maps, the study shows the concentration of vacancies for different kinds of properties. The most empty residential properties can be found in Aalst, Geraardsbergen, Kortrijk, Mechelen and Antwerp, while the most vacant shops and service properties are found in Ghent and Antwerp, as well as Sint-Niklaas, Turnhout and Hasselt.

The majority of vacant business sites are located outside of urban centres, in the Antwerp-Mechelen-Sint-Niklaas triangle, as well as Ghent, Kortrijk, Aalst and VilvoordeMachelen. \ AH

tonnes of batteries collected by Bebat in 2016, a 27% increase on 2015. The percentage of recycled batteries compared to the sale of new batteries was 70.7%, far above the EU target of 45%

new complaints received last year by the Flemish Press Council regarding the content of news articles. Of the 67 cases resolved, 28 were settled amicably by negotiation

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new social housing units created in 2016 in Flanders, according to housing minister Liesbeth Homans. There were also more than 4,200 renovations, for a total investment of €866 million

set aside by Brussels Airlines to pay any fines it may incur for exceeding the new aircraft noise limits imposed by the Brussels-Capital Region

may 3, 2017

WEEK in brief Sophie Streydio, director of human resources for Puratos, which supplies baked goods and pastries to shops and restaurants, has been named HR manager of the year by the Flemish magazine Trends. The company, based in Groot-Bijgaarden, is preparing an international HR policy, led by Streydio, to encompass its overseas expansion.

The task of filling out a tax return will be reduced to a few clicks of the mouse for 70% of users of Tax on Web, according to finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt. The system now retains taxpayer information, so for those who have used the platform before and whose situation is largely unchanged – the case for 2.6 million people – the process should take five minutes or less, he said.

Belgians donated an average of €165 per person to charitable causes in 2016, a record amount according to the tri-annual Barometer of Philanthropy published by the King Baudouin Foundation and think-tank Itinera. According to the poll, 80% think a donation helps make a better world, while 54% consider it a moral duty. The most popular recipients are medical research, humanitarian initiatives and development aid.

There will be no referendum to scrap or adjust Ghent’s new circulation plan, according to the city, as there were not enough valid signature on the petition submitted last month. The new plan, which increases the carfree zone in the city centre, came into force on 1 April. A group of mostly business owners called IntelliGentMobiel submitted the petition, which was supported by N-VA. Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed, has presented its own set of objections to the plan. According to the organisation, the time allowed for deliveries to businesses in the

face of flanders city centre zone is too restrictive, particularly for food deliveries.

foster family and is reported to be doing well.

Flemish Brabant has approved the elimination of a public right of way in Grimbergen on the site of the planned new national stadium. The right of way, now no longer used, was the main stumbling block for approval by planning authorities. The province’s decision could still be appealed by local action groups, at which point Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege would decide the case.

Adil El Arbi en Bilall Fallah, directors of the successful film Black – a Romeo and Juliet gang drama set in Brussels – have been awarded the Louis Paul Boon Prize for works of social engagement. The pair were honoured for “focussing on a generation of young people whose voice is rarely heard,” the jury said. The annual prize will be awarded in a ceremony on 7 May.

A former senior official in the federal government’s buildings agency has been sentenced to two years suspended by a court in Brussels for taking kick-backs from contractors involved in bidding for government contracts.

Johan Van de Sande, in charge of the Brussels justice palace, arranged for work to be done on his own home in return for giving contracts for government work.

He was also fined €27,000.

The Flemish farmers’ union Boerenbond has called on environment minister Joke Schauvliege to consider a proposed ban on the herbicide Roundup based strictly on scientific research and not public perceptions. Roundup, a common gardening product, made headlines last week when it was taken to court for its labelling regarding the chemical glyphosate, which many believe to be carcinogenic. The chemical has also been blamed for the disappearance of bee colonies.

Another newborn baby, the 10th in recent years, has been left in a special foundling safe drawer maintained by the organisation Moeders voor Moeders in Antwerp. The girl, who has been given the name Anna, was left at the end of last year,but the organisation has only just released the information. She is settled with a

The Brussels chapter of international organisation Doctors of the World (DvdW) has questioned a decision by Antwerp’s OCMW welfare agency to appoint security firm G4S to manage the De Vaart homeless centre. The centre provides health care to the homeless, who DvdW co-ordinator Alexis Andries describes as “medically and psychologically more vulnerable than the average Belgian”. DvdW visits De Vaart weekly, treating between five and 10 patients at any given time.

Flanders’ Agency for Nature and Woodland has issued a call to the public to keep dogs on a leash when walking in nature areas. At this time of year, many small animals are born, and a dog running free can be a risk to them, said the agency. The call follows three recent cases of dogs biting young deer, which later died of the injuries. “Nature is at this point one giant maternity ward,” the agency said.

The city of Antwerp has installed the first welcome signs for drivers entering the 30 km/h zones, coinciding with the creation of three new zones – two in the centre and one in the Borgerhout district. The signs, which warn drivers when they are entering a low-speed zone, are part of the city’s plan to extend the 30 zones to all residential areas and schools by 2018.

OFFSIDE At the going down of the sun A funeral took place last week at the military cemetery in Leuven for three members of the UK’s Royal Air Force – 71 years after their plane went down.

The men were on a mission from RAF Waterbeach in England to bomb a German petrol refinery in Gelsenkirchen, when their plane, a Lancaster NN775 bomber, went down for unknown reasons at Bunsbeek in Flemish Brabant, now a district of Glabbeek. All seven crew members – five British, one Australian and one Jamaican – were killed.

The accident happened in March 1945, and the bodies of four of the crew were soon recovered.

© Peter Reekmans

They were buried in a common grave in the cemetery, with seven headstones. The plane sank into the boggy ground and was only exhumed last year.

The bodies of the three remaining airmen were found inside.

One of them, Flight Sergeant Allan Olsen, was only 18 years old when

Othman El Hammouchi When Open VLD president Gwendolyn Rutten recently referred to the local way of life as “superior to all others” in an interview, Twitter users were quick to call foul with angry, occasionally funny, tweets.

One critic, however, crafted an elegant, thoughtful response in a Knack op-ed. Not bad for a 17year-old.

Rutten isn’t the first prominent Fleming that Othman El Hammouchi, a Vilvoorde secondary school student, has taken to task. Just two days earlier, he clapped back at Etienne Vermeersch, one of Belgium’s foremost moral philosophers and several decades his senior, who he said was cherry-picking the Qur’an to buttress an argument that Islam sees women as inferior to men.

With just a handful of columns, Flanders’ newest intellectual is infusing a breath of fresh air into local political debate with dispassionate, rational arguments in ever more populist times.

El Hammouchi’s Morocco-born mother pushed him from an early age to excel at school and, above all, to think critically.

Currently finishing his final year in the Latin-Maths stream, he took an interest in philosophy at 13, after The Improvement of Human Reason, a classic of medi-

eval Islamic philosophy, whet his appetite for philosophical texts.

He first made local headlines when he won the Belgian Philosophy Olympiad in 2016, beating some 600 other students with an essay he wrote in less than two hours – in English, no less.

The thread of El Hammouchi’s long-winded arguments – like that of most philosophers – can be hard to follow. In a recent appearance on the news talk show De afspraak, the other three guests seated around the table sported sly smiles and raised eyebrows as El Hammouchi, seemingly perfectly at ease on national television, launched into one highfalutin argument after the other, dropping Latin terms and obscure references.

But the secondary school student doesn’t think of himself as special; in his view, we are all born philosophers, but our curious, questioning instincts are smothered by the education system as we come of age.

It should hardly come as a surprise, then, that the Vilvoordenaar is working on a manifesto on education, which he argues should be dedicated to a theme many a philosopher have pondered – the good life. To be continued, no doubt. \ Linda A Thompson

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

he died, two years younger than Sergeant Christopher Hogg. The third was identified as 23-year-old pilot Holman Kerr from Northern Ireland.

Last week the three joined their fellow crew members in the common grave in Leuven. The site is part of the worldwide network of graves maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The ceremony was attended by ambassadors, families and personnel from RAF Waterbeach. A monument was unveiled at the town hall in Glabbeek, and a remembrance service held in the Sint-Quirinus church in Bunsbeek. \ Alan Hope

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

Editor Lisa Bradshaw DEPUTY Editor Sally Tipper CONTRIBUTING Editor Alan Hope sub Editor Bartosz Brzezi´nski Agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino Art director Paul Van Dooren Prepress Mediahuis AdPro Contributors Rebecca Benoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Sarah Crew, Emma Davis, Paula Dear, Andy Furniere, Lee Gillette, Diana Goodwin, Clodagh Kinsella, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Senne Starckx, Linda A Thompson, Christophe Verbiest, Denzil Walton General manager Hans De Loore Publisher Mediahuis NV

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\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN Rounding up the critics

The pesticide Roundup has landed Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege (CD&V) in the middle of a controversy not entirely of her own making.

Schauvliege has a sizable electorate, and her party’s unconditional support. This gives her the confidence and resolve to deal with the criticism that has come her way from the moment she took office as minister for culture in the previous term.

Her first interviews in those early days demonstrated little knowledge of local arts and culture. Mispronouncing the names of well-known actors and authors finished her off in the eyes of her critics, who have mocked her as a lightweight ever since.

This term, she was criticised for her combined environment and agriculture portfolios, two areas that are often opposed.

Conservationists have accused her of pandering to large agriculture lobby groups, while Flemish stand-up comedian Wouter Deprez has famously attacked her for granting a permit to a transport firm to expand into a woodland in Genk.

Schauvliege underestimated the impact of Deprez’s attack, which received much media attention and broad public support. Last week, accusations were lobbed at her again.

After it was reported that a chemical in the common herbicide Round-up may be carcinogenic, she banned its use.

This ban covers regular household use only, though, with the possibility of fines. However, Roundup is mostly used in agriculture, which was excluded from Schauvliege’s ban.

An illogical and inconsistent decision, her critics say, one that shows little respect for health concerns. This again is seen as giving in to organisations such as the farmers’ union Boerenbond, which said that there is no alternative to Roundup.

Schauvliege has her own arguments: crops grown using Roundup will be imported anyway. Banning it here will only make competition harder for local farmers. She has insisted on a European ban.

Meanwhile, there is another concern about the ban: As a regional minister, Schauvliege can ban only the use of Roundup, but not the sale of it, as that is a federal competence.

Ironically, the ban has so far lead to a rush on the purchase of the herbicide, which is still available in shops.

That Willy Borsus (MR), the federal minister of agriculture, has announced a ban on the sale of Roundup as well, probably comes as a relief to Schauvliege. \ Anja Otte

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Government to open satellite offices for civil servants

Federal staff to work closer to home, improving efficiency and mobility Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

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he federal government is opening satellite offices in 16 locations across the country to allow civil servants to work closer to home rather than have to travel into Brussels every day. The move provides places for 96 officials, said minister Steven Vandeput, responsible for state personnel.

Ten of the offices are in Flanders, including in Ostend, Ghent, Antwerp, Hasselt and Leuven.

“In principle, any federal government employee is welcome to apply” to work at one of the locations, said a spokesperson for Vandeput.

The opportunity will be open to govern-

ment employees and also staff of government programmes. “We are offering the possibility for people to work there, but the extent to which that will be possible depends on the departments themselves. There will be a reservation system so they can see if there’s a place available. We will also be continuously evaluating the system to see whether there are enough places.”

The goal of the initiative is to help employees achieve a better balance between work and private life and prevent burnout. It also helps to make efficient use of available space and solve mobility issues, the government said.

© Ingimage

Books for all babies and toddlers in Flanders and Brussels

Ten projects approved for tax shelter for performing arts

Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz has announced his support for Boekstart, a programme that introduces babies and toddlers to reading. The plan involves free packs of books, as well as information for parents on the importance of reading to children.

The Boekstart programme – formerly known as Boekbaby’s – is a co-operation between the foundation Iedereen Leest (Everyone Reads), family organisation Kind & Gezin and the public library system.

The project began a decade ago in 10 municipalities and now covers 122, reaching 22,000 families in a year. It is most active in Limburg and West Flanders, where it receives financial support from the provinces.

When a baby reaches six months, the family receives a pack of textile books via Kind & Gezin and information for the parents. Nine months later, they receive an invitation to pick up a gift bag from their local library.

“Research has shown how important it is for babies, toddlers and

A new system of tax shelter for the performing arts in Flanders has already seen 15 applicants and 10 successful applications, worth a total of €4 million, culture minister Sven Gatz announced. The system allows investors in performing arts up to 10% tax deduction for sums up to 25% of the cost of the production of theatre, dance, opera, classical music and musical theatre.

Last week the Brussels Philharmonic became the first group to perform as a result of tax shelter financing, with a concert in Ghent featuring soloist Jan Michiels in a programme of Stravinsky, Berlioz and a piano concerto by Flemish composer Robert Groslot. \ AH

children to enjoy books, songs and rhymes,” Gatz said. “The sooner they come in contact with books and being read to, the sooner they pick up new words and learn how enjoyable reading is.”

The government of Flanders has approved €150,000 to support the plan across the regions, on top of €141,000 the provinces together pay. “The amount is dependent on how quickly municipalities sign up,” said Gatz, who added that he wanted to see “coverage of 100%.” \ AH

Prime minister ‘regrets’ Saudi Arabia vote in UN women’s rights commission Prime minister Charles Michel has told the federal parliament he “regrets” Belgium’s vote to admit a Saudi Arabian representative to the United Nations’ commission on women’s rights. Michel said he did not agree with the decision, approved by the Belgian foreign affairs ministry. “If we had to do this over again, we would not be able to support this vote,” he said.

Federal foreign affairs minister Didier Reynders told members he would be submitting a proposal to prevent a repeat of such an error. In future, he said, weighty decisions like this should not be left to diplomats without the approval of the relevant minister.

Reynders had not been aware the

vote was taking place, he said. The vote on the Saudi member was apparently called by the US, and a member of the staff of the Belgian representation to the UN in New York emailed the foreign ministry in Brussels for advice on how Belgium should vote. The question was answered by a member of the ministry staff here.

There may have been an error of judgement, Reynders said, but the correct procedure was followed. Saudi Arabia was the only candidate for an empty seat on the commission. A refusal could have had negative effects, including on Belgium’s bid to take a seat on the UN Security Council in 2019. \ AH

© Benoit Doppagne/BELGA

Defence minister Steven Vandeput at the Belgian airbase in Azraq, Jordan, in March

Federal politicians talk security and migration in Iraq Two federal ministers – Steven Vandeput (defence) and Jan Jambon (home affairs) – as well as migration secretary Theo Francken were in Iraq last week for talks on security and migration issues.

Belgium is part of the international coalition in Iraq to combat IS, with 280 Belgian troops posted in Syria and Iraq, and F-16 fighters carrying out missions over the countries from their base in Jordan.

Belgium also supplies some 40 military and security instructors in Baghdad and in the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Erbil, for the training of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi special forces.

Belgium has also experienced a wave of migration from Iraq, which led to several measures by Francken that have sometimes proved controversial, such as the offer of money to migrants who agreed to return home.

In talks with the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdish author-

ities in Erbil, the three members of the delegation obtained the agreement of the two governments to co-operate with information on foreign fighters on their territory.

The “discreet visit,” which was not announced ahead of time, took place as the battle for the city of Mosul was drawing to an end, putting pressure on IS in Iraq and Syria. That presents the prospect of Syria fighters returning to Europe, and raises new issues regarding security in the region.

The declaration of intent signed with the Iraqi government states that they will inform Brussels of any foreign fighters arrested or thought to be intent on coming to Europe.

The declaration also covers the return of Iraqi migrants refused entry to Belgium, who now number about 50 a month. Included in the document are some 50 Iraqis in detention without papers.

Finally, the agreement includes an offer from Belgium to help train Iraqi police officers. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

may 3, 2017

Chapter and verse

Lit festival is latest in series of bold cultural decisions by Bruges’ mayor BRUTAALBRUGGE.BE

continued from page 1

time is a liquid time in which everything is changing. That was also the case in the 14th century, the most important period for the history of Bruges.”

Literature presents a challenge compared to art and music, he concedes, which are more accessible, but he thinks the festival will still draw people in. “It will be a smaller group of people, I’m sure, but they are an important group.

They are people who like words, and who will use words to talk about Bruges.”

The festival programme has been put together by Kaap, the city’s live arts organisation, and by independent curator Sigrid Bousset.

For many years Bousset was one of the driving forces behind Passa Porta in Brussels, an initiative that combines a bookshop with literary events and writers’ residencies.

She was also involved in organising the literature programme when Bruges was European Capital of Culture in 2002, an experience that left a positive image of the city.

“People in Bruges are readers,” she says. “In Brussels you have only one independent bookshop for Dutch and Flemish literature, Passa Porta. But here you have three as well as FNAC and the Standaard Boekhandel, and they are all thriving. So you have this reading audience, and it is nice to work for them.”

About 60 writers have been invited to appear in the festival, half of them from abroad. “There are international writers to discover and international writers we have all been reading for years, and who we will meet now for the first time live,” says Bousset.

The festival’s title, which was Landuyt’s idea, throws down a challenge, although it’s not quite as strong in Dutch as it might appear to English speakers. It punningly combines the city’s name with taal, the Dutch word for language, but brutaal suggests impudence and boldness rather than the violence and cruelty of the English “brutal”.

“It says that we are not just going along with the postcard image of Bruges,” Bousset explains, “but we also want to challenge the city by bringing contemporary writers into public spaces.”

So in addition to solo and group readings in traditional venues, there will be readings on the bridges of Bruges and on boats travelling along the canals. This is an innovation that appeals to Landuyt. “It’s a chance for people passing by to see and hear something they’ve never heard before,” he says. “It’s not for the cliche, but to emphasise that art and culture are for everyone.”

One of the festival’s biggest challenges is language, and there are

© Courtesy De Standaard

Rather than playing safe and concentrating on the city’s medieval heritage, mayor Renaat Landuyt has pushed through some adventurous decisions

inevitably some frustrations in the choices that have had to be made. Perhaps the biggest international name on the bill for Englishlanguage readers is the novelist and travel writer Cees Nooteboom, but naturally he will be talking in his native Dutch. Similarly, Philippe Claude will be speaking French, as will the Italian Claudio Margis. Translation into Dutch is expected for some international events, but not into English.

celebrate the coming-of-age novel, reading in their own languages.

Then there is an afternoon devoted to subversive texts, with eight writers discussing work (in Dutch and English) that had the greatest impact on their lives.

There is also an international flavour to the “duos”, in which two writers discuss their work with each other. “The interaction between Dutch-speaking writers and international writers is

Efforts have also been made to ensure that the events accessible to French- or English-speakers fit together. “A French audience can easily spend two days just following a French programme, and the same for English-speakers.”

Among the English-speakers is Irish novelist Eimear McBride, whose complex debut, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, was a literary sensation when it appeared in 2013. Szalay and Buntin will

We are always looking for visitors who want more than chocolate and beer, who value the atmosphere of the city Nevertheless, the organisers have worked hard to create events that are international and multilingual. The opening evening at the Concertgebouw brings together eight writers with tales from the big city, in Dutch, French, Arabic and Italian. In addition to Nooteboom, the line-up includes Prix Goncourt winner Marie NDiaye from France, Swedish-Palestinian poet Ghayath Almadhoun, and Boualem Sansal from Algeria.

The following day six authors from different countries (including David Szalay from the UK and Julie Buntin from the US) gather to

very important,” Bousset explains.

“That’s why we created some duo talks, for example between a very popular writer like Herman Koch and Jonas Hassen Khemiri, or between the best-selling writer Lize Spit and Julie Buntin, a promising talent from New York.”

The aim has been to present the authors in as many situations as possible, from big solo readings to conversations and encounters in more intimate settings. “It means you will have different options to discover a writer or you can follow them throughout the festival, if you’re a big fan,” Bousset says.

also read in English, as will Italian novelist Sandro Veronesi.

Journalist Gary Younge, of The Guardian, will be talking about his recent book on US gun crime, Another Day in the Death of America. And critic, translator and novelist Tim Parks will present The Novel: A Survival Skill, a polemic about literature and reading.

Naturally there are also some big names from Flemish letters, including Annelies Verbeke, Dimi-

5-13 May

tri Verhulst and Stefan Hertmans.

And hailing from Bruges itself are Bart Moeyaert and Herman Leenders.

A final important aspect of Brutaal is that it will generate new writing. Seven of the writers attending have produced new short stories for a programme on the seven deadly sins. “This is something we are proud of, because it is not obvious that these writers should write something new for us,” says Bousset.

There will also be new perspectives on the city from Brutaal’s two writers in residence. One is the Romanian novelist Mira Feticu, who lives in The Hague and writes in Dutch, and the other is the Dutch writer Hagar Peters. “I think for our next edition we will also have international writers in residence,” Bousset says. If all goes to plan, that will be in 2019.

Photos cover, clockwise from top left: Cees Nooteboom/photo by Effigie Agence Opale; Marie Ndiaye; Sansal Boualem; Adriaan van Dis/ photo by Annaleen Louwes; Claudio Magris/photo by Yuma Martellanz; David Szalay; Julie Buntin/photo by Nina Subin; Claudel Philippe/photo

by Jean-Luc Bertini

Across Bruges

\5

\ BUSINESS

week in business Transport Exmar The Antwerp-based gas transport and engineering company has dropped the €600 million sale of its re-gasification FSRU activities to the Dutch Vopak group because of shareholder opposition.

Retail Casa The Belgo-Dutch home décor chain plans to renovate most of its 520 shops throughout Europe over the next two years. The group, which invested €33 million last year in a distribution centre in Olen, plans to spend a further €10 million to open a further six outlets in Flanders soon.

Transport Brussels Airport The airport in Zaventem will decide in the next few months when to start building a new €300 million terminal to meet increased demand and accommodate an estimated 40 million passengers a year by 2040. Work is not expected to start before 2018.

Telecoms Proximus The Brussels-based telecoms group is to spend €210 million to acquire Telesign, a US data transfer and mobile ID company. The move is part of Proximus’ strategy to become a digital services supplier to Google, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Tinder, to name a few of Telesign’s customers.

Energy Elia The electricity transport and network operator is investing €2.5 billion to close a 10-kilometre gap in the high-tension grid connecting the wind farms off the Flemish coast to the continental European grid and the British network.

Steel wire Bekaert The Kortrijk-based steel wire group is investing €100 million in its three plants in India, two in Pune and one in Chennai, to increase capacity by 2022.

Chemicals Lanxess The subsidiary of the German polyamide and plastics group is investing €25 million this year to increase capacity in its Antwerp caprolactum operations.

\6

Ongoing protests against expansion of chicken farms Residents concerned about smell, experts about health risks Alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

M

ore than 100 residents of Bekkevoort in Flemish Brabant protested at their city hall last week against a local farmer’s request for an environmental permit to build a chicken farm for 24,000 chickens.

The farmer already has cattle on the property, and neighbours are concerned about the environmental effects of such a large number of chickens, particularly the smell.

Bekkevoort is the latest example of concerns regarding large-scale chicken farms in Flanders.

Last month in nearby Diest, several hundred letters were sent to the city in protest at such a facility there. And in Wuustwezel, Antwerp province, residents also demonstrated last month at the town hall against plans for a new installation for 80,000 birds, just as two other facilities plan to extend, and eight other application are

in the pipeline.

Wuustwezel is one of three municipalities in Flanders with a chicken population of more than one million. According to the West Flanders Environment Federation, research shows that such a high concentration of chickens can be hazardous to human health.

The federation – concerned not just about chickens but the number of pig farms in West Flanders – has gathered more than 100 research publications that demonstrate the health risks of intensive livestock agriculture. Those include fine particles and a growing resistance to treatment of bacteria, viruses and moulds.

According to spokesperson Bart Vanwildemersch, “anyone living within a 1.5-kilometre radius of a poultry installation has 11% more chance of a lung infection caused by fine particles”.

The federation is calling on the government of Flanders to carry out its own research on the effects of agriculture on farmers and also on local residents. It has also proposed avoiding installing new livestock facilities in areas where they already exist.

Brussels Airlines officially launches new route to Mumbai

Flemish media group bids to take over Dutch Telegraaf

Brussels Airlines launched its new connection between Brussels and Mumbai in an official ceremony last week at Brussels Airport.

The flights have the potential to attract 60,000 passengers a year, according to CEO Bernard Gustin.

The route actually began a month ago, with five flights to Mumbai a week, but the official launch was delayed to coincide with an economic mission to India. Some 20 Belgian companies are taking part in the mission, led by secretary of state for international trade Pieter De Crem.

The Brussels-Mumbai link has been promising so far, Gustin said. “We truly believe in the potential of Mumbai.”

The expected 60,000 passengers a year would make the destination the third biggest for the airline.

In addition, Mumbai would also be an important freight route for

The federal competition authorities have approved the takeover activities of Flemish media group Mediahuis, publishers of De Standaard, Flanders Today and other media. The announcement clears the company to finalise its deal to take over the Dutch Telegraaf Media Groep.

Mediahuis is the result of a merger of Corelio (De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad) and Concentra (Gazet van Antwerpen, Belang van Limburg), which was announced in 2013. The new entity had sought permission to bring together all of its publishing, media and printing subsidiaries under one roof.

The competition authority studied the impact of bringing together those operations in one legal entity and found there would be no restriction on competition. The single struc-

cargo like diamonds, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

Flights to Mumbai were once carried out by Indian airline Jet Airways, but it moved its base to Schiphol in Amsterdam last year.

Brussels Airport CEO Arnaud Feist said he was happy to see the route re-opened. “This is important for the image of Belgium following last year’s terrorist attacks, for Brussels Airport with 200 new jobs and for the development of bilateral trade,” he said. \ AH

ture will now be a group employing more than 2,000 people with a turnover of €530 million a year.

“Mediahuis’ various news brands have a daily circulation of some 900,000 newspapers and two million unique online news consumers daily,” said CEO Gert Ysebaert. “With this approval, we can now take the next step in becoming a multimedia company in Belgium and the Netherlands.”

Two weeks ago, after months of talks, Mediahuis announced a bid to take over Telegraaf Media, publisher of the largest-circulation Dutch daily. The Mediahuis offer is for €6 a share, 50 cents less than is being offered by competing bidder John De Mol. Mediahuis with partners currently holds 60% of the shares and De Mol 30%. The decision will be taken at a shareholders meeting on 1 June. \ AH

CD&V: ‘Resolve Arco dispute before privatising Belfius’ Flemish party CD&V wants a solution for “special investors” who invested in Dexia bank via the investment fund Arco and lost their savings when the bank collapsed in 2011. They want the issue resolved before Dexia’s successor, Belfius, can be partially privatised, which the bank’s board has voted to do.

Arco was part of the Christian workers union ACW, now called beweging.be, which is closely related to CD&V. Arco investors were initially told their investments, unlike those of conventional shareholders, would be guaranteed by the state.

After court action, the guarantee was reduced to 40% of the money lost. However, a recent report by the administrators appointed to close Dexia’s affairs showed that even that target will be hard to meet unless the government steps in to make up the difference.

Last month, the Belfius board voted unani-

© Spotter2/Wikimedia

mously to privatise a minority share in the bank, leaving the majority in the hands of the state. The bank said it was financially stable enough that a 100% state holding was no longer necessary.

A partial sale would give the bank access to markets, allowing it to proceed with planned growth. The state could then be reimbursed for the €4 billion it paid in 2011 to save the remains of Dexia.

The board’s decision is not final; the ultimate decision will be taken on proposals presented by finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt.

CD&V argues that a solution to the Arco problem has priority over a quick sale.

“First the Arco people deserve a solution, and only then can we bring the Belfius shares to the market,” federal MP Roel Desyn told VRT radio. But he stressed he was not opposed to a privatisation. “Belfius has doubled in value since it has been in our hands, against all expectations,” he said. “We want to give all government enterprises the chance to look for private partners. After all, the government are not bankers.” \ AH

\ INNOVATION

may 3, 2017

Rule the waves

week in innovation

Engineers test the future of renewable energy at the North Sea Senne Starckx Follow Senne on Twitter \ @SStarckx

I

t’s not always windy enough at the North Sea for the existing offshore wind turbines to provide a constant supply of energy. One solution would be to tap into the energy of the water, instead of the air.

According to its proponents, wave energy is a more reliable and stable source of power for the North Sea’s ubiquitous wind parks. Wave energy is also known as blue energy because the electricity is generated from the rivers and oceans.

The idea is simple: a buoy – or another floating object – is in constant motion, pushed up by the waves and pulled down by gravity.

A cable connecting the buoy to an alternator converts the mechanical energy into electricity.

Over the past couple of years, engineers from both the private sector and academia have been working on prototypes of wave-to-energy convertors. Among the first was the energy buoy Wave Pioneer, developed by the FlanSea consortium, which unites Ghent University and five Flemish companies, including the dredging outfit Deme.

The first Wave Pioneer was tested in the harbour of Ostend four years ago to see how the technology fares

A cable connects the Nemos Hydro to an alternator mounted on a mast above

in seawater. It didn’t do so well, prompting FlanSea engineers to begin works on another prototype.

In the meantime, the Ostend company Laminaria has busied itself working on a similar technology. It is based on the principle that the buoy and the wave convertor should automatically detect the most efficient horizontal waves, because these carry the highest amount of energy.

In recent years, the company has conducted several prototype tests in the waters near Ostend, but, like FlanSea, it has struggled to overcome the same challenge – salty water would eventually damage the convertors.

A potential solution is to separate

the buoy from the power generator. Jan Peckolt, a German engineer and former Olympic sailor, created a new type of convertor called Nemos Hydro that does just that. Philippe De Backer, secretary of state for North Sea matters, recently announced that the prototype will be installed in Ostend later this year.

The Nemos Hydro consists of a floating structure that’s anchored to the sea floor with three cables.

Another cable connects the float to the top of a mast above the surface, where the alternator is located.

“This way we can protect the electrical components from the seawater,” explains Peckolt. The end goal is to connect the floats to exist-

ing wind turbines, so that no new structures have to be build.

According to Peckolt, “the generated power can flow through the same cables as the wind power”.

A full-scale float can generate one megawatt of electricity. With several, adds Peckolt, you could generate as much power as a small conventional power plant.

“The advantage is that the sea has a much higher energy density in the waves than in the air,” he says Peckolt. “The energy from waves also correlates perfectly with wind energy, as waves always come a bit later than the wind, and continue coming even when the wind has died down.”

The Nemos Hydro is only a prototype, but it will be the first largescale project to generate electricity from waves. “The waves in our part of the North Sea are of course smaller than the ones found in the oceans,” says De Backer. “But they also last longer, making our coastline an ideal testing ground for this kind of energy production.”

The secretary has also announced the development of a new marine spatial plan, which focuses on efficient use of space in the North Sea. Blue energy, including wave and tidal energy, is at its core.

Residents to share heat in unique Antwerp project Flemish energy minister Bart Tommelein has announced the start of the construction of a heat exchange centre in the Nieuw Zuid district of Antwerp. The work coincides with breaking ground on the city’s new sustainable residential tower Zuiderzicht.

The heat exchange centre will take surplus heat produced by the residents of the tower block and use it to generate electricity. It will also become something of a city landmark with its distinctive triple cooling towers (pictured).

The entire Nieuw Zuid project is a co-operation between the city, energy network manager

© Courtesy Delva Landscape Architects

Infrax and Antwerp property developer Triple Living, with previous projects including the

Duinwater housing project in Knokke and the Corporate Village in Zaventem, near Brussels Airport. Italian architects Secchi-Viganò and Antwerp landscape architects Delva are responsible for the design.

“Nieuw Zuid is a visionary example of urban development – a green, sustainable and mixed residential neighbourhood conceived on commission by the city,” Triple Living said in a statement. “It gives a new dimension to sustainable city development; a living urban neighbourhood with shops, restaurants, a park, sports facilities, schools and services.” \ Alan Hope

Q&A Lien Smeesters, a PhD researcher in the field of photonics at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), has recently developed a new and safe method of detecting harmful carcinogens in food.

Do carcinogens pose a real threat to our health?

Unfortunately, yes. The presence of carcinogens in our food continues to be widely reported, and products are frequently recalled because they contain harmful substances. This goes to show that we need to develop accurate and safe ways to detect them.

You used optical spectroscopy to detect carcinogens. How does this work?

My team developed a real-time and non-invasive screening method for detecting acrylamides and

This light is then reflected in different places around the beam of light.

By studying both the reflected light and the light that scatters inside, we can monitor the composition of a raw potato and predict how much acrylamide it will release during frying.

mycotoxins, two types of carcinogens present in food. When a food product is illuminated with a light source, the light behaves in different ways – it can reflect or scatter on the surface, be absorbed or form entirely new fluorescent patterns.

And that tells you if there are carcinogens present?

Yes. Take frietjes. Potatoes that contain high levels of acrylamideforming compounds release them at frying temperatures – that’s when they become toxic. We used technology that analyses the way

light scatters inside a raw potato to identify these compounds.

When the potato is illuminated with a beam of light, some of the light reflects on the surface, while the rest interacts with the molecules inside the potato’s tissue.

And what does that mean for consumers?

Our technique can be used to scan each product – at a speed of several tonnes per hour – without affecting its quality. Once scanned, a product that contains toxins can be removed right away using a sorting machine, ensuring that no contaminated foods reach the market. \ Interview by SS

Database to be breakthrough for MS Hasselt University (UHasselt) is working on a database called MS DataConnect, which will collect information on people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The goal is to improve both the research and treatment of the disease. MS is an incurable chronic disease that affects the central nervous system.

There are about 11,000 people with MS in Belgium. The new database, which should be ready by 2018, will help to develop more customised strategies through sharing of data among researchers. This info will include the genetic and immunologic characteristics of patients, the progression of their condition and the medication and rehabilitation techniques they have tried.

The combination of so many different kinds of information is unique.

Researchers call for fairer spread of funding More than 370 academics at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) have signed an open letter calling for a better spread of funding from the Flemish government’s Special Research Fund (BOF). KU Leuven uses a strictly competitive model to distribute BOF funding that the academics say rewards “research of which the success is guaranteed” and avoids innovative research. As a result, many departments receive nothing from the fund. They don’t want to see the competitive model completely scrapped, nor the funding distributed equally over every department, they emphasised, but simply want “an equitable allocation of funds, so that every department that carries out research can get some funding for it”.

New scanner assesses hand hygiene Ghent University Hospital (UZ Gent) is the first in the country to employ the innovative Semmelweis scanner to test the hand hygiene of doctors and nurses. The scanner will show which zones on their hands are insufficiently disinfected. It was developed by the University of Budapest and is easy to use, said UZ Gent. Care providers first disinfect their hands with a special product and then put them in the slot of the scanner. After a few seconds, a screen shows them which zones are not adequately disinfected. Areas coloured in green are sufficiently disinfected, those coloured red are not. \ Andy Furniere

\7

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IN A CHANGING WORLD,

\ EDUCATION

may 3, 2017

Building bridges

week in education

Flemish experts weigh the role of education in ending Roma poverty

The University of Leuven’s Kulak campus in Kortrijk symbolically closed its doors last week, as its lecturers and students gathered in various unique locations around the city. The aim of the initiative was to show professors, researchers and students that they can function – and thrive – outside of offices, labs and classrooms. Lectures were given in a courthouse, city hall, hospital, bar and bookstore, among other locations. A lecture on the role of Christianity and Islam in countering polarisation was organised in a mosque, while at a sports centre, students learned how the human body uses glycogen as a source of energy during exercise.

Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

Following a series of meetings headed by the Belgian National Roma Contact Point, Flemish educational experts weigh in on how to get Roma children to stay in school.

O

ver the past several months, experts from across the country have gathered for a series of meetings to discuss the situation of the Roma population in Belgium.

In the final session earlier this month, the Belgian National Roma Platform looked at, among other issues, the challenges Roma youth face in accessing education.

For many people, Roma remain an enigma. Most of them arrived in Belgium from Eastern Europe over the past decade, after Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania became members of the European Union.

Contrary to popular beliefs, the term Roma doesn’t refer to a nationality but an ethnic group, and the majority of Roma are no longer nomadic, preferring to settle in one community.

Another common misconception is that Roma families don’t see the importance of education. Flemish experts, however, point to societal barriers that make it harder for Roma to integrate in the school system.

“There is the language barrier, but also many other obstacles that need to be overcome,” says Gabriel Mihai, school mediator at the Brussels non-profit Foyer.

Mihai, who is of Roma origin, helps to bridge the gap between Roma families and schools.

One way of doing that is to address truancy among Roma children. If a Roma youngster is absent for no valid reason, schools can report that to Mihai, who then visits the child’s home to investigate the situation.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of explaining that children in Belgium are legally obliged to attend school until the age of 18,” explains Mihai. Precarious living conditions, poverty and related health problems can also make it difficult for families to keep their children in school.

But Roma children are also more likely than their peers to feel that school is useless. “Many of them believe they won’t a find a job even if they get a diploma because they will be discriminated against on the labour market,” says Mihai.

According to Elias Hemelsoet of the Go! educational network, Roma are generally very suspicious of civil servants because of their experiences with racism in their countries of origin. “This experience of exclusion is transmitted across generations,” explains Hemelsoet. “Most Roma

Kulak moves lectures into the city

French lessons ‘too focused on grammar’ © Marlies De Boeck

in Eastern Europe still live in ghettos, and many are victims of abuse at the hands of police.”

Roma youngsters are also disadvantaged at school because they lack classroom experience. “Some youngsters cannot sit still for two minutes, or even hold a pen correctly,” says Hemelsoet. As a result, many Roma end up in the special education system, even if they don’t have an intellectual or physical disability.

Hemelsoet’s research from his time as a PhD student at Ghent University shows that 19% of children of Slovakian origin in Ghent’s primary school system are enrolled in special education, compared to 7% of Flemish children.

In secondary education, the difference is more startling – 33% of Slovakian students, compared to 5% of native Flemish. A majority of these Slovakian students are Roma, says Hemelsoet.

In Flanders, there are customised reception classes for newcomers who don’t speak Dutch called Okan. This programme works to “mainstream youngsters into regular education by focusing on the language barrier,” says Hemelsoet.

But Roma need classes that also concentrate on basic school skills.

Such classes, he says, “could also help refugee children from Syria, for example”.

Roma youngsters also face other issues connected to their culture, such as the custom of marrying at a very young age – often between 15 and 18. And many families want to keep teenage girls at home to help run the household.

“There are big differences between Roma communities, which are often related to religion,” says

Hemelsoet. “Such customs can also change drastically over the course of just two generations.”

Mihai says he has noticed significant progress since he started working as a school mediator seven years ago, but he adds that young Roma need more examples to follow. “It is essential to give them role models of Roma people who have graduated and found a good job to show them that opportunities do exist.”

To do that, Mihai takes Roma graduates to schools with a significant number of Roma students to speak to them. “Education is the key to getting out of poverty,” he says.

Still, he adds, society needs to become more accepting of the Roma in general. “The only time Roma people are shown in the media is if something negative happens,” he says. “The government should work on improving their image.”

This was one of the policy recommendations drawn up at the final session of the National Roma Platform, which concluded on 19 April in Brussels. The series of thematic meetings is an initiative of the Belgian National Roma Contact Point, an intergovernmental working group on Roma integration, with funding from the European Commission.

Over the course of four sessions, the platform brought together experts to discuss the issues of health, employment, housing and education among the Roma population in Belgium.

The platform was created in response to a framework adopted by the Commission in 2011 that asked member states to develop national strategies for Roma integration. In 2012, Flanders

created its own action plan, which concluded in 2015.

Hemelsoet says the Roma issue has since faded from national conversation, noting that no representatives from the federal or Flemish governments attended the final platform session to hear the policy recommendations.

“One of the problems in Belgium is that there is little structural investment – only funding for shortterm projects,” he says. “Successful projects should receive more stable support.”

These, he says, include the Brussels’ school mediator project run

by Foyer, of which Mihai is part, and a similar project in Ghent that sees schools with a large number of Roma children hire mediators to help remove the obstacles that prevent youngsters from attending class.

Another notable project, he says, is the expertise network created by schools in Ghent that have a significant number of Roma pupils, but belong to different education networks. The schools have set up regular meetings during which they share their experiences and discuss effective strategies.

With the conclusion of the National Roma Platform, Hemelsoet hopes that the European Commission will fund a new project that facilitates further meetings between Roma experts on central topics of women and children. He also wants the meetings to give a more prominent role to the representatives of the Roma communities.

“A lot of attention is being paid on the local and European levels,” he says. “Now it’s time for the federal and regional governments to make a clear effort.”

About one-third of all primary school teachers in Flanders aren’t comfortable speaking French with pupils in class, according to the Onderwijsspiegel, an annual report on the state of Flanders’ education system. The report evaluated French lessons in the final two years of 100 primary schools and found that 60% of classes in the region do not engage in enough French as a result. The lessons in primary school French also rely too much on practising grammar and spelling, said the report.

Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits said that she is not in favour of introducing separate French teachers in primary education. Teachers in secondary education, meanwhile, have no problem with French lessons.

Poverty experts to help with unpaid bills Experts in poverty issues will soon help schools manage the ongoing problem of parents’ unpaid bills. Schools charge families fees for certain activities that are not part of the regular curriculum, like cultural outings or field trips. According to research, about 70% of schools in Flanders have unpaid fees at the end of the year. Some schools come up thousands of euros short and sometimes resort to hiring a debt collection agency. Experts will now help schools to limit the costs to parents by examining whether all costs are necessary or whether cheaper alternatives are possible. The experts will also help schools pursue the funds without the use of debt collectors. \ AF

\9

\ LIVING

week in activities Brussels Food Truck Festival The best international food trucks from all over Europe will be in one place for the weekend, along with DJs and entertainment. Food specialities from all over the world, plus cocktails, craft beers, seafood, burgers, vegetarian and vegan food, etc. 5-7 May, Tour & Taxis, Havenlaan 86, Brussels; free \ europeanfoodtruckfestival.org

Play & Run: Colour Edition Inspired by the traditional Indian festival of Holi, this colourful fun run through the woods has a special twist: participants are showered with coloured powder throughout the 4K run. A DJ provides the upbeat soundtrack and spectators are guaranteed to have fun too. 6 May 14.0018.00, Evenemententerrein Eksel, Dennenstraat, Hechtel-Eksel (Limburg); €10 \ playandjoy.be

Too good to waste

New programme tackles food waste and feeds hungry in Ghent Monica Cisneros More articles by Monica\ flanderstoday.eu

I

t is no secret that food waste is a pressing global problem.

The statistics are staggering: According to the United Nations, approximately one-third of all food produced in the world – some 1.3 billion tonnes – is lost or wasted before making it to the table.

In Europe alone, food waste amounts to 88 million tonnes each year, according to the European Commission. In its latest step in addressing environmental challenges, the City of Ghent and the local chapter of welfare agency OCMW have recently launched an initiative to redistribute 100 tonnes of food waste while at the same time preventing 254 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

Foodsavers Gent aims to reduce food waste on the local level by collecting surplus from supermarkets and producers and redistrib-

waste sector, studying the viability of the project. The OCMW then joined forces with the city on the programme’s social aspect, co-ordinating food distribution

transporting the goods and storing them. To help with the implementation, the city government has invested €280,000 in the platform.

Food waste in Ghent is caused by

Iris Festival The city of Brussels throws this annual party for residents and visitors alike. Get to know the communes with guided walking and cycling tours, visit the European institutions during Saturday’s EU open house day, take in a free concert on the Paleizenplein, try out activities and watch street performers during Sunday’s Party in the Park, plus much more.

6-7 May, across Brussels; free \ irisfestival.brussels

Koinobori Children’s Weekend The Japanese Garden in Hasselt celebrates this traditional Japanese festival dedicated to children, named after the koi-shaped windsocks that are flown for the occasion. Kids can participate in activities and workshops hosted by the city’s youth organisations.

6-7 May 10.00-17.00, Japanese Garden, Gouverneur Verwhilgensingel 23, Hasselt; €5 ( free for kids 12 and under) \ visithasselt.be

Rock Around the Atomium It’s the ultimate rock’n’roll and rockabilly festival, with 12 international bands and DJ’s, a classic car show, vintage market and more. And what better setting than the Atomium, Belgium’s iconic 1958 landmark? 6-7 May, Atomiumsquare, Brussels; free \ facebook.com/ rockaroundtheatomium

\ 10

Belgians are more receptive to environmental and social change than ever before uting it to social organisations in need of food. The platform also works to alleviate social poverty with job skills training and free food assistance to those in need.

Planning and preparation began over a year ago when the city teamed up with Kosmosie, an organisation that unites the food

among several organisations, including homeless shelters.

Figuring out the logistics proved harder than expected. “The idea was quite simple, but putting it into practice turned out to be more complicated,” says Wouter Verstraete, the platform’s co-ordinator, referring to the challenges of

several factors, not unlike in other cities. Typically, supermarkets over-order products, resulting in overstock, or they don’t sell certain fruits and vegetables because of minor aesthetic imperfections.

The surplus food is then thrown out or left to decompose at landfills, contributing to the rising

levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Foodsavers breaks this cycle by seeking out highquality staple foods such as fresh produce, dairy products and bread.

Most food is accepted, but, due to a lack of freezer capacity, anything past its sell-by date isn’t accepted.

Foodsavers sets out to address three issues in the local community in particular: decreasing food waste and CO2 emissions, improving local social economy through paid skills training and offering food assistance to people in challenging financial situations.

Kortrijk and Antwerp are currently working on adapting similar plans.

In no time, the platform’s environmental and social components have turned it into a success.

According to Verstraete, some 30 social organisations are involved in the project to varying degrees, proving that starting locally is the best way to tackle global problems, he says. “Belgians are more receptive to environmental and social change than ever before.”

With operations in full swing, Verstraete says it’s only a matter of time before the platform expands to the rest of the city. At this pace, he adds, “Foodsavers will easily reach the target of collecting and redistributing 100 tonnes of food per year.”

To become involved in Foodsavers, email wouter.verstraete@ocmw. gent

BITE Food sharing initiative brings locals and refugees to the table

DINEWITHUS.STRIKINGLY.COM

In 2015, as the refugee crisis worsened and the number of displaced arrivals grew, three people came together to start an initiative called Dine With Us. “Sharing a meal is universally an important social activity, so it seemed like an obvious way to bring together newcomers and locals,” says one of the founders, Pieter Duysburgh.

Also, he says, “cooking together as a joint activity can break the ice and help to bridge language differences”.

While Duysburgh lives in Ghent, some of the other co-founders live in Brussels. The service is available across the country.

Both those who want to cook and those who want to be their guests sign up online, and the organisers match them up on the basis of their age, location and what language they’d like to speak: Dutch, French or English. Dine With Us then connects the local and newcomer and helps facilitate a date and place.

Since its launch, over 300 people have registered and about 50

“welcome dinners” have been arranged. One of the newcomers is Layla Faraj, a Syrian refugee who’s been living in Flanders for about 18 months.

She fled the war in Syria and arrived knowing very little Dutch and not a single person. “When I arrived, I began to learn the language,” she says. “But then I went through a very dark period because I left my children in my country.”

As Faraj started to learn the language, a friend told her about the Dine With Us initiative. She has now participated multiple times.

She says local people can be difficult to get to know but the initiative has changed that for her and helped her integrate into society.

“Dine With Us has illuminated my dark period in Belgium,” she says.

“It seems like the sun is shining in my life again.”

Faraj is a refugee, a group that was originally the focus of the Dine With Us service. “While we initially started out as an initiative aimed at helping refugees,” says Duysburgh,

© Courtesy Dine With Us

“we notice that all kinds of newcomers, such as expats and economic migrants, find our service valuable and enrol.”

The initiative has reached 48 nationalities so far, he says.

However, it’s been more successful reaching locals than newcomers, so not everyone who has enrolled has been matched with a newcomer

yet.

The people at Dine With Us are now reaching out to language schools to find more newcomers to participate. They have found that the language barrier is often an incentive to sign up because it gives newcomers an opportunity to practise the language with locals. \ Hannah Haynes

may 3, 2017

Precious memories

Video project lets Alzheimer’s patients create future memories for friends and family Mari Eccles More articles by Mari \ flanderstoday.eu

IKBENERNOG.BE

I

’m still here. That’s the defiant title of the new project by the Flemish Alzheimer’s League, which is aiming to give people with dementia “the power to speak for themselves.”

To do this, they’ve created a website where people with early onset dementia can record messages and memories for friends and family, to be sent at a date up to 10 years in the future.

“It’s a way to send a strong message: ‘We know how things are, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to give up’,” says director Hilde Lamers.

Anyone who wishes to send a memory to a loved one using the site can upload their message and the recipient’s email address to the website. They can then choose a date when they’d like the message to be sent.

“The disease is a great burden at an early age,” says Lamers. “People with early-onset dementia understand what awaits them. That’s why we’ve given them this opportunity to record messages for later, while they still can.”

The platform, which was developed with Expertisecentrum Dementie Paradox (the Paradox Dementia Expertise Centre), is accessible to everyone, she says.

About 6,000 people in Flanders currently live with early-onset dementia, but Lamers says people under 55 are often misdiagnosed as suffering from stress, depres-

stand the battle that dementia sufferers face every day. “They’re fighting on two fronts: against early-onset dementia and against prejudice.”

The aim of the project was to combat that attitude. The documentary, which sees people sharing their memories with humour, candour and sadness, has been listened to thousands of times.

“The media attention has been

© Dieter Hautman

Johan, 53, has early onset dementia and took part in the Alzheimer’s League’s documentary

sion or burnout.

“We often hear that people with early onset dementia and their families are misunderstood,” she says. “They’re told things like, ‘You’re exaggerating’, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you,’ or ‘Everyone forgets things now and then’.

Statements like these are painful.”

She says that because of this attitude, people whose symptoms develop at a younger age are often

more prone to feelings of frustration or helplessness. “They are far more aware of how their faculties are deteriorating, and they also still have a long future with the illness ahead of them,” she says.

That’s why every year the association tries to organise projects aimed at people with early-onset dementia; last year, the League created a series of simplified versions of existing books. But this

year, the group was keen to allow sufferers to speak for themselves.

To accompany the website, the League has released a short radio documentary, following the stories of six people with Alzheimer’s as they record their own messages to their loved ones.

As well as helping sufferers of early onset dementia and their families, Lamers says the League is also keen for the wider world to under-

People with early-onset dementia are far more aware of how their faculties are deteriorating amazing. In radio, television and newspapers, people with dementia were all over the news,” Lamers says. “One newspaper dedicated an article to all the letters they had received.”

As one of the documentary’s storytellers put it: “Alzheimer’s will never rob me of these wonderful memories.”

Brussels charity offers education and hope to children in Nairobi slums GIRAFFEPROJECT.ORG

Imagine a school with no books, no toilets, and no qualified teachers, where children run through open sewers to get to class. A place where houses are made from mud and corrugated iron sheeting, and where kids get by on one meal a day.

This was the reality that Denise Baines and her husband faced when they visited the slums of Nairobi 12 years ago. Having spent years teaching at private international schools in Belgium, the pair wanted to give something back, and they set up a charity in 2005 to help educate children in these poorest parts of Kenya.

A chance contact in St Paul’s Church in Tervuren, Flemish Brabant, led them to a school in Kenya’s capital that they felt had potential. After a three-week visit, the Giraffe Project was born.

The Kenyan school stood in stark contrast to the leafy campuses of Brussels’ international schools.

With no syllabus, hungry children and no facilities, there was a lot to do before the business of learning

© Courtesy Giraffe Project

could begin.

“The children had no breakfast and often no lunch. So providing the feeding programme was our number-one priority,” says Baines.

Soon after came sponsorship from friends and colleagues in Brussels, and with that came new clean uniforms and the much-needed textbooks.

Food and clothing weren’t the only problems, however. Most children came from homes where both

parents were illiterate, with many having been abused or neglected.

Almost all had serious problems with language and had developed a slum patois, Sheng, which was constantly changing.

“They come in knowing they’re on the bottom of society,” says Baines.

“They have access to cheap drugs, and a lot of the challenges we face are behavioural problems.”

The Baineses’ answer was to employ teachers who have an understand-

ing of the children from a holistic point of view. “If you don’t address these issues they’ll end up dropping out or taking drugs and then the cycle is ruined,” Baines says.

“We teach them that they’re just as good as the rich kids; that they have the potential to be somebody and to make a difference to people around them. We teach them to believe in themselves.”

Baines is quick to praise the kindness of the many sponsors over the years. “This only works thanks to the generosity of hundreds of people here in Belgium, the UK and other parts of the world,” she says. Their help has meant that the project has grown, and currently sponsors two primary schools while also establishing its own secondary school on the outskirts of the slum.

All have a solid reputation and get good exam results. They have modern teaching methods, flush toilets, a library, computers and even a science lab. The schools are flourishing and are now managed locally by a board of trustees.

The Giraffe Project’s ultimate goal is to get the children independent of the slum and to escape the poverty trap so they can become independent, self-sufficient adults.

More than 200 students have been through the system and graduated, with nurses, physiotherapists, a pharmacist and teachers among its alumni. Baines: “They’re still fairly poor but they’re earning and not living in squalor. It’s a big step up.”

Not everyone gets to the other side, though. “We’ve had boys who go back to the slums,” says Baines.

“The peer pressure, the drugs – they couldn’t kick the habit and have dropped out.”

However, she looks at the many positives. “Sponsors see the progress of the children through letters, which makes it a very personal programme. The oneon-one contact is very important – the children might not have support from their parents but they think, ‘I have someone across the world who cares enough to pay my school fees’.” \ Karen McHugh

\ 11

\ ARTS

may 3, 2017

Making sense of it all

week in arts & CULTURE

Belgian Art Prize-winner Otobong Nkanga on art in a globalised world Sarah Schug More articles by Sarah \ flanderstoday.eu

belgianartprize.be

F

or over 50 years, the biennial Young Belgian Art Prize has been awarded to an outstanding local artist. With the likes of Berlinde De Bruyckere and Hans Op de Beeck among its recipients, it is considered the most prestigious art prize in the country.

In the past, the focus has been on recognising rising young talent, but this year the award got a makeover. Renamed the Belgian Art Prize, it now targets mid-career artists instead, with the goal of helping them increase their visibility on an international level, in the same way as the UK’s Turner Prize.

The first winner of the Belgian Art Prize is Antwerp-based Otobong Nkanga. Born in Nigeria, Nkanga has built an impressive artistic portfolio: She is represented by Parisian gallery In Situ and Lumen Travo in Amsterdam, and her work has been shown at London’s Tate Modern.

She’s also taking part in this year’s Documenta 14 in Kassel and Athens, one of the world’s major contemporary art events.

But you don’t need to travel to Germany or Greece to dive into Nkanga’s work: All of the Belgian Art Prize finalists are currently on show at Bozar in Brussels. Nkanga’s winning work showcases a research-heavy practice that looks at how we live today, while documenting the social, economic and environmental changes around us.

“When I found out I was nominated, my first thought was to make new work,” Nkanga says. “But in the end I decided it was best to just continue what I’m doing and take it as an opportunity to further develop my ideas.”

The down-to-earth approach speaks for the artist’s authenticity and rings true for her entire oeuvre.

“I never thought I would want to be an artist,” she says. “I was just looking for a place where I could be free in what I wanted to do.”

Already as a child, she continues, “I felt at peace when being in a place of making, of reflection. Being an artist allows me to be in this place.”

© Philippe De Gobert

Otobong Nkanga’s work is connected to the different places she’s lived

This distinct thirst and curiosity for reflection and observation as a means of making sense of the world is at the centre of Nkanga’s practice.

“It’s about where we are today and how we can move forward,” she explains. “We need to look at the past, how things are shifting today, and how this can shape the future.”

Nkanga examines transformations and documents change, especially as related to landscapes and natural resources – the recurrent themes in her work. This is evident in her winning piece: a poem woven into textile is slowly contaminated by liquid, and a rusted steel sheet manifests the effects of corrosion.

At the same time, the pieces are influenced by the different places Nkanga has lived – from Nigeria, to France and the Netherlands, where she went to art school, and now Belgium, where she lives with her

husband – revealing an inherently global perspective.

“My work is interconnected with the places I’ve lived,” she confirms.

“What happens in one place affects another. This is true for nature and also for my work. There is no way of looking at the world in a little bubble. We have to look at all the different bubbles and how they are affecting each other.”

This notion of interconnectedness extends to Nkanga’s use of multiple mediums, which can seem disparate at first. From drawings and photographs to performance, textile, sculpture and installations, everything in her work is connected.

Not limiting herself to specific genres, Nkanga has the freedom

Until 28 May

and flexibility to completely do justice to her ideas. “Ideas are amplified through the materials being used,” she says. “Some things can only be done in poetry, others make sense in clay. Still others need a combination of materials to be able to convey the complexity of the thoughts.”

Standout works include “Baggage”, for which Nkanga transported sand from Africa to Europe and back; the “Contained Measures of Shifting States”, which displayed the four elements of liquid, ice, smoke and fire in a state of movement and shift; and “Alterscapes: Playground”, a series of photographed installations that exposes how human kind has economically and politically reshaped landscapes.

While Nkanga’s work might strike the viewer as a harsh criticism of humans’ treatment of the earth, the artist dismisses this impression. “It’s a double-edged sword,” she says. “We can’t only be critical of what we’re doing to the planet. We’ve managed to sustain billions of people. But we need to consider what it means to destroy the whole Amazon forest just for its resources.”

There needs to be a balance, she continues, “and in order to achieve that, we need to rethink how we live and work”. And that’s exactly what she strives for: to make people think, incite reflection and inspire the viewer to look at the bigger picture.

Bozar

Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussels

Concertgebouw pairs up with social investor to make culture accessible CONCERTGEBOUW.BE

The Concertgebouw concert and performance hall in Bruges and social investor Cera have agreed to work together to give culture a greater social impact. The first project under the new initiative will be a series of week-long events exploring masterpieces of the classical repertoire.

Cera is a Leuven-based co-operative that invests in socially engaged projects throughout Belgium. It will put an undisclosed sum in the collaboration and work with

the Concertgebouw to develop a programme of socially inclusive events.

This is in line with its mission, but also brings a benefit to its investing members, who will get a discount on tickets. “This collaboration is a good thing for our members, but also for the wider society,” said Cera’s chief executive, Franky Depickere.

Meanwhile, the Concertgebouw will extend its audience, both among Cera’s membership and the groups

to be targeted in the collaboration.

“Cera and Concertgebouw Bruges are striving for classical music to have a broader social impact, bringing deeper understanding to aficionados and an intense first experience for new, younger visitors,” said Katrien Van Eeckhoutte, general director of the Concertgebouw.

The joint initiative begins with a series of week-long programmes exploring a classical masterpiece from five different centuries. The first, in October, will focus on Clau-

dio Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, followed in November by a week devoted to Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.

Activities alongside each performance will include lectures and listening courses to reveal the stories behind the music. Children with disabilities will get to know the masterpieces through making music themselves, while other side programmes will involve young people and amateur musicians.

Rubens House searching for six Wautier paintings

Antwerp’s Rubens House has launched an international call to locate six paintings by the 17th-century Brussels artist Michaelina Wautier to include in the first of a series of exhibitions on Rubens’ influence on Baroque painting. Wautier was one of a very few women of the period who sold paintings on the art market. Rubens House is looking specifically for a still-life called “Garland with Butterfly” and a series of five paintings called The Five Senses. Each of the paintings focuses on one of the five senses. They were auctioned twice in France in the late 19th century but have since disappeared from view. Anyone with information about the works is asked to contact Rubens House curator Katrijn Van Bragt. \ rubenshuis.be

New tourist pass mixes flight and train travel A new Hi Belgium Pass launched last week includes flight, unlimited train travel and entry to two museums or other attractions in several cities. Travellers can book a flight on Brussels Airlines from one of 50 European airports to Brussels Airport. From there, pass-holders can take unlimited train rides in the country and can visit two attractions.

The four-day pass is only €149 and is the result of a collaboration between Visit Flanders, rail authority NMBS and other partners from the tourism and cultural sectors. It is the first time so many tourist-oriented organisations have collaborated on one initiative. \ hibelgiumpass. brusselsairlines.com

New artistic director for NTGent The board of directors of Ghent’s city theatre, NT Gent, has chosen Swiss playwright and stage director Milo Rau as its new artistic director. Rau, 39, has created or produced more than 50 award-winning stage productions across Europe and is well known in Belgium for his work Five Easy Pieces, a raw portrait of the life of serial killer Marc Dutroux that starred seven local children. He will be joined in Ghent by his German colleague Stefan Bläske. In a joint statement with NTGent’s artistic co-ordinator, the pair said that they “consider this urban environment, including its rich cultural history and rapidly changing demographics, as an obvious context for our kind of drama”.

\ Ian Mundell

\ 13

\ ARTS

‘Strive to change the world’ Flemish artist Jan Lauwers reflects on centuries of art history at Bozar Christophe Verbiest More articles by Christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

BOZAR.BE

Flemish visual and performance artist Jan Lauwers has a new show in Brussels that reworks an exhibition he recently presented in Shanghai. And this time he gets to call it what he wants.

A

rtist Jan Lauwers’ intriguing new exhibition of installations and sculpture reflects centuries of art history. And not only because the first room is covered with a huge carpet depicting Rubens’ “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”.

The Antwerp-born artist made his name first and foremost in theatre, and his Needcompany is one of Flanders’ most lauded troupes both at home and abroad. He initially trained as a painter at the Ghent Royal Academy of Fine Arts, but it wouldn’t be right to say that he only recently steered his career towards the visual arts.

“I’ve always been a visual artist,” he insists, saying that he started drawing at a very young age. “When I was two or three, an uncle told me I should never draw from memory, like lots of children do, but by perception. It was only years later that I realised how important this advice was. It’s all about seeing.”

For me, the theatre stage is a huge canvas But you also need conviction.

“When I teach young people, I always stress that if they want to be an artist, they should at least have the ambition to change the world,” he says. “Otherwise don’t bother starting, because it’s this drive that makes art important.”

© Philippe De Gobert

After completing his studies, Lauwers concentrated on performance rather than the visual arts.

“Back then, in 1979, I loved the energy that’s linked with performance; it’s so inspiring.” He cites Serbian video and performance artist Marina Abramovic´ and the late German artist Joseph Beuys as two artists whose performances captured his imagination.

It was thanks to performances by visual artists, and not by textdriven theatre, that Lauwers ended up on stage. And in 1986 he became the linchpin of Needcompany. “For me, the theatre stage is a huge canvas,” he says.

His new exhibition in Brussels is Silent Stories, which he calls “the result of an enquiry. I excavated my mental archive when I was invited to create an exhibition in China.”

He’s referring to his show last year at Shanghai’s Ming Contemporary Art Museum, part of which he’s now presenting at Bozar.

“China is a different kind of society, and I made a different kind of work,” he says. “I didn’t shy away from my academic talents at drawing.”

He’s pointing to some wooden packing cases his company uses to travel. On their exteriors, Lauwers drew landscapes and animals in graphite, referring to a classical artist like Dürer.

“In China, they are perceived differently to how they are in the West. I wasn’t planning to include them here, but the CEO of Bozar told me I should.”

He wanted to call the Chinese show I Love the Chinese People, and the Chinese People Love Me, paraphrasing the title of Beuys’ seminal performance I Like America, and America Likes Me. But it was censored.

“I couldn’t use the words ‘Chinese’ or ‘people’, because they belong to the president,” he says. “I found it amazing; the Chinese people

belong to the dictator. The official explanation was: I don’t know the Chinese people, and they don’t know me, so how can we love each other?”

A large number of the works on view are assembled from found material, such as “Joseph’s Kitchen Table”, again referring to Beuys and where he did much of his work. Next to it stands “The Entertainer’s Private Room”, a wooden construction containing the head of a gorilla – a reference to Walt Disney.

“They are two very important artists,” he says. “I don’t want to choose which is the more important. Is it Marcel Duchamp’s urinal or Disney’s Mickey Mouse?”

An important difference between Silent Stories and the exhibition in Shanghai is the addition of photos

Until 25 June

by Dirk Braeckman, who will represent Belgium at the upcoming Venice Biennale. More than 20 of his characteristic ghostlike pictures converse with Lauwers’ work.

Braeckman explains how the collaboration came about: “In 2013, Jan invited me to participate in his performance/installation The House of Our Fathers in Hannover. He gave me carte blanche to do what I wanted. My photos are not a report, more an interpretation of my experience being part of it.”

An extra result of that joint project is the huge, lavish book The House of Our Fathers, containing 24 photographs. Leafing through it, it becomes easier to compare the fascinating images.

They’re sometimes made from the same negative, but always look radically different. It’s by far Braeckman’s most fascinating book, an artwork in itself, and proves that the pictures survive independently from Lauwers’ work.

At the end of last month, Needcompany moved, after 23 years, from the centre of Brussels to Molenbeek. The building by Art Deco architect Adrien Blomme, known as Mill, is a house for the arts that also accommodates other artists “I wouldn’t call moving to Molenbeek a statement. Lots of people see it as a dangerous place, but I disagree,” says Lauwers. “But you’ll always see that when a place is deemed dangerous, the rent goes down, and artists flock there.

When that happens, after a few years the neighbourhood starts to swing again.”

The House of Our Fathers by Dirk Braeckman is published by MER Paper Kunsthalle

Bozar

Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussels

More visual arts this week M HKA

Floris Vanhoof

Ik trap gewoon door

Antwerp’s museum for contemporary art recently re-opened after a major renovation. The opening exhibition, A Temporary Futures Institute, brings together arts and future studies. The ground floor of the museum will host a part of the permanent collection. Not so special for a museum, you might think, but a change for M HKA, which has always liked to devote its space to temporary shows. The new presentation includes, among others, Marlene Dumas, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Panamarenko and Cindy Sherman. From 28 April, Leuvensestraat 32, Antwerp

Antwerp artist Floris Vanhoof, who won the audience award at the Young Belgian Art Prize in 2015, returns to Brussels with his new sound installation, Bug Sounds/ Vinyl Canyon. Vanhoof puts pieces of transparent vinyl records in a slide projector and uses the mandible of a beetle as the needle of a turntable. Thanks to a rotating disc, the corrugated vinyl grooves are animated, resulting in flickering visual rhythms. Based on his previous work, expect a feast for ears and eyes. A disarming feast, for sure, which some might call an attack on those ears and eyes. Until 11 June, Sint-Katelijneplein 44, Brussels

Ik trap gewoon door (I Just Freak Out) is an exhibition held at three locations for which established artists collaborated on new work with people who are prone to psychosis. It’s an idea by Te Gek, an organisation that aims to raise awareness about psychological problems through art, in its broadest sense. Among the contributing artists are Koen Vanmechelen, Luc Tuymans and Berlinde De Bruyckere. Until 16 May, Museum Dr Guislain, Ghent; University Library, Leuven; ModeMuseum, Antwerp

\ muhka.be

\ central.brussels

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\ iktrapgewoondoor.be

Luc Tuymans (left) worked with Frank Tuymans for Ik trap gewoon door

\ AGENDA

may 3, 2017

Reason vs intuition

CLASSICAL

Kunstenfestivaldesarts 5-27 May

I

f it’s May, then it’s time for the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, the adventurous festival dedicated mainly to performance art – though it also includes some film and exhibitions.

One of the highlights of this 22nd edition is in fact an exhibition.

The Absent Museum, according to the organisers, is “a blueprint for a museum of contemporary art for the capital of Europe.” As part of this show, Belgian Art Prize winner Otobong Nkanga (see p13) has created “Forget Me Not”, which will see a performer present a poetic act of remembrance every day of the festival.

Still, the focus of the festival will

Across Brussels kfda.be

Validate by the promising Flemish theatre director and author Thomas Bellinck. It’s an – let’s take a deep breath – “ambitious musical documentary on the digitisation of the management of migration and the subcontracting of social selection”.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, par exemple, meanwhile, brings together the kamikaze humour of Argentinian playwright Rafael Spregelburd and the sharp staging ideas of the Brussels collective Transquinquennal. The result is lauded as a schizophrenic comedy. But how the late actor Hoffman fits in, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

be performance arts. Festival regular Milo Rau and his International Institute of Political Murder of Switzerland examine the link between the refugees who try to reach the southern border of Europe and ancient Greek myths.

There are more ancient Greek influences in Bacantes: Prelúdio para uma Purga (pictured), an adaptation of The Bacchae – the classical drama of Euripides – for a dozen dancers and musicians.

In the hands of the Cape Verdean choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas, it becomes a bloody battle between reason and intuition.

Another migration theme is found in Simple as ABC #2: Keep Calm &

\ Christophe Verbiest

CONCERT

FESTIVAL

Lost Frequencies

Belgian Pride

6 May, 18.30 Although a relative newcomer to the dance music scene, Lost Frequencies is already a global chart-topper. The face behind the alias is that of young Brussels-born DJ Felix De Laet. In 2014, his remix of Easton Corbin’s drawling country tune “Are You with Me” dominated dance floors and supermarkets

Lotto Arena, Antwerp lotto-arena.be

around the world. The track earned De Laet invitations to perform at clubs and festivals from Belgium to Brazil. Now, an industry veteran at age 23, De Laet has released a follow-up album, Less Is More, and is headlining Antwerp’s Lotto Arena with support from Nick Delgado and Henri PFR. \ Georgio Valentino

4-20 May

CONCERT

Toer de Geuze

Grey Lotus

Across Pajottenland and Senne Valley

5-6 May

Flanders’ epic brewery crawl celebrates its 20th birthday in a big way. The event, which sees several breweries in the Pajottenland area of Flemish Brabant open to the public, has been a biennial tradition since 1997. This is the first time the festivities will stretch across an entire weekend and include camping possibilities for visiting lambic-lovers.

This anniversary tour is also the largest thus far, with nine breweries set to open their doors and let the taps flow. Among them are Lindemans, Mort Subite and Oud Beersel. The collaboration is to be immortalized in a limited edition “Megablend” beer. \ GV

Dutch experimental folk group Grey Lotus was born in 2008 as a creative partnership between vocalist Joost Verhagen and multiinstrumentalist Daan Arisz. The pairing has since blossomed into an ensemble featuring pianist and avant-garde composer Niels van der Weiden, vocalist Judith Wesselius and bassist Matthijs Tuijn. The

\ bozar.be

PERFORMANCE Across Flanders In Between Violet and Green: Inspired by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, an architect, photographer, singer and musicians transform into technicians of the imagination, fusing sound and visuals into a shifting landscape of impressions. 4 May 20.30, CC De Spil Roeselare and 5 May 20.00, CC De Ververij Ronse

Antwerp Across Brussels pride.be

Pablo Francisco: Stand-up by the American comedian, impressionist and sound effect extraordinaire, best known for his off-the-wall characters and spot-on impersonations of celebrities, family and a multitude of nationalities. 3 May 20.00, Zuiderpershuis, Timmerwerfstraat 40 \ livecomedy.be

CONCERT Brussels

get ti

ckets

now

The Sisters of Mercy: The post-punk veterans from Leeds have added a second date to their Brussels stop to accommodate fans of the selfproclaimed “industrial groove machine”. 5 September 19.00, Ancienne Belgique, Anspachlaan 110 \ abconcerts.be

VISUAL ARTS Antwerp Papa Jos, Antwerp and Kinky Star, Ghent GREYLOTUS.NL

toerdegeuze.be

Bach Heritage Festival: Festival dedicated to Bach’s music and the influence he had on the composers who followed him, featuring a birthday concert for conductor (and festival curator) Philippe Herreweghe and a succession of performances by renowned ensembles. Until 21 May, Bozar, Ravensteinstraat 23

\ lod.be

Brussels’ annual pride parade has expanded into a two-week festival of events celebrating inclusion and LGBTQI+ community life in Brussels. The theme of this year’s edition is “Crossing Borders” and highlights issues of migration and asylum, particularly as experienced by queer migrants. Belgian Pride kicks off on 4 May with the MiniPride parade, a folkloric procession from the Town Hall to the Manneken-Pis, dressed for the occasion in a Gaultier-designed Pride costume. The festival culminates on 20 May with the big parade, which draws tens of thousands. There are also exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, drag shows (pictured) and parties galore. \ GV

FOOD&DRINK 6-7 May

Brussels

group’s sound has also expanded to embrace free jazz as well as industrial influences. The band recently celebrated the release of their third album Acacia with a marathon run of Record Store Day performances at shops across Amsterdam and their home base Haarlem. Now they return to Flanders to present their latest work. \ GV

Chocolate Secrets: Free exhibition about the origins of cocoa, featuring Mayan ceremonial drinking cups, European porcelain chocolate pots, statues from cocoa plantations and original canisters and posters from Antwerp chocolate confectioners. Until 3 September, MAS, Hanzestedenplaats 1 \ mas.be

FESTIVAL Mechelen Mechelen Hears Voices: Mechelen’s leg of the Festival of Flanders, featuring the best of vocal classical music, including rising star soprano Lore Binon. Until 14 May, across Mechelen \ mechelenhoortstemmen.be

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\ BACKPAGE

may 3, 2017

Talking Dutch Why the long face?

Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

TINYURL.COM/CARINE-ANTHEUNIS

I

t’s not so long ago that Flanders launched the slogan “share our smile� to attract more tourists to the region. But it seems that locals still need a little more time to adjust their expressions.

At least that’s the message you get when you click on a video made by a bus driver from Ghent. Chauffeur Carine Antheunis wil dat meer gelachen wordt op de bus – Bus driver Carine Antheunis wants more laughter on the bus, ran the headline in Het Nieuwsblad.

Carine begint op haar eentje de strijd tegen de verzuring – Carine has launched her own mission to fight grumpiness. In een filmpje dat viraal gaat op Facebook – In a video clip that has gone viral on Facebook, vraagt ze de mensen om wat meer te glimlachen – she called on people to smile a bit more.

Het kost niets – It doesn’t cost anything en we worden er allemaal vrolijk van – and it makes everyone happier, she said in a clip that has been watched nearly 100,000 times.

She only recently became a bus driver after a career in retail. Anderhalf jaar geleden – Eighteen months ago ruilde ze de kassa van de Delhaize – she swapped the Delhaize checkout voor een bus van De Lijn – for a De Lijn bus.

She was immediately struck by the fact, she told Het Nieuwsblad, dat er bij zo weinig mensen een glimlach vanaf kan – That so few people smile. Ik begrijp dat niet – I just don’t get it.

Op een dag – In one day, vervoer ik makkelijk een paar honderd mensen van en naar Gent – I can easily carry a few hundred people to and from Ghent, she said. Als ik op ÊÊn dag vijf keer een goeiendag krijg – If I get five good mornings in a single day zal het veel zijn – that’s

VoiceS of flanders today In response to: 99 reasons to love Belgium, plus many more Sonia Vand: My home land, I¤<3 Flanders !!!

In response to: Talking Dutch: Why the long face?

Ilona Ilona: In Leuven we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any problems with smiles)))) allemaal zijn heel vriendelijke¤

Š Courtesy De Standaard

a lot.

And so she shot a video in what looks like her bathroom. In het filmpje richt ze zich rechtstreeks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; In the film she spoke directly tot de zure beertjes die bij haar opstappen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;sour bearsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a memorable Dutch phrase for grumpy folk â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who get on her bus.

Ik zou ze eens door elkaar willen schudden â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to give them all a good shake, she confesses. Waarom hebben ze een filet tot op de grond? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Why all the long faces?

She gets increasingly annoyed as she considers some of the reasons people are miserable. Omdat hun nagel is afgebroken â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve a broken nail. Omdat ze een eerste rimpel hebben ontdekt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Because theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve noticed their first wrinkle. Omdat de koffiemachine op het werk kapot is â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Because the coffee machine at work is broken.

And she ends with some advice. Wees content â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Be happy. Besef wat je hebt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Appreciate what you have.

Geef een glimlach aan de anderen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Smile at other people.

It could be just what Flandersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tourists need to see.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

In response to: Photo of the week: Toy story Brigitte Nackaerts: There seems to be order in the disorder.

Katherine L. @KatrienLejeune As much as I complain about #Flanders, I kinda love it here

Sofie @SofieMertens1 My face says it all. I love spending time with my little brother đ&#x;&#x2019;&#x2014;. #ghent #boattrip

Journey of a Gypsy @Eve_Butterfly27 Every day, I explore more of my beautiful city! #begijnhof #hasselt #ilovehasselt #ilovelimburg

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the last word Pre-emptive strike

Fairground attraction

â&#x20AC;&#x153;My client feared that the man wanted to rob him.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This way we can find out if a candidate has a sufficiently high fun factor to work in an amusement park.â&#x20AC;?

Lawyer John Maes is defending an 81-year-old former bank director accused of running his car into a man on the street in Antwerp. The victim later died of his injuries

Frontiers of science â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high time this therapy was available here. Investing in it ourselves is the only way to make sure it happens as quickly as possible.â&#x20AC;?

Š Eric Vidal/Reuters

SPECIAL GUEST King Filip shares lunch and chats with a young refugee during a visit to the Abdijschool reception centre in Dendermonde, East Flanders

Marc De Kramer, managing director of Leuven University Hospital, on a â&#x201A;Ź45 million investment in two underground spaces to be used for proton therapy, the latest treatment for cancer

Steve Van den Kerkhof, manager of Plopsaland in De Panne, where job-seekers will be interviewed aboard Heidi the Ride, the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new roller coaster

Meet the neighbours â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ask me anything. We can talk about Syria, about Islam, about fleeing in a rubber boat. But also about frieten and football. And in Dutch, of course.â&#x20AC;?

Syrian refugee Sahid Ghaida is going from door to door in his new home town in Merchtem, Flemish Brabant, offering to chat to anyone who has questions

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