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june 7, 2017 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ P2

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POETRY IN MOTION

Signing of new accord brings Flanders and Europe closer together

Using fire and flame, an Antwerp forging workshop is reviving an ancient craft

Photographer Anton Kusters tackles mobsters, flowers and the passage of time

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© Courtesy Visit Flanders

Must, a former textile plant in Ronse, is among the first sites to become part of the Genius loci network

Handmade heritage

digital project brings flanders’ forgotten industries into 21st century andy furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

Genius Loci aims to preserve the historical legacy of brickyards, textile factories and small breweries, with a digital platform, smart labels and an interactive map.

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here was a time when small-scale enterprises like brickyards and textile factories were the bedrock of society. Today, many of these sites have difficulty attracting tourists, and whatever remains of them languishes in obscurity.

A European project aims to change that by focusing the attention on the sites’ rich industrial and technical heritage. Genius Loci awards the sites with special digital labels,

helping them step right into the 21st century.

The Industriana labels are affixed to the outside of the buildings and contain a QR code that can be read with a smartphone. A digital platform tells the sites’ backstory and contains a map with all the recognised places in Europe. In Flanders, 17 sites are already taking part in the project; in Brussels, one.

“People still think of castles and churches when they talk about heritage,” says Adriaan Linters, the driving force behind Genius Loci. “They don’t always realise the historical importance of the industries where people would get their hands dirty. But these industries spurred growth and

had a profound effect on labour migration, contributing to the opening of the European borders.”

Linters is president of the Flemish Association of Industrial Archaeology (VVIA) and secretary-general of E-Faith, the European federation of organisations engaged in industrial heritage. Both organisations were involved in setting up the Genius Loci project with partners from Italy, Malta, Hungary and Spain.

Genius Loci is supported by the European Union’s Cosme programme, which aims to improve the digital visibility of industrial and technical heritage.

“We focused on the heritage of small and medium-sized continued on page 5

\ CuRRenT AFFAIRs

Mechelen to outlaw begging

Call for investigation into claims against judo coach Flanders’ sports minister has called for an independent investigation into allegations of sexually inappropriate conduct by one of the region’s top judo coaches, after a new witness came forward last week. The region’s judo federation decided to suspend the man, identified only as DB. The allegations date back as far as 20 years and were brought by among others twotime Belgian champion Niki Heylen and Olympic bronze medallist Ann Simons (pictured in 2002), who spoke of “a culture of sexual intimidation” including inappropriate touching and sexual remarks. She said incidents were reported to the federation but no action was taken. “I’m amazed that the person who hurt me so is still active in top-class judo,” she said.

The federation has proposed a number of measures aimed at helping athletes become more assertive in order to resist intimidation, and will look into creating a contact point for victims. Sports minister Philippe

Ban will protect beggars from falling victim to organised crime alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

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he city of Mechelen is to introduce a ban on begging in the city centre, including near the entrance to supermarkets and at special events. The city councillor in charge of legal affairs, Mark Hendrickx, said beggars would be subject to a “symbolic fine” of €1.

According to mayor Bart Somers, recent police checks revealed that many of the beggars in the city centre do not actually live in Mechelen. “There was strong evidence of organised practices like criminal conspiracy and exploitation,” he said.

The city will set up a permanent contact point for beggars who are residents of Mechelen, while those registered elsewhere will be put in touch with the social aid agencies in the municipalities where they live. “This is to ensure that we can really help them,” said Stefaan Deleus, councillor for crime prevention. “We don’t

© john Thys/Isosport/Belga

Muyters welcomes the initiatives. “This has to be taken seriously,” he said, and called on the federation to provide him with regular briefings on progress on the issue.

Meanwhile, Open VLD politician Carina Van Cauter compared the situation of abuse in the sports world to secrecy in the Catholic church over sexual abuse by clergy.

“In that case as well, bishops and congregations said they knew nothing about any allegations,” she said. / AH

© Courtesy De standaard

consider them criminals but victims of organised crime.”

The city will now hold talks with the federal police and the prosecutor’s office.

“We will be asking for this issue to be high on the agenda,” Somers said. “We want to punish the gangs, not the beggars.”

Volunteers map cycling danger spots Pingifyoucare.Brussels

The Brussels-Capital Region has launched a pilot project that will allow cyclists to contribute to a map showing danger spots on the region’s roads. Secretary of state for road safety Bianca Debaets sent out 540 volunteers last week equipped with “pingers” linked to an app that highlights dangers.

Each volunteer uses an app, connected by Bluetooth to a piece of kit attached to their handlebars like a bicycle bell. If the cyclist feels unsafe on the road at any point, they tap once on the pinger and the app records the location.

Once the information is uploaded to the database, along with any feedback the cyclist wants to give, it can be added to a map of the most dangerous places for cyclists on the region’s roads. It would then be up to the authorities to do something to remedy the situation if possible – in the case of a dangerous junction, for example, though not in the case of a vehicle parked

© Courtesy Pingifyoucare.brussels

on a cycle path.

“This information is crucial for us to make the right decisions about where we have to step in on questions of road safety or enforcement policy with the police,” Debaets said.

The public can consult the gathered information online. Another 500 volunteers will be recruited in August for the start of the new school year. / AH

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© Courtesy Agfa-Gevaert

Antwerp ready to open up historic visual archive to the world A historic audiovisual archive donated to the province of Antwerp in 2015 is ready to be split up and distributed to other collections, the Antwerp Photo Museum has said. The archive was created by the imaging technology group Agfa-Gevaert.

The collection includes photos and films as well as documents and equipment such as cameras and printers. It was previously housed in Varenthof castle in Mortsel, but the company wanted to give the building a new purpose. The decision coincided with the retirement of Laurent Roosens, the archivist who had given form to the collection since 1963.

The archive was donated to the Photo Museum on behalf of the province, which paid €160,000 for it to be analysed and catalogued. Now that is done, the collection can

be divided into about 40 sub-collections, each finding a new home.

Interestedpartieshavealreadybegunmaking enquiries, including Antwerp University, the state archive in Beveren and ADVN, the documentation centre for Flemish nationa lism. Agfa-Gevaert founder Lieven Gevaert also founded the Flemish Economic Union and was a prominent member of the Flemish independence movement.

“Given the importance of this archive, the province grabbed the chance to open it up to the world,” provincial deputy for culture Luk Lemmens said. “It can be used for scientific purposes, but the wider public should also be able to get to know it. The way this project has been approached can also be an inspiration to other policy-makers on the question of re-purposing heritage.” / AH

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million passengers carried by De Lijn in 2016, 2.1% or 11 million fewer than in 2015, according to the latest annual report. Income rose by 10% to €186 million

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tenants in Flanders have trouble raising a rental deposit, currently capped at two months’ rent, according to the tenants’ union

branches of Record Bank to be closed by parent company ING, leaving 56 to be merged into the ING network

days in May on which the temperature exceeded 25 degrees, matching the record from May 2008, the Royal Meteorological Institute reported. On two days, the temperature reached 30 degrees

place for Belgium on a list of 172 countries with the happiest children, drawn up by the charity Save the Children. Norway, Slovenia and Finland were the top three

june 7, 2017

WEEK IN BRIEf The city council of Leuven was forced to close off a footpath beside the Boudewijn Stadium, in Kessel-Lo, last week after walkers and cyclists were attacked by aggressive crows. Some people were reported to have been pecked until they bled. The five birds were later chased into the forest by council workers, who also put out warning signs.

The artists’ rights association Sabam will have to cut its maximum payment delay from two years to nine months, under a new law introduced by consumer affairs minister Kris Peeters.

Sabam is the largest organisation collecting royalties in Belgium, with 46.7% of the market. The new law aims to strengthen the rights of musicians, composers, authors and other right holders. Sabam and other associations will now also have to justify their commission rates, which in Sabam’s case have been as high as 22.38%.

Manneken Pis in Brussels was peeing milk last week, a stunt organised by Vets Without Borders to mark World Milk Day and draw attention to the problems of nutrition in Africa. Milk forms an important part of the diet and economy in ceratin parts of Africa, though cows there produce only two to three litres a day, compared to a Belgian cow’s 25-35 litres.

The organisers of Rock Werchter will be testing the BE-Alert system this year. The systems allows all festival-goers, and local residents within a certain radius, to receive a text message in the event of a crisis situation. During freak weather conditions, an accident or even an attack, for example, communication is one of the most important factors in avoiding panic and reacting to the situation safely. The federal home affairs ministry has to give its approval for the system to be used in real time.

fACE Of fLANdERS Two London-based financial firms have announced that they intend to move to Brussels as a result of Brexit, National Bank director Marcia De Wachter told business daily De Tijd. The companies have not been identified, but one was reported to be a specialist in money transfers, and the other in payment services. The National Bank will have to approve the companies before they can operate as financial service providers in Belgium.

The Flemish public broadcaster VRT has won two of this year’s Belfius Press Prizes. Katrien Vanderschoot and Mick Delbarre won in the radio category for their reports from Congo on protests against the Kabila regime. In the digital press category, the prize went to the online project Een dag als geen ander (A Day Unlike Any Other) that used multimedia to describe the terrorist attacks on Zaventem Airport and Brussels metro last year.

New airline Air Belgium has announced plans to fly to China in the winter later this year. Air Belgium will start with four flights a week to Hong Kong, before increasing the number to six, with new destinations coming in 2018. The airline still has to obtain the proper authorisations, and negotiations are currently under way with Brussels and Charleroi airports.

Belgium’s four public transport authorities – NMBS, De Lijn, MIVB and TEC – are expected to announce a proposal before the summer holiday for a new integrated tariff, and a single ticket covering the whole country, federal mobility minister François Bellot has announced.

A proposal to allow 16- and 17-yearolds to vote in municipal elections has been defeated by N-VA opposition in the Flemish parliament.

It was supported by coalition partners CD&V and Open VLD.

A new premium for the selfemployed and small companies whose business is affected by public works came into force this month. The premium applies to companies with fewer than 10 employees, and whose business brings them into direct contact with the public, making it impossible to operate from another site – any kind of shop, for example. The premium now goes up to €2,000 automatically, and if the business needs to close, another €80 a day from the 21st day of closure.

Nature conservancy organisation Natuurpunt has announced it has found water dropwort (Oenanthe croata) in the port area of Ghent and along the Rupel river.

One of the most poisonous plants in Flanders, the water dropwort, known as dodemansvingers (dead man’s fingers) in Dutch, has leaves that can be eaten by animals.

The celery-like stems and roots, however, contain a neurotoxin that is deadly to animals.

The city of Ostend says it has found a solution to the problem of seagulls, which rip open rubbish bags, cover cars with droppings and can attack humans. The solution: fake eggs, which replace the real eggs in the birds’ nests. The birds cannot tell the difference, and continue to brood, before finally giving up and moving away.

The idea came from a successful project in the Dutch city of Leiden.

The 20-year sentence of the Somali pirate captain who led the hijacking of the Belgian ship Pompei in the Indian Ocean in 2009 was upheld by the court of appeal in Ghent. Ten members of the crew were held hostage for 70 days. Mohamed Abdi Hassan was convicted of hijacking, hostagetaking, torture and leadership of a criminal organisation. His lieutenant, Mohamed Moalin-Aden, saw his original five-year sentence doubled on appeal.

OffSIdE going bananas What would you do if you could haveasmany bananas asyouwant?

You’d probably end up having more bananas than you could stomach.

A man who would know is Peter Van Wellen (pictured, left), a sports teacher in Kapellen, Antwerp province, who has just been awarded a supply of bananas weighing as much as he does. Van Wellen was the winner of the Haven & Goed competition organised by the Port of Antwerp. The prize was handed to him by city councillor for port affairs Marc Van Peel (right), whose name could not be more appropriate.

The competition asked entrants

christophe laes

© Basisschool Hertog jan

klasse.Be/leraar-van-Het-jaar

When the education magazine Klasse asked for nominations for the title of Teacher of the Year, it received no fewer than 3,000 names, which must be an encouraging sign for the Flemish education system.

Of those, the jury selected 200 finalists, culminating in the choice of one winner: Christophe Laes, who teaches the sixth year at Hertog Jan primary school in Kortenberg, Flemish Brabant. The prize was presented last week by Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits.

Meester Christophe, as he is known to the pupils, colleagues, parents and even some grandparents who nominated him, was praised for his ability to make children – the sixth year is made up of children around the age of 12 – confident in themselves and ready to try out new things.

“In my last class I was bullied,” one girl told Klasse. “Meester Christophe made sure that stopped, and now things are much, much better.”

The parents of one gifted child explained how their daughter had been moved forward a year but had difficulty adapting to the class of older children. “Meester Chris-

tophe focused on her well-being in the class, so she was able to finish primary school successfully.”

“Thanks to him our grandson was able to go to sport school,” one of the grandparents explained. “Now he plays for the first team of KV Oostende football club.”

Despite the award of the prize to one in 3,000, Klasse editor Hans Vanderspikken stressed that the Teacher of the Year competition is a salute to all teachers, with Meester Christophe first among equals. “Every day we at Klasse see teachers creating opportunities, stimulating self-confidence, making time for students and really listening, encouraging children to be themselves,” he said.

“They take part in the development of strong personalities and active citizens, teaching how to live together and think critically, giving strength and confidence. And they often have a lasting impact on the lives of many students.”

As proof of that last statement, a video on the Klasse website features moving tributes from pupils, former students and parents to teachers all over Flanders. \ Alan Hope

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

© Courtesy Antwerp Port Authority

to explain why they should win the bananas. “As a physical education teacher, I’m very concerned about exercise and healthy eating,” Van Wellen replied. “One banana contains 80 food supplements, and

is also a permanent fixture in my daily diet.”

The 75kg of bananas, he also wrote, would be shared among the 600 pupils and staff at his school.

The Port of Antwerp is actually the biggest banana processing centre in the world. Every day, the port receives 23 million kilograms of the fruit from producers in Africa and Central and South Americas.

The cargo is then shipped throughout Europe.

“Anyone who eats a banana in Paris, Barcelona or here at a school in Kapellen,” said Van Peel, “can be pretty sure that the fruit has passed through the port of Antwerp.”

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, Arthur Rubinstein, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Denzil Walton general manager Hans De Loore PuBlisHer Mediahuis NV

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

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\ POlITICs

5TH COLUMN Holding the baby

Will teenagers shop around for driving tests in the future?

That’s what Groen predicts now that Flanders has made it harder to get a driving licence.

Those wishing to avoid the new Flemish regulations could take their test in the capital, where the demands regarding experience, hours of practice, supervision and theory are less challenging.

That the Flemish and Brussels regions should have different driving test regulations is the result of a number of state reforms, giving the regions and communities more autonomy.

With the right to determine their own policies in matters such as mobility and welfare, some feared the differences in people’s rights would differ dramatically. So far, the differences have been limited.

The government of Flanders, which has always insisted on the new competences, is the driving force behind most changes (although the Brussels-Capital Region has made some drastic changes of its own in, for instance, inheritance taxation.)

One area where there are differences is child allowance, where the government of Flanders has recently agreed a reform.

Child allowance has been under discussion for decades.

Many feel the current system is unfair, as children of independent workers receive less.

Allowances also rise with every new child. This was intended to relieve the burden of large families. However, the allowance being the lowest for a first-born child no longer corresponds to how parents evaluate the costs involved.

The reform will cover all children born from 1 January 2019.

For every child, parents will receive €160 a month – regardless of the parents’ working situation or the number of children in the family.

In September, parents will receive a “school bonus” to cover education costs. Families with children with special needs, orphans and foster children will receive a care bonus, while there will be a social bonus for low-income families. “Participation bonuses” should encourage young parents to send their children to pre-school or school from an early age.

There were some fears that the new system would be less social in some ways. Flemish welfare minister Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) refutes this, saying the new system will lift more families out of poverty. The families’ union Gezinsbond agrees, though points out that the efforts are “still insufficient to meet the government’s own ambition to halve child poverty by 2020”. \ Anja Otte

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Ban on fur farming close

animal welfare minister hopes to introduce ban ‘by the end of the year’ alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

F

lemish minister for animal welfare Ben Weyts has said he stands by his promise to outlaw mink fur farms in the region.

Speaking to the Flemish parliament, Weyts said he would propose a total ban by the end of the year, but it remains unclear how the ban will be carried out and how much compensation will be given to farm owners.

In March, the Council of State overturned the government’s decision not to allow a fur farm in Beveren-Waas, East Flanders, to expand operations from 16,200 to 27,000 animals. Environment minister Joke Schauvliege refused to approve the expansion because of the plans to implement the ban, but the Council found the

© Von Vadeve/wikimedia

reasoning insufficient.

According to independent MP Hermes Sanctorum, who questioned Weyts in the parliament, the Council’s ruling could result in the govern-

ment being required to approve any expansion put forth by fur farms, making it more difficult to outlaw them in the future. Sanctorum said the ban needed to come sooner rather than later.

Weyts said it was necessary to come up with a strategy that would stand up to legal scrutiny.

He also said it would be necessary to come up with additional resources to carry out the ban.

“This is a difficult matter. We are wrestling with a number of scenarios, each with its own price tag and its own – sometimes debatable – legal basis,” he said. “We are trying to find a solution, and I hope to bring this issue to the government by the end of the year.”

Ecocheques and antiretroviral drugs: new laws from 1 June

New agreement deepens links between Flanders and EU

Ecocheques, driving lessons and the morning-after pill are all affected by changes to laws and regulations that come into force on 1 June.

The range of products that can be bought using ecocheques – offered by many employers as part of a salary package – is being extended to include gardening products such as plants, organic pesticides and electric gardening tools.

In addition, the cheques can be used for a wider range of secondhand articles, including small electrical appliances with an energy label of A+ or better. They can also be used to pay for repairs to products like shoes and computers.

Driving schools in Flanders are now required to include more manoeuvres in the practical test.

The theory exam now consists of 50 questions, with a score of 41 points required to pass. The practical exam also includes driving independent of the examiner, as well as a risk-perception test.

Flemish minister-president Geert Bourgeoishas signedanewco-operation agreement with the Flanders-Europe liaison agency, Vleva.

The agreement should give Flanders more visibility in the European institutions and raise the profile of the European Union in Flanders.

“The EU has probably never been the subject of as much public debate as it is today,” Bourgeois said. “Because of the challenges brought about by globalisation, it might seem like the EU does not offer enough protection, but that is not so. Co-operation is the only way to face up to these challenges.”

Bourgeois called Vleva “a bridge between Flanders and the EU” and said the new agreement would strengthen and deepen their co-operation. Vleva was founded in 2005 by the Flemish government as a public-private partnership to enhance the region’s presence at the European level and to promote Flemish interests in Europe.

The agreement contains four main

© Ingimage

The antiretroviral pill Truvada – which is used as part of a treatment plan by those with HIV as well as taken following a sexual encounter to help prevent the transmission of the virus – will now be reimbursed for people who are not infected as well as those who are. Federal health minister Maggie De Block has budgeted €1 million for this year, to help prevent about 3,200 new infections.

Finally, owners of solar panels now face a fine of €150 to €20,000 if the installation is not registered with power network managers Eandis or Infrax. \ AH

© Courtesy Vleva/Twitter

commitments. It aims to increase the visibility of Vleva and the EU in Flanders and to help close the gap between the EU and the Flemish public by improving Vleva’s public outreach. It also aims to decentralise the co-operation with the EU and facilitate contact with the EU’s information centres in Flanders, and to improve the flow of information in both directions.

“Co-operation with Vleva pays off,” said Vleva president Luc Van den Brande, who signed the agreement.

“By working with us, our partners obtain better access to essential EU information, more insight into the workings of the EU and a representation of their interests within their own European network.” \ AH

Unregulated foreign cars avoid fines in Antwerp’s low-emission zone Vehicles with foreign number plates that do not conform to Antwerp’s new low-emissions zone (LEZ) are not incurring fines, according to environment city councillor Nabilla Ait Daoud.

There is no standard procedure for obtaining details on the owner of cars from outside Belgium.

The LEZ came into force in February and requires vehicles driving in the centre of the city to adhere to emission standards. For vehicles that run on petrol or LPG, regulations require the car to have a Euronorm of at least 1, so only cars more than 20 years old are generally problematic.

For diesel vehicles, however, the car must have Euronorm of 4 or higher, and these are the cars that the city is concerned are driving in the zone illegally. Registration is also required for cars

driving into the zone without a Belgian or Dutch number plate.

Automatic number plate recognition cameras recognise Belgian plates and can immediately show if a car is allowed to enter the LEZ, but there is no way to make that determination with foreign plates. This means foreign drivers escape fines that are imposed on locals.

“Foreign plates are photographed by the unmanned cameras and the images will be stored for a year,” said Ait Daoud. “But no fines can be handed out until a solution is found.”

Federal mobility minister François Bellot has said he cannot share the federal government’s access to number plate data unless it is expressly permitted by an international treaty. Options, he said, include updating those treaties, which would require votes in multiple national parlia-

© Ingimage

ments, or an extension of a European treaty on exchange of data. That treaty, however, does not include France. \ AH

\ COVeR sTORy

june 7, 2017

Handmade heritage

Brickyards, flax mills and small breweries return as tourist destinations euroPeangeniusloci.eu

continued from page 1

enterprises, because larger ones, like coal mines, receive enough attention already,” says Linters. The project also concentrates on three sectors: the clay processing sector and the alcohol and textile industries.

“The three sectors are perfect for Flanders, because they deal with the important characteristics of our traditional industrial activity,” says Linters. The 18 sites in Flanders and Brussels were among the first in Europe to receive the Industriana labels in May. The sites received a placard with a QR code, which can be scanned with a smartphone, providing access to images and additional background information. Altogether, 75 sites in the five participating countries and regions have received the labels. An additional 75 will be awarded at the project’s closing conference, in September.

Visitors to Genius Loci’s online platform can also see the sites’ exact locations on an interactive map and get a preview of what to expect when they get there. For now, the information is only available in English, but the creators plan to make it available in all European languages.

In the future, Genius Loci wants to set up tourist routes that would connect initiatives on similar themes. There are already plans to create a route between the clay processing sites in the south of Antwerp province; another would take tourists around the breweries in West Flanders.

Linters hopes to educate tourists, but also to broaden the mindset of the managers who run the sites. “Many Flemish organisations don’t look beyond the region’s borders,” he says. “We need to think more European.” He’d like to see government subsidies for translating the online content into other languages.

Sites that have received the Industriana label include the Must museum in Ronse and the Preetjes mill in the Kortrijk’s Heule district.

Must is a former textile plant with 40 functioning looms that charts the evolution of the textile industry from the 1900 to 2000.

Preetjes mill, on the other hand, is one of the last mills in Europe that is only used for flax scotching, a process that involves separating the straw and woody stem from the flax fibres before they can be span into yarn. The flax industry was once the fabric of life in the southwest of Flanders.

Also in the Genius Loci network are several breweries, including De Hoorn in Leuven, Verhaeghe in Vichte, West Flanders, and Rodenbach in Roeselare, also West Flan-

© Courtesy kortrijk

Flax mills once dominated the landscape of southwest Flanders. Today, the Preetjes mill, in kortrijk, is one of the last remaining in europe

ders. De Hoorn is where Stella Artois was invented in 1926; today, the former brewery is an urban creative hub.

The Verhaeghe brewery has been owned by the same family since 1885 and continues to produce the award-winning Duch-

esse de Bourgogne. The typical West Flemish red brown ale matures in oak casks and is brewed using ancient methods.

The Rodenbach brewery, owned by the Palm company, houses a beer museum that also tells the story of the Rodenbach family. The

cask halls house 294 oak barrels that have been designated industrial heritage, along with the restored malt kiln and the old brewhouse.

Among the industries that have long disappeared in Flanders are the brickyards in the south of Antwerp province. The EcoMuseum and Archives of the Boom Brickworks (Emabb) and the Boom Brickworks Museum ’t Geleeg are two local organisations trying to preserve their historical legacy.

From the second half of the 19th century until the 1960s, towns like Niel and Boom formed the hub of a thriving brick industry.

The two towns profited from their strategic location along the Rupel river, because the clay found on the river’s banks was ideal for making bricks and tiles.

“The bricks made here had a beautiful red colour that made them very popular, even abroad,” says Emabb’s president Luc Verbeeck. “The bricks of Boom were taken up the river to Antwerp, where they were shipped to the UK and the US.” Emabb and ’t Geleeg museums contain information on the technical and economic aspects of the defunct brick industry. But they also document the industry’s marks on the environment. In Boom’s Noeveren quarter, for example, you can still see the typical small houses where the brickyard workers used to live.

The industry also affected the natural environment, in the form of clay pits. At one time, the Flemish government planned to fill them with waste, but backed down after protests from the local community. “This region was once considered the bin of Flanders, but that’s over,” says Verbeeck. “One of those clay pits is now De Schorre, the site of the Tomorrowland music festival.”

Another site which received the Industriana label is the Feys-Callewaert brewery in Beveren-aan-de-Ijzer, West Flanders. The brewery used to make the award-winning Forte Brune and was one of the first in Flanders to use bottles instead of barrels, but it closed in the 1960s.

When the building began to deteriorate in the 1990s, its owner hired Hendrik Nelde to try to sell it. The real estate broker from Drongen, near Ghent, fell in love with the property and bought it in 2013. He has since devoted himself to restoring the building to its former glory and plans to bring back its trademark brew.

MORE INdUSTRIANA SITES Cantillon When Cantillon was founded in 1900, Brussels was home to more than a hundred breweries. Today, all but Cantillon have disappeared. The brewery is also home to the Geuze Museum. Gheudestraat 56, Brussels \ cantillon.be

Het Anker Located in a former begijnhof – a religious community for women – Het Anker dates back to the 15th century. Its brewing installations are open to the public. Guido Gezellelaan 49, Mechelen \ hetanker.be

Bocholter Brewery Museum One of the largest brewery museums in Europe, Bocholter tells the history of brewing since 1758. Dorpsstraat 53, Bocholt

ing columns, alembics, casks, a steam engine and a boiler. The modern brewery is in the adjacent barn. Wilderenlaan 8, Wilderen \ brouwerijwilderen.be

\ bocholterbrouwerijmuseum.be

Jenever Museum Opened in 1807, this distillery houses the Jenever Museum dedicated to the gin-like spirit for which Hasselt is well known. Witte Nonnenstraat 19, Hasselt

Lindemans brewery The Lindemans family has been brewing its iconic lambic beers since 1822. The old brewery is now home to a modern brewhouse and bottling plant, but the old installations are still there. Lenniksebaan 1479, Vlezenbeek

Wilderen The distillery building from the end of the 19th century still houses the original distill-

De Snoek brewery The only brewery in Belgium that hasn’t changed since it was built in 1871. De Snoek

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© Courtesy De snoek

(pictured) found itself behind the front lines, in the non-occupied part of the country, during the First World War and has remained intact. Fortem 40, Alveringem \ desnoek.be

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\ BusIness

WEEK IN BUSINESS Textiles sioen The Ardooie-based technical textiles producer is to take over Britain’s James Dewhurst, a leading producer of textile scrims with plants in the UK and the US, for €45 million.

spare parts Carglass

The vehicle repair and replacement group, part of the Brussels-based D’Ieteren car distributor, is to build a 42,000 square-metre distribution centre in Bilzen to supply its affiliates abroad. The facility, to open in 2018, will also include a research and development technical lab. Some 225 jobs will be created on the site.

Floor coverings Balta The Wielsbeke-based industrial textiles and floor covering company has launched its IPO to raise €264 million on the Brussels stock market.

The sale of shares priced up to €16 each will allow the company’s owner, the American Lone Star group, to cut its stake to 45%. The first quotation day will be 14 June.

Tourism Bellewaerde The theme park in Ypres, owned by the French Compagnie des Alpes, is to invest €17 million to build a 3,000 square-metre Aquapark attraction, expected to open in 2019.

Food Mars The US-based food group, owner of the Uncle Ben’s brand, is to invest up to €34 million over the next five years to expand its dried rice production unit. The facility, which exports 95% of its 150,000 tons a year capacity, is the company’s largest outside the US.

Metals umicore The Brussels-based nonferrous metals and materials group is to sell its building products division with seven production units around the world to Fedrus International, a roofing and facade materials producer and distributor with headquarters in Puurs.

Digital showpad TheGhent-basedsalesenablement platform developer is to take over the UK marketing tech start-up Hickup, which specialises in mobile sales playbook production.

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Brussels looks forward to hosting start of Tour de France grand départ in 2019 will be a major boost for local economy alan Hope More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu

T

he start of the 2019 Tour de France will be staged in Brussels, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Tour won by local boy Eddy Merckx.

The tourism sector in Brussels and Flanders has welcomed the decision. The start itself, known as the Grand Départ, is over in one day, but the event will be surrounded by a week of associated entertainment, said Geert Cochez, CEO of VisitBrussels.

Research into the start of the Tour in Utrecht in 2015 showed an economic return to the city worth €34 million, with more than 900,000 extra visitors. “The event has a lot of benefits,” Cochez said. Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur put the estimated cost of staging the event at €5 million.

© Michel krakowski/Belga

The start of the second stage of the 2010 Tour de France in Brussels in july 2010

The exact route of the Départ has yet to be fixed, but the municipality of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe has alreadymadeabid.Merckxwasbornandbrought up there, where his parents had a grocer’s shop.

The council has been in touch with Tour organisers, mayor Benoit Cerexhe said.

The Tour de France is the biggest cycling event in the world and it draws 80% of the world’s media attention to the sport, according to Stef Gits, spokesperson for Toerisme Vlaanderen, quoting research by Cycling News. “If as a tourist destination you can manage to pick up some of that attention, that’s fantastic,” he said.

For Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, meanwhile, the event has a wider significance. “Both Brussels and Paris have been victims in recent years of senseless violence,” she said. “It is sports events like the Tour de France that bring people together again and heal the wounds that once seemed incurable.”

Women’s position in workforce ‘vulnerable’

Employers ‘discriminate’ on holiday jobs for family

The position of women in the labour market remains “vulnerable”, according to the Institute for the Equality between Women and Men (IGVM), after it was revealed that the number of complaints of workplace discrimination on grounds of gender increased last year by 50% on the year before.

The IGVM received 549 cases in 2016, of which 231 were requests for information and 318 complaints – mainly concerning gender discrimination, discrimination of transgender people and restricted access to goods and services. In 18 cases, the IGVM appeared as a party in civil legal cases.

Most of the complaints came from women.Complaintsfrommendealt

Employers who give priority to family members of existing staff for holiday jobs are guilty of discrimination, according to Unia, the federal centre for equal opportunities. Employment opportunities should be open to all, and not just a restricted circle, it said.

“If a business chooses its employees – and excludes other candidates – according to certain restricted criteria, then that has to have a legitimate goal, and there must be evidence of proportionality,” Unia said in a statement.

“That’s what the anti-discrimination law says. Refusing students a holiday job simply because they don’t have family members working for the company does not meet the proportionality criterion.”

What could be considered proportionalisacompanylimitingthejobs for family members to a smaller number of the vacancies available, with the majority remaining

mainly with hiring, while those from women covered discrimination at every stage of working life. One in seven complaints concerned transgender issues, including access to health care, problems with insurance coverage and discrimination at work.

“A woman could be rejected for a job because she has a child and is therefore seen by an employer as being insufficiently flexible,” said deputy director Liesbet Stevens.

“And of course there are cases where women are being paid less for the same work as their male colleagues, as well as cases where women face discrimination when they try to break through the glass ceiling,” she said. \ AH

Questions raised over spiralling cost of funerals Federal consumer affairs minister Kris Peeters has called on the funeral sector to explain a study that has found that two in three funeral directors is not conforming to regulations.

The study, carried out by inspectors from his economy ministry, also found that the costs of a funeral had risen by nearly 35% over the last 10 years, far faster than the rate of inflation.

According to the industry federation Uitvaartunie Vlaanderen, the main reason for the increase was taxes imposed by various levels of government, including municipal charges, the cost of concessions and taxes for energy and environment. Consumers are also becoming more demanding, leading to additional costs, the organisation said.

Most of the irregularities found by economic inspectors concerned

© Ingimage

open to others. “Employers who don’t want to organise a selection procedure could look for alternative solutions, for example a lottery or selection on a first-come first-served basis,” Unia said.

The self-employed union NSZ reacted strongly. “What kind of nonsense is Unia talking about?” director-general Christine Mattheeuws asked. “Wouldn’t they be better dealing with problems that actually arise? To be clear, businesses are perfectly free to employ anyone they want for a holiday job. If they weren’t, it would be very serious.” \ AH

It’s me: new identity app could take the place of passwords

© Ingimage

transparency in pricing. In some cases, the final total price did not even appear on the invoice, and Peeters has called for costs to be clearly displayed, even on funeral parlours’ windows.

“I understand that a list of tariffs is not the first concern of someone calling on an undertaker,” he said.

“But it is important for relatives to get a clear picture of the services and how much they cost.” \ AH

A new digital identity app could soon replace passwords and card readers. The federal government and a consortium called Belgian Mobile ID have teamed up to launch the app, called Itsme.

Customers can already use the app to carry out online transactions, and it is being used by the partners in Belgian Mobile ID – Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC, ING, Orange, Telenet and Proximus – and a number of other organisations.

By 2018, the Tax-on-Web and MyPension e-government services should also be accessible via Itsme.

Until now, users have needed to use an electronic ID and card reader or a more complicated procedure

with tokens.

For every action, such as logging in or signing, the user will have to enter a five-digit code or fingerprint on their phone. It will no longer be necessary to remember a user name and password for different websites.

While the government emphasised the security of the app, legal expert Matthias Dobbelaere-Welvaert raised questions in an op-ed for Knack, asking what happens when a phone is stolen, or whether the code can be cracked. “It’s beyond doubt that there are dangers connected to an application that harbours your online soul,” he said. \ Andy Furniere

\ InnOVATIOn

june 7, 2017

Staying in for the summer

researchers test vaccines against polio, from a car park daan Bauwens Follow Daan on Twitter \ @DaanBauwens

I

n spite of the hot weather and bright blue skies, 30 people recently volunteered to forgo fresh air and remain confined in closed quarters for almost a month.

The setting for this confinement was “Poliopolis”, a large container park of 66 units on the car park of the Drie Eiken Care Hotel in Edegem, a stone’s throw from the University of Antwerp (UAntwerp).

Inside this makeshift facility, these volunteers are helping to test a new vaccine that they hope will eradicate polio.

Eradication of the polio virus, which can cause paralysis in children, has never been this close.

In Flanders, polio was wiped out more than 30 years ago. Thanks to large vaccination campaigns, the number of polio cases around the world has fallen spectacularly, from hundreds of thousands before the 1950s to just 37 in 2016.

In spite of the efforts of researchers and local governments the disease hasn’t been completely wiped out.

Some regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan have proved very difficult for medical personnel to reach, and the type of vaccine administered in developing countries carries the very rare risk of causing patients to contract the virus. The Antwerp experiments are aimed at completely removing this risk.

“At the moment, two vaccines are used around the world,” says Pierre Van Damme, the lead researcher on the experiment and a professor in vaccinology at UAntwerp. “One needs to be injected and contains a dead version of the virus. This is the version used in all industrialised nations,” he explains.

© nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga

Inside this container-park village, 30 volunteers are spending a month in confinement to test a new polio vaccine

“Then there’s the oral vaccine used in developing nations, which contains an active but weakened version of the virus.” The advantages of this vaccine are that it is cheap and that there’s no need for trained personnel to administer it, he explains. “The problem is that one in a million people who take it end up developing the disease.”

Even though one in a million might seem small, this number could imperil the future of vaccination programmes in developing nations. “This year so far we’ve only seen five spontaneous cases in the world,” Van Damme explains.

“Developing nations might begin to question the usefulness of funding vaccination programmes that cause roughly the same number of cases as the number of cases that spontaneously occur. We need to make sure the vaccine doesn’t cause any new cases.”

The World Health Organization already advises replacing the orally administered vaccine

with the safer, injected version, but that doesn’t mean the oral vaccine shouldn’t be perfected, he explains. “In case of outbreaks, especially in developing countries, there will always be a need for cheap vaccines that don’t require on-site trained personnel to halt its spread,” he says. “We need something that is good to have just in case.”

At Poliopolis, the oral vaccine is being perfected. Two new candidate vaccines containing the active virus are being tested, using genetically stable strains that have been designed to prevent them from mutating and causing the disease, Van Damme explains.

“There’s no risk for the volunteers as they were all vaccinated against this type of the virus during childhood.” The specific type was officially declared eliminated from the world in 2015.

For this reason, the World Health Organization doesn’t want the vaccine to get into the natural

environment in any shape or form, hence the extreme security measures at Poliopolis.

The polio virus is spread through oral contact with the stool of an infected person, with lack of hand hygiene and poor sanitation important contributing factors. For this reason, no physical contact whatsoever between participants and the outside world is allowed during the trial project, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

The container village has its own sewage system, which collects all the running water. All the waste is stored and decontaminated to prevent the virus from getting into the environment, making the Antwerp experiment one of the most complex vaccine trials ever undertaken.

The 66 units arrived from the Czech Republic in March, with the first trial period starting early May. The container park is kitted out with a fitness room, a communal kitchen, a relaxation space and individual bedrooms. Two psychologists pay regular visits to ensure that any conflicts between the participants don’t spiral out of control.

Every day, the participants’ stools are examined to verify whether they still contain traces of the virus and whether it remains genetically stable. The active virus cannot normally survive in nature after 14 days, but as a safety measure the participants will have to remain on site until 28 days after they first were administered the oral vaccine.

Van Damme is in daily contact with each of the participants. “So far, everything is to everyone’s satisfaction,” he says.

uAntwerp researches purer drinking water Antwerp University and drinking water company Waterlink have established a chair for research targeting purer drinking water. The research will focus on forms of pollution that are currently insufficiently known but can have toxic effects on the endocrine system. Experts will use a unique analysis device to track very low concentrations of substances like residues of cosmetics, pesticides, flame retardants and medicine, such as antibiotics and contraceptives. The university and Water-link will develop a method to quickly screen surface water for many possible polluting molecules at the same time. The goal is to provide drinking water providers with a predictive system against pollution in surface water.

Down’s syndrome test to be nearly free

Public health minister Maggie De Block wants to make the non-invasive prenatal test for Down’s syndrome nearly free for all women in Belgium.

If her proposal is ratified by the federal medical insurance agency Riziv, Belgium would be the first country in Europe to do so. The test involves doing a blood test on a woman that provides information on the foetus’ DNA, which shows with 99.8% certainty whether the foetus has a trisomy disorder like Down’s syndrome.

Many mutualities refund most or all of the test costs only if the woman is considered high-risk. De Block’s proposal would mean a full refund for high-risk women and a maximum charge of €8.68 for others.

€7.7 million for innovative agriculture

Q&A patient room abounds. But taking into account patients in motion is definitely a novel approach. Even if you have the most luxurious room, if you’re wheeled to an examination through the basement, past the dirty laundry, your experience of the space will not be positive.

Margo Annemans is an architecture researcher at the University of Leuven, and has just published her findings on hospital architecture, looking at its effect on the patient experience. She completed her research under the supervision of the university’s Research[x]Design group, and received a grant from Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Osar architects.

Can you talk us through your research?

I investigated which aspects relevant to architectural practice have an impact on patients’ experience of hospital environments.

Hospital buildings tend to be experienced by patients from an unusual perspective for architects, because they are often lying in bed! This altered perspective has a significant impact on how patients experience the environment, and gaining insight into this experience is crucial for architects if they are to design truly patientcentred hospitals.

I conducted fieldwork at four

WEEK IN INNOvATION

research settings, involving four patients at a nephrology ward, 22 at an emergency department, 12 at a traditional day ward and 25 at a day surgery centre.

Did any architectural features have a particularly positive or negative effect on patients?

One factor is whether a patient is static or in motion. When patients are wheeled around, they experience the building as a sequence of spaces, with each space having a share in the overall experience. So attention should be paid not only to the patient room or examination room, but to each space the

patients pass through.

Another factor is the length of stay. While most hospitals tend to group patients in wards according to illness, from an experiential perspective that doesn’t seem to be the most appropriate approach.

Is this an area that has been subject to in-depth research before?

Research on how to design a

What are you hoping the outcome of your research will be?

Obviously, I would like the results to be implemented in future hospital designs. Some already are.

Osar architects has used some of the ideas in its winning submission for a design competition for a new hospital in Turnhout. In a few years, a hospital will be built that divides its space in a new way between long- and short-term patients, and that pays specific attention to users’ social needs. \ Interview by Mari Eccles

Environment minister Joke Schauvliege has allocated €7.7 million to support 16 innovative agriculture projects. The aim is to develop innovative concepts around production, processing and marketing of agricultural products, said the minister. The money will be applied to new investments, and help pay for additional research, test installations, software development and external coaching and supervision. The selected projects include ones that focus on sustainable energy, animal welfare, precision agriculture, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, labour quality, manure processing and cultivation techniques, and include a project that turns cow manure into purified water. \ Andy Furniere

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june 7, 2017

Forged in fire

WEEK IN EdUCATION uGent rector election nears end

workshop series rekindles the flame of age-old trade toon lambrechts More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

fireandiron.Be

A

rts and crafts speak to the imagination of people who feel confined by computer screens and mobile devices. The satisfaction that comes with crafting unique shapes using only our hands and some basic tools is nothing short of magical. And which craft is more special than forging, combining the raw beauty of metal, the power of the body and the primeval force of fire?

A new project at the Zuiderpershuis cultural centre in Antwerp aims to teach the ins and outs of the age-old trade. Virtuoos met Vuur (Virtuoso with Fire) was started

by IJzer en Vuur (Iron and Fire), an organisation that promotes forging as a social activity.

Flanders is home to several similar initiatives for complete beginners, but this is the first intended for people who would like to take their craft to the next level. The course consists of 12 modules, each two weeks long, and is supervised by two of the biggest names in European forging – Czech Pavel Tasovky and Italian Claudio Bottero.

“It”s a great honour for us to have these two masters here,” says Michel Mouton, founder of IJzer en Vuur. “They are renowned for the way they combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary methods and design.”

The forging scene, Mouton explains, is very international, so most of the students either know or have heard of Tasovky and Bottero. “They are the very best in Europe, so it’s very exciting for us to work together and learn from them.”

© Courtesy Ijzer en Vuur

The beginner’s courses offered by IJzer en Vuur draw very diverse crowds. “Forging is a craft that attracts people because of its sense of authenticity,” says Mouton. “You work with your hands, and with your entire body. Most people spend too much time in front of screens and are looking for another way to find fulfilment in their free time, so this is something they find appealing.”

The advanced courses are for people determined to turn their hobby into a profession. Making a decent living from blacksmithing, however, is far from easy – especially in this day and age.

“First of, you have to be patient,” says Mouton. “You never stop learning and improving your craft, but the process is fulfilling. Making a living out of forging is hard, but not impossible. You just have to

excel at what you’re doing.”

The finished design, he says, is a product of hours of manual labour, which comes at a price. “But the process has a creative side. A blacksmith starts with raw materials and moulds them into a beautiful design. It’s a profession that transcends the boundaries of art and craft.”

The choice of Zuiderpershuis as the location for the project is no coincidence. The cultural centre was once home to a working blacksmith’s shop.

“The Zuiderpershuis was built to provide hydraulic pressure for the machinery in the old port of Antwerp,” Mouton explains. “The site needed a forge where the pressure instruments could be repaired.”

The site was later used for a training programme by the Royal Acad-

emy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, but it’s been dormant since. “The forge went cold,” says Mouten. “Now we’ll rekindle the fire.”

Working in a place with a rich past adds to the excitement. “You feel yourself surrounded by history and the tradition of the trade. This is the perfect to spot learn an old craft like forging. It’s also right in the middle of the city, so we can bring forging closer to the public.”

Raising awareness is one of the main goals behind IJzer en Vuur, which Mouton founded in the Sint-Gillis municipality of Brussels in 2004. Mouton, who has a background in language education, founded the organisation to share his passion for forging with others and to use training as a way to preserve the craft.

“We want to revive forging because it does not belong in a museum – it is a living craft,” he says. “Forging may have stopped evolving around the time of the Art Noveau movement, but the practice never actually ceased to exist.”

In addition to workshops in forging, the organisation also hosts demonstrations, exhibitions and workshops in bronze casting and silversmithing. With one eye on the past, Mouton recognises the need to adapt the different crafts to modern times. It’s a lesson he learned from one of his mentors.

“This is the key to the survival of any craft. Without a modern reinterpretation, a craft is as good as lost. Forging lags behind, but it is still not too late to rekindle the flame.”

New programme helps teachers address religious radicalisation Teachers who give classes about Islam are being offered training to help them better deal with polarisation among students, notably when it comes to questions about the interpretations of Islamic texts made by extremist groups such as the Islamic State.

The programme was set up by education network Go! Vlaanderen and Inspectie Islam, a body that oversees the teaching of Islam in Flemish schools. It explains how to deal with questions raised by students about the Quran and how to handle signs of radicalisation, without exaggerating or stigmatising.

“We’ve noticed that Muslim teachers are often confronted with signals of radicalisation and extreme attitudes,” says Go! Vlaanderen director Raymonda Verdyck. “Using our pedagogical project and our experience with citizenship, we can work with them in a positive way.”

Radicalisation of school children is of great concern in Belgium, after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016 revealed extensive networks of extremists. Reaching out to young Muslims is crucial, experts say, in stemming the growth of such extremism.

Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits, who heads up the parliamentary committee on prevention of radicalisation, has spoken out on several occasions about the role educators have to play in recognising and dealing with extremism. Last year, she established a hotline for concerned teachers.

According to Go! Vlaanderen, opinions are becoming increasingly extreme and the “other” is no longer a conversation partner but an opponent. “The rise of the ‘us vs them’ mentality threatens the social stability of our society,” says the network.

Teachers from schools in Flanders are invited to join the course, even if they’re not part of the Go! Vlaanderen network. Over the course of two days, teachers will undergo contextual source studies of Islam. This, together with training about active citizenship, will form the basis for what Go! Vlaanderen calls “alternative discourse”.

This alternative discourse – which includes what Go! Vlaanderen describes as “controversial” interpretations of verses from the Quran, as well as questions about conspiracy theories that teachers are confronted with in class – should enable teachers to give a modern context to their teaching.

According to Inspectie Islam advisor Ahmed Azzouz, “it is important that Muslim teachers know how to place their faith in the context of human rights and fundamental rights and freedoms, and to share these competences with their students.”

Azzouz says Inspectie Islam is the perfect partner for Go! Vlaanderen because it has a good rapport with Muslim teachers and knows their needs. \ Emma Portier Davis

After five rounds of voting and weeks of commotion, the rector elections at Ghent University are coming to an end. The leading team, Rik Van de Walle and Mieke Van Herreweghe, have made a compromise with their former opponents, Guido Van Huylenbroeck and Sarah De Saeger, in which both Van Huylenbroeck and De Saeger would become vice-rectors along with three additional people. In each of the first five rounds of voting, Van de Walle and Van Herreweghe got about 60% of the votes, while they needed 66.6% to become rector and vicerector respectively. Until now, their opponents had always refused to step out of the race. For the second cycle of voting, scheduled for 19 June, only Van de Walle and Van Herreweghe have registered as candidates.

More disadvantaged secondary students

In five years, the number of disadvantaged students in secondary education has increased by about 4,000 though the total number of students has remained the same, according to a report by De Morgen. In 2011, 166,476 of the 434,664 students in Flanders’ secondary schools came from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the school year 2015-2016, this applied to 170,399 of the 434,603 students. The Flemish government’s criteria for determining a disadvantaged background include homelessness or entitlement to a study grant. In Antwerp, the situation is most acute, with four in 10 secondary school students in the city qualifying for a study grant.

Ghent teachers win Queen Paola Prize

Three primary teachers from Ghent have received this year’s Queen Paola Prize for education. The awards are given to teachers from Belgium’s three communities for concrete and original projects. This year, the focus was on pedagogical projects that make scientific courses more appealing to pupils and help them go into science and technology studies in higher education. Ludwig De Smedt, Katrien D’Hoker and Luc Storm, who teach at the Klim primary school in Ghent, won the first prize for a project that takes a handson approach to teaching pupils about electricity. The first prize is worth €6,500. \ Andy Furniere

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\ lIVInG

WEEK IN ACTIvITIES DOk sundays DOK, the “green village” located in Ghent’s former docklands, is a creative incubator, arts complex and meeting space. Every Sunday, enjoy outdoor games, brunch (11.00-15.00) or BYO BBQ, performances, children’s activities and exhibitions in a relaxed, open atmosphere. 11 June, Koopvardijlaan, Ghent; free admission \ dokgent.be

Meetjesland Greenbelt

Get to know the countryside between Bruges and Ghent during a day of organised cycling and walking. Choose from various routes, from a 5k walk to a 52k bike ride.

Special activities, tastings and exhibitions along each route.

11 June, 10.00-15.00, Drongengoedhoeve, Drongengoedweg 9, Ursel; €4 \ meetjeslandsegordel.be

Hex Garden Days

One of the highlights of the summer season for lovers of gardening, this three-day expo on the grounds of a historic castle has something for everything: demonstrations, food and drink, garden tours, expert advice and, of course, all kinds of plants and gardening tools for sale. 9-11 June, 10.00-18.00, Kasteel Hex, Hekslaan, Heers; €10 \ hex.be

Bunker Day

This event is a unique opportunity to visit Second World War bunkers at the Belgian coast that are usually closed to the public. Participating locations include Blankenberg, De Haan, Damme, De Panne, Koksijde, Middelkerke and Ostend. Check the website for details; some tours require advance registration. 11 June, various locations; free \ raversyde.be

Davidsfonds scavenger Hunt

It’s time once again for this annual family activity, which takes place in a different Flemish municipality every year. This year it’s Lier, including Koningshooikt and nearby military forts. Choose from one of four different routes: either by bike or by car, and family-oriented or challenging. Registration packet includes a guidebook to the region. The starting point is at Lier’s tourist office. Until 17 September, Grote Markt 58, Lier; €25 \ davidsfonds.be

\ 10

A new calling

medieval rectory in alsemberg finds new direction john Bean More articles by john \ flanderstoday.eu

Pastorie-alsemBerg.Be

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n the shadow of the 13th-century OnzeLieve-Vrouwekerk in Alsemberg lies De Pastorie. Thanks to a new owner, the historic rectory has been transformed into a brasserie and lounge space.

Built in 1756, and declared a historic monument by the Flemish government in 2004, De Pastorie had lain vacant since 2012, when the last Alsemberg pastor, Albert Lefebvre, retired from his services. The church elders decided to sell the building, but the new owner had to preserve its spiritual value in the community.

Richard Hahn, a native of Alsemberg and one of Flanders’ most celebrated chefs, earned his stripes – and a Michelin star – during a decades-long career that took him through Brussels institutions La Villa Lorraine, Maison du Cygne and L’Ecailler du Palais Royal, a restaurant he owned and operated.

With his partners, Jo Musiek and Christiaan Stadsbader, Hahn bought De Pastorie and transformed it into a brasserie, and the renovations have preserved the place’s authentic character.

The ground floor offers lounge and table seating, while two rooms upstairs can accommodate groups of 10 to 20 people. Hahn explains the concept as a restaurant venue where you can be entertained or simply relax, enjoy a gastronomic menu or just order a slice of cake.

On the menu is a wide selection of coffees, aperitifs and desserts, to enjoy in the subtly decorated rooms or in the garden. You won’t find much else on offer, but on Friday and Saturday evenings, De Pastorie hosts private receptions and dinners.

As chef, Hahn has served heads of state, industry leaders and movie stars; at L’Ecailler du Palais Royal, he once hosted British singer Adele. But one person in particular may have influenced his decision to obtain De Pastorie.

Jan Bols was pastor at the Onze-LieveVrouwekerk at the turn of the 19th century.

A renowned poet, he taught at the SintRombouts college in Mechelen before settling down in De Pastorie.

Shortly before arriving in Alsemberg, Bols traveled to Switzerland and wrote about it in his book from 1872, Een reisje in Zwitserland

© Courtesy De Pastorie

De Pastorie used to be the home of Alsemberg pastors before chef Richard Hahn decided to buy it and give it a new role

(A Journey in Switzerland).

In 2016, Hahn took leave from running L’Ecailler du Palais Royal and embarked on a similar journey that took him from Vienna, through Switzerland and France, to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

The journeys of the two men seem intertwined, and this immediately strikes you as you enter De Pastorie. Reminders of Santiago de Compostela decorate the walls, and above the doors are stained-glass portraits of Bols and Hahn.

Hahn sees his professional career as a continuous journey divided by the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. But the opportunity to run De Pastorie, he says, “has given my life a new direction”.

BITE Books & Brunch offers literary retreat off Bruges’ beaten track

BooksandBruncH.Be

Since the sun doesn’t always shine in Bruges, there are places like Books & Brunch, where you can eat a generous breakfast or lunch and linger over shelves full of second-hand books. Of course, it also works well when the sun is shining.

Books & Brunch is the brainchild of couple Jos Deroo and Tabitha Ackaert, who spent their youth backpacking the world. In those days, before e-readers, travellers exchanged books in hostels, usually from a shelf of books left behind by others.

“But there was one place in Antigua Guatemala called the Rainbow Reading Room,” Deroo recalls, “where they took this to the maximum and had a whole wall of these exchange books.

And we thought that was such a good idea.”

But back home in Bruges they got distracted.

First they opened a restaurant called Soul Food, then they ran a hotel. More than a decade later

© silvie Bonne

they downsized, opening the Atlas Guesthouse in the leafy suburbs of Bruges. The idea of a place for breakfast and lunch (it closes at 15.00) fitted the guest house schedule and left time for family life.

Books & Brunch is close to the city centre but off the tourist trail, so it attracts independentminded travellers and locals. “People come in

because of the books, so you get an interesting crowd,” says Deroo, “and they make for an interesting talking point.”

Deroo is in charge of the food and books, and is happy to make recommendations for those at a loose end for something to read. There is a large selection in Dutch, and a smaller but still interesting stock in English, with novels selling for €3-4.

Ackaert rules in the kitchen, where the lunch menu includes salads with a global twist ( from Norwegian to Tuscan, Mediterranean and Mexican), large toasted and open sandwiches, and daily soup and quiche specials.

“It’s simple food, but done well,” says Deroo.

“There aren’t 10 different things on one plate, it’s just a sandwich with pâté and apple chutney, for example, but a really good pâté and chutney, and that’s what makes the difference.” \ Ian Mundell

june 7, 2017

Be yourself

designer ilke cop on conquering the world of fashion sarah schug More articles by sarah \ flanderstoday.eu

ilkecoP.com

L

aunching your own fashion label is always risky, especially if you’ve just finished school. Fuelled by the success of her graduation show, Ilke Cop took the giant leap after getting her degree from SintNiklaas Academy in East Flanders.

“Before that I never even considered starting my own brand – I didn’t think it was possible,” the 29-year-old says. “But it was such a great feeling to show my creations to people, and the reactions were so positive that I thought I’d just make a few pieces and try to sell them. Then it grew out of all proportion.”

Since then, Cop has launched five collections, each one inspired by a different theme, revealing myriad influences from pop culture to art history. The upcoming Fall/Winter collection under the name Dear Freddy, for instance, is subtly based on 1970s and ’80s slasher films.

“Besides drawing my inspirations from the visual aspect, I have very mixed feelings about these horror films,” Cop says. “I’m fascinated by this tension between attraction and repulsion, which I tried to channel into my work.”

Past collections were inspired by the travelling circuses of the 19th century, sci-fi comic books, and even Hieronymus Bosch’s masterpiece “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, but they all have a clear common denominator.

Cop’s creations are easily recognisable, bringing together sophistication, playfulness and a pronounced preference for vibrant colours.

Fittingly, the brand’s tagline reads “urban couture for the non-conformist”.

Her pieces skilfully merge elegance with edginess, but despite being a little out of the ordinary, Cop says, they are meant to be worn by just about everyone – as opposed to high fashion that is so extravagant it only works on a catwalk.

“My clothes are for people who enjoy showing themselves and who are not afraid to be a little different,” she says. “At the same time, I pay a lot of attention to how comfortable they are. I want my clients to have fun in them.”

While the collections were originally designed for women, Cop also makes pieces with both genders in mind. “I don’t want to exclude anyone from wearing my clothes,” she says, “and as gender has become more and more fluid in today’s society, I think this is the right choice.”

© shari Ruzzi

Ilke Cop says her clothes are for people who enjoy showing themselves

Although Cop was born and raised in Antwerp, widely known as Belgium’s fashion capital, she decided to live and work in Brussels, where she has her studio. “In Brussels, the fashion scene is more aware of what’s happening internationally,” she says.

“The local scene here is less coherent, more

diverse and open. There’s more room for things that are different.”

Over the years, Cop has won several awards, managed to get her collection into stores in Japan and South Korea, and has enjoyed quite a lot of press coverage. Asked for the highlight of her career, however, she points

elsewhere. “The greatest joy for me is when people try on my clothes and are visibly happy with them.”

It hasn’t always been an easy ride. Launching your own business, and having to deal with all aspects from creation to administration and sales, can prove challenging. Cop: “The most difficult thing is to find a balance between the artistic aspect and the commercial needs, and create a niche market for yourself.”

Dealing with shops and finding places that will sell your things can be equally difficult, as it requires participating in expensive salons and showrooms. That’s why Cop has decided to launch her own webshop this month. “I want to be closer to the customer,” she explains.

Cop describes herself as a designer and businesswoman with principles – not only in terms of her artistic vision, but also in the social and environmental aspects of her work. The production of her collections is based entirely in Antwerp, and the materials come from Europe.

“I want to give something back to my country, and social and ecological responsibility is essential to my brand’s identity,” she says.

“Producing everything in Asia, for example, would also affect the quality and make it more difficult for me to be in control.”

Refugee team from Antwerp takes shot at football glory When Adam Razok set out to create a professional football club made up of refugees, he wasn’t sure it would work. He posted the idea on Facebook and immediately got a lot of positive responses from other refugees.

RFC Syriana kicked off in March 2016. “We organised a few test matches to select the best players,” says Razok. “In the beginning, we played in Bierbeek, close to Leuven, but now we rent a field in Antwerp.”

The team’s line-up – and its logo of a boat at sea – reflect the conflicts at Europe’s front door. “Most of the team members are from Syria and Iraq, but we also have players from Palestine, Lebanon and Somalia,” he says.

“We’re all refugees, so it hasn’t been easy for us. Until recently we didn’t even have any

financial backers, despite the enthusiasm behind the team.”

To manage its day-to-day operations, RFC Syriana needs sponsors, but Razok and his teammates face another challenge. “Our players live all over the country,” says Razok.

“They have to put a lot of effort and money into attending the practices. The teams we play against don’t have this issue.”

Despite the practical problems, Razok is hopeful about the club’s future. “We’ve taken part in several competitions in Brussels and Antwerp and had very promising results. At the moment, we are getting ready for the official season.”

RFC Syriana will start in the fourth division, but Razok is not afraid of the competi-

© courtesy RFC syriana

tion. “We stand a good chance. We’ve already played several friendlies against the other teams, and always won by big margins.”

This should come as no surprise – some of the players have tasted world-class football.

“Our goalkeeper played in Syria’s national team and took part in World Cup qualifying matches. Others have played in the first divisions of their home countries,” says Razok.

“So, yes, I’m convinced RFC Syriana will get far.”

Apart from making a mark on the football pitch, Razok is already thinking of setting up a club for refugee children and a similar project for basketball players.

“This is a great way to help refugees integrate into a wider society,” he explains. “In football, you don’t need to speak the same language, and your background doesn’t matter. It’s a global sport, and a great way to bring people together.” \ Toon Lambrechts

\ 11

The Bulletin and ING Belgium invite you to a free seminar on

MAKE THE BEST of YOUR PENSION

• Gert Fouwe,

Belgian National Pension Office: “Understanding the Belgian system”

• Timothy Bruneel

Director - Deloitte / Filip Van Overmeiren, senior associate – Laga: “Managing your international pension”

June 15, 2017

ING Headquarters Court St Michel, 40 – 1040 Brussels

(nearest subway station: Merode) • starts at 6 PM

• Dave Deruytter,

head of expats and non-residents, ING Bank: “Put your pension planning in order and limit the risks”

FREE ENTRY • Register before June 14 at http://tinyurl.com/yavehgrc

\ ARTs

june 7, 2017

Full metal racket

WEEK IN ARTS & CULTURE

flemish band fleddy melculy carve a space with comedy and metal tom Peeters More articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu

fleddymelculy.com

W

ith their humorous Dutch lyrics and heavy metal aesthetic, the Flemish band Fleddy Melculy have got to be one of the most curious breakout successes in recent years.

No one, in any case, could have predicted the quick rise of the group when lead singer Jeroen Camerlynck, 38, decided to post their first track online, now a year and a half ago. But “T-shirt van Metallica” (Metallica T-shirt) was one of those rare songs that immediately struck a chord, appealing to a much broader audience than just the metal community.

The song sprang from Camerlynck’s frustration with those who buy and wear band T-shirts without knowing the slightest thing about the band’s music. “I think I saw one too many of them, and I got annoyed,” the singer explains from his home in rural Pajottenland in Flemish Brabant, looking back on the craziest year of his life.

“I remember that when I was a teenager, you really had to hunt for your Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers or Korn T-shirt. You bought it at a gig, or in a speciality shop in town, and when you finally had it, you wore it with pride, even if it was much too large,” he explains. “It was a statement. Seeing band T-shirts in the racks of retailers such as H&M just makes me angry. What used to be special is now completely ridiculous.”

Most people have some experience with these small frustrations that can turn into huge irritations, but Camerlynck has made them his biggest source of inspiration. “Blowing up first-world problems like stupid people who wear inappropriate T-shirts, vegetarians who eat fish or losing your keys are trademark Fleddy,” he explains. “Of course, we can’t do that if we take ourselves too seriously.”

Camerlynck makes no pretence that Fleddy Melculy, who will open for Guns ’n Roses at this summer’s TW Classic festival, are doing some-

Callboys takes top prize in TV awards Flanders’ annual TV awards ceremony, the Night of the Television Stars, was held at the weekend, with Callboys scooping the top prizes. The programme, a seven-part series about male escorts broadcast on Vier, won the public prize for the most popular show, while Bart Hollanders, who plays the role of Randy Paret in the series, was named best actor. Eva Van Der Gucht was named best actress, for her role in Den Elfde van den Elfde (The Eleventh of the Eleventh), while Otto Jan Ham of De ideale wereld (The Ideal World) and Danira Boukhriss of Over eten (About Food) won the prize for best male and female presenter. The best comedy was VTM’s Wat als?

(What If?), and Professor T was chosen as best drama.

Antwerp barman heads to world final

thing dramatically innovative, and stresses that their lyrics have to be taken with a fat pinch of salt. “We aren’t inventing anything new here.

On the contrary, we’re lumping clichés together, and enjoying every minute of it.”

Fleddy Melculy’s aim might not be to break new musical ground, but they are nonetheless the first to try their hand at this odd combination of metal, comedy and Dutch-language lyrics. In the process, the band have carved out their own niche by pulling out all the stops for their live shows, which have featured a chicken mosh pit (which is exactly what it sounds like) and even a tombola.

“While reinventing the wheel, a lot of bands forget that people want to be entertained,” Camerlynck (pictured, centre) explains.

Camerlynck and his fellow band members may not have succeeded in winning over a small group of die-hard metal, punk and hardcore fans, but the singer thinks they simply don’t like their music to contain humour.

He says the aim was never for Fleddy Melculy to draw huge crowds with

their concerts. “Some more established but less successful metal bands may envy us our instant success, but selling out venues was never our goal,” he explains. “I guess it was partly a case of being in the right place at the right time.” The singer also attributes their success to the sudden renewed popularity of 1990s bands like Linkin Park and System of a Down.

Still, Camerlynck is hardly the new kid on the block, having spent most of his youth in hard-core and metal bands. When that got boring, he went in a different direction, he says.

He fronted the Dutch-language rock band De Fanfaar for more than 10 years, over the course of which they released four albums and toured as a support band to the famous Flemish comedian and singer Urbanus.

But De Fanfaar never broke through in the way that Fleddy Melculy have.

All of these former career experiences sowed the seeds for Fleddy Melculy, which is composed of three of the four De Fanfaar members as

24 june

well as two of Camerlynck’s metal friends. “Obviously, a lot of people wonderwhythisguyfromDeFanfaar all of a sudden turned to metal,” he says. “But they would do better to ask themselves why this metal head was making rock music this entire time. Check out my CD collection – I never stopped listening to metal.”

After a very successful year, which saw Fleddy Melculy playing Graspop, the country’s biggest metal fest – their very first booking no less – and even organising their own Fleddypalooza festival in Brussels’ Ancienne Belgique, the biggest challenge ahead is perhaps ensuring that they don’t become a gimmick or a one-hit wonder.

But Camerlynck is ready for that test.

“I can assure you that our second album, which will be out some time in 2018, will surprise you all,” he says.

“It will be as entertaining as our debut, but with a much wider musical range, simply because we don’t want to repeat ourselves.”

Tw Classic

Werchter

Stick or twist? Immersive theatre puts audience in role of banker In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, we all blamed the greedy bankers and the 1% of the population who were making short-term profit at the expense of the other 99%. Often for good reason, but also without really asking ourselves what we would have done in their shoes.

In £¥€$ (Lies), director Alexander Devriendt and his Ghent-based theatre company Ontroerend Goed not only confront their audience with the prospect of a lot of money, they let everyone see how it feels to call the shots and play the system from within.

On a gambling table you can discover the ins and outs of the perfidious financial system, and perhaps even get a deeper understanding of where it all went wrong. But, more importantly, you’ll find out if you’re someone who hangs on to their principles, or someone who takes the

© Thomas Dhanens

more exciting road to becoming the king of the casino (read: capitalism), while betting on the loss of others, possibly your neighbours.

Right from the start, the croupiers clarify that not everyone is equal. To make money, you need money (or a loan). Now, you really begin to understand why Devriendt quoted William

ontroerendgoed.Be

Crawford when introducing £¥€$. Crawford, the commissioner of the California department of savings and loans pointed out that “the best way to rob a bank is to own one.”

With their Personal Trilogy — The Smile off your Face, Intern and A Game of You (2009) — the experience-based theatre of Ontroerend Goed has already proved to be an excellent mirror to society. Directing their smart scripts towards more global awareness, Fight Night investigated human voting behaviour and, now, £¥€$ is a reality-driven psychological mind-melt, showing the lies – or, as the title suggests, the money – in our eyes.

From this week the mind games play out in Plymouth in the UK, before taking the stage at the Edinburgh Fridge Festival and returning to Flanders in autumn. \ TP

A barman from Antwerp has been named Belgium’s best bartender, and will be going on to represent the country in the World Class cocktail competition in Mexico in August. Naushad Rahamat, 27, of Cocktails at Nine, faced colleague Yannick Draeyers in the final showdown at last week’s Belgian final. His winning cocktail was called Kiss to Nature and contained tequila flavoured with witloof, with celery and cider vinegar, reduced wine with sage and lemon verbena, sugar syrup and birch soda. “It’s a competition in which you can give your creativity free reign,” Rahamat told De Standaard.

“Belgium deserves recognition in the cocktail world; there is an unbelievable amount of talent and creativity here.”

Bowie’s Tintoretto to be unveiled in Antwerp

A Tintoretto owned by David Bowie is to be unveiled at Antwerp’s Rubens House this month. Like Rubens, Bowie was an admirer of Tintoretto, and when his remarkable art collection was auctioned in London last year, among the lots was a monumental altarpiece by the Venetian master.

His “Angel foretelling Saint Catherine of Alexandria of her martyrdom” (1560-70) was bought by a private collector, who immediately announced that it would be loaned long term to the Rubens House – “a museum Bowie loved”. The work will be unveiled on 26 June. In 2019, it will return to Venice temporarily during the Biennale, along with major artworks by Flemish masters who drew their inspiration from the great Venetian painters.

\ 13

\ ARTs

Letting go

Photographer anton kusters on ephemeral beauty and japanese mobsters christophe verbiest More articles by Christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

A new photo series by Flemish photographer Anton Kusters currently on view in Hasselt asks pertinent questions about the small things in life and the nature of photography itself.

P

hotographer Anton Kusters once asked one of his subjects a blunt question.

“Do you actually still kill people?”

He didn’t mean the Japanese mobster in front of him but the larger crime family he was part of.

“His answer was that it happened only once or twice a year,” he recounts.

Hasselt-based Kusters, 42, got to ask this question during the two years he shadowed a group of Yakuza, the Japanese organised crime syndicate, between 2009 and 2011.

The Yakuza photo series that resulted from this period was published in more than 100 international magazines and newspapers. The breakthrough came when a couple of his photos were published in The Sunday Times Magazine. “With L’Espresso and Stern, it’s one of the leading publications for photography,” Kusters says. “If you’re published in it, you know that everyone who is somebody in the world of photography will have seen it.”

Kusters’ brother Malik has lived in Japan for 15 years, and Kusters is his son’s godfather. “I was looking for an excuse to go to Japan more often. Since plane tickets to Tokyo are expensive, I thought I should at least have a photography project going,” he explains.

“One day around midnight, my brother and I were sitting in his favourite hangout, a cafe that has room for just four people, when one of the Yakuza leaders entered to have a short chat with the

From Anton kusters’ yakuza series

owner,” he says, confessing that he and his brother had no idea who the man was, until the owner filled them in after he had left.

This encounter gave the Kusters brothers the idea of photographing the Yakuza, even though the cafe owner said the plan was unachievable. But the brothers persevered, and the owner ultimately ended up introducing them to the Yakuza.

After 10 months of negotiations, Kusters got permission to describe his plan in a letter, detailing exactly what he wanted to do.

“I had to deliver my letter by hand to the boss of the clan, who of course already knew everything about the project. He read it and just said: ‘OK, it’s fine.’” He adds, with a smile: “That was all there was to it. It felt a bit like an anti-

climax, but of course I was happy I was granted access.”

Both parties agreed to set some basic rules. Kusters made it crystal clear that he didn’t want to be involved in any crime. “I also didn’t want to be interrupted from photographing. They had the right to veto every photo I wanted to use, though they never exerted this power,” he explains.

“On the other hand, I didn’t want to be coerced into using pictures I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to become their propagandist, a Leni Riefenstal,” he says, referring to the German director most famous for the propaganda films she made for the Nazi party.

Also currently on view at the CCHA in Hasselt is Mono no aware, his most recent series. The photos on view are very diverse and, despite what the title might

suggest, they don’t have an exclusive focus on Japan. One of the photos was taken in Auschwitz (though it doesn’t look like it), while another shows Kusters’ godson playing hide-and-seek. Yet another depicts a couple of flowers and was taken in the photographer’s hometown of Hasselt.

“Mono no aware is Japanese for learning to enjoy small things and to accept that they are ephemeral.

This show expresses the difficulties I have with letting go because I’m capturing these moments in pictures,” he explains. “The perfect mono no aware exhibition would consist of empty walls. But that seemed a bit too extreme.”

The titles of each of the photos on view follow the same format,

until 24 september

MORE vISUAL ARTS THIS WEEK m museum MMuseum,theLeuvenvenuethatcombines old with contemporary art, is reopening after six months of restructuring works with two new shows. Frenchman Aurélien Froment combines topics that seem absolutely unrelated related in his videos and photos. Meanwhile, US artist Cécile B Evans is featured with an installation that spreads across the museum, composed of 27 screens, two robots and a robot dog.

From 11 June, M Museum, Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 28, Leuven \ mleuven.be

manufactories of caring space-time This exhibition is the result of a collabo-

\ 14

ration between the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, the Metz-based Regional Contemporary Art Fund Lorraine and the Barcelonabased Fundació Antoni Tàpies. Together, they have created “a platform for reflection on the relational, the collective and collaborative as new tendencies in art”. As part of that effort, art collectives in each of the three cities have collaborated with local communities over the last two years. The Ghent show is the culmination of this work.

A few other artists will also be presenting new work, including British street artist and photographer Slinkachu, best known for his Little People Project street installation.

Until 27 August, Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Fernand Scribedreef 1, Ghent \ mskgent.be

off the grid Kris Burm is a famous man, though not so much in the world of visual arts. A Flemish game designer, he specialises in abstract board games, including both century-old games like chess and draughts as well as new ones like TZAAR and DVONN. Burm also creates the artwork for the board games, often opting for geometrically abstract patterns. Off the Grid, his new exhibition, tries to answer the question: What is an object’s intrinsic value once it’s stripped of its original functionality? From 15 June-1 July, Tique Art Space, Korte Vlierstraat 5, Antwerp \ tique.art

and mention the city and the year when the photo was taken as well as the GPS co-ordinates.

Kusters trained as an analogue photographer and used to print his photos in a darkroom, but he switched to digital photography with little difficulty. “The question is: How can I make the best image I want to make? Nowadays, working digitally is often the answer. This might come as a surprise but I work on a digital image for much longer because there are more possibilities.”

Kusters alters some of his photos in unconventional ways. “Since memories are never perfect, I sometimes put objects like rice paper partially in front of a photo,” he explains. “It’s about the meaning you attribute to that moment in the past, the one that’s coloured by your memory.

“I’m using this exhibition to introduce a few elements that will be more prominent in the future.

Another element is using a grid of frames to form one image. This is one way of introducing time into my work.”

Kusters says he also wants to use a digital pinhole camera, which has a small pinhole aperture instead of a lens. “It has a nearly infinite depth of field, though the image is never as sharp as when using a lens,” he explains. “And because only a small amount of light can enter, it has a long exposure time. It’s as if you’re photographing time.”

Ideally, he explains, such pinhole cameras are mounted on a tripod.

“Of course, I don’t do that, which leads to there being some movement in the image.”

Poetry in motion, you could say.

CCHA

Kunstlaan 5, Hasselt

\ AGenDA

june 7, 2017

Shamrock’n’roll

CONCERT

Tradfest

Antwerp

Across Belgium

12-18 june

dfa.ie

T

album No Frontiers in 1989 that catapulted her to stardom.

Other well-known musicians visiting from Ireland this year include Liam ó Máonlaí of the Hothouse Flowers, Irish sisters Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Brú Ború traditional Irish musicians and dancers, and the Máirtín O Connor Trio (pictured).

There will also be an art exhibition

by Helen O’Sullivan Tyrell, who studied at the Beeldende Kunst Overijse art academy, a poetry talk by Dublin poet Phil Lynch, and Bloomsnight, a celebration of James Joyce’s writing by the Irish Theatre Group, in De Lijsterbes in

he first TradFest in Belgium took place in 2015. This year, the event will see 70 performers take part in dozens of cultural events in Brussels and elsewhere. “TradFest is a way of bringing Irish music and culture to the large Irish community in Belgium and to a Belgian and wider international audience,” Irish ambassador Eamonn Mac Aodha says.

Renowned folk singer Mary Black is the headline act and will open the festival at Flagey cultural centre in Brussels. She has been performing professionally since 1975 but it was the release of her

Kraainem.

In the centenary year of the Battle of Messines Ridge during the First World War, TradFest 2017 has placed a special focus on this event.

Messines to Carrick Hill, by Irish author Thomas Burke, will be launched at the Aloft Hotel in Brussels. The book is structured around a collection of letters written by a 19-year-old Irish soldier, Lieutenant Michael Wall of the 6th Royal Irish Regiment, who turned down the prospect of studying science at University College Dublin to join the Allied forces in the trenches of Flanders. \ Noreen Donovan

vISUAL ARTS

Xylouris/white

leonardo da vinci—the inventions of a genius senghor, Brussels sengHor.Be

The tag “fusion” is used loosely in world music, but Xylouris White is the real deal. Combining the traditional Cretan lute stylings of Georgios Xylouris (pictured left) and the noisy post-rock of Australian drummer Jim White (right), the duo really do fuse genres and bridge cultures. The long-time friends met decades ago in White’s

native Melbourne, where a young Xylouris was performing on tour with his father. They have since recorded two albums and toured the world together. The concert is part of a four-day festival celebrating contemporary Greek culture and supporting the working people of the crisis-stricken country. \ Georgio Valentino

until 31 october

\ deroma.be

CLASSICAL Brussels

El Sistema Festival: Brussels students of all ages perform under the direction of top professional musicians from the National Orchestra of Belgium and Orchestra Connect. 10-11 June, Flagey, Heilig Kruisplein 1 \ flagey.be

vISUAL ARTS

CONCERT 8 june, 20.30

Gov’t Mule: The American blues guitar jam band, made up of Warren Haynes and Allen Woody, of the former Allman Brothers, perform from their latest album, The Tel-Star Sessions. 6 June 20.30, De Roma, Turnhoutsebaan 286

Ostend

Xpo Center, Bruges XPo-center-Bruges.Be

The original Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci was much more than just a painter. The artist behind the 16th-century masterpiece “Mona Lisa” was also a technological visionary who dreamed of—and designed—machines, centuries before they would become practically possible. This interactive expo collects over 100 models of Da Vinci inventions, many of which wouldn’t finally be perfected until modern times.

Visitors will discover Renaissance-era prototypes of the helicopter, armoured tank and more.

Period documents and immersive 3D films complete this picture of a mind far ahead of its time. \ GV

Tussen Eb en Vloed (Between Ebb and Flow): Selection of important works

by Flemish symbolist painter Léon Spillaert, inspired by the atmosphere at the sea, including Ostend’s beach and dyke promenade. 10 June-8 October, Het Spilliaert Huis, Koningin Astridlaan 7 \ hetspilliaerthuis.be

Antwerp

Richard Deacon - Some Time: Solo exhibition made up of some 31 works by the British abstract sculptor, featuring both monumental works and smaller pieces on display in the museum park.

Until 24 September, Middelheim Museum, Middelheimlaan 61 \ middelheimmuseum.be

fESTIvAL

fESTIvAL

get tic

couleur cafe 30 june to 2 july Couleur Cafe festival is an annual smorgasbord of urban and world music. The event brings together dozens of international acts to perform on four open-air stages.

It’s a weekend of cosmopolitan and ecologically sustainable fun. This year’s headliners include Jamaican reggae royal Damian Marley and

kets n ow

Atomiumsquare, Brussels couleurcafe.Be

American hip-hop collective the Roots. The festival also boasts a solidarity village, an artisanal market and some 50 food stalls brimming with cuisine from around the world.

This year’s edition is the first to take place in the shadow of the Atomium, which means extra camping space and recreational areas. \ GV

LITERATURE

Antwerp

arundhati roy 15 june, 20.00 Twenty years ago, Indian author Arundhati Roy’s debut novel The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize and was translated into over 40 languages. Her next act was surprising. She quit fiction and devoted herself to consciousnessraising essays about militarism, economic inequality and ecological responsibility. Roy’s political engagement earned her many more awards over the decades.

Her second novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is finally set to appear this month. She comes to Brussels literary house Passa Porta to discuss the new work and more with Flemish author and critic Annelies Beck. \ GV

Passa Porta, Brussels PassaPorta.Be

Swim With The Current (SWTC): New music festival featuring Belgian and international talent, including Belpop, experimental genres, retro-futurist psychedelia and a hint of avant-garde. 8-11 June, deSingel, Desguinlei 25 \ desingel.be

fILM Ghent

Cracking the Frame: Sneak preview of a series of films due for release this autumn, including The Art Life, a documentary exploring the life and career of iconic director David Lynch in more than 20 conversations recorded with him at his home. 7 June 20.00, Sphinx Cinema, Sint-Michielsplein 3 \ sphinx-cinema.be

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\ BACkPAGe

june 7, 2017

Talking Dutch if it’s wednesday, i must be wearing lycra derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

lovetoride.net/woensdagfietsdag

Y

ou may have heard about Donderdag veggiedag – Thursday Veggie Day, an initiative launched in Ghent to promote vegetarian eating. And then there’s Vrijdag visdag – Fish Friday.

Now there’s a new date to mark in your diary, according to De Standaard. Onder de naam Woensdag Fietsdag – Known as Biking Wednesday is in Leuven een campagne gelanceerd – a campaign has been launched in Leuven om mensen aan te zetten de fiets te gebruiken – to encourage people to use their bicycles.

Die campagne wil alle Vlamingen minstens één dag per week op de fiets krijgen – This campaign wants to get all Flemish people on their bikes at least one day a week.

They are promoting it with the hashtag #GoWithTheVelo.

And there’s no excuses. De campagne mikt op iedereen – The campaign is aimed at everyone. Zowel zij die al fietsen – Both those who already cycle als zij die dat nog niet doen om allerlei redenen – and those who don’t for one reason or another.

It’s going to be a struggle, the organisers admit. Meer dan een op de drie Vlamingen fietst nooit – more than one-third of Flemish people never cycle, according to a recent survey.

But the organisers still believe it’s worth doing. Die ene dag per week op de fiets is haalbaar – That one day a week on the bike can be done en die kan al een groot verschil betekenen – and even that can make a big difference, zowel voor de gezondheid – for health as well as, voor het milieu – for the environment als voor de fileproblemen – and in tackling traffic jams.

Some experts are not so sure. Dat is preken voor de eigen kerk – It’s preaching to the converted, said Dutch transport policy expert Gerard Tertoolen. Wie al fietst

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© Courtesy woensdag Fietsdag

– Anyone who already cycles, zal het geweldig vinden – will find it fantastic, de anderen zullen de schouders ophalen – the others will shrug their shoulders en lekker met de auto blijven rijden – and carry on happily driving their cars.

He went on to point out the actions over the years to get Flemish people on bicycles – Bike to Work, Met belgerinkel naar de winkel – To the shops with ringing bells, Fietsen naar Kyoto – Cycle to Kyoto.

Maar de realiteit blijft ontnuchterend – But the reality is sobering: zeven op de tien verplaatsingen in Vlaanderen – seven out of 10 journeys in Flanders gebeuren met de auto – are done using the car.

The Flemish cycling lobby group Fietsersbond is firmly behind the idea. Hoe meer mensen fietsen – The more people who cycle, hoe aangenamer en veiliger de leefomgeving wordt – the more pleasant and safe our surroundings, a spokesperson said.

The campaign gets its message across more directly.

Alle remmen los! – Let off the brakes!

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THE LAST WORd word of god

good neighbours

“Sometimes I have to watch what I say. I’m a bit of a blabbermouth.”

“Let us keep watch over doors behind which solitude waits.

Willem’s heart stopped, and none of us even realised.”

Lode Aerts, the new bishop of Bruges, interviewed in Het Nieuwsblad

meal ticket

“Yes, it’s a lot of money, but we don’t think it’s too much. You’re paying for the whole spectacle, and for something exclusive.”

Food writer Jan Claeys sat in at the opening of Kobe Desramaults’ new restaurant in Ghent, where you’ll pay €200 for a 20-course tasting menu, not counting drinks

© nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga

GOING, GOING, GONE The cooling tower and chimneys of the former power plant in Ruien, east Flanders, were demolished at the weekend. The plant – once the country’s biggest non-nuclear power station – was almost 60 years old and was abandoned four years ago after becoming obsolete

Andy Penne, parish priest in Tolembeek in Flemish Brabant, took it upon himself to organise a funeral for a man who died alone in the village

ticket to ride

“I was really impressed at the kind of personal stories people were prepared to share with a stranger, from the death of a partner to surviving cancer.”

19-year-old student Gwen Bogaert writes a blog in which she collects the stories gathered from talking to strangers on a train

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