Discover Benelux | Issue 12 | December 2014

SPARKLING CHRISTMAS SPECIALDA R I N G B E N E L U X D E S I G N E R SB U S I N E S S : L E G A L E X C E L L E N C E

PLUS: DESIGN, CULTURE AND TOURISM

I S S U E 12 | D EC E M B E R 2014

ERIK VAN LOOY LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM

P R O M O T I N G B E L G I U M , T H E N E T H E R L A N D S A N D L U X E M B O U R G

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Issue 12 | December 2014 | 3

ContentsDECEMBER 2014

Discover Benelux | Contents

1450

COVER FEATURE6 Erik Van Looy

He directed Belgium’s most successful film everand is about to release the Hollywood remake,The Loft, across thousands of screens in Amer-ica. Read about Van Looy’s boyhood dreamscoming true and Sunset Boulevard selfies.

THEMES14 Christmas in the Benelux

Turkey for Christmas? Not in the Benelux. Thereare many interesting and surprising festive tra-ditions in this region. Find out how, and where,to celebrate your Christmas in style.PLUS: Hotels and Restaurant of the Month, frompage 12.

26 Luxuries

From fine art, waterproof fashion to living in theSwiss Alps, this luxury section covers the sub-ject in the broadest sense, including our eventsfeature on the Excellent Fair which is not to bemissed.

34 Daring Benelux Designers

Fusing form, creativity and function seamlessly ininnovative designs – here some first classBenelux designers presenting to you their bestand most exciting work in over sixteen pages.PLUS: Benelux architects, from page 49.

58 Theatre

That Luxembourg is a breeding ground for cul-tural talent is hardly a secret, so here are threecompelling features highlighting one of its mostvibrant industries: theatre.

83 Wellness & Beauty

Thanks to constant development in the field ofcosmetic techniques, it is becoming increas-ingly possible to roll back the years and improveyour physique with minor and painless proce-dures.

FEATURES88 Event: Art in Redlight

Amsterdam’s best independent art event bringsbudding talent and renowned artists together.We’ve picked three of our favourite artists at-tending the event.

90 Interview: Tom Barman

Belgian frontman of dEUS talks us throughtwenty years of the band’s history and the se-lection of songs on their new album.

BUSINESS62 Legal Excellence

The Benelux is a global player when it comes tointernational business affairs. In this special wehighlight some of the top law firms that havehelped the region’s businesses excel.

72 Specialist Translators

Dutch, French, German, Luxembourgish andmore – this mini theme focusses on some toptranslation companies.

80 Regulars & Events

In this extended business section, we delve fur-ther into the corporate world with inspiring com-pany profiles, and our regular columnists musingon the efficiency of communication and leader-ship. PLUS: The Benelux Business Calendar,page 82.

DON’T MISS10 Fashion Picks | 12 Desirable Designs from Benelux92 Out & About | 94 Benelux Lifestyle Columns

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Discover Benelux | Editor’s Note

Dear Reader,

There is a celebration going on thismonth at Discover Benelux. This mightnot sound surprising, with people acrossthe globe hosting Christmas parties, butfor us, there is another reason to be fes-tive. This December marks the 12th edi-tion of the magazine and indeed our one-year anniversary.

It has been a year of highlights, from our humble beginnings– a mere 40 pages put together by a handful of determinedpeople – to a magazine that is topping 100 pages made by awhole legion of regular, passionate contributors.

Having reflected upon this milestone, I would quickly like tomove on to more pressing matters: Christmas. Despite whatthe popular movies have us believe, there is quite a lot of dif-ference in how countries celebrate this holiday – even within thesmall premises of the Benelux.

In most households in the Benelux, gifts are not really a bigthing – these are usually dealt with during St Nicolas on 5 or 6December – and you'll find very few turkeys adorning theChristmas tables. In Luxembourg not Christmas Day, butChristmas Eve (the night before) is the time when families gettogether for the main dinner. Traditional dessert is the bûche denoël, a layered sponge-cake yule log also popular in France,that comes in all kinds of flavours including chestnut cream andcoffee. In Belgium game is popular as the main dish, like roastpheasant or rabbit ragout (a creamy stew).

Then in the Netherlands Christmas is celebrated on twodays – ‘First’ and 'Second Christmas Day'. Regardless of thedull names, both dates are equally important and in family set-tings this can actually be quite handy. Say your partner isdragging you to their family for Christmas Day, then you havethe day after as a back-up to see your own family. So it’s pos-sible to spend the 'most wonderful time of the year' with twiceas many people, eat twice as much amazing food and accepttwice as many invitations.

But however you are going to spend the holidays, whetheryou will make a Christmas trifle (see page 17), have a night of‘gourmetting’ (see page 15) or celebrate it with eggnog (seepage 16), from everyone at the Discover Benelux office, wewish you a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous2015.

Until next year!

Myriam Gwynned Dijck,Editor

Discover Benelux

Issue 12, December 2014

Published 12.2014

ISSN 2054-7218

Published by

Scan Group

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Discover Benelux | Cover Feature | Erik Van Looy




In 2008 Van Looy directed the Flemish filmLoft. Despite Belgium’s language barrierwith the French-speaking south, the filmbecame the country’s most successful pro-duction ever. Over 1.2 million peoplewatched it in a nation of just 11 million.Now, six years later, the American remake– also directed by Van Looy – is set tomake waves across the global cinemascene.

“I’d rather make a successful film twicethan an average movie once,” Van Looy re-marks. “But I’m not the first director to dothis. Also Cecil B. DeMille did that with TheTen Commandments, Alfred Hitchcockwith The Man Who Knew Too Much andMichael Haneke with Funny Games. That’sa pretty decent list and I’m honoured toadd my name to it, even if I’m nowherenear their level!”

Going to HollywoodThe film – a ‘sexy thriller’ as Van Looy likesto classify it – follows five married men whoeach own a key to a shared apartment, theloft, where they entertain their mistresses.When a dead body is discovered, a com-pelling story unfolds full of captivating twistsand surprising revelations showing the se-crets that lay hidden behind their friendship.“I think after watching the movie you can talk

about it for a long time,” he says. “It is aboutinfidelity, how appealing and at the sametime dangerous this can be.”

While The Loft is very much a Hollywoodproduction with a star-studded cast aimedat a global audience, behind the scenes,there is still a strong Belgian connection.The outdoor scenes were shot in New Or-leans but the other half, the indoor shots,were filmed in Belgium on a set in Nieuw-poort. “I originally thought the cast wouldprefer to stay in America, but that wasn’tthe case at all. They were very happy towork in ‘exotic’ Belgium for a month,” heremembers. “They even checked out theroyal scenes and had a good time in Brus-sels, Ghent and Antwerp.”

The lead characters are Karl Urban (StarTrek), James Marsden (X-Men) WentworthMiller (Prison Break) and Eric Stonestreet(Modern Family), as well as Van Looy’s fel-low countryman Matthias Schoenaerts,who also featured in the original film. “Iwas glad Matthias was up for it, becausethen I wouldn’t the only Belgian out there,”he explains. “As we already had four ma-jor names, the fifth role was free and I knewMatthias’ American accent was fantastic.At the time it was actually a little reckless asthe producers hadn’t even heard of him.”

It certainly was a risk that paid off, and notonly for Van Looy. The Loft was Schoe-naerts’ first American production, andsince then he has gone on to star in filmsnext to Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (Rustand Bone) and Tom Hardy and Noomi Ra-pace (The Drop). “He now practically livesin Hollywood. It’s nice to know I have con-tributed a little to that,” Van Looy says.

Counting down the daysThe Loft has been years in production,marred by delays and release date revi-sions, but Van Looy never questioned thefilm’s potential. “Thousands of films aremade in America each year, 500 of thoseend up in the cinema and just 100 are re-leased on two thousand screens or more.”Van Looy continues, “You have to be luckyto be part of that, and have the patience towait for a good release date. I and the pro-ducers have had that patience.”

To say Van Looy is looking forward to thebig American release on 24 January nextyear – when the film will be shown on twothousand screens across the country – isan understatement. “I’ve kept the wholemonth free to tour Los Angeles. I want todrive on Sunset Boulevard and take a selfiewith the film posters in the back – this re-ally is a dream coming true!” he admits.

E R I K V A N L O O Y

Living the American dreamHe directed Belgium’s most successful film, is about to release the American remake, The Loft, worldwide and

presents one of Flanders’ best viewed television shows. Regardless of this impressive résumé, Erik Van Looy tells us that he still sees himself as an average lad from Antwerp and admitted he does not actually enjoy directing. From his humble Flemish background to Sunset Boulevard selfies and a cast of Hollywood heavyweights,

Van Looy is certainly living the American dream.

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | MAIN PHOTO: WOESTIJNVIS


Despite being scooped up by Hollywood,Van Looy is very measured about his suc-cess. “I am a lad from a humble Antwerpbackground, who thought I would never beable to direct my own movie,” he explains.It is as if he still can’t believe himself that hemanaged to pull off directing a film for in-ternational release.

Leaving his habits behindWhen the original Loft was released, offersimmediately flooded in from all over theworld, France, the Netherlands (where aDutch remake was released in 2010), Italy,Spain, India, and of course Hollywood.“We thought we might as well do a global,American remake,” Van Looy says. “Wedecided to make the film in co-productionso we would still be somewhat in charge.Sometimes you get remakes where toomany liberties are taken and often the re-make isn’t as good anymore.”

With his Belgian charm, Van Looy wasquick to convince the American producersthat he was the man for the job. “Theyliked the original, so by using the same di-rector they would be almost certain the re-make would become the film they wanted.Plus they thought I was a decent guy,which also isn’t unimportant!” he recounts.

Suddenly becoming part of the big film-making machine of Hollywood was at firstquite a daunting task for Van Looy. “I wasworried people would be half motivated,skipping from production to production.But it wasn’t like that at all, they liked thescript so everyone was very enthusiasticand the actors all listened to me,” he says.

With a crew four times larger than VanLooy was used to, he had to leave some ofhis Belgian habits at home. “We work witha crew of 30-40 people but in America youget a whole army of 120-130 people,” hesays. “When a director arrives on set in Bel-gium, you tend to say hello or even shakehands with everyone. You can’t do that inAmerica, it would cost you two hours.”

Secret to successVan Looy’s secret to success largely lies inhis absolute dedication to his work. Manyof his films took years before they reachedthe cinema. “It’s important to have a goodstoryline that will surprise people. Togetherwith the scriptwriters I work really hard ona story, often for a long time, sometimeseven years,” he says. Once Van Looy iscontent with the script, he still does not al-low himself to sit back and enjoy the ride ofdirecting. “There must be brilliant directors

who can shoot a film in a snap and have apint with the cast in the evenings. I can’twork like that. When I direct a movie that isall I can think about,” he confesses. “I don’treally enjoy the journey, I only like the des-tination. I think the premiere is the bestthing about directing movies,” he says,laughing.

On his home turf, Van Looy is best knownfor presenting the popular Flemish quizshow De Slimste Mens Ter Wereld (thesmartest person on earth) which is cur-rently broadcasting its 12th season. “I leada bit of a schizophrenic lifestyle,” he saystentatively. “It is nice being able to dosomething else in between directing buttrying to combine it with filmmaking is notalways easy.”

He is already working on his next project,a Flemish production called De Premierstarring Koen De Bouw who has been alead character in the majority of Van Looy’sfilms. “He’s my favourite actor,” he admits.“The film is about the Belgian prime minis-ter being abducted by terrorists. It will be acompelling thriller in the style of the Bornmovies.”

When finally we ask if he has any NewYear’s resolutions, he laughs and says: “It’sthe same every year: try to work less!”

The Loft will be released in the UnitedStates on 24 January 2015 and in Ger-many on 11 December.


Van Looy on set with Karl Urban (far right), Eric Stonestreet (second from right) and James Marsden (far left).Photo: Loft International

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Discover Benelux | Design | Fashion Picks

D E C E M B E R F A S H I O N P I C K S

Winter eleganceDecember is a busy month with its festive events, Christmas parties and family gatherings. But even if itis hard to dress feminine for these occasions in the cold, wet season, an outfit can easily become elegant and

ladylike by adding some eye-catching accessories to sober coloured clothing.

BY ELENA KRUMLOWSKY | PRESS PHOTOS

3: Start the winter waterproof

Why shouldn’t your rainwear be as sophisticated asyou are? In its latest collection, WATERDICHT Amster-dam mixes fashion with function. No more ordinaryraincoats but stylish raincoats: Straincoats. Truly water-proof (WATERDICHT) and also of the highest quality.

Collection 14/15 €249 - €369

Available at www.waterdicht.nl

2: A golden December

This Zara necklace gives every outfit an elegant touch because of the thin chains.Furthermore the golden colour reminds you of the festive period.

€23

Available at www.zara.com

1: Luxembourg sophistication

The Autumn/Winter 2014 collection of theLuxembourg-based creative fashion studio Yileste,consists of elegant materials and classy cuts. Their high end women’s wear is especially suited for smart and festive occasions.

Indeed Blazer : €610

Mellow T-Shirt : €59

Sneaky Skirt : €238

Available at www.yileste.com

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6: Your festive essential

Another classic is the Beverly heel from the Italian brand ASH. This black pointed shoe is a synonym for elegance and matches perfectly with your festive outfit.

€210

Available at www.ashitalia.it

4: Timeless and ladylike

Another outfit from Yileste is this black and greydress. Not only the colour combination but the tweedas well is perfectly à la mode.

Day Day Dress : €452

Available at www.yileste.com

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5: Classic elegance

If you are searching for a classic bag which fits everywhere you can’t go wrong with this little satchel bag.

€40

Available at www.riverisland.com


Discover Benelux | Design | Desirable Designs

Desirable DesignsIn the spirit of the December festivities, we have picked some beautiful, innovative and stylish designs from

the Benelux that would not look amiss under the Christmas tree. From gifts for limited budgets, to unique centrepieces to treat your loved ones, there is something for everyone.

BY MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PRESS PHOTOS

3: As strong as wood

This super strong ‘Dutch Design Chair’ has manyhidden sides to it. The stool with various vibrant designs doubles as a side table, can easily handle200 kilos of pressure but is made from light-weightFSC certified cardboard. For businesses, the chair isalso available as a gift box containing luxuriousChristmas presents – ideal as a gift for employeesand there is no waste on wrapping paper. €20 for the chair, gift box prices on request

www.dutchdesignbrand.com

1: Patio pizzeria

Whether it is winter or summer, the BLOK outdoorfireplace is indispensable to any patio. The high ten-sile steel stove is expandable with a genuine pizzaoven, a separate element which you can put easilyon top of the stove. Perfect to bake you own deli-cious pizza in. The pizza oven is small enough to fit in any garden or patio. From €1190

www.blokmeubel.nl

4: Geometrical decorations

This captivating, aluminium pendant light called ‘TieTangles 1.0’ is created to mesmerise the observer. Casting intricate shadows on the walls, thedesign doubles as a sleek and modern Christmasdecoration. Each one is handcrafted meticulously bydesigner Bartek who takes his inspiration for his workfrom nature and its harmonious, mathematical algorithmic precision. €150

www.bartek.nl

2: Jive away the cold

Flemish designer Roel Vandebeek puts the fire backinto the dark December days. The swinging, asym-metrical design of the ‘Jive’ garden torch creates aplayful scene, especially when you put severaltorches together. Made of black aluminium and wal-nut wooden stick, the torch has a smart ‘push & fill’system that allows you to easily refill the oil withoutgetting your hands dirty. €33

www.depotroelvandebeek.be

5: Nixie o’clock

This little clock made from vintage Nixie tubes – usedin East Germany as numeric displays in the mid-20thcentury – may still be in concept status, but this fully-functioning prototype was too good to leave out. Lux-embourg designer Daniel Kurth enclosed the shiny or-ange tubes in rough, reinforced concrete, creating this‘retro-technology’ clock. Proudly marketed as theworld’s most difficult clock in a bid to stop the distrac-tions of clocks all around us, the time on this ‘NixieConcrete’ reads 10:23:54.

www.nixie-concrete.com

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10: Sturdy and stylish

With an original twist on standard wineglasses, Dutchdesigner Maarten Baptist from JOINE created theseeye-catching tripod chalices. Made from scratch-proof and dishwasher-resistant laboratory-engi-neered glass, the ‘Louise tripod glasses’ are alsoideal for swirling wine and stand sturdy on any tablesurface. They are sold in sets of four; also availableas single Martini glass and set of two champagneflutes or liquor glasses. €55-€100

www.joine.nl

8: Wine from the vine

Shaped like a bunch of grapes, this wine rack forup to 12 bottles is made from strong, yet superlight material, allowing you to pile up several tocreate a beautiful and functional wall ornament.Created by Dutch industrial designer RobertBronwasser, the playful ‘Grape’ rack proves thatstoring bottles can become a piece of art in itself.A stylish way to keep your drinks nearby duringthis month’s festivities. €67

www.smool.nl

7: Can you handle this?

Until we saw this design by Naomi Thellier DePoncheville, we never realised how uninviting stan-dard door handles actually are. With the aluminium‘Hand-le’, the designer, who is French/English by na-tionality and resides in Amsterdam, aimed to makesomething innovative and original from an everydayobject. This doorknob will certainly put a smile onyour guests’ faces, even before they step into thehouse. €69

www.ntpdesigns.com

6: Bright as a butterfly

Made from solid ash wood, the ‘Aleta’ floor lamp bySasha Lakic has an elegant, organic look – you cansee that the Luxembourg-based designer took his in-spiration from the wings of a butterfly. With LED lightshidden in the structure, transparent methacrylate dif-fuser panels create a compelling light source tobrighten up the winter gloom. Price upon request.

www.lakic.com

9: Porcelain transformation

Design duo Marijke and Sander Lucas have createda striking fruit bowl by strategically joining a dozenstandard porcelain plates together. The result of thediagonal, upside down and oddlystacked plates is the large andquirky ‘Plate-bowl’ that wouldtransform your traditional Christ-mas brunch into a rather trendyoccasion. €285

www.lucasenlucas.com

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Discover Benelux | Special Theme | Christmas

Well versed in Christmas traditions andgrowing up in the period before smartphones, Belgium’s thirty-somethings arethe biggest advocates of this typically can-dle-lit celebration. Valuing the opportunityto return to the family nest, it is a rarechance to relinquish the kitchen duties totheir own parents. For the younger gener-ations, however, Christmas remains quite amodest affair – at least when compared tothe feverish present opening that takesplace in the United States and the UK.Their excitement will already have peakedon 6 December with the extravagant arrivalof Sinterklaas laden down with gifts, pri-marily of the edible variety.

Kerstavond (24 December) is most com-monly spent with families, moving fromsofa to table and then back to the sofa.With an average of 11 hungry mouths to

feed at each dining table, Christmas cancertainly get expensive, with hosts dish-ing out Yuletide sustenance worth an av-erage of €32 per person – and it’s the lo-cal butchers who benefit from thesehunger pangs the most. Nutritionally, theBelgians prefer to keep it traditional, opt-ing for turkey and goose, but that’s not tosay that they neglect wild meat, smokedsalmon, shellfish and other seafood deli-cacies.

As dusk falls, either The Sound of Music orthe classic Sissi will be playing on screen,but the nation are most likely to have theirheads buried in their mobile phones: onlineshopping or shooting out text messages ata speedy rate, totalling 35 million text mes-sages over the course of Christmas Eveand Christmas morning. Once a staple ofthis holiday, Midnight Mass still remains a

fixture on the calendar, but only for one infive Belgians – placing it just above Franceand Sweden in terms of visits.

Presents for family and friends lie patientlyin the shadow of the lovingly decoratedChristmas tree, the focal point of any well-lit Belgian living room. Compared to theUK’s gift expenditure of €317 per person,the Belgian population devotes a mere€205 on average to gifts, opting for qual-ity rather quantity.

Christmas isn’t complicated in Belgium andthat’s the beauty of it. With family-centricactivities at its core, some Belgium choco-late thrown in for good measure, generousservings of turkey and a few evenings infront of the television, Christmas in Bel-gium is virtually a guarantee for a heart-warming experience.

Nothing says Christmas like devouring Belgium’s best artisan chocolates, drifting around world-class festive markets and Yuletide greetings by text message.

TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | MAIN PHOTO: JAN D’HONDT

Counting down to a Belgian Christmas

SPECIAL THEME

ChristmasIN THE

Benelux

Photo: milo-profi.be



Back when the candles in the Christmastrees were still real, the Dutch cookedelaborate festive dinners from scratch.These days Christmas cooking is mainlydone at the table using miniature-sizedpans. Still, there are some traditionalChristmas dishes that the Dutch nevergrow tired of.

Christmas in the Netherlands is all aboutfood and in many ways it has always beenlike that. Rice porridge and sweet breadfilled with almond paste, was an after-massstaple back in the day. Traditional disheslike beef roulade, roast chicken or venisonwould be cooked from scratch, accom-panied by pears stewed in red wine andcinnamon, one of the Dutch Yuletide sig-nature scents.

Experimenting with food trendsBack in the seventies and eighties newdishes appeared on the menu, like shrimpcocktail appetisers and ice cream cakedeserts. These days the Dutch tend to ex-periment more and look across the culinary

borders for inspiration – be it American-style roast turkey, Italian cuisine or BritishChristmas pudding.

Yet when it comes to trends, the last fewyears have seen an increase in the use oflocally produced ingredients and with it anewfound love for long-forgotten vegeta-bles like parsnip and turnip. Christmasdinners will follow this trend as well. Even

in bigger cities like Amsterdam, local pro-duce is finding its way to many a kitchenthis year.

GourmettingBut there is one item that will appear inmost homes come 25 December: a‘gourmetset’. This party grill with hotplatecomes with tiny frying pans. Everyone atthe table gets assigned their own pan and(miniature-sized) cutlery to flip and stir thebite-size portions of meat, vegetables andpotatoes. The stewed pears have been re-assigned as a dessert item with ice creamon the side. Yes, miniature size rules on theDutch Christmas menu nowadays, yet theamount of food consumed is all but small.

Christmas dinner in the Netherlands:

Miniature-sized dishes ruleTEXT & PHOTO: SILVIA DE VRIES

Christmas baked goodsBanketstaaf – a puff pastry filled with almond paste.

Kerststol – a sweet bread filled with fruitwith almond paste centre.

Tulband – a turban-cake filled with driedfruit.

Speculaas – biscuits with flavours ofcinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, anise and white pepper.

Oliebollen – donut-like dumplings withraisins served with icing sugar.

Traditional Dutch Christmas menuShrimp cocktail.

~Creamy tomato soup.

~Beef or chicken roulade or steak with

pepper sauce.

Mashed potatoes dusted with nutmeg.

Blanched green beans & carrots.

Pears stewed in red wine & cinnamon. ~

Dutch Christmas cake (tulband), dustedwith icing sugar or Dutch apple pie with

vanilla ice cream.

Photo: Meindert van Duijvenbode



One of my all-time favourite Christmasmovies is White Christmas with BingCrosby. As a kid I dreamed of celebratingChristmas in an Inn located in the country-side just like the one featured in the movie.Christmas trees would reach the ceiling,decorated perfectly and lit up by hundredsof candles. We would all cosy up to thefireplace, one just like in the movie: round,centred in the middle of the room, whenunexpectedly, snowflakes would start tofall outside. A white Christmas after all.

Yet to this day, almost every Christmas Iever celebrated took place, not in a re-motely located Inn, but in a city – fromBerlin to Helsinki, Copenhagen to, ofcourse, my beloved Amsterdam. Here weall gather on the Dam Square, with Christ-mas trees reaching somewhat close to thetop of the palace, ice skating on a make-shift rink, while sipping hot cocoa and en-

joying the light spectacle of the Bijenkorfdepartment store in December.

Christmas these days doesn't look like theChristmases I dreamt about as a child, yetChristmas in the city feels a lot like I imagedthis holiday would be. Some say city life isfast paced and you live disconnected fromone another. That may be true from time totime, but come Christmas, this city comestogether and slows down, if only for awhile. Just like the Christmas I alwaysdreamt about. May your Christmas bemerry and ever so unexpectedly, white.

P.S. You can find a fireplace similar to theone in White Christmas at Café Zurich(Mercatorplein 2B) in Amsterdam West!

It is bitter, watery and leaves me with an ar-tificial aftertaste I can’t quite place. This isnot at all how I remember eggnog! I’mstanding in the milk aisle of my localToronto grocery store and hand my sampleback to the lady. I try not to look too dis-gruntled, after all, it’s not her fault, she hasnever had Luxembourgish eggnog before.

The Luxembourgish dairy company Luxlaithas made eggnog since the early 1960s.According to my grandmother, it was de-livered directly to the milk farmers. In turn,they sold the eggnog to their fellow vil-lagers. To many disappointed Luxem-bourgers, the real rum it contained backthen has since been replaced with a non-alcoholic rum and vanilla flavouring andthe fat content has been reduced from10% to 6%. To me, Luxlait eggnog formsan integral part of the Christmas season. Itis to be sipped slowly on cold winter nights,sitting in front of the fire in the living room.

There is something so comforting about re-membering the cosiness of your childhoodhome during the Christmas season: thebright lights on a dark night, the warmthemanating not only from the chimney butalso from the candles of the advent wreath,and the pervasive smells of pine and homebaking.

If you cannot go to that home during theholiday season, you bring it to whereveryou are now. Or at least you try.

Living in Canada, a country with a rich im-migration history and a famous reputationfor international cuisine, it is not particularlyhard to recreate the Luxembourgish Christ-mas menu of my childhood: smokedsalmon or Coquilles St. Jacques forstarters; Magret de Canard, venison,Raclette or Fondue for the main and Bûche(yule log cake) for dessert. No need to gofar, the grocery store has everything, ex-

cept for the Bûche, but I can preorder thatfrom one of the many French patisseries inToronto.

The eggnog however, is a different story.Even the one I made myself did not comeclose. It looks like I will be spending Christ-mas in Luxembourg next year.

Recreating a Luxembourgish Christmas in Canada

Thoughts on Christmas in the cityTEXT: SILVIA DE VRIES

Liz Wenger is a Luxembourger living in Canada.She is currently publishing a book for Englishspeakers to learn Luxembourgish. You can sign upto be notified of the book’s release on her websitelearnluxembourgish.com.

TEXT: LIZ WENGER | PHOTO

: PHILIP WENGER

Dutch writer Silvia de Vries blogs about her everydaylife and food at www.silviadevries.com as well as reg-ularly contributing her thoughts on everything Dutch toDiscover Benelux.



Xmas Pudding Trifle (makes 6)

“The traditional British Christmas desert –a brandy-laced, steamed pudding stuffedwith dried fruit – is really lovely, but quite apain to make. I’ve deconstructed mine asa festive trifle with the flavours of the Xmaspudding,” says Faber.

PreparationOne day in advance: roughly chop theraisins, prunes and orange peel. Transfer toa bowl and add the rest of the mincemeatingredients. Mix, cover and set asideovernight.

The next day: put the syrup ingredientsinto a small saucepan and simmer for threeminutes until the sugar has dissolved. Setaside to cool.

Prepare the cream: Separate the egg be-tween two bowls. Beat the egg white untilstiff. In the other bowl, beat the egg yolkwith the sugar, add the mascarpone and

beat again. In a third bowl, whisk the whip-ping cream and vanilla sugar until stiff. Foldthe three mixes together.

Break the sponge fingers, divide betweensix glasses and drizzle with two table-spoons of the syrup. Top with each withmincemeat and then with cream. Cover incling film and put in the fridge for at leastthree hours.

Serve with crushed speculoos or gingersnaps.

Journalist and television chef Anne Faberfrom Luxembourg just published her sec-ond book, ‘Anne’s Kitchen – Barcelona, Istanbul and Berlin’ (£25, Amazon). It has100 easy and original recipes with inspiringphotos and is sprinkled with anecdotesfrom Faber’s travels.

www.anneskitchen.co.uk

There is no month like December to get creative in the kitchen and try out some more flavours. One of Discover Benelux’s favourite chefs, Anne Faber has given us one of her favourite festive foods.

TEXT & PHOTOS: ANNE FABER

Festive feast of flavours

INGREDIENTS

For the mincemeat:

100g raisins

50g dried prunes

40g candied orange peel

peel from ¼ lemon

¼ apple, grated

50g brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

50ml whisky

For the syrup:

25g sugar

50ml whisky

50ml water

For the cream:

1 egg, separated

80g sugar

1 packet vanilla sugar

200g mascarpone

200ml whipping cream

Other:

100g sponge finger biscuits

3 speculoos biscuits or gingersnaps

for decoration


From small windmill key chains to hand-some vases, the Holland Winkel web-shop is your one-stop shop for the bestsouvenirs, presents and consumerproducts from the Netherlands. Withtheir wide ranging catalogue, the bestof Holland is only a few clicks away –wherever you are.

Their product range includes top of therange Delfts Blauw, the characteristic blueand white pottery made in the city of Delftfrom the 16th century. Founder and directorof the Holland Winkel, Ellie Dijksterhuis says:“We sell beautiful Delfts Blauw, from mugsto tiles to salt and pepper shakers and evenbaubles. They are all top quality articles.”

Apart from souvenirs and gifts, thewebsite also offers an extensive collectionof food items, including Gouda cheese,Holland’s favourite syrup waffles (or stroop-wafels) and candy. Dijksterhuis: “This is

actually how we began. My son was livingabroad so we started sending him Dutchfood. Then in 2002 I decided to make abusiness out of it.”

Since then the website’s assortmenthas grown to 1,300 different items includ-ing t-shirts, scarfs, fridge magnets andsmall wooden clogs. She adds: “Especiallyour smaller products are really popular withDutch businesses, they use them in wel-come bags or as relationship gifts at cor-porate events, conventions and interna-tional meetings alike.”

Within days orders are dispatched toanywhere in the world and you can selectyour shipment option. “I love the contactwe have with clients, many call us to checkon their order and we are always happy tohelp. We try to update people as much aspossible when a delivery has been made,”says Dijksterhuis.

Go to the website to see the full range,available in Dutch and English.

www.hollandwinkel.com

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: HOLLAND WINKEL

From Holland with love

The Holland Winkel has an impressive range of DelftsBlauw pottery, including this tulip vase (left) inspired bya 17th century design.



Winter could be the most special timeof year to visit Belgium; Christmas mar-ket season transforms its cities into fes-tive wonderlands. Brussels is not to bemissed but Antwerp, Bruges and Liègeall become spectacular destinations.Even Durbuy, famous for being thesmallest town on the planet, offers asensational market all of its own.

Winter Wonders, BrusselsGrand Place to Place Ste CatherineUntil 6 January Brussels enchants thousands of merry vis-itors every year. Over 240 traditionalwooden stalls offer hand-made arts andcrafts alongside the most indulgent gas-tronomical delights. It is a food lovers’Christmas dream come true with a host ofBelgian specialties: chocolates, artisansausages, waffles, gingerbread, escargots,beers, mulled wine and so much more.Tradition and modernity blend beautifullywith the 35 metres toboggan slope, 200feet long skating rink and spectacular big-wheel that illuminates the sky with 18,000twinkling lights. An authentic Swiss chaletoffering traditional Helvetian fare will alsoembellish the market this year. Lastly, don’tmiss the breathtaking sound and light

show presented in the Grand Place; anunforgettable experience.

The city of Liège's Christmas Village St Lambert square/ Marché de Liège squareUntil 30 DecemberSince 1986, Liège has established itsChristmas village as the ultimate festivedestination. Over 1.5 million visitors flockannually to experience the unique at-mosphere created by the spirited ex-hibitors: The largest and oldest of all the-Belgian markets, this village has apersonality all of its own. An extrava-ganza of products and culinary treatswill be presented in over 200 chalets.

Antwerp Christmas marketMarket Square6 December - 4 JanuarySet against the backdrop of Antwerp’s his-toric buildings, this atmospheric marketwill extend this year to form a trail throughthe city from Steenplein to the MarketSquare. Steenplein also offers a uniqueopportunity to go ice skating while over-looking the Scheldt River. In addition to 90stalls offering a myriad of Christmas wares,over 100 nativity scenes will be dottedthroughout the market for visitors to enjoy.

Bruges Christmas marketMarket SquareUntil 2 JanuaryMedieval Bruges hosts one of the mostfamous Christmas markets in Belgium;the magnificent architecture becomesadorned with garlands of lights that in-fuse the canals with a magical glow.Transformed cobbled streets lead to thefairytale splendour of the Market Square:the heart of the spectacular BrugesChristmas experience.

TEXT: HELEN CULLEN | PRESS PHOTOS

The magical world of Belgian Christmas markets

TOP RIGHT: Durbury Christmas market. Photo: RSI Durbuy. MIDDLE RIGHT: Bruge Christmas market. Photo: JanD'Hondt. BOTTOM RIGHT: Brussels Christmas market. Photo: Eric Danhier. BELOW LEFT: Ice skating at theBrussels Christmas market. Photo: WBT


Amsterdam offers an eclectic events cal-endar this December with somethingspecial for every visitor. The village at-mosphere of the city fully embraces themagical spirit of the sparkling season withwinter festivals, classical concerts, Christ-mas markets and ice skating – even theChristmas circus comes to town!

Amsterdam Light FestivalUntil 18 JanuaryThe theme for the third edition of the win-ter light festival is ‘A Bright City’. For morethan fifty days, stunning light sculptures,projections and installations created by in-ternational artists will illuminate the histor-ical city. The boat route, Water Colours, willtake visitors past artworks along Amster-dam’s waterways whilst the walking route,Illuminade, winds through the city centre. www.amsterdamlightfestival.com

World Christmas CircusRoyal Theatre Carré18 December - 3 January Embrace a time-honoured Amsterdam tra-dition and run away with the circus thisChristmas. Carré’s annual extravaganza

celebrates being the most successfulChristmas Circus for almost thirty years;nearly half a million visitors have attendedmore than a thousand spectacular per-formances. www.carre.nl

Paradiso’s Christmas matinee26 December The internationally renowned Paradiso Orchestra will perform classical Christmascompositions within the remarkable archi-tecture of the Paradiso. Offering a cele-bratory programme that includes Christ-mas stories and poems narrated by literarylegends, the matinee is an inspirational wayto gently close the festive season.www.paradiso.nl

WinterparadeThe Zuiderkerk19, 20 and 22 -28 DecemberThe Winterparade is an adaptation of Pa-rade, the touring theatre festival that travelsthrough the Netherlands each summer. Theaudience of 500 people will be seated at a gi-ant 120 metres long table to indulge in aChristmas feast and enjoy a wild mix of Dutch

performances that incorporate theatre,dance, poetry, art, music and interactive fun. www.tafelvandeidee.nl

Christmas markets and ice skatingSituated on the picturesque Beursplein andin the neighbouring Damrak, the traditionalWinter Market Amsterdam is the perfectspot for Christmas shopping. Amsterdam’sfamous Sunday markets also enjoy sea-sonal makeovers to become the FunkySinterklaas Market (30 November) and theFunky Xmas Market (14 December). Forextra special stocking fillers, Pure WinterMarket on 14 December (Amstelpark) and21 December (Park Frankendael) will offera multitude of organic produce and sus-tainable goods.

For the perfect finish to your shopping day,the Jaap Edenbaan ice skating rink or thesmaller, but very picturesque, rinks at Mu-seumplein offer more festive fun for thewhole family.

For more festivities and events across theBenelux, please turn to page 92 for our Out& About calendar.

All I want for Christmas is... AmsterdamTEXT: HELEN CULLEN | MAIN PHOTO: JANUS VAN DEN EIJNDEN



The ‘Oeffelt effect’. That is the result ofa stay in Guesthouse De Heide in thesouth of the Netherlands. Escaping thehectic city life with its busy workdaysand ringing phones, Guesthouse DeHeide is the place to unwind in thecalmness of the countryside, the still-ness of nature and in fresh and clean air.

De Heide is a small guesthouse situated ina former farm, dating back to 1805, in asmall town called Oeffelt. The cosy andwarm atmosphere immediately gives youthe sense of being at home, but in themiddle of nowhere.

Owner Judith Gordon-Van Bokhoven ex-plains: “We own 14,000 square metres ofland. It harbours ponds and farm animalssuch as horses, chickens and little pigs.” It is perfect to go for a relaxing stroll. Aftera day outside in nature you are probably upfor a good night’s sleep: 22 people canstay the night in the guesthouse or in beau-tiful wooden lodges, situated in the widemeadows on the farm land.

LuxuryDuring your stay, all the luxury you canwish for is provided. Gordon-Van

Bokhoven: “Several rooms have privatewellness facilities such as a sauna andjacuzzi, or even a private billiard room withfireplace.” It gets better: you can request amasseur on demand and every morningbreakfast is brought to your room. Gordon-Van Bokhoven: “We can serve it withchampagne, or any other personal wishesyou have!” It is clear: your hosts, Judith andher husband Piet-Hein will make sure thatyou are very well taken care of.

BusinessGuesthouse De Heide is the ideal place totake a step back. It is the right place to beif you need to write a strategic businessplan, or for a team building session. Youcan choose from several customizablearrangements. “We work with music,dance, animal assisted coaching with an-imals such as dogs, horses and sheep.Plus the entire location is privately availablefor the team, so you will not be disturbedby other guests. And the dinners andlunches that will be catered are ecological,made with local products,” she says.

SurroundingThe beautiful surroundings make De Heidea popular place to visit. Meadows with

cows surround the guesthouse and woodsand lakes are nearby. Outdoor activitiessuch as horseback riding, mountain bikingand hiking can all be done close by.

www.guesthousedeheide.nl

You can always expect a personal approach atGuesthouse De Heide.

H O T E L O F T H E M O N T H , T H E N E T H E R L A N D S

Unwinding & team building in the middle of nature

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: PETER BAAS

Discover Benelux | Hotel of the Month | The Netherlands


In 1977 Marc Barthelemy’s father took overthe Juegdschlass and Marc, current man-ager, has been running the café-restau-rant for close to 30 years, making sure thetradition is carried on. Ever since he tookover, Marc has run his restaurant as a fam-ily business, working for the first few yearswith his mother and siblings, always puttinga strong emphasis on traditional, home-made food.

Located in the heart of the Bambësch forest,a ten-minute drive from the city centre, thecafé-restaurant Juegdschlass is one of the“must-go places” for locals looking to enjoyan invigorating walk through the forest, fol-lowed by a relaxing drink on the terraceoverlooking the Alzette Valley, or a warm teanext to the Canadian Bullerjan stove.

“Our café-restaurant is a bit of an institutionin Luxembourg,” explains Marc, “as earlyas the 1970s, workers, ministers, artists

and hikers, would come to enjoy the tradi-tional kachkéis, the local speciality ofcooked cheese served on a long piece offarmers’ bread, accompanied by a coolglass of local beer or white Mosel wine.”

The menu is adapted to the seasons twicea year. The summer menu offers a good se-lection of organic salads, which are suppliedby his partner Nicola Senior, owner andmanager of GaardenKarisma gardening, ac-companied with a choice of grilled scampi,roast chicken, smoked trout or salmon. Thewinter menu includes succulent slices ofvenison served with red cabbage, spaetzle(noodles) and pommes dauphines, a heartychoucroute (sauerkraut) or black puddingserved with apple compote and mashedpotatoes, to mention but a few.

From now until 15 January 2015, localhunters ensure the game on the menu isnothing but the freshest. Marc takes pride

in using only the freshest of products toguarantee the best quality for his visitors. Marc and his team look forward to wel-coming you amongst their guests to enableyou to discover the rest of their specialitiesand to relax and immerse yourself in thewarm atmosphere of the old hunting lodge,where time slows down.

Tel. +352 33 71 37 www.juegdschlass.lu

Indulge in Luxembourg’s top traditional foodThe story of the Juegdschlass goes back to 1873 when the steel and iron barons of Luxembourg built the

hunting lodge where they would invite their friends and partners to relax after a hunt. In 1935 the lodge was bought by a private investor and the Café Juegdschlass was created.

TEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: JUEGDSCHLASS

As they approach the restaurant, clients from all overthe world are met by the resident peacocks, a family ofdonkeys, and they may even catch a glimpse of theirquieter neighbours… the bison.

Discover Benelux | Restaurant of the Month | Luxembourg

R E S T A U R A N T O F T H E M O N T H , L U X E M B O U R G


Discover Benelux | Special Feature | GaardenKarisma

It is that time of the year again... Winteris approaching and nature is slowly en-tering into its dormant period – a crucialphase for the survival and regrowth ofall plants and trees next season. Asmuch as gardening is a pleasure onwarm sunny days when plants are inbloom, the garden is often forgottenabout when the days get colder and it istime to “put the garden to bed”.

There is a lot to be taking care of – trim-ming back, weeding, fertilising, mulching,planting hedges – and this is why manyLuxembourg residents decide to call inGaardenKarisma, the experts’ choice.

Nicola Senior, owner and manager of Gaarden Karisma, has been designing, cre-ating, transforming and maintaining gar-dens in Luxembourg for over 15 years andwill know how to find solutions suited toyour individual requirements.

Whether you need help creating your gar-den from scratch, transforming part or all ofan existing garden, installing a wildlifepond, transforming a piece of neglectedgrass into a perennial bed to prolong theflowering season, creating a secludedseating area or just simply looking afteryour garden on a regular basis, Gaarden -Karisma’s team will put their expertise atyour service.

What clients appreciate about working withNicola and her team is their holistic ap-proach and attention to detail, they workfrom concept to implementation, with anemphasis on listening and understandingthe clients’ needs.

“Planning the garden together with Nicolawas already a pleasure,” says Mrs Frisch,a regular client of GaardenKarisma, “shedidn’t force her ideas onto me but gavegood advice and guided me in my deci-sions. I just keep on relying on Nicola andher team to maintain the garden in order tokeep it at its best.”

Although the orientation of the garden andquality of the soil will determine the plantchoice, Nicola spends a lot of time talking toand consulting with the client to determinehow the garden will be used and how muchtime the client is able to devote to the gardenonce it is in place. “A garden mustn’t justlook good, but also needs to be practical,”concludes Nicola, “we take pride in main-taining individual, long-lasting relationshipswith our clients and delivering the highestquality service to ensure our clients can en-joy their gardens for as long as possible”.

Tel. +352 2633 2657www.gaardenkarisma.lu

Expert gardening to root forTEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: GAARDENKARISMA

BELOW: Before (left) and after (right

ABOVE: Nicola Senior and her team at GaardenKarisma will help you get the most out of your garden at any timeof the year.


Thirty years ago the Ascott Group openedits first international-class serviced resi-dence. The concept was simple – makingguests feel at home instead of constantlyreminding them they’re not. Easier saidthan done, but with 45 of their Citadinesapart’hotels in Europe alone now, it hasclearly worked. The Citadines Sainte-Catherine in Brussels, recently named bestserviced residence in Belgium, demon-strates how.

“We provide a guest-friendly combinationof spacious, comfortable and – vitally – pri-vate apartment living, with a wide range ofconvenient hotel services available,” ex-plains Frédéric Carré, the group’s areamanager for Brussels and France North.“So here they can cook for themselves intheir own well-equipped kitchen – with su-permarkets close by for supplies – or strollto one of the city’s celebrated restaurants.They can relax in bright contemporary sur-roundings – that’s the way Citadines wantsto welcome its clients – with free WiFi andcable TV. And we look after the bedding

and the cleaning on a weekly basis, andcan help with things like babysitting anddry-cleaning.”

There are 169 apartments in the SteCatherine residence, mostly for two but44 accommodate four guests. While it’s ina business district, and as you’d expectbusiness travellers love the mixture ofhome comforts and privacy, the building’sproximity to draws like the Royal Palace,the Grand Place (and that naughtiest oficons the Manneken Pis) and the Operameans plenty of tourists book too.

Another huge attraction will be on thedoorstep from the end of November toearly January – the Christmas market in the

Place Ste Catherine: “Along with thechalets there’s a skating ring, and even aluge track!” says Carré.

Though the Ste Catherine metro station isnearby some guests arrive by car; even thehotel’s garage displays thoughtful innova-tion, working towards a cleaner, quieterworld: “Ascott is uniquely positioned toplay an active role in transforming busi-ness practices and employee mindsets tomake them more eco-friendly,” says Carré:“So Citadines Sainte-Catherine Brusselsnow has two recharging stations for elec-tric cars in our underground car park. Welike to lead the way.”

www.citadines.com

Beating the bustle in Brussels Belgium’s capital is buzzing, the EU’s racing heart packed with dynamic corporate HQs and multiple must-seetourist attractions too. So finding city centre accommodation that creates a relaxing home-from-home haven will

delight business and leisure travellers alike.

TEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTOS: JADCAROLLSTUDIO.COM

Discover Benelux | Hotel of the Month | Belgium

H O T E L O F T H E M O N T H , B E L G I U M

Some say that there is no equivalent in theNetherlands to the 400 year old estate, HetHuys ten Donck.

An oasis of nature, craftsmanship and Dutchcultural heritage, this estate is a hidden pearlonly a quarter of an hour from the center ofthe large city of Rotterdam, in Ridderkerk.

Originally built as a reception house in 1746on the foundations of the old castle from 1616,Het Huys ten Donck to this day still serves itsfunction perfectly. Nationally and internation-ally renowned for its unique Rococo plaster-and woodwork in its charming homey interior,combined with its roots in the East India Com-pany and centuries-lasting bond with the fam-ily Groeninx van Zoelen, Het Huys ten Donckis often referred to as the most beautiful coun-try house in the Netherlands.

This last authentic estate in the Rotterdam re-gion offers a broad pallet of possibilities forcorporate entertainment and special celebra-tions with lunches, dinners or a high tea; strate-gic workshops or inspiring sessions; and com-mercial and editorial photo shoots or filmproductions. On a yearly basis a select numberof weddings also take place at the estate.

Thanks to the limited amount of events peryear, we can guarantee your guests a surprisingand memorable experience. We look forwardto welcoming you at Het Huys ten Donck!

www.huystendonck.nl facebook.com/huystendonck instagram.com/huystendonck twitter.com/hethuystendonck

HuysTenDonck_Advert_1p.qxp_Layout 1 26/11/2014 16:02 Page 1


“Art is important in human existence;it is inspiring not only to have beauti-ful things around you, it also stimu-lates professionalism in one’s owndiscipline,” says Evert Douwes, ownerof Douwes Fine Art. “I believe that artgives energy, and it is for everyone.”

Douwes has the right to speak: he is thesixth generation leading Douwes FineArt. His ancestors founded the companyin 1770, which makes it the oldestgallery of its kind in Europe. They beganwith the restoration of paintings, furnitureand boats. While the Douwes gainedreputation, artists asked for their ownpaintings to be offered for sale; artistssuch as Leickert and Springer. Douwes:“To this day we believe that timeless,quality art should be affordable.”

The experience of historyDouwes Fine Art does not only see his-tory – they have lived it. They have trans-ferred their knowledge to future genera-tions. “At the time the artists were

categorized as modern. Nowadays weoffer a collection which consists of fivecenturies of paintings, works on paperand sculptures.” The art comes from allover the world; they deal in old Dutchmasters (including original Rembrandtprints), early Flemish, French and Russianworks, modern art and non-European art(including Africanists and contemporaryChinese). According to Douwes findinggood quality art is an exciting journey of

discoveries. “Especially when the restora-tion process gives important insights, andhas amazing results. The advantage ofhaving our own restoration departmentfor museums, clients and ourselves isparamount to our success.”

Living the artDuring its 244 years of existence,Douwes Fine Art has gained a hugeamount of knowledge and expertise inart. Douwes: “We have a library with ahalf a million photos of paintings. It is thefoundation of our knowledge, which isconstantly challenged and asked for.”According to Douwes they are very ac-tive at international art fairs and organisepublic exhibitions as well. The companyhas spread from Amsterdam to London,and recently also Hong Kong. “The pas-sion, sharing expertise, traveling, butforemost our personal contact with peo-ple make this a unique profession worth-while. It is a treasure hunt every day.”

www.douwesfineart.com

Art is a journey of discoveriesTEXT: BERTHE VAN DEN HURK | PHOTOS: DOUWES FINE ART

Evert Sr. (middle), Evert Jr. (left) and EvertAnthony (right) – 5th, 6th, and 7th generationDouwes Fine Art. (Born: 1928, 1953, 1992)


Who doesn’t dream of the Swiss Alps –the magnificent landscape, the stun-ning mountains and characteristic vil-lages? Liliane Britsch certainly did, andapart from her own, she has mademany other dreams come true throughher Swiss real-estate company BojoliLiving.

After coming to the Alps for over 30 years,Britsch decided to leave her home countryof the Netherlands behind and moved toSwitzerland five years ago. Since then shehas helped Dutch, Belgian, English andSwiss clients to purchase a (second) homein the Swiss mountains. She says: “We of-fer individual and professional advice buy-ing, selling or letting chalets and apart-ments. Swiss real-estate is a very attractiveinvestment with excellent possibilities forhigh returns.”

Bojoli Living offers to buy, renovate, ex-pand and completely refurbish character-istic chalets at four unique mountain loca-tions in Valais, southern Switzerland:

Saas-Fee, Blatten/Belalp, Riederalp andFieschertal. Britsch explains, “There’snowhere like Switzerland. The mountainsare breathtakingly beautiful, the Swiss arevery welcoming, winter sport is superb andI love the atmosphere of the little mountainvillages.”

The stable political climate and long sum-mer and winter seasons are attractive forhome owners – they can enjoy their chaletduring the holidays and let their property forup to 20 weeks a year. “Moreover,” saysBritsch, “there are financial incentives. AtSaas-Fee, banks offer a 70 per cent mort-gage, ten percent higher than the stan-dard rate.”

She emphasises that while the winter is themost popular with excellent skiing facili-ties, the summer also has lots to offer. “Es-pecially for young families, owning a chaletin Switzerland is a great choice. The sum-mer is fantastic and once you’re here, youcan enjoy all the magnificent nature forfree!” she says.

Britsch, who speaks English, German andDutch, has good relations with the local au-thorities and organisations, and offers totake care of the full home-buying process.In the case of a home expansion, she canoversee the construction process so thechalet is ready upon arrival. “Because I ambased locally, I can make sure everything istaken care of,” she continues. “Clientsdon’t have to worry about cultural miscon-ceptions, I make sure the prices are rightand they receive the best quality servicepossible.”

Bojoli Living Interior Design can also adviseyou on refurbishments and full interior de-sign, to give the chalet that characteristicSwiss Alps look. Britsch concludes, “Wehelp you find the right materials, furnitureand accessories so you can enjoy thechalet in style.”

bojoliliving.com

From the exclusive Saas-Fee to the accessible Blatten/Belalp, Riederalp and Fieschertal, Bojoli Living offers prime chalets inauthentic Swiss mountain villages.

Discover Benelux | Luxuries | Bojoli Living

Switzerland dreamingTEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: BOJO LIVING


At over 20,000 square metres you will findeverything about luxurious home and living,and only the best will be presented byskilled specialists from various branches.This makes the Excellent Fair a great placeto be inspired by. You will find everything todo with interiors and exteriors, buy andrenovate, health and beauty and secondhomes. You can also enjoy exclusive art,great cars, yachts and exclusive jewelleryand watches. Next to all this splendour,you can also spoil yourself at various gas-tronomical establishments and enjoy liveentertainment by top artists and talked-

about fashion shows of top couturiers. Ex-perience the atmosphere, experience theperfection, experience the finest home andlifestyle event.

Finest home and lifestyle eventThe core of the Excellent Fair can be de-scribed in one word: home. The ExcellentFair is the finest home and lifestyle fair ofthe Netherlands and offers home inspira-tion above all things, next to a variety ofentertainment on the floor. On the otherhand, you can go beyond admiration aswell. It so happens you can also buy di-

rectly at the fair. Next to that, on BusinessMonday – 15 December – the award for‘Best Home and Living Store of theNetherlands’ will be presented. Look at thenominees on the website. In short: the Ex-cellent Fair is truly an experience!

Exclusive categoriesThe categories that are at the centre dur-ing the fair days are interior & exterior, buy& renovate, health & beauty, jewellery, sec-ond home, yachts, cars and art. The cat-egories health & beauty, second home andart are each represented at their own

Discover Benelux | Luxuries | Excellent Fair

T H E E X C E L L E N T F A I R

Home and lifestyle inspirationAfter last year’s enormous success, the Excellent Fair returns to the port that is Rotterdam. From 12 to 15 December,Rotterdam becomes the home and lifestyle capital of the Netherlands. During the fair days and following last year’sdebut, Ahoy Rotterdam will once again be transformed into the country’s largest high-end home and lifestyle fair.

Here, the top of the interior world, the best interior architects and luxury companies are present.

TEXT & PHOTOS: EXCELLENT FAIR


‘square’. These squares give a better over-all picture. The other categories are spreadover the rest of the floor.

Observe special artNaturally, a house that has been beautifullydecorated is not complete without art tocreate a certain unique feeling within everyliving room. At the Excellent Fair, you canenjoy countless pieces of art by renownedartists. For instance, you will find, amongothers, Art by Nature at the fair. Art by Na-ture serves design lovers who are lookingfor new concepts of interior decoration andart that is from nature. Next to that, the in-ternationally well-known artist Marianne Y.Naerebout is present to inspire you in thefield of art. Various galleries, among whichGalerie Muskee, Galerie Sous-Terre, Ga-lerie Terbeek, Van Loon Galleries, GalleriesCreutzberg | Van Dun, Très Art and VanBellen Art are represented at the ExcellentFair. We are talking about a selection of the

best gallery owners in the Netherlands.The Excellent Fair offers you the uniquechance to be infinitely inspired.

Second homeA second home is, obviously, quite an in-vestment. It is, however, an investmentwhich eventually can be worth money. Buthow does such a large purchase bringyou money? The return on purchasing asecond home is many times higher thanthe return at your bank. This makes a sec-ond home even more worth your while.Find out everything there is to know aboutthis topic at the Excellent Fair. For in-stance, at the Excellent Fair you will findspecialists from, among others, RomexInvestments, Van Venrooy Motorhomes,Pierre et Vacances and Royal ResidenceLifestyle. Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate isalso present and has all the informationabout a second home in the Africanwilderness available for you.

The fair should also not be without Alpen-dreams, Immo Makelaar Oostenrijk, Pied-A-Terre, Bojoli Living, Griwaplan, Alpen-parks and Landberg Bauträger GmbH.They complete the list of second home in-spiration. Come to the Excellent Fair, dis-cover beautiful locations and unspoilt na-ture areas and have your dreams cometrue.

www.excellentbeurs.nl

Rotterdam becomes the home and lifestyle capital of the Netherlands

Discover Benelux | Luxuries | Excellent Fair

FASHION, FASHION, FASHION!

Friday night 12 December 21.30 – 22.00 Fashion showRonald Kolk

Saturday night 13 December 19.00 – 19.30 Fashion show Gotta-haves

20.00 – 20.30 Fashion showMonique Collignon

Sunday 14 December15.00 – 15.30 Fashion show JOSH V

DRESS TO IMPRESS – DRESS CODES

Friday night 12 December(VIP-night) – Black Tie

Saturday night 13 December(Ladies’ Night) – Touch of Gold

Monday 15 December(Business Monday) – Business Suit


Now that the fair skies have officiallyleft our shores, marked by the dreadedautumnal changing of the clocks, we’vebeen thrown once more to the wolves ofthe wintery season. But this year is dif-ferent: WATERDICHT Amsterdam’s14/15 collection of stylish raincoats isour sartorial saviour.

Straincoats, the word couldn’t be moreapt: stylish raincoats. Designed in fashion-conscious Amsterdam and manufacturedby a family-run company in Portugal, WATERDICHT Amsterdam have trans-formed the standard waterproof, a muchneeded wardrobe essential, into a stylishraincoat.

Four years ago, as they despaired at thepaltry offerings of rain-repellent garments –“too sporty or just not even waterproof!” –creative entrepreneurs Mascha van Horik

and Judith Nelis decided they could dosomething about this sorry state of affairs.“It all began as we chatted one evening.We had the thought that ‘you are alwaysfashionably dressed – except when it rains’,so we asked ourselves, why shouldn’t yourrainwear be as sophisticated as you are?”they explain.

Setting themselves the challenge of re-vamping the tried-and-tested raincoat,the pair knew instinctively where im-provements could be made. “We starteddesigning and discussing ideas to seehow we could reach the ultimate bal-ance between fashion and function. Ouraim has always been to transform a rain-coat from a necessary evil of daily lifeinto a fashion statement.”

Self-confessed jacket fanatics, the pairhave big plans for their elegant raincoats.

“At the moment we’ve got several mod-els for females but we don’t want themen to miss out on their chance to havea straincoat so the male version is on itsway,” say the women assuredly. “Eachstraincoat can be recognised by its spe-cific WATERDICHT details that we’veadded, such as the detachable hood,adjustable flap and distressed clasp but-tons.”

Channeling the past century’s most fash-ionable decades, the 1930s to the 1970s,the pair took inspiration from Parisian cou-ture. With the stylish print WATERDICHTAmsterdam have chosen, their raincoatshave taken on an entirely new dimension.“Understated chic is our signature style,”explains Van Horik from their office in Am-sterdam, “and we represent the ultimate incomfort too. The unique fit that we’ve per-fected over the past few years enables you

W A T E R D I C H T A M S T E R D A M

High quality waterproof rainwearTEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: MIRELLA SAHETAPY


to move comfortably while you and yourfashion ensemble are fully protected againstthe elements.” Typically Dutch, the pairnever lost sight of the functionality neces-sary for the coats to perform, and this in-cludes when you’re riding your bicycle.

Versatile and durable, the raincoats havebeen created from a high quality water-proof fabric. The seams, taped andsealed, ensure complete protectionagainst the elements, making them notonly truly waterproof (hence the nameWATERDICHT) but breathable and windresistant too. “We did do a lot of re-search to find the finest qualities, de-signs and suppliers to work with. Thiswas, and still is, an exciting journey aswe are constantly looking for the bestbalance between our creativity and thetechnical aspects.” Since they settledon keeping production within Europe,the pair have greatly benefitted: creatinga strong relationship with the manufac-turer; ensuring faster and more reliabledelivery; and relying on the expertise ofthe Portuguese nation, known for itshigh quality tailoring. “Developing a col-lection and carefully expanding ourbrand is still a rollercoaster,” the pair re-veal with a smile. “Each day we’re con-fronted with something unexpected andwe have to keep a close eye on every-

thing while still being creative.”Given the recent predictions relating toWestern Europe’s wetter winters tocome, WATERDICHT Amsterdam’s highfashion take on rainwear couldn’t havecome at a more appropriate time. Nelisagrees: “Climate change is resulting inmore frequent, heavier and harder rain.So raincoats are definitely called for.Slowly but surely, raincoats are shakingoff their bad reputation for being unstyl-ish and sweaty.”

Living as we do, in countries charac-terised by grey skies and threateningrain clouds, their creations have provedthat they serve their purpose well andwhile it is unlikely that we will ever bepining for a rain shower, at least we willlook good if the skies do open. Andwhen the jacket looks that good, no onewill even be looking at the weather.

www.waterdicht.nl

Discover Benelux | Luxuries | Waterdicht

WATERDICHT Amsterdam have developeda stunning collection for women and themen’s collection is on its way.

WATERDICHT Amsterdam’s straincoatsdefinitely live up to their name, providingcomplete protection against the elementsand looking good in the process.

The new 14/15 collection is nowavailable in their webshop and atthe Masters of LXRY Fair, RAI Amsterdam 11-14 December.

(See page 82)


Few industries are as competitive asfashion photography; documentingbeauty, styling fashionably and cap-turing moments. We can all be harshcritics, but when faced with stun-ningly well-shot images, we stop inawe. A fleeting glimpse of skin, asmall piece of lace, a longing look,these are intimate moments, mo-ments of beauty, that need to be cap-tured and few do it as well as pho-tographer Gaby Fling, as she waitsfor the perfect moment in each shoot.

Capturing a moment in time with a simpleclick of the shutter is something that weare starting to take for granted, but withinthe swamp of snaps, there are somegreat images that really pique our interest,brimming with originality and a certainunique essence. Amsterdam-based Flingis one of these treasured few, shootingwith the insight of how to capture truefeeling, catching intimate moments in a

split second without tricks. Her imagesare not only causing a stir, but bringingacross a new perspective, allowing youto look through her eyes, seeing whatshe sees. Fling takes you with her intoher world of seeing and believing.

“It is all about the right moment, a gutfeeling! I frame the image, sometimescropping in on something really smalland intimate, a rustle in the fabric or themodel’s body,” explains Fling. “I thinkthat it is down to my roots as a stylistand how I started shooting with feeling,that makes my style what it is.”

Fling started out as a stylist for ELLEmagazine before heading out on her ownas a freelancer. Tough times in 2004prompted the dive into photography, sheexplains. “I was working on a new col-lection and decided to use myself as themodel.” Duly holding the camera at arm’slength and shooting close-up, soon to be

dubbed ‘selfies’, Fling found that by tak-ing these images of herself, she was“creating something very intimate”, re-discovering herself and “creating a Flingmoment” capturing her gut feeling.

Ten years on and Fling has carved aname for herself in swimwear and lin-gerie photography, working with every-one from top fashion brands, privateclients and also on personal projects pro-viding limited edition prints and a stun-ning limited edition book entitled Truly.Her style has been the key to her suc-cess. Fling explains: “My clients cometo me because they love my style, theyare taken in by the images that I producebecause my work has space for the per-son looking at it to have their ownthoughts. It is also humbling when aclient tells me just to shoot as I normallydo, they trust my eye and are thrilledwhen I produce images of them that arestrong and beautiful, Fling moments.”

G A B Y F L I N G

Seeing is believing, a mesmerising perspectiveTEXT: PHIL GALE | PHOTOS: GABY’S FLING

Mon

te Carlo, 2

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Discover Benelux | Luxuries | Gaby’s Fling

Very much a champion of the phrase‘less is more’; to look at Fling’s work is todive into an evergreen world of deca-dence and beauty. Close-ups of fabric,covered faces, bare shoulders and tenderskin all allow the onlooker to create theirown story to accompany the image. Cap-turing a glimpse of beauty on a hot sum-mer’s day, with the sun’s glare obscuringyour full view, these images let your mindwander, meaning that even after thebriefest glance the image stays with you.These mesmerising images have cap-tured something of the people and prod-ucts shot. To look at Fling’s work is to feellike you have been let into the most inti-mate moments of the people she shoots.

Rich, opulent, sexy and a real celebrationof strong, beautiful women, Fling’s workwill be included at the upcoming Mastersof LXRY Fair in Amsterdam this Decem-ber. Fling elaborates: “I will be includingtwo photos in the fair, Monte Carlo andLos Angeles, both of which I am veryproud of.” One, an iconic portrait in blackand white with palm trees reflected inthe model’s shades and the other, incolour, with an American flag and twogirls – both of these images have theiconic style of Fling written across them.We dare any of our readers not to be en-tranced by their simple, yet powerfulcompositions that just beg for your mindto wonder about the story behind each.

Mesmerising, intimate, balanced andevergreen, producing photos full of truefeeling is what Fling has mastered. Withstandards that far exceed typical pho-tography, her unique and non-traditionalroute to shooting has given her a differ-ent eye for images and also a differentway of working with her clients. Flinghumbly concludes: “The relationship thatI build with all my clients is somethingspecial. Shooting in the way I do theyhave to let me in. I create an image thatallows the people looking at it room fortheir own imagination to work, becauseeach photo has a fresh perspective.That, for me, is such a thrill and why Ilove what I do.”

www.gabysfling.com

Los Ang

eles, 2

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Left: M

ona Lisa, 2

013. Right: M

istress, 201

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Discover Benelux | Special Theme | Design


While the quality of Benelux design is topclass many creations are often surprisinglyaccessible. This does not only express itselfin attractive prices, objects are also often stillfully functional, if not even better equipped atperforming their tasks than their standardcounterparts. With a lot of talent emergingfrom the Netherlands and Flanders, theBenelux is a hot-bed for new and upcomingdesigners and certainly a space to followclosely.

Kicking off this theme is Dutch designer JanGunneweg who has raked up some fame fordesigning a (surprisingly comfortable) bikemade out of wood. Next, we feature several

innovative companies and designers whoeach have something special to add to theworld of form and function. Bringing up therear is an inspiring story on how design andart collide to create a wonderful work of in-frastructure ingenuity: a road that lights up atnight in the style of a Van Gogh painting.

Following this Special Theme: DaringBenelux designers are a number of impres-sive architects, each of which has con-tributed to improving a skyline in the Beneluxand abroad in one way or another. From in-ventive buildings to energy-neutral struc-tures – the same design mentality is clearlyvisible in the breath-taking constructions, all

are made to not just meet expectations offunctionality and form, but completely sur-pass them and absolutely overwhelm thebeholder.

Innovative, practical, original, creative and daring – these are some of the key terms that spring to mind whenmentioning design from the Benelux. Characteristic for the designers is their wish to inspire through their creations,

while improving functionality and surprising the beholder with their original use of form and materials.

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PRESS PHOTOS

S P E C I A L T H E M E

Daring Benelux Designers



Famous for designing a wooden bike,Jan Gunneweg has a love for natureand runs his own design company. Withhis all-wooden designs he tries to bringpeople together while creating elegant,simple and accessible designs. Dis-cover Benelux asked the Dutchman:what makes wood so special?

DB: You’ve made many designs out ofwood, like sunglasses, a bike. Why wood?

JG: Constructionally, I believe wood is thebest material in the world. It is strong,beautiful and warm and I love the way inwhich it grows. Take steel, it comes frommines with mine workers, which is quite anugly profession, or at least I wouldn’t wantto do it. Then it is taken to big factories thatspew up massive plumes of smoke, with allthe health problems associated with it.Then if you look at the production of wood,that is just the forest.

DB: When did you decide to make thisyour profession?

JG: I did a course in ship building and inthe final period of my degree I had alreadymade a wooden bike, ten years ago. Thenwhen I was at an exposition, I sold awooden wheelchair to someone and de-cided to start my own business. That wasnot easy, especially as I didn’t have anymoney. So the first few years I lived on abudget and invested every penny back intothe business. Now my business is goingreally well, and I have the freedom to de-sign what I like, which is great!

DB: It’s as if you’re suddenly everywhere,especially in the last year or so, what hap-pened?

JG: In terms of getting my name out, it hastaken a huge leap. It’s something thatgrows virally, people see you in the media

and start talking about it. At the momentabout 400 people ride my bikes in theNetherlands and until four years ago thatwas nothing.

DB: Apart from making the wooden bike,what else do you do?

JG: I’m known for my bike, but that isn’teven the main part of my business. I designinteriors, shops, and restaurants, all withwood, from design to delivery. I always tryto bring man and nature back together inmy designs. For one restaurant I made atable with a little slot to put your smartphone in, so people won’t be distracted byany beeps or noises, and instead have aproper conversation and listen to eachother again. It really helps people to leavethe restaurant refreshed.

DB: Organic, sustainable, green – thoseare very much current buzz words, is thisanother reason you like to work withwood?

JG: You can call it luck. If steel was sus-tainable, then I never would have chosenthat to work with. I think wood is incrediblybeautiful, it feels warm, absorbs vibrations,so the bike is really quiet, and it’s comfort-able for interior design.

DB: Then finally, are there any highlights of2014 you’d like to recount?

JG: At a presentation for a number of sur-geons, one stepped on our electricalwooden bike and said ‘all I can do is smilewhen I ride this’ and came back laughing.Things like this are each memorable high-lights, when people get onto our bikes forthe first time and realise how agilely andsilently it rides. I absolutely love that.

I N T R O D U C I N G

Jan GunnewegTEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF JAN GUNNEWEG



Design surrounds us and iseverywhere although very oftenunnoticed by the user. Every-thing around the human beinghas been designed.

If you are in your living room, thedining table, the wallpaper, chairs,sofa and carpet; they are all theoutcome of a creative process. Andlook at your desk: every piece ofpaper, your mobile phone, your lap-top, every colour, every shape andevery application has been de-signed and/or engineered. Go outside andlook at your car, your bicycle, the train oreven the streetlamps. A designer thoughtabout it before production could even start.

Either purchased in a design furniture store orat Ikea, always a designer or group of de-signers made decisions about shape, colour,material et cetera. Naturally this says nothingabout the value of the product. Neither doesit determine if the product is beautiful or dis-

tasteful. That is up to the user to decide. In the world of design, Dutch designersplay a prominent role. The products devel-oped by the Dutch are appreciatedthroughout the world and ‘Dutch Design’became synonymous for products thatcombine self-evident shapes and user-friendliness with beauty and originality.

A vast majority of the internationally well-known Dutch designers were educated at

Design Academy Eindhoven. Thisschool was established in 1947and focuses totally on design andoffers a Bachelor and Mastercourse to its students. Dutch de-sign is well known for its function-ality, its originality and its typicalapproach on how to deal withquestions and problems. DesignAcademy Eindhoven challengesits students to come up with orig-inal solutions for everyday ques-tions and problems.

About 40 per cent of our student popula-tion has an international background. Allteachers only teach at Eindhoven for oneday a week and have an established prac-tice as designer or artist. Through this, De-sign Academy Eindhoven students areconstantly challenged to go beyond bor-ders, since there lies the unexpected solu-tions that lead to good design.

Surrounded by designTEXT & PHOTOS: DESIGN ACADEMY EINDHOVEN



Wood-u-Print’s printer use special UV inkthat latches onto the wood, and thanksto a unique lacquer layer the image won’tfade or damage either. With their state-of-the-art digital printing equipment forvarious wooden surfaces and for anynumber of print runs, Wood-u-Print canproduce both on an industrial scale aswell as single example prints.

Peter Buggenhout from Wood-u-Printsays, “Our production line offers flexibilityand unequalled print quality. The only re-striction to the possibilities for printing on

wood is really just customers' own cre-ativity and imagination. When designing aproject let your imagination run wild. Wewill make sure the results are perfect.”

From panel to personalised wallThe UV ink and varnish line fixes the imageto the wooden panels, resulting in scratchresistant, colourfast, washable anddurable print with vibrant colours. Fromphotographs to text to visualisations, anykind of image is possible. Buggenhoutcontinues: “We use panels with a whitepaper surface. Having a plain background

is vital for achieving the correct colour dis-play. There is also the possibility of print-ing directly on to wood, like panels withveneer top layer, plywood… so that thestructure and colour of the wood remainvisible and tangible. This gives the image avery warm look and feel.”

Adding to their innovative concept, Wood-u-Print can print on impressively large sur-faces. Their line can process panels of upto 3 metres high and 1.25 metres wide. Atthe company they have a selection ofstandard size fibreboard MDF panels,

From small, cube tables to complete walls, at Wood-u-Print they can customise and personalise your home or companybuilding in an instant. Popular with businesses and private homeowners alike, their innovative and high quality printing

and varnishing machines for wooden panels can bring any interior space to life.

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: WOOD-U-PRINT

Colourful innovation on wood



plywood, oak veneered MDF panels, clickpanels and interior doors. The panels canbe sawn to size after coming out of theprinter and turned into personalised furni-ture components, table tops and more.

“Because we print digitally, there are noextra costs to make each panel different.Our customised wall panels are verypopular with hotels because they canhave a different style or theme in eachroom for the same price as doing themall the same,” says Buggenhout.

Limitless options“The applications and possibilities are end-less. Photos, images or text, whatever youlike can be printed on any wooden surfacefor tables, cupboard doors for your homeor office, walls or even exhibition stands.We are also developing printed ceilingpanels and we are currently working oncustomisable steps for staircases,”Buggenhout says enthusiastically.

For their range of ‘print & click’ panels,Wood-u-Print offers a fast and easy solu-tion for anyone who wants a customisedwall. The panels can renovate existing

walls, be used as a partition wall in anywidth and the design can be personalised.“The panels are much stronger and morescratchproof than for example wallpaperand the installation of a wall is much fasterthan plasterboards. Furthermore, there arealmost no visible seams or screws, and ofcourse there is no need to paint them!”Buggenhout says. “The entire process isfully automated and delivers the printedand lacquered panels in just four minutes.”

A unique conceptThe concept for the business came fromhis father, Walter Buggenhout who workedin the wood varnishing industry. In early2010 he came up with the idea of printingimages on the wooden panels before var-nishing them. After a lot of research anddevelopment, they achieved the optimalcombination of ink and lacquer, integratedthe printing process in the production lineand Wood-u-Print was born.

The Belgian company, based just north ofBrussels, was set up three years ago andquickly realised it had found a gap in themarket. By now it gets orders from allover the Benelux and beyond, including

hotels and restaurants in the Netherlands,Austria and even Dubai. Wood-u-Print isalso about to launch a line of small cubetables that will be available on the Ger-man interior design webshop Home24.The cubes or ‘MyCube’ printed on everyside and are currently also available fromthe Wood-u-Print website.

On the Wood-u-Print website there is awide range of ready-to-order (click) pan-els, photo frames and furniture piecesavailable with various premade designs.If you want to personalise an item, youcan do this through their practicable on-line layout application or visit the show-room in Merchtem.

www.wood-u-print.be

With Wood-u-Print’s high-quality printer and special UV ink, any wooden surface can be transformed into colourful panels with vibrant images.


The most important ingredients for everypiece of art Loeviera makes are experi-ence, layeredness and dynamics. “When Iam painting a person, I do not just make astatic portrait. For me it is important tolook into his or her soul. To find the onething that characterises the person in thatmoment, by taking the conversations to adeeper level.” Loeviera does this the sameway when she paints animals. “Just likewith humans, the eyes are the reflection ofthe soul. But since they do not talk, I lookat their movements and feel the heat oftheir skin and their musculature.” Bothways of interacting result into a character-istic portrait of the portrayed person or an-imal. You will see the big picture: the pos-ture and the character, whether it is happyor powerful. And Loeviera’s approach to in-dustrial arts? It is the same. In the recent

portrait of the shipyard IHC Merwede yousee all layers of the yard: the inside of thefactory and the harbour, including all char-acterising facets for which the shipyard isfamous.

Jewellery like oriental fairy talesIf you want to experience what it is like tofeel like an oriental princess, jewellery fromNina Vitiuk might just be what you are look-ing for. Loeviera immediatel y loved the de-signs as soon as she laid eyes on themand is now Vitiuk’s agent in Europe: “Sheis a talented rising star from Ukraine. In herjewellery she uses real gold and silver,gems and real Swarovski crystals, whichshe combines and transforms into abreathtaking piece of jewellery.” And whatmakes the jewellery even more outstand-ing: Vitiuk makes each piece by hand,

which means that every piece is unique.This combination of high quality in materialand handcrafts has given way to interna-tionally acclaimed fairs in cities like Kiev,London and Tokyo and they even caughtthe attention of various royals who wereseen wearing Vitiuk’s art.

Conceptual citydressing While Vitiuk dresses you up, Loevieradresses up the city with conceptual art. “Arising number of companies asked me todesign a piece of art as part of their ad-vertising campaigns.” Instead of a light boxon a lamppost with an advertisement, thecompanies prefer to have their name on apiece of art in the public space. “RecentlyI developed ‘art seats’ in Rotterdam. Theyare shaped like a bollard and will bepainted by a talented artist. This way of

Princess-like jewellery and dynamic artsBeing creative by nature and having a background in educating school children, she knows how to surface your own

creativity as well. José Loeviera is an all-rounder. Her paintings and sculptures are sold all over the world, she developed

a stuffed animal to benefit women and children in need and she supports talented and upcoming jewellery artists from Ukraine by representing her art in all of Europe.

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: LOEVIERA


advertising can mean a revolution for therelationship between public space and ad-vertising!” Who would not prefer a beauti-ful piece of art over a flickering neon sign intheir streets? The material Loeviera will usefor the bench is also revolutionary: “I willuse polymer concrete with artificial resin.This is an upcoming material: It has all thefeatures of regular concrete, but becauseit does not have a steel skeleton inside, itwill not rust.”

Sustainable knittingBeing a former teacher, Loeviera will al-ways love kids. She published an illus-trated children's book about ‘Streep deBeer’ (Stripe the bear). In the story thebear gets socially isolated because of hissecret: his length doubles when he goesswimming! Streep was created by thefoundation Kenana Knitters in Kenya,where local women make funny animalsfrom sustainable wool, cotton and naturalcolourings like carrot juice. “Streep is a realcharacter,” explains Loeviera, “just like thehorse Kareltje, who is now the mascot ofParapaard.” Parapaard (para-horse) is asports foundation that helps disabled peo-ple to practice sports with horses or takeon horse therapy. “Kareltje has a way toobig head for its body, so it keeps fallingover. It is adorable.” Kenana Knitters em-

ploys women from a rural area in Kenyaand the profit raised with Streep andKareltje goes straight to the knitters. “Theyget half of the profit as a wage, the otherhalf is used to develop health care and theliving environment in their area.” To Loe-viera corporate social responsibility is im-portant. “With the money the womenmake, they can take on a micro credit.With that, they can buy a sheep. That

means they have more wool and can keepknitting.

”This is only the tip of the iceberg though.You can also visit Loeviera for creativeleadership workshops, teambuilding work-shops, tailor made art, or simply to learnhow to paint a cow.

www.loeviera.nl

Experience, layerdness and dynamics are key in all of Loeviera’s arts


These pieces are by Nina Vitiuk, a rising star from Ukraine, who makes beautiful, princess-like jewellery as from an oriental fairy tale.



Eschewing the more traditional designs,Geluk constantly poses himself the ques-tion of how best to pique our curiosity asa consumer. Whether it’s a wine rack,lamp or stool, he isn’t content until hereaches his objective of making us, theconsumer, stare in amazement at theproduct – and believe us, this happens.Often pleasantly surprised by his ratherunconventional material choices and strik-ingly bold designs, he succeeds like veryfew others in expressing his creativethoughts as physical entities.

Take, for example, the 1,000 faces lamp,a striking circular lamp with no fewer than160 planes, which double as both the de-sign and the light source. Inspired by thesunset’s reflection in the ripples of Rotter-dam’s Kralingse Park lake, Geluk settledon copper as the material for this cutting-

edge product. Using copper as a flatsheet gave the young designer the flexi-bility to create these angles that spreadthe light like the ripples of the water.

“It’s these kind of occurrences that in-spire me,” he explains from his studio.“Far removed from the design process,the everyday happenings can spark con-cepts in my mind and then I’ll head backto the studio and create simple paper orcardboard models to try out my ideas.”Similarly, Geluk’s crane-inspired balancelamp causes raised eyebrows with itsfar from innocuously unbalanced 60cmlength and 3mm width setting it apartfrom any regular light source. With his in-ventive designs, Geluk bestows an extradimension onto household items, suchas his solidly delicate hand-casted bowlsand candles created with concrete.

“As a product,” explains Geluk, “thesewill age over time, telling a story asunique as their owners.” When it comesto the choice of material, “they choosethemselves,” he says matter-of-factly.“The material has to strengthen the prod-uct’s story as well as suiting the functionof the product.”

Working on commission or for his owncollection, Geluk’s sense of creativity iscertainly reflected in the products as hisaesthetically pleasing products strike thebalance between form and function timeand time again. Far more than just visuallyattractive, they’re tactile talking points ofa room, winning your admiration – and asthe name Geluk suggests, they’re happyproducts for happy people.

www.gelukdesign.nl

G E L U K D E S I G N

Piquing our curiosityWhile being creative is certainly a skill in itself, Rotterdam’s Michiel Geluk takes it far further. A proficient design

consultant and self-proclaimed creative, he deftly transforms his knack for sketching imaginative designs into belovedand coveted interior products, innovative creations that each home is secretly calling for.

TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: GELUK DESIGN

Geluk creates objects with a balancebetween form and function; he usesunconventional materials and strikinglybold and often surprising designs.


Your Partner in Anglo Dutch BusinessThe Netherlands British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) is the only bilateral non-profit

membership organisation solely dedicated to promoting Anglo-Dutch trade and investment.

From our start in 1891, we helped thousands of companies and entrepreneurs expanding

their business abroad.

The Netherlands-British Chamber of Commerce, 125 years experience in

Anglo-Dutch trade and investment promotion. Contact us now for:

• Access to interesting network events

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• Exclusive access to our intranet membership area

• Up to date economic information and market sector intelligence

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NL Tel.: 070-205 5656 UK Tel.: 03333-440 779

Email: [email protected]

Or visit: www.nbcc.co.uk

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: JOINE

Design dedicationAutonomous industrial product de-signer Maarten Baptist from JOINEtakes his work very seriously. Designshould be optimal for its function, theproduction process should be done lo-cally and responsibly and it still has tobe reasonably priced. Mastering thisdelicate balance, many of his productshave taken years to complete.

One example is the Lucky Love Chair.Made from a single sheet of wood,sculpted and moulded into an elegant seat,the chair has a simple yet striking design.“Working together with a plywood manu-facturer in Germany, it proved quite tricky toget the design just right. The productionprocess is quite intensive, but the result isa beautiful and really comfortable seat.”

Another furniture project, the DutchLandscape Sofa, is a compact couch thatis ideal for both sitting and lying on. Thanks

to the precise angling of the corners, opti-mal comfort is created for any position,but doesn’t take up much space. Baptist:“We made countless test models to get thebest seating area possible. I noticed thatmany people immediately put their feet upto relax, so I made sure that this sofa isideal for that.”

Another design by Baptist came from apersonal frustration. “I hate it when youpour water from a jug and ice cubes andlemon slices slosh into your glass,” hesays. To solve this, he made decanterswith two openings – a large one that canbe sealed off and a small one, opposite, forpouring. “This allows you to put ice cubes,fruit and other flavour makers into the de-canters without it ending up in your glass.They pour beautifully and don’t drip at all!”Baptist says.

www.joine.nl


It is their passion to create unique inte-riors, furniture and objects. The designsare different, authentic and original.BLOK consists of the two enthusiasticdesigners Maurice Blok and Anke vanGestel, who are eager to create beauti-ful things on a daily basis. “We createunadorned design,” says Van Gestel.

Where do you find a workshop where ahandcrafted poplar cabinet sits next to a21st century computer-controlled millingmachine? “Technology is a tool just like ahandsaw,” says Anke van Gestel, co-founder of BLOK. “Sure, we can designand produce a complete custom-built in-terior but so can others. What sets usapart is the attention that is given to the

material and finish. Meaning: we use ma-terials as they are; pure and raw. We donot hide the materials with a layer of lac-quer or paint. We show the beauty ofthe materials as they are.”

A specific style BLOK’s clientele is so diverse that thereis no one explicit type; there is no ‘aver-age’ customer. It varies from private in-dividuals to businesses and from hospi-tality to government. Nevertheless theyhave one thing in common: they have aspecific demand in style.

“We work closely together with ourclients in developing concepts and inte-riors. Currently we are working on an in-

terior for a wine bar. Material, form andexperience are all entered around astrong and personal design concept,”says Van Gestel. “We have a range ofdifferent skills from metalwork, to wood-working as well a trusted network ofpartners that help bring projects to life.”

During the creative process, BLOK keepsin touch with their customers, especiallywhen handling complex products andlarge projects. They find it necessary toadapt constantly to one another; this en-sures that the end result fully satisfies thecustomer’s wishes. Van Gestel: “Becausewe can make everything in our workshop,we are flexible and we can usually stillmake adjustments without adverse effects

TEXT: BERTHE VAN DEN HURK | PHOTOS: BLOK

Using material as it is – pure and straightforward



on delivery date and cost.” All woodwork,and a large part of the steelwork, is madeunder BLOK’s own management. “We cando it all: the design, planning and imple-mentation up to installation,” she adds.

History“I trained in Amsterdam as a traditionalfurniture maker with all the traditionalskills before moving to Eindhoven for myfirst job,” says Maurice Blok. After run-ning the product development depart-ment for Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek, itwas time for him and Van Gestel to starta place of their own, with their own sig-nature. Ever since, they have built up acompany that offers solutions from de-sign to installation.

Where Blok is trained as a carpenter, VanGestel is a completely different story; shegraduated at the Amsterdam Fashion In-stitute. How does someone go from fash-ion to furniture? “I started working atBLOK immediately after my graduation. Idid not know what I wanted to do, andMaurice offered me a job.” She laughs, “Istarted at the bottom; sanding thewood.” Ten years later she’s the one thatprogrammes the milling machine andhandles project management. “That iswhat sets us apart; and on a personallevel it makes each day different.”

Signature“We bring out the essential quality ofmaterials by starting with their trueform,” says Blok. The designs rangefrom custom built interiors, to solid oak

porches and from classic armchairs torobust steel outdoor pizza ovens. BLOKalso makes a ‘trip to the art world’ onceor twice a year. Often collaborating withan artist, they have also designed multi-ple pieces of art themselves. Like a 2.5metre tall clock. BLOK launched theirown line of interior products a few yearsago, and the collection is steadily grow-ing.

Current CAD technology goes hand inhand with skilled craftsmanship. At theDutch Design Week last year BLOK pre-

sented a series of ‘beer tables’: sturdy out-door benches and tables crafted out ofthick oak planks. The wood is beautifullycarved by the computer-controlled millingmachine, revealing intricate flower patterns.

“Working with solid wood is not easy. Itis a living, breathing material with char-acter and imperfections, just like peo-ple,” says Blok. “It requires planning andcraftsmanship to shape a piece, whichcomes straight out of a tree. Anyonewho’s taken a good look at a plywoodtable covered with veneer agrees thatsomething is lost in translation.”

Van Gestel: “We actually developed ourown method of treating plywood, to bringout what we felt was lost in mass produc-tion and standardization in a recent set ofcabinets like the Peacock and Dragon cab-inets. The best part of the profession is cre-ating beautiful things. Seeing a thought oridea made into reality is incredible. It allstarts in our minds and at the end there isa tangible and useable product.”

www.blokmeubel.nl

Playtime clockPizza oven from high tensile steel Dragon cabinet



A dark house is not the nicest place tocome home to. It does not feel very wel-coming and you might even trip overshoes, toys, or other stuff that is lyingaround. Would it not be nice if all thelights you wish were turned on, in thebrightness you desire?

EcoCloudThe app ecoCloud, developed byDALEN, allows you to make your homeas comfortable as you wish, the momentright before you get home. “With theecoCloud you can control which of ourceiling lights you want turned on, youcan control their brightness and even setthe colour temperature. Cool white for

example is perfect for reading, while youshould switch to warm white for whenyou are having dinner or are watchingTV. EcoCloud can offer these scenemodes for you easily,” explains DALENBenelux’s marketer Stephan Mol.

Besides that, you can control other elec-tric devices, such as your TV, DVD playerand air purifier with the app. “With eco-Cloud you can also set up lists and con-trol different appliances at the same timeand the telecontrol is even supported via3G/4G,” he says. What might even be thebest thing: you do not have to touch yourphone to turn on the lights when you gethome. “You can programme the lights so

that they will automatically turn on whenyour phone is nearby. It’s just like a puppywelcoming you home!” Mol says.

Ceiling lightsDALEN focuses on one light in particular:their high quality ceiling lamp. “This lampis suitable for many residential areas likeliving rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms,reading rooms and more. It is especiallysuitable for lighting projects such as vil-las, apartments and hotel rooms,” ex-plains Mol. LED lights used to be fa-mous for their cold colours, which didnot make them very popular for for light-ing a place with a cosy atmosphere.Thanks to all the developments in the

A home lit by high quality LED lights, which are energy efficient and easy to control via a smartphone app,no matter where you are – DALEN makes it easy to create a perfect residential lighting plan. And not just that: theirLEDS allow you to adjust brightness and contrast, they include eye protection technology, have a 270-degree

beam angle, are insect resistant and have a lifespan of over ten years.

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: DALEN

Smart and high quality LEDs



last couple of years, this has changed.He says: “The market for LEDs is grow-ing very fast. At first, LEDs were mainlyused for public lighting, but with the in-creasing quality and decreasing costs,more and more families choose to lighttheir homes with LEDs.”

Safe for the eyeNot just any LED is the best choicethough. “Some LEDS have serious ripplewave, which is harmful to people’s eyes.You can check if your LED has ripplewave by using a phone with camera viewfinder: if you see the light flickering whenyou are at 15 centimetres distance, it islow quality. At DALEN we have devel-oped our own LED driver and softwareto achieve a no flickering and no ripplewave performance. For those who areacquainted with the technicalities: it hasa power factor bigger than 0.95, it’s thereal eye-protection technology,” Mol ex-plains.

Research and developmentFor their products, DALEN owns over90 patents. He continues, “We havespent two and a half years on researchand development and tested and opti-mised our products over thousands of

times before we released them to themarket. All our products meet our verystrict quality standards.” And not to for-get: their designs are fabulous. Thesequalities, combined with the smart func-tions of the ecoCloud and the low en-ergy consumption, this might just be theideal way to manage your lights as effi-cient and convenient as possible. An-other option is to use the remote controlif you prefer that over their app.

About DALENThe start of DALEN Benelux was a rapidone: “DALEN is a China-based com-pany, which DALEN Benelux founderPaul van den Hoogen found online,” ex-plains Mol. “He thought the productswere very interesting and full of potential.He immediately flew to China and afterthree days of efficient and pleasant dis-cussions and meetings, he decided toset up DALEN Benelux.” Other branchcompanies of DALEN are in Japan, Sin-gapore, Italy and the Czech Republic.Their common goal? Mol concludes:“We want to improve the lives of con-sumers around the globe with practical,stylish and smart home products.”

www.dalen-tech.nl



As soon as the sun goes down, the pathlights up. Special ‘light stones’ chargedby solar power during day light upthroughout the night. After dark, visitorsare amazed by a design of light andcolour. The pattern in which the lightstones are applied is inspired by thework of Vincent van Gogh, the world-fa-mous painting The Starry Night. The spi-ral curls in the painting are reflected inthe pattern of the bricks.

When technology and art collideAccording to the Dutch designer DaanRoosengaarde, this will create a “playon light and poetry”. Roosegaarde:

“I wanted to create a place that peoplewill experience in a special way, thetechnical combined with an experience,that’s what techno-poetry means to me.” Together with Heijmans, a Dutch con-struction company, Roosegaarde cre-ated a special innovative technology.Thousands of little twinkling stones were‘sprinkled’ on the existing road. Duringthe day, the technology allows thestones to charge, and at night they illu-minate the path. By ‘sprinkling’ thestones, Roosegaarde emulated thebrushstrokes of Van Gogh and used theroad like his own canvas. Heijmans re-asphalted the road, so the stones could

be integrated in the asphalt. “Our part-nership seems unconventional, but itbrings the best of both worlds together,creating new solutions for the mobility oftomorrow,” Roosegaarde says.

The bike trail is surrounded by meadows;therefore it is very dark at night. The stonesilluminate the path for 600 metres. Those600 metres may not seem like a typicallylong Dutch cycling path, but it is muchmore than that. It is an experience of artthat can be understood by everyone, andit also offers a little help to find your way inthe dark Dutch fields. In fact, it is a piece ofart which visitors are allowed to touch and

The Dutch have done it again – they have created something unique and extraordinary for the world: an illuminated bicycle path. The path combines innovation and design with cultural heritage and tourism;

it links the past with the present and the future.

TEXT: BERTHE VAN DEN HURK | PHOTOS: NBTC

Ride through a Van Gogh painting



use for their benefit; at night the pathshows the way, while it feels like a ridethrough a Van Gogh painting.

Glow-in-the-dark for grownupsRoosengaarde is well known for his ex-ceptional and smart designs. But the bi-cycle path is not the first solar road;previously Roosengaarde and Heijmansdeveloped the ‘Smart Highway’, an inter-active and sustainable road of tomorrownear Oss. Photo-luminescent paint marksthe edges of the road, designed to makethe highway safer, while saving moneyand energy. The Van Gogh bicycle path iscreated as a cultural and recreational ex-cursion, based on the Smart Highwaytechniques Roosengaarde and Heijmanshave developed. Roosengaarde: “It is in-spired by the glow-in-the-dark stickerswe had when we were children. This ver-sion is more modern and up-to-date. Ithink this could be the best and mosteconomy-friendly solution for roads inabout five to ten years. We do not need tobuild an entire new road to create a de-sign like this. The stones and paint areadded to existing roads.”

Those who are familiar with the Dutchweather know that there are periods inthe year with little sunlight. Therefore

they have created a paint which can beactivated by only a whiff of light. A tinyamount of electricity has a large effect;the roads are illuminated for up to eighthours, without disturbing the ecologicalenvironment. There is already a world-wide interest in these techniques; Qatar,England and multiple African countriesshow great interest in the use of solarroads.

Follow in Van Gogh’s footstepsThe opening of the bicycle path last monthmarked the start of the Van Gogh 2015 in-ternational year. Next year is the 125th an-

niversary of the death of Vincent van Gogh. The entire year will be commemorated inthe Netherlands with a comprehensive cul-tural programme on the theme ‘125 yearsof inspiration’. The Van Gogh-Roosen-gaarde bicycle path is part of the Van Goghcycle routes, in the province of Noord-Bra-bant. The routes show places where VanGogh lived, got inspired, and worked. TheVan Gogh-Roosengaarde path is a partthe routes in Nuenen, a village near Eind-hoven where Van Gogh lived for two yearsand created one of his masterpieces ThePotato Eaters.

The illuminating bicycle path is now accessible for everyone. According to Roosengaarde it is like riding through a fairy tale: “It is a perfect place for a first date”.


Since the beginning of the year, whenVerhaegen, now Professor Emeritus ofthe Université Catholique de Louvain,stepped down from the direction of theBureau Architecture Engineering Verhaegen (BAEV), it is Jean Paul Muyleand Nicolas Van Oost who took overwith an equal motivation to put archi-tecture to the service of daily life.

“When working on an architectural pro -ject, or any project that impacts the livesof men and women as much as a build-ing does, the stakes are rather high,”explains Van Oost, “and this is why we at

the Bureau Architecture Engineering Ver-haegen strive to reconcile beauty andpracticality in everything that we do.People who inhabit our work must enjoyit, this is a core value of our firm.”

You can recognize the work of the firmthroughout Belgium but also overseas,especially because of its modernity andin the way that light sinks inside and in-undates the living areas. The tendencyof BAEV's team to go for challengesand embrace projects with a high levelof technicality is probably one of thereasons behind the firm's success.

What might have started opportunisti-cally, winning a series of calls for pro-jects in healthcare and the pharmaceu-ticals industry, has become a consciousstrategy.

As of late, the BAEV is working on a hos-pital with an integrated oncology centre inLiège, with the objective of having twolaboratory levels within the same building.The approach will allow for impressivemultidisciplinary patient care and providea state-of-the-art tool to researchers...but as one can imagine, this doesn'tcome without its set of challenges.

The rise of the Bureau Architecture Engineering Verhaegen is the story of one of the Belgian greats. The firm saw birthsome 55 years ago, created by Emile Verhaegen, with a philosophy of excellence that will resonate for decades and leavea mark on the Belgian architectural landscape across the board – from academia to policy and architectural style.

TEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: BUREAU ARCHITECTURE ENGINEERING VERHAEGEN

A R C H I T E C T O F T H E M O N T H

Architecture for life


Discover Benelux | Architect of the Month | BAEV

“We have worked on many demandingprojects,” explains member of the boardRoland Roquiny, “in our thirty-year-longcollaboration with the aerospace com-pany SABCA for instance, we have hadthe opportunity to develop the test hallfor the Ariane rocket. This kind of pro -ject, on top of being professionally grat-ifying, forces us to create new processesboth in the execution of our work and inquality control, a constant disciplinewhich helps us maintain our level ofcompetency.”

This obsession with quality of service andarchitectural expertise was rewarded in2000 when BAEV obtained the ISO 9001certification from the Belgian Construc-tion Certification Association, for “the de-sign of architecture and engineering proj-ects, the preparation of all projects that

arise from them and the site manage-ment and coordination that ensue.”

A certification that was very natural, asVan Oost points out. “This was simply aformalization of the type of quality andcontrol that we were already applying toour work,” he says. “We do not see thequest for improvement as a constraint butindeed as research and development.” Asan example, the BAEV is currently inves-tigating processes, techniques and poli-cies that could cut construction times.

Clients from around the world are recog-nising the quality of the Belgian firm'swork. “One of our added values lies inour emphasis on listening to understandthe client's concept and, very often, pre-dict the evolution of the client's needsfor the next half decade.”

Thus, when the Chinese firm JuXing International decided to build a 120,000square metres technology centre in Louvain-La-Neuve, it chose to work withthe BAEV. The China-Belgium tech cen-tre will host five clusters of activities andinclude offices, a 160-bed hotel, a con-ference centre, parking facilities andmuch more.

Over half a century after its creation, theBAEV has seen many changes andstayed as modern and ground-breakingas anyone could hope for. After the re-purchasing of all shares in the firm, thesewere redistributed to the employees whonow own their company because it allboils down to integrity, freedom ofchoice and, further, down to what's es-sential: quality of life.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, thecompany asked photographer SébastienReuzé to visit the structures the BAEVhas built over the decades – a maternityward, a school, a factory, a petrol stationand a rest and care home. The pictureswhere then given to five Belgian writerswho imagined life stories in these worksof architecture. The result was made intoa book by publisher La Lettre Volée andsums up what the team at BAEV be-lieves is the intention of architecture: tobe inhabited!

www.baev.be

Bureau Architecture Engineering Verhaegen takes pride in its quality of service and architectural expertise and often successfully embraces projects with a high level of technicality.


A master off all trades, architect Marcovan Veldhuizen thrives on the diversityof his projects. His architecture firm,Studio Marco van Veldhuizen, spe-cialises in full concept design, encom-passing interiors, exteriors and gar-dens. From roof to light switch, VanVeldhuizen can take care of the fullpackage.

“When we do all aspects of a project, wecan make sure the building – inside andoutside – and the surroundings are in onestyle and that the use of space is opti-mised,” says Van Velduizen. “We empha-sise honesty and really listen to the clients.This way we can create truly personal andattractive buildings and exteriors.”

At Studio Marco van Veldhuizen each ar-chitectural design aspect is treated withthe same importance. When he startedthe company eight years ago, Van Veld-

huizen asked himself what he enjoyedmore. “I couldn’t choose between exteriorand interior, both are beautiful to work on.I love variety and the work we do is aswide-ranging as it gets, both in the Nether-lands and abroad,” Van Veldhuizen ex-plains.

Recently the company was nominated forthe ‘Best Hotel Design’ award. De Hallen inAmsterdam, a large former industrial hallwith protected status, is now a public cen-tre with a cinema, a library, shops, officesand a hotel. The latter, consisting of 45bedrooms, meeting rooms and a bar, wasdesigned by Van Veldhuizen. “We had tokeep the original construction intact butthe only light came in through the building’satrium roof. We used wooden lamellaealong the inside glass walls to create pri-vate yet bright rooms. The hotel itself hasan eclectic but elegant combination of vin-tage and modern styles,” he says.

Van Veldhuizen also fondly recounts fourcurrent projects in Veenendaal. On onesingle street he has been asked to designfour complete villas. “The owners kneweach other and recommended me for thejob. Each villa has something eye-catching,one has a beautiful façade, the other astriking entrance hall. They are all equallybeautiful, yet also have something unique,”says Van Veldhuizen.

From start to finish, a complete new buildcan easily take a year to complete. “It is im-portant to have a good relationship with theclient. This is why we are very approach-able, open and we want to enjoy the work.Many times, clients say they find it a shamewhen we come to the end. Needless tosay, many return to us for new projects!”Van Veldhuizen says.

www.marcovanveldhuizen.nl

A specialist of diversityTEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: MARCO VAN VELDUIZEN

Van Veldhuizen was recommended to create fourvillas in Veenendaal on the same street, completefrom interior design, architecture and garden.

The former tram depot in Amsterdam called De Hallen, was built in 1910. Van Veldhuizen’s hotel design was short-listed for the ‘Best Hotel Design’ award.


Discover Benelux | Architecture | PBV Architects

If you are going to build or rebuild a ho-tel, you are probably wondering how totake the utmost out of the square me-tres you have and how to save somemoney in the long run. PBV architectsknows how hotels work and designsefficient and convenient buildings thatfit their surroundings perfectly.

PBV architects is run by three partnersand has twenty years of experience in ar-chitecture. Throughout the years, devel-oping hotels has grown to be their spe-cialism. “We work with hotels like Hilton,Van der Valk and Hyatt”, explains architectWolbrand van der Vis. The key element isto focus on the needs of the user. “Thiscan be either spending a sizzling week-end in The Hague, for which the five starHilton hotel in the embassy quarter isperfect, or meeting and a good night’ssleep in the Hilton Garden Inn in Leiden.”

Another key aspect of designing a hotel,is the way a building fits the surroundings.Wolbrand: “Hilton Garden Inn for exampleis situated next to Corpus, which we de-signed as well. It is a gigantic structureshaped like a person, in which you can

go on a journey through the human bodyto discover all aspects of our insides.The Garden Inn on the other hand is verysleek, so the focus is kept on Corpus because a combination with a morecomplicated building would make the en-vironment look too overwhelming.”

De Echoput in the forest near Apeldoorn istotally different: the natural colours andthe more complicated design fit perfectlyin the arboreal area. Hyatt Place nearSchiphol too, is totally different: it is sleek,but at the same time complicated, whichfits perfectly in its industrial backdrop.

When designing a hotel, PBV architectswill help you maximise the results. Thepartners make sure your hotel fits in itssurroundings perfectly, plus they knowexactly how to optimise the use of allyour square metres. Wolbrand con-cluded, “With our knowledge and expe-rience, we know how to get the most ef-ficient and convenient results. You don’thave to invent the wheel yourself!”

www.pbv.nl

Efficient and convenient hotel architecture

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: PBV ARCHITECTS

All buildings fit perfectly into their surroundings.


Discover Benelux | Architecture | Atelier to the Bone

While many of their contemporaries inthe world of architecture struggled tokeep afloat, the young studio of Atelierto the Bone (AttB) got off to a flyingstart, winning a host of awards and in-ternational acclaim. How so? It’s thanksto their innovative take on architecture,which is certainly evident in Eindhoven’sBroeinest. Officially opening on 22 Jan-uary 2015, Broeinest is an exciting newconcept by Baars & Bloemhoff in Eind-hoven’s creative heart, Strijp-S.

With growing unrest in our society – eco-nomic, environmental and social – Atelierto the Bone’s three founders, Jeroen vanAerle, Philippe Rol and Beerd Gieteling,firmly believe that the role of the architectis vital in dealing with these issues. Archi-

tects, they claim, can essentially build thebridge between changes in society andour built environment. Yet, they insist onthe need for a societal catalyst rather thanthe pure desire to build. As the Finnish ar-chitect Juhani Pallasmaa said: “Architec-ture is about the understanding of theworld, and turning it into a more humaneplace,” and in line with this, the latest gen-eration of architects look further than aes-thetics, taking a multi-disciplinary ap-proach and daring to be innovative.

Sharing AttB’s urge to innovate is thewell-known Baars & Bloemhoff, a fixturein the world of material supplies. React-ing to the decline in construction since2008, Baars & Bloemhoff have welcomedthe challenge to create new concepts.

“What remains is change, and whatchanges remains,” explains Bart Dekkers,Baars & Bloemhoff’s director and the cre-ator of the Broeinest concept.

With their ‘Broeinest voor creativiteit’(hotbed of creativity) at Eindhoven’s Strijp-S, they’ve taken the initiative to create aspace that directly connects their materi-als with the new generation of creativeprofessionals. This responds impeccablyto the needs of the growing population ofself-employed creatives, who often do nothave a close network of contemporariesor materials to work with. Dekkers ex-plains this is exactly how Broeinest is fa-cilitating change: “We’ve taken the leadtogether with brands such as Forbo, Interface, DRT, Sphinx and Modular to

B R O E I N E S T

A perfect collaboration between the innovatorsBaars & Bloemhoff and Atelier to the Bone

TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: ATELIER TO THE BONE


Discover Benelux | Architecture | Atelier to the Bone

offer a place where the (interior) architectand the creative designer can work moresuccessfully, with like-minded souls andall the necessary facilities.”

For Broeinest’s own interior, Baars &Bloemhoff settled on a design contest, inwhich AttB’s fully flexible and dynamic design was victorious. As well as a flexi-workspace for (interior) architects and designers, Broeinest contains Baars &Bloemhoff’s materials, available for imme-diate use in models, presentations and col-lages. (Interior) designers therefore havefree use of a space in Eindhoven’s creativecore that houses everything needed. WithBroeinest defining the space, users are in-vited to engage in its design and use.

AttB’s winning design brings multi-purposespace to the fore with each square metreused to its full potential; with one hand-movement the entire space can be trans-formed from an open office into a presen-tation room, exhibition space or workshoparea. To maximise flexibility, they designedthe Broeiplek, a moveable piece of furni-ture with two worktops that can be used

as the user wishes: desk, drawing table,painting easel or presentation display – afitting response to current demands fromyoung professionals in this field for free-dom. Far more than just a static show-room, Broeinest is a dynamic space thatrepeatedly reacts to its users’ wishes.

The flexibility that characterises Broeinestwas prompted by the global societalchanges – AttB have these matters at thecore of their designs. With Schuttingtaal(slang), their innovative take on a traditionalgarden shed, they convincingly won the2013 Young Architects Prize. Incorporatingthe regular functions of a summerhouse, itshares the role of the dividing fence, al-lowing access to both sides. Once a di-viding feature, this object becomes ashared summerhouse that unites, allowingoptimum use for both users – and costscan be shared with neighbours.

According to AttB, architects shouldn’tlimit themselves to a particular scale. Forthem, creating a connection is vital, andthis is unmistakable in their deserved vic-tory in Europan, the international archi-

tecture competition. Since 2010, sewingmachine manufacturer Pfaff’s former 21-hectare industrial site in Kaiserslauternhas fallen into disrepair, prompting theneed for a complete overhaul. In a tasklike this, the role of the architect as a fa-cilitator is called for. During the develop-ment phase, AttB considered how peo-ple approach certain spaces and soughtto link these concepts. Giving peoplethe opportunity to shape their own envi-ronmental results in a relationship de-veloping between user and space. Sucha system has no static end result andthis form of dynamic urban planning ischaracterised in projects such as Eind-hoven’s Strijp-S, where Broeinest willshortly open its doors.

The collaboration between AttB andBaars & Bloemhoff is one that brims withpossibilities, seeing both parties search-ing for the optimal way to connect; con-necting people not just with each other,but with their surroundings as well.

www.broeinest.nlwww.attb.nl


Discover Benelux | Architecture | Inbo

“Collaboration is the key in realising trulysuccessful designs for a sustainable livingenvironment,” Tako Postma, architect andpartner at Inbo. He elaborates on the prac-tice's commitment to meaningful designsolutions: “We do it together. Our clientsand the end users are a valuable partner infinding clever and efficient ways of creatingexiting and highly usable space. Spacethat users really appreciate. The designprocess is a joint venture, to assure mutualunderstanding of where we all come fromand the point we want to arrive at together.From common ground we can realise an

undisputed and self-evident level of qualityin our buildings and environment.”

For almost 50 years now Inbo has beensuccessfully developing the built environ-ment through multidisciplinary collabora-tion. “We operate within a network of pro-fessionals, committed to realising jointtargets,” says Postma. “Our social stand-ing in the field is characterised by innova-tive thinking based on a solid foundation inpractice. Our architects realise their de-signs. Our engineers think BIM (Building In-formation Modelling). Our urban planners

clarify complex issues through clear analy-sis. Organising complex processes fromthe content within inspires our consultantsin their work.”

“We see the fact that so many of our clientshave become long-term business relationsas a great compliment,” Postma continues.This sustainable business approach is ev-ident in the ongoing design activities for theHigh Tech Campus in Eindhoven alreadyspanning a decade and a half. The‘smartest square kilometre on the planet’ iswhere Philips has concentrated its key

Creating precious places for everyday life – that is what Inbo strives for. It does that by connecting existing values and new impulses across all levels of scale and from the perspective of the full life cycle – from development strategies

and urbanism to architecture, interior design and engineering.

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: INBO

“We think it to build it”


Discover Benelux | Architecture | Inbo

research facilities, and now offers synergyeffects for countless knowledge-basedbusinesses located on the site. Postma:“There are two particularly important de-sign aspects that we apply without excep-tion. One: the buildings are open andtransparent, providing the researchers witha workspace in the middle of natural sur-roundings. Two: common facilities are cen-tralised, promoting interaction, synergy andse rendipity in a very natural way.” The factsspeak for themselves. The High Tech Cam-pus has the highest patent count persquare kilometre worldwide.

Inbo is currently working on the renovationof the visitor centre of De NederlandscheBank (DNB). Postma: “We are transformingthe closed building into an open one, fittingwith the core values of the DNB: stabilityand transparency. The combination of clearglass and the bronze framework results ina business-like but warm atmosphere, ex-uding a hospitable professionalism.” Aspart of the intelligent renovation scheme,the building support systems have been re-located into the underground basementlevel of the building. Freed of visible tech-nical clutter, the near energy-neutral build-ing will better fit into the protected sur-roundings of listed buildings.

The multifunctional character of the innercity of Amsterdam is pushing its way intothe surrounding – formerly mono-functional– neighbourhoods. Inbo welcomes thiscontemporary urban trend. “Currently wehave two high-rise housing projects underdevelopment on the Zuidas. Unusually forthis business district, our buildings arecharacterised by an unmistakeably ‘live-able’ architecture. Both buildings share theurban typology of a high mixed-use plinthand a high level of detail at the top of thetowering volume, but are very different incharacter,” says Postma. While the strikingdifference in architectural expression re-flects the wishes of the different clients,the underlying professional approach is thesame. “The apartments are extremely live-able, and enjoy breath-taking views andample daylight. A generously dimensionedprivate outdoor space is a base quality ofour designs here. The penthouse is reallymore like a townhouse with a 300 squaremetres terrace, towering over the city at anelevation of 80 metres above ground.”

Designs like this are an exemplary result ofteamwork. “At Inbo we work with twelvepartners and forty architects, each withtheir own architectural signature. While re-specting their individual qualities, the de-

sign professionals all share the wish andability to collaborate. We work togetherwithin the team, but also with our clientsand end users,” Postma explains.

One of the means used for multidisciplinarycollaboration is BIM: Building InformationModelling. “Together we work on one com-plete digital 3D model of our building. Allfacets of the building are in there. It hassome great advantages, and provides uswith a fantastic communication tool for col-laboration. It is easier to present our ideasto our client, and for our client to get a clearimage of the expected end result. Above allthat, it allows the designers to work in moredetail and more comprehensively,” he says.“It’s not just about the walls and the win-dows, but goes all the way down to the fittings of power utilities. Working with BIMhelps us to intercept problems that, in atraditional design process, might not surface until the construction phase. Weare now equipped to optimise right fromthe initial design stages.”

www.inbo.com

Collaborative designs for sustainable living environments from the end user’s point of view


Discover Benelux | Theatre | Luxembourg

Luxembourg takes the stageTEXT: KAROLINA MARKIEWICZ (FOR THE THEATER FEDERATIOUN) | PHOTOS: LUXEMBOURG NATIONAL THEATRE

Luxembourg could be thought of assomething of a laboratory in matterscultural, especially in the world of theatre. Rather than a revolution, it hasexperienced somewhat of an explosionof talent and in quality since 1995.

In the city centre we can point to sevenstages where the programme wouldn’t beout of place in the world’s great capitals.Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg(Luxembourg City Theatres) specialise ininternational co-productions with great European theatres, in French and German.

Equally they stage classic operas alongwith avant-garde productions and con-temporary dance for which Luxembourghas become a much sought-after destina-tion for internationally renowned choreo -graphers such as Anne Teresa de Keers-maeker or Akram Khan. In all, it is diverse,unusual, of great quality, set in exceptionalsurroundings and aimed at national and in-ternational audiences.

Beside these, there are some little jewels oftheatres, where younger directors, chore-ographers, actors and dancers can step in,such as the Théâtre National du Luxem-

bourg (National Theatre of Luxembourg,see next page) or the TROIS C-L (Luxem-bourg Centre for Choreographic Creation).These two places don’t hesitate to breakdown barriers between disciplines or toventure beyond their own confines.

Then there’s the tiny cellar that is theThéâtre du Centaure (Centaur Theatre) agem that attracts regulars, but also stu-dents from the Grande Region. Its con-stantly renewing audience and welcomingwarmth is more usually associated withevents like the Avignon Festival.

The Théâtre Ouvert Luxembourg (Luxem-bourg Open Theatre) puts on French-lan-guage theatrical adventures in a back-yardbuilding, mixing classical authors with morecontemporary ones. As for The NeimënsterCultural Centre situated in the Grund Dis-trict – a majestic setting surrounded byancient fortifications – it produces workcreated within the Grande Region. Therepertoire leans as much towards Luxem-bourg as to international pieces.

An audience that comprises the veryyoung, children and adolescents, iscatered for by TRAFFO, the arts pro-

gramme staged at CarréRotondes, knownfor its incredibly beautiful and relevantshows.

Beyond the capital lie other unmissableplaces where the public is intelligently entertained and perhaps given pause forthought or drawn into some unforgettableadventure. Among these are the Opder-schmelz Cultural Centre in Dudelange, amust-see for research, cross-cultural andexperimental projects, the CAPe Ettelbruck(Ettelbrück Multi-Arts Centre) that piquesone’s curiosity with its mix of theatre andmusic, the Esch/Alzette Municipal Theatrewith the accent on popular theatre but alsoFrench- and German-language produc-tions along with dance, and finally the Kultur fabrik, oriented towards different the-atrical disciplines.

All of these places put on programmeswhich demonstrate superb diversity andexceptional quality year round – thoughnow, with the rapidly approaching Christ-mas and New Year celebrations, the the-atres are especially active.

www.theater.lu

Der Messias at Théâtre des Capucins

Zur schönen Aussicht at Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg

Frrrups at CarréRotondes

Volo at CarréRotondes

Wilhelm B. at CarréRotondes

Duo con piano at Théâtre d’Esch/Alzette


Theatres are normally considered solelyas locations where performances areheld, but the Luxembourg National Theatre (TNL) is this, and so much morecombined. How does a small countrysuch as Luxembourg, that has a wealthof talent in performing arts, spread andshare it with the world?

An interesting question that many of youmight not have posed to yourselves, butone that was at the centre of the creationof the Luxembourg National Theatre in1996, a year after the city of Luxembourgwas the European Capital of Culture. Setup to become the ‘shop window’ to share,show off and promote the abundance oftalent in performing arts found within Lux-embourg, it has been a huge success eversince, having created a prestigious namefor itself worldwide. But how do you pro-mote your country’s talent in the world of

performing arts? Frank Hoffman, the The-atre’s director explains: “Our aim has al-ways been to promote Luxembourg’s the-atrical talent. We are a small country so webelieve that for people to reach their po-tential they need to gain experience inter-nationally. By creating a known and reveredname for the TNL we draw the best in per-forming arts from around the world to ourproductions, so our own country’s talentcan get the opportunity to work with them,thereby opening doors in their future ca-reers too.”

By putting on their own productions andperformances, while utilising the world’sbest and also their own country’s reserves,the TNL really has raised the level of per-forming arts in Luxembourg. Hoffman con-tinues: “As a nation we take influence fromthose around us. A normal day for a Lux-embourger sees them talking more in other

languages, French, German or English,than their own language Luxembourgish.This flexibility has been reflected in the tal-ent that we have been nurturing in our per-forming arts, creating such stunning pro-ductions.”

Not only a location where you can get en-tertained to the highest and most culturedstandards, the Luxembourg National Theatre is also cultivating their own coun-try’s talent and sharing a unique style. Hoff-man concludes: “It is great to see Luxem-bourg’s best in performing arts getopportunities and recognition worldwide. Ithink that as a small country with so manyexternal influences we are flexible yet deepdown hold a resilient Luxembourg core,reflected in the productions we put on.”

www.tnl.lu

L U X E M B O U R G N A T I O N A L T H E A T R E

Spreading and sharing talentTEXT: PHIL GALE | PHOTOS: LUXEMBOURG NATIONAL THEATRE

Discover Benelux | Theatre | Luxembourg National Theatre


From theatre to dance, from acting andmusic to poetry readings, from accom-plished artists to up and coming talentswho need a push out the nest to take theirfirst flight, the Mierscher Kulturhaus strivesto be one of the most active actors in theGrand Duchy and beyond.

“The Mierscher Kulturhaus is a variablegeometry entity in many ways,” explainsKarin Kremer, director of the institute. “Ourmission indeed goes beyond the walls ofthe Kulturhaus, because culture is alive, itmakes you reason and dream and gainconsciousness, one must have a think-outside-the-box attitude towards it, onemust have the courage to take risks andget outside of one’s comfort zone.”

This is the reason why Kremer and her teamnever refrain from showcasing first œuvres oftalented artists or offering them space to de-

velop their work, from promoting iconoclasticpieces or presenting original vantage points.

Saturday 31 January 2015, for instance, theMierscher Kulturhaus is organizing anevening dedicated to Vaslav Nijinsky, thegravity-defying Russian dancer. Becauseof Nijinsky’s troubled personality, the pro-gramme will start with a reading, by actorsChristian Berkel and Christiane Rausch, ofNijinsky’s biography and letters from psy-chiatric patients accompanied by piano.

The second part of the evening will seeSylvia Camarda and Jérôme Varanfrain of-fer a dance piece inspired by the life andwords of Nijinsky, especially by his writingswhich were for him the logical extension, orpart of the same articulation as his dance.

The Merscher Kulturhaus is also host tooriginal exhibitions. “When we organize ex-

hibitions, we always try to conjugate artwith craftsmanship,” says Kremer.

Thus, between December and April, youwill have the opportunity to discover Stone-dreams and Automobil und Omnibus, tworemarkable exhibitions that respectivelycorrelate the work of a sculpture with theworld of the quarry and photography withthe mechanical genius of Mercedes-Benz.

With such a display of music and levitatingdance, stones and mechanics, matter andwaves it is easy to see how the moto of theMerscher Kulturhaus – Kultur am carré, orCulture² – is such an understatement.

www.kulturhaus.lu

TOP RIGHT: Stonedreams, until 18 January, will show the relationship between the work of sculptors Heather Carroll, Eck Lunkes and Gé Pellini and the world of the Feidt quarry.

The dimensions of cultureLocated in Mersch, the Mierscher Kulturhaus is right at the centre of Luxembourg, almost exactly at the

crossing of the four cardinal axes. Similarly, its approach to culture aims at promoting the arts in all the directions where they are present and thus stay at the heart of artistic creation.

TEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: MIERSCHER KULTURHAUS

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With its wealth of international institu-tions and major presence in the world ofglobal business affairs, the Benelux def-initely punches above its weight in thefinancial, legal and political industries.With the UN’s International Court ofJustice in The Hague, Brussels as thecapital of the European Union and Lux-embourg a global stronghold for in-vestment funds, the region is all but asmall player when it comes to business.

In this Special Theme: Legal Excellence,we dive into the world of the law and high-light some of the Benelux’s top law firmsthat help international businesses excelboth at home and abroad. Starting off thetheme is a double introduction from theDutch and Luxembourg Bar, pointing outwhat makes this region so attractive forbusiness.

Following on from that, we have a specialannouncement from a major law firm settingup an office in a new jurisdiction. Read allabout their new venture on page 66 and findout what attracted them to enter a newmarket. Next we feature some other topclass law firms run by passionate partnerswho know their field of business inside out.

Before this Special Theme draws to aclose, there are many more pages of busi-ness features to follow. In particular, oursection on expert translators – many ofwhom specialise in legal translations andwork together with the Benelux’s many in-ternational institutions and companies. Butdon’t miss the final pages, our regular busi-ness columnists have witty opinions oncommunication and leadership and ourbusiness calendar is filled with promisingevents for a successful end of 2014.

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK

S P E C I A L T H E M E

Legal Excellence

Discover Benelux | Special Theme | Legal Excellence

TOP: The Hague skyline. Photo NBTC BOTTOM: Luxembourg Kirchberg business

district. Photo: ONT Luxembourg

Maître d’Ath is proud to announcethe arrival of Argan

Avenue de la Toison d’Or, 74 1060 Brussels - www.dath.be


I remember vividly when Apollo 11 landedon the moon and Neil Armstrong sent hisfamous words through space. My parentswere very impressed by the whole thing,which in turn impressed me. This memorypopped up while I visited the conference‘The sky is the limit’ organized by the DutchYoung Lawyers Association in November.The theme of the convention was law anddevelopments – in society as well as tech-nology.

The technological progress I witnessed asa little boy in the sixties taught me that notthe sky, but the moon is the limit. Nowa-days the possibilities of technology seemendless – the limit is far beyond the sky andthe moon.

During my career as an attorney at law thenew technological developments thatwould facilitate my work never ceased toimpress me. When I first started out as alawyer our offices still employed a telex ma-chine. The introduction of the fax machineis still engraved in my memory. A messen-ger would come running down the hallway

if a facsimile was addressed to you. At thattime it was quite special if a fax came in,and being allowed to send faxes to thecourts directly was a big deal. Some of mycolleagues were very special: they occa-sionally received court documents by fax.

The Dutch Bar is eagerly waiting for thecourts to finally start using email in legalproceedings. 2015 will mark the year thatthe filing of legal documents in the Nether-lands is finally digitized. But the Dutch gov-ernment also plans to let individuals, ratherthan their lawyer, submit documents to thecourts. This would supposedly acceleratethe proceedings. As president of the DutchBar Association this worries me. Not onlydo I fear that judges will be flooded by ir-relevant paperwork, but I also believe dis-pute resolution always entails a tailor-madesolution. Speeding up discussions merelyfor the sake of quick resolution means thepotential loss of subtlety. That would not bein our clients’ best interests.

So while I look forward to finally being ableto communicate digitally with the courts,

for the sake of our clients, I have somereservations on the endless possibilities oftechnology. Maybe in some instances, thesky should be the limit?

I hope you enjoy your journey and wish youa safe flight.

The sky is the limitTEXT: WALTER HENDRIKSEN, PRESIDENT OF THE DUTCH BAR ASSOCIATION | PHOTOS: NBTC

Walter Hendriksen, President of the Dutch BarAssociation. Press photo



The Luxembourg Bar is one of two or-ders of legal professionals independ-ent of the state and the magistrature,endowed with the status of legal per-son. Each order enjoys territorial com-petence in one of two geographic ar-eas, Luxembourg or Diekirch, where thebarristers for each must be registered.

As regards the numbers of barristers, theLuxembourg Bar is the more significant,with more than 2,230 lawyers, as com-pared to 34 in Diekirch. Within that total,some 1,000 are women. There is enor-mous diversity, with more than 35 differentnationalities represented. Over the last tenyears and more, the number of lawyersand of major international firms has risen,as well as European lawyers practising un-der their original status, who have estab-lished themselves in Luxembourg.

Just as those in the economic and financialworlds have done, the Luxembourg Bar isresponding positively to these changes andto that dynamic, working with them in aconstructive manner. Socially and culturally

diverse, it is the open, modern, young andinternational qualities that in turn bring itoriginality and strength.

The Bar’s importance and its renown, na-tionally as well as the internationally, arelinked not just to the financial sphere butequally, to name a few, to the telecom-munications sector and its ‘data centres’,to the insurance and re-insurance mar-kets, to ships sailing under Luxembourg’scolours, or to the investment industry.The lawyers belonging to the Luxem-bourg Bar meet the expectations andneeds of the actors and decision makersin these activities, whether that be withadvice or in dispute resolution in thecourts or otherwise.

This, along with Luxembourg’s central po-sition within the EU, explains why there issuch a significant ratio of lawyers per headof population in the Grand Duchy. In ad-dition to such spheres of activity almosthalf of our barristers litigate in other fieldssuch as civil, family, criminal law and com-mercial law.

In spite of the many specialisms requiredwithin the diverse activities in which theBar is involved, it is totally dedicated tothe preservation of the profession as a sin-gle unique entity.

Alive to the evolution of laws and of ju-risprudence, the Bar offers several – free ofcharge – continuous professional devel-opment events every year. Supplementaryconferences and seminars in particular top-ics and subjects enrich the training ofyoung barristers.

Thanks to its relations with other Bar As-sociations within the EU, the LuxembourgBar enjoys fraternal and preferential con-tacts with the Bars of other countries andcontinents, in particular that of Mali whichsadly is currently having to live through dif-ficult times.

The Luxembourg Bar willingly and fullyembraces the role of the Bar for the capi-tal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,and is its ambassador wherever in theworld it operates.

Legal excellence in LuxembourgTEXT & PHOTO: BARREAU OF LUXEMBOURG

Photo: Christian Kieffer / ONT

As the founder and managing partner of Ober& Partners, based in Luxembourg, Ober iswell versed in the area of investment man-agement. With experience leading his ownfirm, as well as working for major law firms inLuxembourg and abroad, Ober knows Europe’s corporate climate like few others.

An ambitious moveStéphane Ober says, “Simmons & Sim-mons is one of the largest financial regula-

tory law practices in Europe. Headquar-tered in the United Kingdom, being a high-performance firm they still hold solid tradi-tional values of providing excellent qualityservices. It was the perfect match for me.”Ober, who is fluent in French and English,is a member of both the Luxembourg andParis bar.

The ambitious move allows Simmons &Simmons to directly enter the Luxem-

bourg market, which is Europe’s secondlargest in terms of investment funds. Dueto recent changes in European legisla-tion, Luxembourg as a jurisdiction hasbecome more of an attraction in thissector, with a particular interest fromcompanies in Asia. Ober says, “There isan increasing appetite from Asia to workthrough Luxembourg. Already three major banks in China are registered hereand in turn we expect to see more

Global law firm Simmons & Simmons is expanding by entering into a new jurisdiction. Joining forces with seasoned lawyer Stéphane Ober, the firm will (subject to regulatory approvals) open abrand new office in Luxembourg. As the country head, Ober will lead a team of 15 partners and associates

– one of Simmons & Simmons’s biggest new offices in the last few years.

TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: SIMMONS & SIMMONS

Legal heavyweight enters theLuxembourg market



Luxembourg products enter the Asian markets.”

Team spiritWhile this is a significant step for both Oberand Simmons & Simmons, Ober is familiarwith working for a global organisation. Hesays, “I understand the expectations. I willjoin them with humility and the whole teamis keen to match the success of other Sim-mons & Simmons offices.”

For Ober, the key to joining the firm relatesto what the firm represents and the way itworks. He says, “The firm supports afriendly working environment where part-ners support each other and people wantto work as a team. Collegiality doesn’t onlybenefit the staff working at the company,but also greatly benefits our clients throughbetter results.”

This focus on team work is reflected in thenumber of times Simmons & Simmons hasbeen named as the top law firm in theStonewall Workplace Equality Index forseveral consecutive years.

Financial expertsColin Leaver, Simmons & Simmons’sglobal head of asset management, over-saw the set-up of the new team. “Weare very excited indeed. Starting up thisnew office is a big investment but wesee many opportunities in Luxembourgand expect these to increase in the fu-ture,” he says. Renowned for their ex-pertise in the financial sector, Simmons &Simmons prides itself on covering fivemajor sectors being asset management& investment funds, financial institutions,technology, life sciences and energy & in-frastructure.

The new Luxembourg office will have fivepartners, to cover each of the sectors withan emphasis on finance and asset man-agement. Leaver says: “We decided to startwith a large team so we immediately haveexpertise in all areas and can offer clients aone-stop service. Luxembourg is a growingmarket that will become increasingly im-portant in the future.” Ober adds, “With thisteam of 15, we will have all the right peoplein place to deliver the work, from our juniorstaff all the way up to our partners.”

Expertise across the sectorsInstrumental to working at Simmons &Simmons is that staff participates in indus-

try-specific events. Setting them apart fromthe competition, the firm’s lawyers make ittheir job to know exactly what is going onin their sectors, whether it is financial serv-ices, asset management & investmentfunds, technology, life sciences or energy &infrastructure. Leaver says, “Focussing onthese five sectors really helps us to excel.We encourage our lawyers to participate insector meetings, give internal training andalso offer sector-specific secondment po-sitions and give them access to industryassociations. Thanks to this, our lawyersunderstand the businesses they work for,which allows us to provide a more tailoredservice.”

Ober’s team, consisting of Louis-Mael Co-gis, Vivianne de Moreau, José Ignacio Pas-cual Gutiérrez and Pierre Regis Dukmedjianwill have a special focus on corporate law,finance, private funds, UCITS funds, regu-latory work and tax work. The new officewill be located in Luxembourg City andplans to open in January 2015.

www.simmons-simmons.com

LEFT: Jeremy Hoyland, managing partner. TOP RIGHT: Colin Leaver, global head of asset management. BOTTOM RIGHT: Stéphane Ober, new country head, Luxembourg.





It’s a pleasing paradox of Luxembourgthat the tiny country enjoys internationallinks even world powers may envy. Thatcomes from evolving in sympathy withthe business and political environment,which in its own way the firm of MartinAvocats is doing too.

Some lawyers never set up their own prac-tice; some wait decades to do so. SabrinaMartin was called to the bar in 1996, andyet by 2005 she was already heading herown chambers. “Enjoying the freedom of-fered by working within an independentpractice was something I had in mind fromthe very start of my career,” she explains.

The practice was initially very much a gen-eralist one, and it continues to offer abreadth of services, but as Luxembourghas continued to grow as a trade centreMartin and her colleagues have developedspecial competences in the law relating to

logistics and international transport, whichincludes civil aviation and maritime law.“The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is pro-viding the infrastructure and high-techequipment needed to build that trade, andoffers a very favourable geographic loca-tion,” says Maître Martin: “The newFreeport located next to LuxembourgFindel-Airport offers great opportunitiestoo.”

Maître Martin says: “We’ve built up verygood relations with the customs authoritieshere in Luxembourg, and our aim is tocontinue to build expertise in the law of lo-gistics and to provide a dedicated and per-sonal service, and thus differentiate theway we work from far bigger – and per-haps less reactive – competitors.”

Something hugely helpful in the firm’s de-velopment has been its membership of theLNA or Legal Netlink Alliance. “It’s an in-

ternational network of lawyers whosemembers tend to be small or medium-sized practices like ours,” says Maître Mar-tin: “When you practice law in Luxembourgit’s very likely you’ll have dealings withlawyers outside the country, given the sizeof the Grand Duchy, so it’s extremely use-ful to have such links in obtaining, for ex-ample, rapid responses to questions oflaw in other jurisdictions.”

That outlook is not just seen in the prac-tice’s external links: Sabrina and her col-leagues can consult with clients in French,English, Luxembourgish, German, Italianand Arabic. Luxembourg writ large in asmall firm, in fact: dynamic, evolving, inter-national – and clearly very effective.

www.martin-avocats.lu

Luxembourg, logistics– and legal links to the world

TEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTOS: MARTIN AVOCATS

In less than ten years after being called to the bar, Sabrina Martin was alreadyheading her own chambers, as the freedom of working withing an independentlaw firm appealed to her.



Internationally there are few jurisdic-tions in Europe more important to busi-ness than Brussels and Luxembourg.With its headquarters in Brussels, De Wolf & Partners is in the unique po-sition of being the only true Belgian-Luxembourgish law firm whose reachstretches as far as Asia and Africa.

De Wolf's managing partner, GéraldStevens says, “Being based in Belgium –Brussels and Kortrijk – as well as Luxem-bourg City distinguishes us from our do-mestic Belgian, or big Anglo-Saxon, com-petitors. Many businesses that operate inthese geographical areas don’t just workacross borders, they also tend to have for-eign shareholders and the countries’economies are very dependent on foreigncorporations. Our national and internationalpractices work seamlessly with each other,which gives us great exposure to interna-tional companies."

De Wolf & Partners advises major compa-nies all over the world particularly in thesectors of private equity, corporate law andlitigation. Stevens – who was one of DeWolf's founding partners in 1998 and runstheir Luxembourg and Brussels offices –has 20 years’ worth of experience as acorporate and banking lawyer. Stevensadds, “Currently we have a team of 100people, including around 60 lawyers, soeach of our offices offers a full service.”

Adding to De Wolf & Partners’ strategic ad-vantage is their office in Shanghai whichopened in 2006. The firm is also looking intoopening a fifth office in Africa, in the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo. “We have alwayshad good connections with the French-speaking parts of Africa and see a significantincrease in business potential in the DRC –especially because of its wealth of naturalresources. De Wolf already has an EIG setup with our affiliates in the DRC, Rwanda

and Burundi, but we plan to also open anew office there next year,” he says. The factthat the DRC has recently adopted a systemof regulation known as 'OHADA' – the or-ganisation for the harmonisation of busi-ness law in Africa – is more than promising.Stevens explains, “Synchronising business,corporate and security law with severalother French-speaking African countries willmake the DRC much more attractive to for-eign companies and investors.”

With lawyers fluent in French, Dutch, Ger-man, English, Spanish, Italian and Chinese,De Wolf & Partners can provide tailored,market-oriented, legal services for itsclients who range from start-ups to multi-nationals. Many of its lawyers – includingStevens – are university lecturers or re-searchers and regularly contribute to na-tional and international legal publications.

www.dewolf-law.be

Going globalTEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: DE WOLF & PARTNERS

Managing partner Gérald Stephens


Bernard Beerens, like his colleagues inLuxembourg-based Beerens & Avocats,cut his legal teeth in major internationallaw firms. In his case that experience in-volved roles in leading Dutch and Britishpractices, and a stint in New York. The ex-perience was high-powered and glam-orous, but there was something missing.

“What can be difficult in larger structures isthat you lose personal contact with clientsand the full picture of what they are about,because of constant changes within thelaw firm,” he says. “My colleagues and Ihave all come from major firms, and wish tooffer another style of service to the samesophisticated clientele.”

The personal touchWhat was missing then was continuity andthe personal, the basis for creating a “bou-tique law firm”. As Beerens describes it:“Boutique is a term I use with potential

clients as shorthand for how we operate. Ioften hear people who seek a legal advisorin Luxembourg complain about the waythings tend to be with the biggest firms. Wecan be more flexible, match what we do tothe actual needs of the client.”

“Here the client will, for example, meet withme. I’ll follow their dossier in its entirety, anddevelop a personal relationship. The clientknows I’m easily accessible. Partners here

will be actively involved in case-files. In thebigger firms, clients tend to lose touch withthe particular lawyer in charge of their pro -ject.” Beerens’s approach has proved suc-cessful. His organisation works with clientswho might usually be expected to taketheir business to legal leviathans.

From Luxembourg to the worldBecause of the special nature of Luxem-bourg, a small country where numerousmulti-national companies and other cor-porate bodies have their headquarters,Beerens’s practice has been built to advisesuch major clients in their cross-bordertransactions.

“Our practice focuses on company and fi-nancial law, taxes and investments and soon,” says Beerens. “Finding highly compe-tent people in Luxembourg who are happyto join a smaller structure is not easy. Butit is fruitful.”

When one Luxembourg lawyer questioned why major business clients had to forgo personal service when accessing topflight legal support the answer was obvious: they shouldn’t have to.

TEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTOS: BEERENS & AVOCATS

International – but not remote




The senior team is strikingly international: Au-drey Jarreton who heads the banking and fi-nance practice studied in France and Lux-embourg, and previously worked for a leadingDutch firm; Cédric Bless, co-head of the cor-porate and M&A practice studied in Franceand the Republic of Ireland, and gained ex-perience working within a Japanese bankand in a magic circle law firm; EugenioTravaglini has degrees from German and Ital-ian institutions; and David Cordova, originallyfrom Mexico, has worked in New York aswell as across the Benelux region. Within thatsmall team there’s fluency in English, French,Luxembourgish, German, Spanish and Italian.

Another key person in the firm’s develop-ment is Marion Lalève, whose own back-ground symbolises its outlook: French-born she’s qualified to practise as a solicitorin Luxembourg and in the UK, where shecurrently resides. Marion’s focus is on ex-panding Beerens & Avocats’ strategic re-lationships.

These international ties are vital: “We’re in-dependent but with many links to practicesin other countries who don’t have a pres-ence here,” says Beerens. “We work fre-

quently with some of the big US and UK le-gal firms, which is very helpful for us andbrings us significant business.”

Stability and the futureBeerens & Avocats have what can seemlike a contradiction driving their success.Stability is a key aspect of their philosophy,but that very quality attracts and retainsclients and thus brings change in the formof growth: “Luxembourg, like many inter-national business centres, perhaps more soas it is a small country, has people whowork in it for short periods of time thenmove on, which can make for a lack of sta-bility in firms,” says Beerens. “We aim to be

different. Our clients have the near certaintythat their dossier and history is known per-sonally by the lawyer in charge of it.”

Continuing success could create anotherpotential contradiction for the independentfirm: “Perhaps our reputation for excel-lence and service may one day mean webecome a target for acquisition by one ofthe major firms here in Luxembourg. How-ever, this is not our aim,” says Beerens.“For now, we continue to diversify our con-tacts abroad, as the international nature ofour business is our greatest trump card.”

www.beerens-avocats.lu

The Beerens & Avocats team. TOP LEFT: Audrey Jarreton, head of the banking and finance practice. MIDDLE: David Cordova, tax advisor and senior associate. RIGHT:Eugenio Travaglini, associate within the corporate and M&A practice. BOTTOM LEFT: Bernard Beerens, founder and head of the practice. MIDDLE: Marion Lalève, over-sees client relations. RIGHT: Ce�dric Bless, co-head of the corporate and M&A practice.


Luxembourg has two official languages,but the business world operates in dozens,so when linguist Marie-Claude Torlet established her translation bureau, Translatores SARL, there in 2010 she wasconfident work would not be lacking. Shewas right.

“We now work with many multinationalcorporations – for contracts and a hugerange of other documents and publicitymaterial, including websites as every com-pany tends to need at least three lan-guages for them – with quite a few legalpractices, and for people who come to liveand work in Luxembourg and need theirdocumentation translating – education cer-tificates, birth certificates, divorce papersand so on,” she says, “And often it’s notjust the final documents, but papersthroughout the process.”

She was joined by fellow polyglot CecileDetienne in 2012, but the bulk of the workis carried out by a network of skilled free-lance translators. For some tasks very spe-cial qualifications are required: “Certifiedtranslations are an extremely important partof our work,” Torlet explains. “To do suchwork on legal documentation a translatorhas sworn an oath before a court or tribu-nal attesting to their abilities to translate be-tween a specific combination of languages,and they can only attach their signatureand stamp to work done in a combinationfor which they’re certified. If there’s an er-ror in the translation the translator bears le-gal responsibility!”

Given the sensitivity of the work Transla-tores SARL carry out additional QAchecks: “When the translated documentreturns we ensure everything’s in order with

nothing missed out, and only then transmitthe final certified document to the client,”she says.

The company has experience in scores oflanguages, taking in the major Europeantongues plus more exotic ones like Japan-ese, and their network is such that otherscan be handled on demand. Some clientstell Torlet they’re capable of “having a go”at translations that require a certified prac-titioner: “We explain politely that legallysuch documents require an officially recog-nised signature and stamp for the author-ities to accept them as correct and con-forming to the original. It’s not a question ofgiving it a go.”

www.translatores.lu

The mot juste – legallyWith a host of multinational corporations based in the country, and a workforce constantly in flux,

there’s a high level of demand for certified translation services in the Grand Duchy.

TEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTO: TRANSLATORES SARL

MINI THEME

SpecialistTranslators

Discover Benelux | Mini Theme | Specialist Translators


SFX Translated is a small but very am-bitious company born in 2009 in Liège,Belgium after its founder François-Xavier Pâque jumped into the openingmarket opportunities at the time. Today,with a young and dynamic team, thecompany offers a wide range of serv-ices, from translations in over a hun-dred languages to proofreading, subti-tling and sworn translations for legaltexts.

The strength of the business lies in its corevalue at the heart of every translation: pre-cision. “We value precision from the wordswe translate to where we put our commas.A significant number of our clients comefrom law firms where an inaccurate trans-lation can have enormous consequences,”says Pâque.

In order to achieve a delivery of high qual-ity, the company relies on the services offreelancers hired from all over the world.“We are extremely strict about the peoplewe select to work with us. The languagethey translate must be their mother tongueor they must have the highest level of ex-pertise in it.” It is only after a rigorous

process that a selected few can rise to thestandard of SFX. “Not only do they have tobe experts in their language, they alsoneed to possess a diploma in the areawhere they are translating. For example, ifwe need a text in microbiology to be trans-lated, we will look for someone qualified inbiology, medicine or another closely re-lated area where they would be able tounderstand the technical wording. This al-lows us to massively reduce the margin forerror.”

More than anything, what sets the Belgiancompany apart is the focus on the peoplethey work with so that every translation iscustomised. Pâque emphasizes that “wetake the time to sit down with the client andestablish a relationship, which will allow usto best meet their needs. We start from theprinciple that what they ask can be done.”And it is only after a meticulous recruitmentprocess that they decide which translatoris most apt for the job. “We receive a widerange of requests, and although the mostrecurrent ones have been in the legal in-dustry, we also get asked for subtitling orinterpretation which we are always happyto take care of.”

Available on a 24/7 basis, the companyaims to expand and open new offices inBrussels and Luxembourg to increase itsclient pool and keep offering their bestservices, with the highest precision.

www.sfx.be


Translating precisionTEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTOS: SFX TRANSLATED



Despite what websites can lead you to be-lieve, translating text doesn’t happen bypushing a button. Precision and expertknowledge are essential. Frank Meeus knowsthis like none other, as a sworn-in translatorhe ensures quality above all in his work.

Meeus set up his company, Belita Lingua, in1993. Translating into his mother tongue Dutch,he speaks French, English, German, Por-tuguese, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Danish andSwedish. “I primarily do legal translations – any-thing from court documents to warrants andcertificates,” says Meeus. “I always ensure topquality translations and prioritise proofreading soI know the result is accurate and precise with thecorrect terminology.”

Meeus has built up good relationship with thecourts in Belgium. As he visits them regularly, heoffers customers an extra service. “If a translateddocument requires a signature for verification, I

can obtain this for the customer at a small fee.I know the procedures well, so this can save alot of time,” he says.

Any language Meeus doesn’t cover personally,he can find others to do it. With a long list oftrusted native speakers with their own expertfields, he makes sure the best person gets thejob. “For example medical translations need tobe very precise. For a recent assignment Ineeded a translator with a medical background.Out of 20 applicants only one had the experi-

ence and skills needed to deliver the work,” hesays. “As you can see, I don’t compromise onquality.”

Meeus prides himself on the attractive prices hecan offer while being flexible and available 24hours a day. “Honesty, respect for the languageand customer care are paramount and deliver-ing excellent translations is my passion,” he con-cludes

www.belita-lingua.be

The beauty of languageTEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTOS: BELITA LINGUA

Frank Meeus and his Polish wife Magdalena who helped to expand his network of translator contacts in Eastern Europe. Meeus’s succes-

sion seems assured by their bilingual son Maurice who is already showing a passion for language, art and culture.

Having spent the past two decades es-tablishing themselves as Europe’s go-totranslation agency, ETC Europe stead-fastly hold onto their position as the“translation gateway to Europe”.

Situated in the centre of decision-makingBrussels, ETC’s managing director Angelina Janssen is undeniably proud ofthe company’s steady rise to prominence.Since 1989, ETC has won successive con-tracts with the European Commission andit continues to charm clients from govern-mental institutions, commercial businessesand private clients.

Within the global translation industry, com-petition is rife and choosing a serviceprovider can be baffling with terms like re-liability and quality control often bandied

about. However, a brief glance at ETC’sportfolio and references from previousclients is all it takes to surmise that they aredistinctive in their dependability and dedi-cation to ensuring high quality translations,localisations, desktop publishing and copywriting. While European Union-related pro -jects are ETC’s main pillar, their extensivecollection of specialised translators, inter-preters, proof-readers and copywriters en-able them to confidently complete aplethora of subject-specific projects, in-cluding legal and judicial documents, lifesciences, medical fields and the environ-ment.

Producing thousands of pages per month,ETC boldly offer translations to and fromevery single language for all situations. “Ofcourse,” says Janssen with a laugh,

“African or Asian language projects arerare but when they arise we are committedto undertaking them.” Janssen is the first toadmit that translation agencies have tokeep up with technological developmentsin machine translation but stresses thatnothing will ever match the human capa cityfor language and style. Contentedly encir-cled by Europe with their Brussels baseand all-encompassing EU know-how, itcan only be said that ETC linguistically pos-sesses the key to this continent.

www.etc-europe.eu

The linguistic key to EuropeTEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: VISIT BRUSSELS



As the world turns ever faster into aglobal village the demands on profes-sional language services continue togrow, a situation that clearly suits Liège-based ADT International.

When Bernard Borsu of ADT Internationaltalks about specialist language support,specialisation really means something. “Wework continually in the legal and legislativespheres,” he says. “And in other technicalareas like pharmaceuticals, IT and elec-tronics. My belief in setting up the structureof the business was ‘who better to speakto an engineer than another engineer?’and the same logic applies with lawyers –nothing can replace the experience gainedby a lawyer who has absorbed legal jargonstudying and at work.”

To this end the company recruits manywho’ve followed a route different from thattranslators usually follow, though it also

uses court-certified staff across the Beneluxand in other markets. “This October wecarried out a sworn translation from Bosnian to Dutch!” he affirms.

ADT’s unique approach and its quality con-trol – ISO 9001 certified since 1998 – hasgained it some very notable work in re-cent times. In 2012 it won the tender totranslate legislative documents for Wallo-nia, the French-speaking part of Belgium,and since 2013 it has provided languageservices to Daewoo’s parent company, in-cluding a dedicated team working to Ko-rean time for six months to translate20,000 pages of industrial materials.

Coping with the Babel of international tradeis ADT’s trade. Borsu cites two examplesto illustrate the complexity the companyhas mastered this year. “A Belgian com-pany exporting to the Chinese subsidiary ofan American group, via a contract drawn

up under Dutch law; and a few weeks agowe helped a German car maker organisetraining given by a French speaker in Bel-gium for a Japanese sub-contractor, jug-gling French, German, English and the timedifference – but it was a great success!”

Along with the core translation work ADTalso has a wider portfolio. They provide in-terpreters – and the booths they require towork if needs be – virtual secretarial work(translating email correspondence for ex-ample), and video subtitle work.

No wonder the company loves languages– they work in more than 100 every year.That love has recently found an intriguingoutlet. “We’ve just launched an app ‘Travelto Translate’, a fun game that makes peo-ple sensitive to language matters – and it’sfree!” concludes Borsu.

www.adt-international.com

The booming business of BabelTEXT: MARTIN PILKINGTON | PHOTOS: ADT INTERNATIONAL


Founded in 2006, the company is locatedin Troisvierges, Luxembourg and bases itsworking ethic on three main values: Virtu-osity, Velocity and Value added (3V).

With a loyal client base, 3V-Translationshas been a consistent model for efficiency,personal servicing and attention to a high-quality work delivery. Both sworn transla-tors (in Belgium and Luxembourg) special-ising in Dutch, English, German andFrench, Beaumet and Pay will always workon assignments for which they are quali-fied: with an extensive experience withinthe legal industry, they are familiar with thetechnical wording and jargon of the field.

Their core competencies do not end there,nonetheless. As a former in-house translatorof a major employer’s federation, Beaumetdeveloped over the years a special expert-ise in translations for the business commu-nity in a variety of economic, technical and

legal areas. As for Pay, she is a member ofthe ALTI (Association Luxembourgeoise desTraducteurs et Interprètes) and has an ex-tensive knowledge within the whole spec-trum of judicial translation. She is also famil-iar with economic, financial and tax issues.

The key to their success is a close collabo-ration with their customers: building a rela-tionship of trust and delivering 100% accu-rate translations. This is why they are stillworking with their very first client: 20 yearslater, the satisfaction is still present. “Whatdistinguishes us is the coherence of ourwork and continuity – which you wouldn'tget if you hired different freelancers for oneassignment,” says Pay. “We work in a verytraditional way, which allows us to cus-tomise our service to our client's needs andlearn the specific terminology they use.”

“Indeed, for us it is extremely important toprovide a precise and accurate translation

– so if something is slightly unclear we willnot hesitate to ask for clarifications or fur-ther information about a certain termino -logy,” says Beaumet. Although this is rarelythe case with regular clients.

With the capacity and flexibility to alwaysadapt to their client's needs, 3V-Transla-tions is a safe and reliable partner for yourtranslations. For more information contactBeaumet at [email protected] Pay at [email protected]

www.3v-translations.lu

F O R M U L A F O R S U C C E S S

Virtuosity, value added and velocity3V-Translations is the result of a successful collaboration between two business partners, Joël Beaumet and

Pascale Pay, both having a Masters in translation studies and over 20 years of experience as professional translators.

TEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTOS: 3V-TRANSLATIONS

Business partners Joël Beaumet and Pascale Pay

Photo: D

ream

stime.com



Created in early 2003, Trans@ is thebrainchild of two professional transla-tors and colleagues, Frederic Leroy andSabine Mason, who joined forces toprovide translations of optimal quality.

The care they bestow on their services isbased on two inter-related principles:knowing their customers and knowing theirtranslators. After years of experience, theytake pride in providing a personalised serv-ice to their customers, translating, super-vising and following up the texts entrustedto them from draft to polished translationsdelivered on time.

Furthermore, Frederic and Sabine are veryexacting about the translators with whomthey work. These professionals invariably

translate into their mother tongue and haveextensive knowledge in the fields in whichthey work to guarantee optimal results.“Jargon, technical terminology and evenstyle are extremely precise in certain in-dustries, and are consequently part andparcel of the high quality work we are keenon delivering,” Frederic points out.

Their customers include law firms, banks,trust funds, publishing houses, govern-mental agencies, institutions of higher ed-ucation, and many other industries. “Wedon’t necessarily specialise in all of thesefields ourselves, but we make sure that thepeople we work with do,” Sabine explains.

In addition to translations, Trans@ providesa variety of cutting edge services that are

constantly being adapted to customerneeds. Such services include sworn trans-lations, copywriting, copy editing, inter-preting, transcription of recordings, andmaking high-quality equipment availablefor conferences, events, and the like.

Flexible and always reliable, Trans@ is avail-able for any requests and further informa-tion at their website.

www.transat.lu

G L O B A L L I N G U A S E R V I C E S

Translation with excellence TEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTO: MILO-PROFI.BE

With 12 years of experience, Global Lingua Services is an expert at provid-ing top-notch services in every area re-lated to translation – from textual trans-lation to simultaneous interpretation,subtitling, languages courses and rentalof audio-visual equipment (headsets,cabins, sound equipment, light, speak-ers and amplifiers).

Started in 2002 with headquarters in Brus-sels, Global Lingua Services is at the heartof the capital of Europe, with clients suchas the European Commission, the Euro-pean Parliament, various international or-ganisations, banks and law firms.

With the ambition to provide the best qual-ity service, the company relies on the fol-lowing motto: “For us, translation is notabout improving the writings of the author,too often distorted, but rather to respect

the initial author and the readers – that isour commitment.”

With a worldwide network of independenttranslators, the company selects the mostapt professional for translation depending

on his or her knowledge on the topic. In-deed, not only does the translator need tohave at least 10 years of experience trans-lating to their mother tongue, they alsoneed to have a diploma in the field in whichthe translation takes place. There are cur-rently 1,000 linguists throughout Europeworking in most written and spoken Euro-pean languages

Global Lingua Services puts at the dis-posal of its clients a project manager forbetter coordination, as well as professionalexperts in their field and a fast service ofhigh quality.

With more than 300,000 pages translatedper year in 80 different language combina-tions, Global Lingua Services is alwaysthere to help.

www.lingua-service.eu

Honouring quality and the wonder of languagesTEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTO: TRANS@


From its origins as a Eurobond centre inthe 1960s, the country subsequently de-veloped as a private banking centre andthen, since the 1980s, as a leading domi-cile for investment funds. Moreover, theLuxembourg Stock Exchange is globallyrecognised for its capacity to innovate andits efficiency, and is the listing place ofchoice in Europe for international bonds.

Over the past decades, many new activitieswere developed to further diversify the fi-nancial sector. Due to its innovative spirit,Luxembourg has always been open to newtrends and today counts amongst the top fi-nancial centres worldwide when it comes toactivities such as the international Renminbi(Chinese yuan) business, Islamic finance ore-payment services, amongst others.

The success of the financial centre isfounded on the social and political stabilityof the Grand Duchy and on a modern legaland regulatory framework that is continu-ously updated, providing professionals in

the financial centre with a comprehensivetoolbox of compliant investment vehicles tomeet their clients’ needs. This legal frame-work, combined with Luxembourg’s open-ness to the world and strategic location,has attracted international banks, insur-ance companies, investment fund pro-moters and specialist service providers.

Luxembourg reduces cross-border com-plexity and is the ideal platform to accessthe different national markets in Europe.The financial centre has specialised in serv-ing international clients with businessesand investments in several jurisdictions.Professionals in Luxembourg have the ad-vantage of being multi-lingual, multiculturaland familiar with international business, taxand regulatory environments.

Luxembourg’s commitment to a sustain-able financial economy, not only on a na-tional, but also on a European and interna-tional level, is reflected in the government’sstrong commitment to transparency in fis-

cal matters. Luxembourg is an active andpositive player in the discussions at OCDEand EU level, which aim at achievinggreater fairness in international tax matters.

L U X E M B O U R G :

An international financial centre in the heart of EuropeThe Luxembourg financial centre is known as a centre of excellence far beyond the borders of the Benelux

countries. Due to its specialisation in the distribution of cross-border financial services, Luxembourg managed to create a sustainable and diversified international financial centre.

TEXT: LUXEMBOURG FOR FINANCE | MAIN PHOTO: LFF

Discover Benelux | Business | Luxembourg for Finance

Today the Luxembourg financial centre is:

Number 1 financial centre in the Eurozone,ahead of Frankfurt, and number 15 in theworld (GFCI index – September 2014).

The second largest investment fund centre in the world.

The premier wealth management centre for international clients in the Eurozone.

The premier centre for cross-border distribution of life assurance in the EU.

The largest domicile for Islamic funds in Europe.

The third largest global centre for international Renminbi activities.

Photo: Luxembourg ONT


On Tuesday 29 October, the Global Pri-vate Banking Awards 2014 Ceremonywas held in Geneva, organized by theFinancial Times, PWM and The Banker*.The jury made up of professionals andexperts from the international bankingand financial sector has, this year again,recognised the expertise of ING Lux-embourg by awarding the Bank ‘BestPrivate Luxembourg 2014’.

This prestigious prize rewards the privatebanks’ progress in their business/growthstrategy and their achievements in boost-ing inflows and profit on the one hand andmeeting investors’ changing needs and at-titude to risk on the other hand.

This year again, ING Luxembourg has suc-ceeded in convincing the jury that its pri-vate banking teams had met the currentchallenges in a changing regulatory envi-ronment.

In 2014 indeed, ING adapted its businessmodel to enhance customer centricity andhas refined its commercial organisationalstructure.

The bank’s strategy focuses on threemain objectives:– Adapt its offer to UHNWI with an inter-national aspect to their wealth. There-fore ING has improved the following serv-

ices: creation and management of dedi-cated funds, specialist lending solutions(i.e. yacht financing), international wealthanalysis and planning, tax certificates,tailor-made portfolio management in afully open architecture (i.e. personalisedinvestment funds...).

– Become a hub for ING's private bankingentities. ING Luxembourg will leverageon the presence of ING units all over theworld to ensure a sustainable growth inthese markets and to offer complemen-tary services for their local clients.

– Continue developing the local marketthrough ING Luxembourg's retail bankingand corporate banking.

As a universal bank, ING differentiates itselffrom other players as it is also able to offertraditional banking products, thus coveringthe entire financial needs of a client. Andthis goes beyond personal needs or coun-try borders, as together with other busi-ness lines or other ING units, ING Luxem-bourg is able to provide solutions forbusiness clients, or service locally interna-tional clients.

“ING Luxembourg is a universal bank thatbenefits not only from an excellent image ofa retail bank but also as a specialist inwealth management. Our expertise in

terms of private banking and wealth analy-sis and planning allows us to propose tailor-made and diverse solutions, meetingthe increasingly complex requirements ofour local and our international clients. Be-ing part of the international ING Group is areal asset as well for our clients as for our-selves, which allows us to always bringthe best service to them,” comments Sandrine De Vuyst, head of Private Bank-ing at ING Luxembourg.

(*The Banker is the world's premier banking and

finance resource. Read in over 180 countries

around the world, it is the key source of data and

analysis for the industry.)

B E S T P R I V A T E B A N K , L U X E M B O U R G 2 0 1 4

ING elected againTEXT: ING LUXEMBOURG | PRESS PHOTO

Discover Benelux | Business | Columns


Do you walk to work or do you carryyour lunch?

In filling out forms, answering surveys or takingtests, we’ve all come across poorly constructedquestions like this. They are examples of themost merciless principle in communications: thecurse of knowledge.

By a cruel trick of fate, the human brain isfar better at making sentences that correspondto an intended meaning than at detecting thepresence of unintended meanings. The result isthat everybody else sees the other meaningsbefore the writer does. Knowing what youwanted to say keeps you from recognisingwhat you said.

In tests and surveys, this can be a big prob-lem. A few poorly written questions can under-mine the validity of test scores or research re-sults, creating mayhem and wasting money.

This is where Ashra Sugito comes in. Ashrais a language specialist at Teelen Kennis -management, a training and testing company in

Wilp, the Netherlands. Finding and fixing mud-dled questions is her speciality.

Here’s an example she provides from an ac-tual test:

Why does the national meteorological insti-tute record the temperature at a large number ofmeasuring stations every hour?

Clearly the writer had a particular answer inmind, but what? Is the “why” about the record-ing, the temperature, the large number, or thehourly frequency? We have no way of knowing.

How to fix this? Ashra suggests rewordingthe question as a statement, then adding a spe-

cific follow on ques-tion, such as “Giveone reason whythey do this everyhour”. If the ques-tion was meant toget at multiple is-sues, you wouldsimply add anotherquestion for eachissue.

As solutions go, this is pretty basic and hum-drum. That’s the point. The work is in finding theproblem — meaning, not just finding failures ofclarity but figuring out exactly what’s wrong.

The curse of knowledge isn’t irremediable.With practice, it can be overcome quite effec-tively. But it’s hard. In the meantime, there arepeople like Ashra to keep you out of trouble.

What communicates?TEXT & ILLUSTRATION: JOSIAH FISK

Josiah Fisk

Most great leaders don’t get there overnightbut if you give it time and focus, I believemany of us can learn how to lead well. Hereare some ideas.

Ask three questions. A young South Americanmanager working for Nestlé in France once toldme: “I ask my people three questions every week:1 “What do you think I’m doing right?” 2 “What doyou think I’m doing wrong?” and 3 “What do youwant me to do more of?” Listening to and actingon their answers helped him a lot. It takescourage, but can help us all lead better.

Say what you do. Developing people is acritical management function: it helps you, yourpeople and your organisation. But sometimeseven good leaders have problems telling otherpeople how they lead. So:

1. Think about what you do as a leader so that2. You know what you do (and asking those

three questions will help) so that3. You can say what you do, and then 4. You can tell other people what you do.

Achieving skills transfer in this way raises individual

and team performance and makes you more articulate.

Define your next challenge/s. No doubtyou have been given targets by your organisa-tion. But what about your own professional andpersonal targets? What challenge are you put-ting off as too difficult, complicated or terrifying?Presenting to 5,000 people? Negotiating in a for-eign language? Taking over the big project? Andpersonal challenges? Jumping out of a plane?(with a parachute); white water rafting? Don’twait until your bucket list is as long as your arm.Write down one professional and one personaltarget every six months and, as you stretchyourself each time, your ability to overcome yourfears and dare further will develop too.

Keep a diary. To write down your challengesand other achievements of which you’re proud. Asyou look back through your diary over the years,you will see and feel positive about your progress.

By asking those three questions, being ableto tell others how you do what you do, settingyourself regular challenges, and recording yourprogress, it won’t be so long before you start toamaze yourself and others too. Best wishes foryour future leadership career.

Some simple ways to leadTEXT: STEVE FLINDERS | PRESS PHOTO

Steve Flinders

Josiah Fisk is the head of More Carrot LLC, a clear communications company with offices in

Boston and Luxembourg.

Steve Flinders is a freelance trainer, consultant, writerand coach who helps people develop their communi-cation skills for working internationally. He’s also a mem-ber of the steering group of Coaching York whichaspires to make York the coaching capital of the UK(www.coachingyork.co.uk): [email protected]


Discover Benelux | Business | Fundsquare

Fundsquare is a market utility that aimsat making the cross-border distributionof funds simpler, faster and safer bycentralising the information and auto -matising the fund-management processall in one place.

Dominique Valschaerts, CEO of Fund-square, explained that the LuxembourgStock Exchange created Fundsquare afterrealising that, unlike the stock market, theEuropean fund market has a very complexinfrastructure. From faxes to emails, its op-erations follow very diverse channels ofcommunication and processes which ulti-mately make the market inefficient andcostly.

“The platform has been piloted since 2010by a Super User Group composed oftransfer agents, distributors and assetmanagers, representing 70 per cent of thecross-border distributed funds in Luxem-bourg, and has been a success thus far,”explains Valschaerts.

Although it is a new platform, Fundsquareis the result of decades of experience. Itabsorbed the activities of Finesti, a highlysuccessful fund information platform andpartnered with SWIFT – who provides thebackbone of the tool – and Altus, who de-veloped the front end.

The platform consists of three mainservices: - An information aggregator with constant

updates of static and dynamic data andfund documents.

- An order management service to coun-teract the increased operational com-plexity linked to cross-border distribu-tion of funds. This includes real-timeorder routing and confirmation betweenthe distributors and transfer agents.

- A regulatory service to help all fund in-dustry actors fulfil their regulatory obli-gations and reporting duties.

Because Fundsquare is a market utility builtby and for the fund industry in order to ful-fil a need that is very much present in themarket, the ultimate mission is to further in-crease market efficiency by relying on thecollaborative aspect of the tool.

“Although we are a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange,

our goal is to open the capital to the usersand become user-owned and user-gov-erned,” explains Valschaerts. “Ultimately,”he continues, “our vision is to become theunique and worldwide infrastructure facili-tating cross-border fund distribution be-tween all actors on the market.”

The early successes of Fundsquare arevery promising and the firm is expecting alot more companies to join the platform.“The adoption rates have been fantasticbecause the need is great and it just makessense,” Valschaerts concludes.

And thus, the fund industry is finally enter-ing the 21st century.

www.fundsquare.net

Modernizing the global distribution of funds

TEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: FUNDSQUARE

Dominique Valschaerts CEO of Fundsquare

Delve into our business calendar, offeringplenty of opportunities to sharpen your mindand make valuable connections.

Wallonia Export-Invest FairLiège, Belgium, 2-3 DecemberThe 2nd annual Wallonia Export Invest Fair concen-trated on international business development and hostsa wide spectrum of seminars and workshops on world-wide export and investments. From business-tailoredlanguage lessons to an overview Africa’s economics,there is something for everyone. Export providers areinvited to present their services to Walloon companieswho wish to develop internationally. www.wallonia-export-invest-fair.be

The Golden Rules of SuccessLuxembourg City, Luxembourg, 3 DecemberAs part of a larger event on business development andentrepreneurship, the Chambre de Commerce Luxem-bourg has invited two entrepreneurs from the com-merce and catering sectors to discuss their experiencesand challenges. They will also share their tips on how tosuccessfully run, or take over a business. Listeners willlearn about the complex mechanisms of business fund-ing, how to target audiences and company culture. The event is free and in French. www.cc.lu

Avoid costly surprisesBrussels, Belgium, 4 DecemberThe British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium will hosta seminar for current and aspiring business owners onbeing organised and efficient in times of change. Dur-ing the event, specialists from BDO and Field Fischerwill take you through the financial and legal challengesof managing a business. They will give advice on top-ics including how to prepare for unannounced inspec-tions, how keep your business up to date and where tostart your next trading adventure. www.britishchamber.be

Fabric Pektakel Namur, Belgium, 7 DecemberThis is the event for all things fabric and fine textiles. Forone day the Namur Expo will be filled with materialssuch as fashion fabrics, interior fabrics, kids’ fabrics andquilting fabrics patchwork. Exhibitors showcase theirproducts and services, from toys to equipment and ma-chinery. A highlight of the gift and handiworks industry’scalendar and a great networking opportunity. www.namurexpo.be

Masters of LXRY FairAmsterdam, the Netherlands, 11-15 DecemberSince its start in 2002 the Masters of LXRY Fair has be-come the leading luxury event in Europe and continuesto grow every year. Big names of art, interior, fashion,design and gastronomy gather at the Amsterdam RAIto welcome thousands of collectors and enthusiastsvisiting this sparkling affair. The whole of Amsterdamjoins in as its hotels, restaurants, museums and enter-tainers contribute to the festive atmosphere. The eventfinishes with Business Monday on 15 December, wherevisitors and businesses alike are invited to networkand inspire each other.www.lxry.nl/masters-lxry


Discover Benelux | Business | UK Meets NL

Doing business internationally is pavedwith unique challenges. Ilse van denMeijdenberg, founder of English Servicesand UK meets NL and Chairman of IoDNetherlands talks about some of thesechallenges.

“At UK meets NL we offer entrepreneurswishing to branch out into the Netherlandsand/or the UK a powerful combination ofpractical advice and consultancy services.We work with local experts: hand-picked tosuit our clients’ specific business needs.”

Over the years it has become clear toIlse that language can be a real barrier tosuccess. “People often underestimate thepower of language and the importance ofclear communications in international

business. The choice of language is anobvious issue to deal with, but culturaldifferences, etiquette, norms and tradi-tions can also have a direct influence onhow well your message is received. Whenyou forget to consult a language expert,like English Services, you’re selling your-self short.”

UK meets NL/English Services works for awide variety of companies ranging fromstart-ups to multinationals. “We aim to pro-vide a comprehensive package of servicesfor companies of any size.”

UK meets NL has its own LinkedIn group.

www.ukmeetsnl.com

Benelux business calendarTEXT: STINE WANNEBO | PHOTO: GOED

Your one-stop shop for successful cross-border business

TEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTOS: UK MEETS NL

Ilse van den Meijdenberg

Masters of LXRY


Discover Benelux | Wellness & Beauty | Kazem

The biggest dilemma in December: howto enjoy all Christmas gatherings, ban-quets and fun parties and stay tight andslim in your favourite party dress at thesame time. During this time of the year,there is no time for some extra exerciseand a diet is hard to maintain.

It is no surprise that plastic surgeon Dr.Farid Kazem is very busy in the last monthsof the year: the number one thing onChristmas wish lists is a slim figure withoutstubborn bulges. Luckily, Dr. Kazem hasgood news for everyone who would like tobe freed from their bulges forever. “Losingweight through a diet or working out, hardlychanges a thing about the bulges on spe-

cific places like the arms, legs and belly.And once you stop the diet, the bulges areback immediately, because the fat cells willshrink, but not disappear. CoolSculpting®however destroys the fat cells, so theywon’t be back. And the best thing is:CoolSculpting® can make fat disappearfrom exactly the places where it is needed:from the waist, the belly, the inside of thelegs or the hips. The difference can be awhole size, but more important is thatclothing fits much better. No more muffintops above your jeans, or a bulging belly inyour favourite dress.

CoolSculpting® uses the unique Cryoli -polyse® technique that makes fat cells dis-

appear forever thanks to selective cooling.After cooling, the fat cells fall apart andleave the body gradually. This process lastsa few weeks, but the main advantage isthat the skin adjusts itself to the more slen-der contour of the body and stays tight.CoolSculpting® does not involve surgeryor injections and no diet or special workoutis required. This supports a perfect start for2015, because with CoolSculpting®, it iseasy to stick to your New Year’s resolutionto have a slender body, which is of courseideal for when it is time for bikinis again insix months!

Dr. Kazem does warn you about fake fatcell treatments though: “Only CoolSculpt-ing® can and may use the Cryolipolyse®technique. After years of independent andscientific studies, the FDA [the AmericanFood and Drug Administration] gave onlyCoolSculpting® an approval for the safeand effective removal of fat cells.”

TEXT: JANINE STERENBORG | PHOTOS: KAZEM

Looking your best during the holiday season

Plastic surgeon Farid Kazem is wellknown for his extensive experience andhigh-quality results in skin rejuvenationwith surgical and non-surgical procedures.

www.coolscultpingdrkazem.com www.nefera.comwww.kazem.nl


The Clinique Pasteur is one of the leadingcentres in Luxembourg that offers a widerange of services to its patients – skin re-juvenation, facial rejuvenation, hair im-plants, body contouring, vascular treat-ments and much more. Dr Charles saysthat he takes pride in having gatheredaround him colleagues that value excel-lence above all – both in the services theyprovide but also in the equipment they use.

“In our industry you quickly get acquaintedwith the people who are at the top of theirfield through medical trainings, congressesand conferences we attend on a regularbasis to be at the heart of innovation. It was

through building a strong and close-knitnetwork of contacts that I gathered a teamof specialists to join me to achieve mygoal,” says Dr Charles. His doctors havebetween 15 and 30 years of experienceand some are Presidents of scientific socie ties in France, heads of medical or-ganisations and at the frontline of newtechnical innovations.

Spread across 400 square metres, all theirdevices are brand new and ensure the bestresults. “We truly believe that nowadaysaesthetics procedures do not necessarilyneed to be bloody to be effective. This iswhy everything we do is with the softest

technique available. For example, to re-move excess skin on the lids we will carryout the procedure over three sessions us-ing a new plasma laser – without surgery.”

Breaking the mythThis is also why staying hospitalised withinthe Clinique after an intervention is notnecessary for patients. “We want to offer aservice that is so good and so gentle thatour clients can walk out the same after-noon.” Dr Charles says that it is importantto break the myths surrounding aestheticcare: “Too often we hear horror storiesabout plastic surgeries gone wrong or peo-ple losing their facial expressions. So we

C L I N I Q U E P A S T E U R

Feeling and looking younger and betterThe Clinique Pasteur started as a project to gather in one medical practice the best and highest qualified medical

professionals along with the most advanced medical techniques in the field of aesthetic care and vascular procedures. In

order to do this, founder Dr Jean-Marc Charles traveled all over France to meet the principal actors of this very specific field.

TEXT: BCLINIQE PASTEUR | PHOTOS: CLINIQE PASTEUR


really take the time to walk our clientsthrough the Clinique and show them whatequipment we use, how it works and whythey shouldn’t need to worry – because weresort to far gentler techniques and will doexactly what is the best for them.”

Indeed more and more people come to theClinique for aesthetic care and it is impor-tant to make them feel safe and in goodhands. He has observed a strong andgrowing tendency over the past 15 yearsto look increasingly fit and healthy. “Itseems to be more and more important formany people – so our job is to assist themin achieving this. And we absolutely believethat we can achieve great results withoutneeding to rely on plastic surgery in manycases.” Hence the focus at Clinique Pas-teur to delay the need for surgery by rely-ing instead on far softer techniques suchas endovenous laser to treat varicoseveins, the area of specialisation of DrCharles. “The laser is so gentle that it doesnot require anesthesia and as I said earlier,no hospitalisation.”

Here at the Clinique we have the full rangeof lasers available on the market to treatmany different kinds of needs. Everythingyou see at Clinique Pasteur is new andthe latest of the latest in technological de-velopments. Same goes for proceduressuch as hair implants – we use a machinefor the extractions. With our machine, ittakes half the time and is twice as safe.”This has led to a high satisfaction rate andclients stay faithful to the Clinique, oftencoming back.

A relationship of trustWhen asked how he handles the demandsof his clients, Dr Charles explains that he isthe first contact person, and as such en-gages on a lengthy dialogue with his cus-tomers to identify exactly what result theyare looking for. “It is important to establisha trust relationship with the patient you areworking with to clearly identify what theyare looking for. Also, you will see there is abig difference between the ‘American way’and the ‘French touch’. The reason weprivilege the latter is because we truly be-

lieve that it is important to have an end re-sult that looks as natural as possible. Theidea is that our work is so subtle and deli-cate that it is not obvious.”

As for the future, the Clinique Pasteur aimsto remain a leading actor in the domain ofexcellence and stay at the top of aestheticcare and vascular techniques.

www.clinique-pasteur.lu

Clinique Pasteur is one of Luxembourg’s leading centres for excellent aesthetic care and vascular techniques. It uses state-of-the-art technology so many procedures canbe done without resorting to surgery.

Discover Benelux | Wellness & Beauty | Clinique Pasteur


This is where Dr Agnès Gabenisch hasheld her clinic since 1993, treating venousdisorders, helping patients in many ways;her micro-nutrition aimed at optimising thepatient’s balance in vitamins, minerals andfatty acids, her expertise in aesthetic med-icine includes injections, anti-age treat-ments and laser treatments to name a few.Dr Gabenisch is a polyvalent general prac-titioner, thermal doctor, nutritionist andphlebologist and she is the originator of acure for venous ailments. On top of treat-ing varicose veins, Dr Gabenisch is one ofthe first practitioners to have developed acompetency in anti-aging treatments, be-ing at the heart of its conception and pio-neering in the field with much success. To-day, she is at the forefront of facelifttechnology offering the patients her skill inthread lifts.

“My approach to health has always beenmultidisciplinary,” explains the doctor,“which has led me on various paths fromanti-aging therapy to nutrition or even ul-trasound-guided foam sclerotherapy forvaricose veins.” The latter is a techniquewhich Dr Gabenisch was among the firstpractitioners to implement and which hasnow become one of the most effectiveways of treating mildly varicose veins. Inmost cases it allows the patients to avoidsurgery.

However, even though phlebology is one ofthe main focuses of the practice, DrGabenisch is able to intervene in other ar-eas and it is her holistic approach to healththat allows her to give each patient theideal treatment. “A lot of our patients arelooking for safe ways of taming the marks

of time, it maybe with thread-lift or throughother aesthetic interventions that allow thepatients to look younger without the un-natural rendering of other techniques. Ialso use lipolasers and cryolipolysis to re-duce fat and ‘orange peel’ skin with greatresults,” concludes Dr Gabenisch; “themost gratifying for us is seeing a patient'ssmile after successful treatment.”

With top-notch equipment and an expertteam, the clinic of Dr Gabenisch is visitedby people from all over Europe. If you arein Luxembourg, looking to get back intoshape, with her thermal cures and insight-ful micro-nutrition advice, Dr Gabenischcan put you on the right track and bringyour smile back... naturally.

www.agnes-gabenisch.lu

Tame the marks of timeMondorf-les-Bains is a very touristic commune from the south of Luxembourg known for its

spa resort with 34 degrees Celsius water and a high concentration in minerals used especially for the treatment of rheumatisms, obesity and venous disorders.

TEXT: HARUN OSMANOVIC | PHOTOS: DR GABENISCH

Discover Benelux | Wellness & Beauty | Dr Gabenisch

Specialising in enhancing the body sil-houettes of its patients, Lipofine is aplastic surgery centre which offers vi-brosculpture (liposuction assisted by vi-brations) and breast enhancement sur-gery (mammary implants).

With a selection of specialist experts intheir fields, the Lipofine centre has every-thing to establish itself as one of the bestcentres within the industry of plastic sur-gery. First of all, each speciality is takencare of by a surgeon with many years ofexperience and extensive knowledge in hisor her subject area. Secondly, all productsused are of the highest quality and certifi-cations available today: for example, allbreast implants come with CE-certified la-bels.

Furthermore, interventions are not gov-erned by a full anaesthesia but are carriedthrough ambulatory analgesia, whichmeans the patients are able to walk out thesame day to return to their homes, some-thing that is widely appreciated by theirpatients. As for vibrosculpture, the mainadvantage is the greater accuracy offeredby the technique to take away superfluousfat, while considerably reducing skintrauma. It also leaves none or barely visiblebruises, along with a shorter recovery timecompared with more traditional liposuc-tion procedures.

As for breast implants, the interventiontakes place under local anaesthesia andwith a light sedative, equally allowing a re-turn home within the same day. Located atthe heart of Brussels, Lipofine offers a widerange of surgical services such as capillaryimplants, facial surgery as well as aestheticmedical treatments, such as wrinkle fillingprocedures through hyaluronic acid (fillers)and Botox.

Figure sculpting at LipofineTEXT: BETTINA GUIRKINGER | PHOTOS: LIPOFINE

Discover Benelux | Wellness & Beauty | Lipofine

All services are provided at afford-able prices, under the care of a professional and friendly team.

Please contact Lipofine for more information:

Email: [email protected]

Brussels, Belgium:

www.lipofine.be

Telephone: +32 (0)2 640 4204

London, United Kingdom:

www.lipofine.co.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)808 189 0364


The ambition of the annual art fair is sim-ple: to support and promote artists andconnect them to the widest audiencepossible. As a non-profit organization,the fair enjoys a unique position wherethey can put the artist at the heart ofeverything they do. Rob Thiejson, headof the selection committee, explains whythis is so important, “Our foundation hassurvived for ten years in a field with hugecompetition. This must mean we have aspecial quality that I believe comes fromus doing it 100% for individual artistsand the public. We’re very selective withwhat we show, we are curators.”

Thiejson recounts how difficult it is to de-cide who will claim one of the covetedspots. “Creativity is difficult to judge but we

go with quality, audacity, expressivenessand whimsy.” Joining him on this massiveundertaking were some of the most pres-tigious figures from the artistic commu-nity. He says, “Sometimes our opinionsdiffered greatly, which sparked intense dis-cussion, but that’s alright. We banged ourheads together for the sake of art!”

One of the unique selling points of the artfair is the combination of establishedartists exhibiting alongside emerging starsof the art world. Internationally renownednames such as Barbara Broekman, V&B,Daan den Houter, Meinbert Gozewijn vanSoest, Julia Winter and Albert Geertjeswill be interspersed with younger artistssuch as Lisette Frimannslund, AnanStriker and Philip Schuette.

Art in RedlightArt in Redlight celebrates its tenth anniversary this year: a special exhibition following a decade of promoting

contemporary artwork. This year, over 150 artists will exhibit within the iconic environs of the Beurs van Berlage.

TEXT: HELLEN CULLEN | PHOTOS: GERT JAN VAN ROOIJ


Discover Benelux | Culture | Art in Redlight

The festival offers a special opportunity tomeet the exhibiting artists in person and at-tracts a diverse audience: experienced andnovice art collectors and enthusiastic artlovers of every age. Thiejson enecouragesfamilies to visit and discover new art to-gether: “It’s for everybody, even children,because we also have installations andperformances of literature, poems and mu-sic. One of our aims is to make it profitablefor artists so all the art is for sale: pricesvary from a few hundred euro to thousandsso there is something for everyone.”

BARBARA BROEKMAN (above left) hasbeen developing her distinctive, monu-mental works since 1982. After specialis-ing in textiles at the Amsterdam Gerrit Rietveld Academy, she completed a Mas-

ter of Arts programme at the CaliforniaCollege of the Arts in Berkeley, USA. Inher work, Broekman pursues a direct con-frontation with the human senses throughlarge-scale pieces; she explores the fullspectrum of human experience address-ing topics such as love, death, birth, loss,relationships and cultural diversity. As oneof the most renowned artists to exhibit atArt in Redlight, Broekman recognises itsimportance for artists at different stages intheir careers: “It is a really sympatheticinitiative from within the Amsterdam artscene. As an independent exhibition, itoffers both the more experienced artist,and those less so, the opportunity to rep-resent their art without the need of agallery and to broaden their network.”

LISETTE FRIMANNSLUND (above mid-dle) graduated from the Fine Arts depart-ment at the KABK in The Hague with adegree in painting in 2014. Frimmanslundwas thrilled to be invited to exhibit follow-ing the success of her graduate show:“It’s a great opportunity for me as a start-ing artist to exhibit alongside much moreexperienced artists whom I admire.” Art in

Redlight will feature selected works fromIn Transition, a collection inspired by asolitary bicycle journey during the summerof 2013 that lasted 26 days. They are re-flections on how solitude changes theway you think, remember and focus. Thetitle of each work is taken from the exactmoment each photograph was captured.

DAAN DEN HOUTER is a distinguishedmultidisciplinary artist who lives andworks in Rotterdam. Studying artificialintelligence in advance of attending artschool awarded him the foundation forhis artistic work: our subjectivity, con-sciousness and role of the subcon-scious. Using humour and cynicism heaims to create another perspective onart and challenge people’s assumptionsabout daily life. The exhibition will showhis new Splat works. These pieces showus just the back of the canvas with theoriginal painting splattered against thewall. Den Houter is excited about the artfair, “I’m going to make a great show; it’sa perfect opportunity to buy some of myworks for a good price!”

LOCATION

Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam

DATES

27 - 30 December 2014

OPENING HOURS

11am – 7pm daily

TICKETS

€10, (Free for children)

- 150 artists- 20 up-and-coming galleries- 3 stages for music, dance, theatre and performance

This piece by artist Albert Geertjesis entitled ‘A wheel as expected and to be foreseen... after Jan Fabre’.


“We hesitated between calling it a Best Ofor Greatest Hits,” singer and front manBarman explains. “The songs are probablythe ones I would choose for people to lis-ten to who have never heard of dEUS asthey are probably the most interesting. If a‘Best Of’ can find help us find an audiencethat hasn’t heard of us, that’s fantastic.”

Although this special compilation mayserve as a launch pad for new fans to dis-cover the dEUS back catalogue, Barmanworked very hard to create a collectionthat would have meaning for the legions of

fans that already adore them. The band’sfirst three albums sold in excess of750,000 copies worldwide and they haveenjoyed an international cult followingever since. After twenty years of per-forming their unique blend of folk, punk,jazz and progressive rock, they continueto amass incredible critical acclaim forevery new recording and attract fans intheir thousands at shows worldwide.

Selecting songsWith such an immense collection of mate-rial to draw from, a double album seemed

the best format to fairly represent thebreadth of the band’s work. Barmanshared the rationale behind their creativethinking, “We always knew that we weregoing to do a double album because wewanted to bring out the softer songs, theballads, separately. There were two rea-sons for that; one is that they almost neverbecome a single and the second reason isthat actually I think the softer songs aresome of our best. If you play them all to-gether it shows a whole other side of usthat was always there, and which the die-hard fans know about, but was never

dEUS: Belgium’s best lovedband re-release their top songs

Indie-rock heroes dEUS were the first Belgian band to sign a record deal with a major international record company. Two decades and six albums later, Tom Barman has curated a special compilation album of

their greatest work entitled Selected Songs – 1994-2014.

TEXT: HELLEN CULLEN | MAIN PHOTO: STEPHAN VANFLETEREN


Discover Benelux | Culture | dEUS

compiled in that way before.” In essence,this new album allowed the band to culti-vate a new life for old songs and presentthem to the world with a fresh perspective.

Barman continues, “The other CD wasbased more on personal choice; thereare some obvious tracks that we couldn’tomit like Suds and Soda, Instant Street,Hotellounger or Little Arithmetics – thoseare probably the ones that are most well-known – and then we picked the othersongs out by instinct.”

Perfect timingIt is the ideal moment for Barman to stopand reflect upon the band’s musicallegacy. “In the last couple of years webrought out two albums in a really shortspace of time, in 2011 and 2012, andtoured on three continents. We needed abreak, so it was the perfect time for us torelease this as a bridge to the next albumand to accompany it with a tour. It’s beentwenty years since the first album so thatgives it a good timely feel.”

The secret to survivalSince dEUS released their acclaimed de-but album Worst Case Scenario in 1994,the band have evolved both musically andin terms of personnel; to sustain a careerover such an extended period of time re-quired a number of line-up changes but thecurrent members have collaborated to-gether for ten years. Founding membersand long-term friends vocalist Barman andmulti-instrumentalist Klaas Janzoon enjoy aclose working relationship with their musi-

cal comrades drummer Stéphane Mis-seghers, bassist Alan Gevaert and gui-tarist/backing vocalist Mauro Pawlowski.

While so many bands struggle to survivethe ups and downs of their musical ca-reers, Barman and Janzoon’s relation-ship has endured. “I think we approachthings in different ways. We’re completeopposites. That’s one of the reasonswe’ve survived and also that he is veryinstrumental for the sound of the band.”Barman laughs as he reflects, “I alwayssay that every good band should be likethe cast of The Godfather. You shouldhave Marlon Brando, the godfather,pulling the strings, Sonny who’s thevolatile character, Robert Duvall as the

insider/outsider and then Michael the re-sponsible one. I think Klaas would be thegodfather and I’m Michael. I started offas the well-meaning young idealistic per-son but I’ve turned into Michael.”

Upcoming tourReleasing this album also allows the bandto re-introduce some classic songs intotheir live show that have been absent inrecent years. Barman is excited to per-form these for their fans. “We’re verymuch looking forward to the Europeantour because we’ll dig up some oldersongs like Hotellounge that we haven’tplayed for a long time to make a goodeclectic set that reflects the album,” heconcludes. This is a tour not to be missed.

Tom Barman (left), front man of dEUS. Photo: Bernaded Dexters. Selected Songs – 1994-2014 by dEUS is available now on double CD and digital download.

dEUS EUROPEAN TOUR DATES

9 DecemberPostbahnhof, Berlin

10 DecemberScala, London

14 DecemberDoornroosje, Nijmegen

16 DecemberBataclan, Paris

17-18 DecemberParadiso, Amsterdam

19-21 DecemberCirque Royale, Brussels

Photo: Stefan de Batselier


Belgian artist Milow in LuxembourgCityLuxembourg City, Luxembourg, 1 DecemberOne of Europe’s most exciting talents iswelcoming advent to Luxembourg thisyear. With a complex mixture of old-schoolsoul, techno and acoustic pop he is bestknown for his single Ayo Technology from2008, which topped the charts all over Eu-rope when it first came out. Doing it allhimself, he has released four albums andthe latest, Silver Linings, came out thisApril. He will bring all his songs to Den Atelier.www.atelier.lu

Russel Maliphant Company in LuxembourgLuxembourg City, Luxembourg, 2-3 DecemberAcclaimed choreographer RusselMaliphant returns to the Grant Théâtre with

his latest work titled Still Current. Preparefor an evening filled with energetic ele-gance and dedication as the dancers takeyou through the diverse styles of contem-porary dance, ballet and martial arts. Join-ing Russel Maliphant on stage are CarysStaton, Dickson Mbi and Thomasin Gülgeçin a performance mainly constructed ofduets and trios. A beautiful display of phys-ical language to get you talking duringthese cold winter days. www.theatres.lu

Art AntwerpAntwerp, Belgium, 5-12 DecemberAntwerp is hosting an international art anddesign fair this month. Creators, collec-tors, art lovers, dealers and art & designexperts will attend this eight-day exhibi-tion that is much more than a regular artfair. Antwerp is already renowned for its mixof traditional art, modern art and culture

and the art fair will reflect this captivatingmerge of old and new. Dance perform-ances, live art and classical music will alsogreet those who visit the Antwerp Expoduring the event, as well as an opportunityto support the Belgian Cancer Foundationat the magnificent art auction at the end ofthe week.www.artantwerp.com

The IlluminadeAmsterdam, the Netherlands, 11 December – 4 January

There is so much more to December than just the race to get everything ready in time for Christmas. We havegathered a wide spectrum of cultural events all over the Benelux region and believe it or not – they all have nothing

or very little to do with the holidays. From extravagant fairs to stunning performances there is something foreveryone, before venturing back into the sparkling, snowy and mistletoe-covered streets of December.

TEXT: STINE WANNEBO | PRESS PHOTOS | MAIN PHOTO: JANUS VAN DEN EIJNDEN

OUT & ABOUT

Discover Benelux | Culture | Out & About


Discover Benelux | Culture | Out & About

The Amstel river and the city canals drift-ing towards the Amsterdam city centrewill be lit up with the incredible works oflight artists from home and abroad. Thelong winter nights from late November toJanuary become a lot more enjoyable withmagical lights in all colours, shapes andsizes filling the capital and its canalhouses. The Illuminade is a historic walk-ing tour through the glowing city, takingyou through and past the beautiful winterilluminated art works and invites you to in-teract and participate in the light. Thisguided walking tour of Amsterdam isavailable from 11 December. www.amsterdamlightfestival.com

Arab Camera FestivalRotterdam, the Netherlands, 12-14 December A unique chance to learn more about cin-ema in the Arab world is coming to Rot-terdam. The Arab Camera Festival exploresthe art of film-making in another part of theworld and gives a surprising insight into so-cial and political developments in the coun-tries they dive into. Over the years, the fes-tival has become a stage for debutingfilmmakers and those who want to ad-dress more controversial themes in a visual

medium. Definitely worth a watch!www.arabcamera.nl

Salon du Vin et de la Gastronomie Namur, Belgium, 12-14 December There is no doubt this is the season to in-dulge and there is no better place for suchgastronomic luxury than the Salon of Wineand Gastronomy. This is when the majornames of the food and beverage industrycome together to showcase all theirmouth-watering specialties, from thesweetest honey to scrumptious sausages.Along the way you will be able to sneak ataste of cheese, fresh truffles, tapenadeand olive oil – what is not to like? www.namurexpo.be

Excellent Wonen & Leven Fair Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 12-15 December From all over Europe, high-end brandswill participate in this year’s excellent andexquisite lifestyle fair in Rotterdam. Forfive days Ahoy will be hosting all kinds ofdesirable objects, ranging from sparklingwatches and jewellery to fast cars andyachts. The setting will be nothing shortof spectacular and dazzling fashion

shows, stunning performances and athrilling final auction are expected tomake this event impossible to miss.

See page 28 for more information.www.excellentbeurs.nl

International Record FairLuxembourg City, Luxembourg, 21 DecemberAll lovers of pop and rock should take thetime to visit the lobby of the Rockhal incentral Luxembourg this month. Almost amillion records from the last 50 years willbe put on sale, ranging from CDs andrare 45 rpm singles to music DVDs andVHS cassettes. Over 40 exhibitors from allover the world are bringing their stock tothe fair, including posters, t-shirts andother fan articles that are often impossibleto find anywhere else. Always wanted abook about your favourite artist from backin the day, which was long sold out by thetime you got to the record store? Thechances are this might be your lucky day.www.rockhal.lu

Art in RedlightAmsterdam, the Netherlands, 27-30 December For a decade now the historic Beurs vanBerlage fills with art treasures and treasurehunters on the final days of the year. An in-dependent art fair of spectacular propor-tions featuring dance, design, art, light in-stallation and music. Up-and-coming aswell as established artists will take thestage, creating an atmosphere that canonly be experienced.

See page 88 for more information.www.artinredlight.com


Discover Benelux | Culture | Columns

94 | Issue 11 | November 2014

Autumn and winter used to be the gloomi-est part of the year for me, but no more. Ihave come to the conclusion that if I want tolive a fulfilled life, then I cannot make mymood depend on the season or the weather.It just is what it is. A season. Weather.

Of course life does slow down during thecurrent months because there are lesshours of light during the day, it rains morefrequently and with the possibility of snow,traffic becomes even more hazardous. Forsome getting out of their warm beds in themorning becomes a daily struggle. Weneed to wear heavier clothes and we arelikely to lose scarves, gloves, hats and um-brellas.

But when I think about it, this beautifulseason is also the time of the year when

we get ready for Christmas celebrationswith our family and we have the end of yeargatherings and festivities with our col-leagues and friends. We look back on whatwe have achieved during the year and weare ready to make new resolutions for thenext one.

So this time I am going to fully embrace thewinter season and enjoy every day as if itwas the brightest and warmest day ofsummer. I will not let it stop me from livingmy life and make excuses for staying in.And life doesn’t come to a halt in Luxem-bourg City: there are countless culturalevents, festivals, Sunday shopping daysand there is, of course, the annual Christ-mas market that is running for almost twomonths.

2014 has sofar been a verygood year forme and I amlooking forwardto ending itwith success. I want to carry over the pos-itive energy and the lessons I have learnedto 2015.

Read more about Anouk’s life and travelson her lifestyle blog www.luxessed.com

Peter Paul Rubens needs no introduction.His extravagant Baroque paintings havebeen exhibited and collectedglobally, and his place in thegreat canon of artistic demi -gods is unquestionable. Whatthen, makes this exhibition anydifferent from any previouspaean to the great Flemishmaster?

Collaborating with the RoyalMuseum of Fine Arts, Antwerpand the Royal Academy of Arts,London, BOZAR have laid out astar-studded spread that cura-tor Nico van Hout has designedto cover the artistic impact that Rubenshas had on art in the past four centuries.Hence, although 160 works are on show,only 44 are by Rubens. The other worksare made up from artists that Rubens hasinfluenced, and it quickly becomes clear

this influence is both comprehensive andwide-ranging. There are Constables in the

exhibition, Gainsboroughs, Picassos, Rem-brandts and Turners amongst a plethora ofother household names.

Ruben’s vast body of work can be daunt-ing, but BOZAR have sourced order by fo-

cusing on six recurring themes within hiswork; violence, lust, power, compassion,

elegance and poetry. Withinthese brackets one can seehow the French painters werepulled towards his poetic works,the English by his landscapes,and the Spanish inspired by hisreligious works.

Indeed, few painters have beencapable of inspiring other artistsfor so long. Without Rubens,claims Van Hout, there wouldbe no rococo, romanticism, ori-entalism, or even impression-ism. His influence and legacy is

remarkable, and this well-considered exhi-bition dissects how far his legacy reachesand why Rubens is regarded as the origi-nal painters’ painter.

S T A T E S O F A R T

Sensation and Sensuality: Rubens and his Legacy TEXT: MATT ANTONIAK | PHOTO: BOZAR

Until 4 January 2015. BOZAR, Brussels

The glitziest seasonTEXT & PHOTOS: ANOUK KALMES

Discover Benelux | Culture | Columns

In the Netherlands there is a celebration thatis far more important than Christmas, Sin-terklaas. People all over the country, youngand old, colleagues and families, give eachother presents on and around December 5.

For those of you who are not aware of the Dutchtradition of Sinterklaas, every November Sin-terklaas – a Santa-like figure who gives presentsto good children on 5 December – arrives in theNetherlands by steamboat from Spain. He is ac-companied by his helpers, the Zwarte Piets.These are played by white men in blackface,usually with their faces painted chocolate brownor black, with bright red lips and curly afro-Caribbean style hair. There is a lot of debateabout where this tradition originates from, but itis largely believed to have started with a book byJan Schenkman in 1850 called Sint Nikolaas enzijn knecht, or Sinterklaas and his servant in Eng-lish. The Piets are the servants of Sinterklaasand hand out sweets, pepernoten (small specu-loos-like biscuits) and presents to good children.

On 15 November, in every major city in theNetherlands an event is held to welcome Sin-terklaas and his Zwarte Piets. In Amsterdam, theboat carrying Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piets

will sail along the canals while thousands of ex-cited children and their parents line the banksand also gather at the Museum and DamSquares. Similar events take place throughoutthe country. This tradition has been celebratedin the Netherlands this way for many years.

The 2014 Sinterklaas was watched very closelyby the media as throughout the previous yearthe figure of Zwarte Piet has become extremelycontroversial. Last year Verene Shepherd fromthe UN Human Rights committee called ZwartePiet a throwback to slavery, symbolised racismand should be banned. This resulted in ashocked Dutch public leaping to the defence oftheir Sinterklaas tradition. A Facebook petitioncalling for Zwarte Piet to be saved quicklyamassed over a million likes, the largest number

ever given to a Dutch Facebook page. A heateddebate started that has been fought in thecourts, on social media and in the mainstreampress. On one side are traditionalists who see noharm in the figure of Zwarte Piet and would likehim to remain exactly as he is. On the other sideof the increasingly polarised and passionate de-bate have been people who regard the appear-ance of Zwarte Piet, with his brown face, red lipsand curly hair as a symbol of racism.

Some Dutch cities have already announced theirintention to compromise by introducing rainbowand cheese coloured Piets along with the tradi-tional black ones. A number of Dutch organisa-tions have also begun to introduce multicolouredPiets in the seasonal advertising as well, or de-cided not to feature the Piets at all. So it looksas if there will at least be some change, howeverminor, to the appearance of the Piets, whichsome say is long overdue. Whether this will endthe passionate debate that has been takingplace remains to be seen. Whichever side youare on, we at Discover Benelux wish you ahappy Sinterklaas season.

Sinterklaas and his return to the NetherlandsTEXT: SIMON WOOLCOT | PHOTO: NBTC

ME S T ROM CHAND E L I E R S P R E S EN T S :

Light

A collection of Mestrom Chandeliers and more from the period 1500-1850.

23 November 2014 - 22 February 2015Museum aan het Vrijthof , Maastricht

Masters of LXRY fair 201418th. Century chandeliers and contemporarydesign in the sector ‘House of Limiteds’

11-15 December 2014RAI, Amsterdam

www.mestromchandeliers.com

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For more of the Shallow’s Man Guide to Amsterdamsee @Expatshallowman

Documents

Discover Benelux | Issue 12 | December 2014