NeighbourlyagreemeNtsFlanders signs a co-operationagreement with the Netherlandson key issues such asradicalisation, airspace andembassies\ 4 \ 7 \ 11

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You have to be a bit obstinate to celebrate your 37-and-a-half birthday. “It’s in the DNA of STUK,” says MarleenBrock, who for her PhD examined the history of the Leuvenarts centre, right from its start in 1977. The resulting bookand exhibition display the sheer tenacity and stubbornindependence of the cultural hotspot.

It may seem a bit unusual to invite a student from theDutch city of Nijmegen to dive into the arts archives totell the story of STUK, a leading Flemish arts centre. But

that’s precisely what Marleen Brock’s PhD supervisor at theUniversity of Leuven’s department of cultural history askedher to do. The result is a book available this month fromSTUK.

“I didn’t know anything about the Flemish arts scene,”Brock admits. And her unprejudiced view worked to heradvantage.Asanoutsider, shewasprimarily struckby thepassionof thepeople working for STUK, the arts centre that grew from asmall student initiative to the prominent art house it is now.“In the first few years therewas hardly any budget,” she says.“The university paid one and a half employees. The otherstaff members were in special employment programmes orworked as volunteers or during their civic service. Whenthere was a bit ofmoney, it was first used to cover operatingcosts and artists; the wages of the staff came last.”Flemish theatre director Guy Cassiers told Brock howhe produced his play De cementen tuin (The Cement

Garden) in 1984 with only 50,000 Belgian francs(€1,250). “There was no budget to cover travel costsfrom Antwerp to Leuven, so his production team sleptin the room where they were making the show,” Brocksays. “Since the scenes had to be played in a darkenedenvironment, they slept during the day and workedthrough the night, in the converted chemistry lab of theArenberg Institute.”Those were the days when STUK was still ’t Stuc (anabbreviation for Student Centre) and closely involvedwith the left-wing student movement. “At the end ofthe 1970s, the need for an arts building was voiced firstby the university’s Culture Council,” says Brock. “But itwas onlywhen a building on the social sciences campus

continued on page 5

miracles of the micro-worldA Flemish biologist has made his 300th discovery of anew species of diatom, oneof the world’stiniest – andmost beautiful –creatures

flaNders iNPolaNdThe Polish city of Gdansklaunches Flanders Week,a festival celebrating thehistorical ties betweenthe two regions

Art on the fringeleuven arts centre stuK is marking 37.5 rebellious years

© Frédéric Van hoof/Visit Flanders

tom Peetersmore articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu

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\ cUrrenT aFFaIrs

Works on the Oosterweel connection in Antwerp – asystem of roads and tunnels intended to close theAntwerp Ring and ease traffic congestion – will

begin in 2017,minister-president Geert Bourgeois and publicworks minister BenWeyts have announced.The project will be split into five parts, which will becontracted separately: works on the left bank of the Scheldt,or Linkeroever; a tunnel under the Scheldt; the Oosterweelinterchange; a tunnel under the Albert Canal; and an inter-change with the Ring.The cost of the entire project is €3 billion, according to RudiThomaes, chair of BAM, the project’s management company.Themost expensiveworks are associatedwith the tunnel andthe demolition of the viaduct near the Sportpaleis in Merk-sem,which togetherwill cost about €1.75 billion. Preparatoryworks can begin this year, Weyts said.“We can now proceed in the knowledge that each day ofdelay will cost €1 million,” Weyts said at a press conference

last week with Bourgeois as well as Antwerp mayor Bart DeWever and Flanders’ budget minister, Annemie Turtelboom.The government hopes to receive partial funding for theproject from the EU’s fund for strategic investments, Bour-geois said. At the same time, a €250million contribution fromthe city of Antwerpwill no longer be required.Themoneywillinstead be used to finance a feasibility study for the enclosureof the Ring, in answer to activist groups such as Ringland andstRaten-generaal, which are concerned about the health andnuisance aspects associated with the project.According to Manu Claeys, spokesperson for stRaten-gener-aal, detailed plans for a number of crucial aspects of theproject still have to be presented. “All the most importantdecisions remain to be taken, including the compilation ofan environmental impact report and the granting of build-ing permits,” he said. “During the obligatory public enquiry, itwill become clear to the people of Antwerpwhat the concreteimpact will be for the entire route.”

Oosterweel works by 2017Project to close antwerp ring split into five parts, as opposition continues

Antwerp is unique, according to the city’snew marketing slogan, which is just oneword: Atypisch (Atypical). The new marketingcampaign to sell the port city to the outsideworld was launched last week by mayor BartDe Wever.“Antwerp’s city marketing in recent years hasmade the people of Antwerp proud of their cityonce more,” the campaign folder reads. “Nowthe city council wants to promote Antwerp’squalities beyond the city limits.”Four themes are central to the campaign,which also includes a new website: the cityon the river; an innovative knowledge city; acreative city; and a metropolis on a humanscale. The word atypisch borrows the initial Awhich has been the badge of Antwerp for sometime, and the campaign, devised by advertis-ers Duval Guillaume, will try to turn it into aprofile that identifies the city to the rest of theworld.“Studies show that Antwerp is often notwidely known but that visitors often go awayimpressed,” De Wever said. “The A logo hasgiven Antwerp back its pride and now is thetime to turn and face the outside world.” \ AH

Two veteran presenters with Flemishpublic broadcaster VRT died during theweekend of 28 February.Urbaan De Becker was known as “thevelvet voice of the radio”. He spent timeat telecommunications authority RTT, thesocial aid agency OCMW and the ministryof economic affairs before landing at theBRT, as VRT was then known.For many years, he was an editor, politi-cal reporter and host of the current affairsprogrammeActueelonRadio 1,whichwentout twice daily. In the 1990s, he becameeditor in chief of the radio news service,retiring in 1996. He died at the age of 74.Emiel Goelen (pictured) worked on manyTV programmes, but was best-known for

the consumer magazines Op de koop toe,which was heavily influenced by the BBC’sThat’s Life and which ran from the 1970s tothe 1990s.He then moved to entertainmentprogrammes, including Zeg eens euh,a version of BBC Radio’s Just a Minute,in which players have to speak withouthesitation or repetition. The game showwas produced by Hans Bourlon and GertVerhulst, who went on to start the megaentertainment corporation Studio 100.In 1997, Goelen’s TV career came toan abrupt end when it was alleged hehad accepted gifts from companies inreturn for good reviews on his consumerprogramme. The allegations were never

proven, and he remained on staff, althoughhe never appeared on-screen again. Lastyear he revealed that he had been sufferingfrom the degenerative disease ALS for sixyears. He died at the age of 65. \ AH

The man suspected of carrying out anattack on a cleaning person at a Delhaizesupermarket in Antwerp last monthhas been arrested in France. The Dutchnational is accused of throwing acid in thecleaner’s face, causing severe burns.The attack happened three months afterthe man began a campaign to extortmoney from the supermarket chain.Police were working with Delhaize, buteach time the supermarket made an

appointment to hand over the money, theman failed to turn up. Police were able tocapture images of the man, taken at bankmachines.Accordingtoreports, themanwasstoppedonThursday night by French traffic policefor a routine check in the Paris area. Offic-ers became suspicious at the number ofcredit cards in the man’s car. Accordingto VTM, evidence linking the man, who isabout 40 years old, to the attack was also

found in the car.Brussels investigators are now in Paris.If they are satisfied the man in custody isthe alleged attacker, a procedure will bestarted to have himextradited to Belgium.Lastweek,thevictimoftheattack,52-year-old Marina Tijssen, was revived from aninduced coma. Doctors are confident theyhave been able to save her sight, but she islikely to be permanently scarred. \ AH

VRT says farewell to radio and TV veterans

Suspect in Delhaize acid attack arrested in Paris

more people are self-employed inBelgium in 2014 than in 2013, inall, according to figures from thesocial security service RSVZ, bring-ing the total tomore than 1,015,000

claimed by 170 Ford workers in alegalactioninTongerenincompen-sation for many years of doingwork suitable for an employeestatus rather than a labour status

reduction in the number of deathsby firearms in Belgium after 2006,when tough new gun laws cameinto force, according to the Flem-ish Peace Institute

in interest paid last year by thegovernment of Flanders for latepayment of invoices, 25% higherthan 2013

pay deficit for women in Belgium,according to figures released by theEU’s statistical office. In the EU asa whole women are paid 16.4% lessthan men

Antwerp takesnew direction incity branding

alan hopeFollow alan on Twitter \ @alanhopeFT

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© Belga

Bart De wever, annemie Turtelboom, Geert Bourgeois and Ben weyts announcethe definitive start of antwerp’s long-awaited Oosterweel project

© courtesy VrT

march 11, 2015

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face of flaNders

Queen Mathilde was on crutchesfollowing a skiing accident whenshe appeared lastweek topresentthe Womed Award for women inenterprise to Gratienne Sioncke,CEO of BORGInsole of Rotselaar,Flemish Brabant. The prize isawarded annually by Unizo, theorganisation that represents theself-employed, and Markant, theorganisation for women in busi-ness.Coincidentally, Sioncke is famil-iar with people who are havingproblems walking: BORGInsolemakes custom insoles for shoes.Along with a production facil-ity, it also has a podiatric centrewhere it carries out analyses ofthe needs of patients, from chil-dren to top athletes.Sioncke first studied to be amidwife, graduating in 1990.Four years later she decidedto follow another dream andbecame a teacher at the ArteveldUniversity College in Ghent. Shethen began a course in medicalsocial sciences at Ghent Univer-sity before becoming a seniorresearcher at Vlerick BusinessSchool.Her work there led to manage-ment research and counsellingwithin health-care organisations,as well as taking part in interna-tional congresses and publish-ing a number of journal arti-cles. Together with her husband,podiatrist Paul Borgloons, she

launched BORGInsole in 2007.The prize jury praised Sionckefor her drive and ambition. Injust eight years, her company hasbecome an authoritative voice inthe sector in Belgium, the Neth-erlands and Germany.“One in three entrepreneurs inFlanders is a woman,” said LieveDroogmans, chair of Markant.“The Womed award gives ahuman face to the success storiesof business life of and for womenwhohelpboost theFlemishecon-omy. This award should inspireand motivate other women tobecome entrepreneurs.”Sioncke was one of three nomi-nees. The others were NadineHubert, CEO of logisticscompany New Custom Servicein Vilvoorde, Flemish Brabant,and Hilde Rutten of BergHOFFin Beringen, Limburg, whichdesigns and manufactures kitch-enware.The award for the most promis-ing young talent went to JoundiNaziha, who runs two day-carecentres in Berchem, employing14 child-minders to look afterabout 100 toddlers.Finally, the Women Award Zuidfor entrepreneurs from thesouthern hemisphere went toCarmen Chito and her companySuper Mezcla of Ecuador, whichproduces biomass based on thedroppings of guinea pigs.\ Alan Hope

gratienne sioncke

If you’re the sporting type but notterribly fit, this could be the eventfor you.On 14 March, the city of Aalst inEast Flanders, best known for itsoutrageous carnival, will play hostto the Belgian Championships ofKop of Munt, or what we knowin English as Heads or Tails. Theevent is being organised by the TVprogrammeDe Schuur van Scheire,and it’s open to anyone.“The only thing that’s requiredis that you know the differencebetween heads and tails and cansay one of those words out loudwhen the referee asks you tochoose,” presenter Lieven Scheire

explained.The first condition sounds easyenough, though, despite thoseEuro coins having been with usnow for 15 years, the lack of anactual kop (head) can still causeconfusion for those more, shallwe say, advanced in life experi-ence.“Heads or tails is the most demo-cratic sport in the world,” Scheirewent on. “It makes no differenceif you’re clever, sporty, talented orexperienced; in a game of headsor tails everyone has the samechance of winning.”Fancy your chances, whatever theymay be? Turn up at the Florahal-

len in Aalst. The competition willbe head to head: one coin will betossed and two competitors call.The winner goes through to thenext round, and the loser dropsout, and so on to the final, whichwill take place in the studiosduring the recording of De Schuurvan Scheire. \ AH\ http://deschuurvanscheire.een.be.

armchair athletesoffside

weeK iN briefThe separate girls’ and boys’sections of primary school Sint-Jozef in Genk, Limburg, will bejoined together next Septem-ber. Sint-Jozef is the last schoolin Flanderswhere boys and girlsare segregated. According to theCatholic education network,separated education is in prin-ciple not allowed anymore.

The train drivers’ union ASTBhas issued a strike notice for31 March and 1 April, in protestat what it calls the “incoherentpremium system for train driv-ers”. The union also demandsa review of salary levels. Theunion will hold a sit-in at Brus-sels South Station on 18 March,blocking tracks for 20 minutesthree times between 13.00 and16.00. If no progress is madein talks, the 48-hour strike willbegin at 3.00 on 31 March.

The Brussels-Capital Regionhas approved a proposal to cutthe number of collections of thewhite bag of household rubbishfrom twice to once a week. Theplan has angered unions repre-senting workers, who argue thatthe public will not conform. Apetitionagainst thecuthasgath-eredmore than 5,000 signatures.Laanan also promised the intro-duction of a new orange bag fororganic waste, to be picked uponce a week. Collections of theyellow bag for paper and theblue bag for PMD increase fromtwice a month to weekly.

AcourtinAntwerphassentenceda man to 10 years in prison forthe death of an 18-year-oldwoman in an exorcism cere-mony in 2009. The parents ofLayla Hachichi, who called onthe services of the “faith healer”were each sentenced to fiveyears suspended. An autopsyfound the woman had died asa result of burns caused by acaustic substance such as draincleaner used in the ceremony.Hachichi was apparently suffer-ing from an eating disorder.

Colruyt has announced thatshoppers will soon be able topay using a smartphone app.The app, SEQR, is already inuse in most stores in Antwerpprovince, as well as Dreamland,Dreambaby and online. The appis available for Apple, AndroidandWindows phones.

The choice of Zeebrugge as amajor transhipment area forRussian liquid natural gas willstrengthen the port’s inter-national position, manag-ing director Joachim Coenssaid. Last week Fluxys signeda 20-year contract with YamalLNG in Russia for the use ofits LNG terminal, which willmake Zeebrugge a key link inthe Northern European chainand double the amount of LNGpassing through the port. Thecontract is worth €50 million ayear to Fluxys.

The new car park planned forBrussels’ Marollen districtwill be located adjacent to theexisting parking area in frontof the Brusselse Haard blocksof flats behind the Brigittinescultural centre, Brussels Citycouncil has decided. The newcar park replaces one plannedfor under the Vossenplein fleamarket, which was cancelledafter a public protest. Mean-while, opponents of three otherplanned new car parks in thecity centre were due to protestat a council meeting as FlandersTodaywent to press.

A law introduced in 2007 tooutlaw discrimination in theworkplace has been used onlyonce since being passed, thefederal parliament’s socialaffairs committee heard. Thelaw forbids discrimination onthe grounds of race, ethnicorigin and skin colour. Thefigure shows that discrimina-tion in the workplace is notbeing challenged or punished inthe courts, said committee chairVincent Van Quickenborne.

Flanders’ compensation fundfor forests is not working,forestry conservation organisa-tion Bos+ has claimed. Any timea developer cuts down trees,it must either plant the samearea of new trees elsewhere orpay into a fund. According tothe organisation, Flanders stillhas a deficit of 1,300 hectaresof forest compared to when thefund was set up and between100 and 200 hectares disappearevery year. Last year the fundhad €9 million, enough for 35hectares of new forest. But only11 hectares were added becausemunicipalities are not respond-ing to calls for reforestationprojects.

A house in Antwerp describedas “an ode to the 19th-centurycity” has won this year’s BelgianBuilding award for residentialbuildings. The house in Harin-grodestraat has a foundationof only 50 square metres andwas renovated by VermeirenDe Coster architects. The awardfor a non-residential buildingwent to the sports hall of theRoyal Athenaeum in Brussels,which is integrated into its leafysurroundings. The internationalaward went to Studio AssociatoBernardo Secchi Paola Viganòof Milan, which was responsiblefor Park Spoor Noord and thenewTheaterplein in Antwerp, aswell as the cemetery and reno-vated Grote Markt in Kortrijk.

Businesses around BrusselsFish Market have welcomedthe arrival of containers thatwill shortly take over Pantser-troepensquare as the Brusselsentry in the VTM programmeMijn Pop-uprestaurant! (MyPop-Up Restaurant). Brussels,which won last year’s contestwith a pop-up located on Munt-plein, will be joined by restau-rants in Aalst, Antwerp, HasseltandOstend.The series begins on17 March.

© courtesy Unizo

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

The logo and the name Flanders Today belong to the Flemish Region (Benelux Beeldmerk nr815.088). The editorial team of Flanders Today has full editorial autonomy regarding the contentof the newspaper and is responsible for all content, as stipulated in the agreement betweenCorelio Publishing and the Flemish authorities.

Editor Lisa BradshawdEPuty Editor Sally TippercontriButing EditorAlanHopesuB Editor Linda AThompsonagEnda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentinoart dirEctor Paul VanDoorenPrEPrEssCorelio AdProcontriButorsDaan Bauwens, RebeccaBenoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, KatyDesmond, Andy Furniere, DianaGoodwin,Julie Kavanagh, Catherine Kosters, ToonLambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, IanMundell, Anja Otte, TomPeeters, DanielShamaun, Senne Starckx, ChristopheVerbiest, Débora Votquenne, DenzilWaltongEnEral managErHansDe LoorePuBlishErCorelio Publishing NV

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The Flemish minister in chargeof administration, LiesbethHomans, has announced that shewants government departmentsto look into ways of sharing theirfleets of company cars with thepublic.She was responding in parlia-ment to a question tabled by JorisVandenbroucke of the Flemishsocialists. “It’s a win-win situa-tion,” Vandenbroucke said. “Onthe one hand, local authoritiescan claw back some of the fundsthey have invested in their vehi-cle fleet, and on the other hand itencourages a form of sustainabletransport that is also extremelycost-effective.”SeveralFlemishcitieshavealreadylaunched pilot projects, including

Antwerp, Deinze, De Panne andDiksmuide. But Vandenbrouckewants the minister to considerexpanding the scheme to coverthe government’s fleet of 3,915cars.“We have already met withCambio,” Homans said. “Wediscussed various options, includ-ing the costs involved in imple-menting the scheme, which wereconsiderable.” The minister saidshe was now looking for a suit-able candidate to carry out apilot project in one of the region’sprovincial capitals. “No one hascome forward yet, but I’m surethey will eventually,” she said.\ Derek Blyth

The federal government hasreached agreement on its plansto keep older workers in employ-ment and to phase out the coun-try’s early retirement system. Thenew policy means that in future,older workers who are unem-ployed or who take early retire-ment will have to be available forwork.Theywill also be expected tofollow training courses to preparethemselves for the job market.SP.A president Bruno Tobbacksaid he supported the policy butstressed that the governmenthad to create jobs and persuadecompanies to take on people overthe age of 50. At present, unem-ployed older people were highlyunlikely to be offered a job, he said.Kristof Calvo of Groen (pictured)

said companies should not beallowed to discriminate againstolder people. “A lot of job applica-tions from older workers are neveranswered,” he said. “The govern-ment has to tackle this problem ofage discrimination.”The coalition parties N-VA andCD&V said they had introducedmeasures to create new jobs, suchas cutting labour costs. \ DB

Four organisations that dependlargely on volunteers for theirwork have been awarded a medalof honour by the Flemish parlia-ment: Chiro Brussel, represent-ing youth, the National OrchardFoundation, representing the envi-ronment, the Centre for SuicidePrevention, representing the caresector and the non-profit Metersen Peters representing integration.Last week was Week of the Volun-teer in Flanders, and the awardswere meant to stress the impor-tance of volunteer work and tomotivate all of the region’s volun-teers.The parliament’s medal of honourtraditionally recognises a groupthat represents some aspect of theparliament’s work. In the past, the

medal has gone to recipients in thevisual arts, literature, science andsocial work, either in Flanders orelsewhere in the world.This year’s choice was “the volun-

teer” ingeneral. “Theyare the livingproof of solidarity and humanitar-ianwork for the society,” theparlia-ment said in a statement.Chiro is a scouting organisation,and Chiro Brussels includes 11Chiro groups with some 1,000 chil-dren and young people under theguidance of 130 leaders. “Theydemonstrate that children andyoung people also love to live lifeto the full in their bilingual andmulticultural city,” the statementsaid.The National Orchard Foundationworks to protect the living herit-age of traditional and heirloomfruit varieties, thus ensuring theprotection of the landscape andthe robust character of Flanders’fruit-growing industry.

The Centre for Suicide Preven-tion launched in 1979, with its freephone line 1813, run by trainedvolunteers 24 hours a day. Thecentre, the statement said, “showsthat volunteer work in the caresector is essential in closing thegapwith aparticular target group”.Meters en Peters (Godmothers andGodfathers) in Schilde, Antwerpprovince, is made up of Dutchlanguage tutors who help youngnewcomers with integration(pictured) and to find their way inlocal schools. The group has about100 volunteers.The representatives of the fourorganisations have been invited toreceive their medals from parlia-ment chair Jan Peumans in a cere-mony at a later date. \ AH

Government of Flanders looksinto car-sharing with the public

Government strikes deal to keepolder workers in employment

Volunteer organisations awarded medals of honour

\ POlITIcs

ch-ch-changesIt is one thing to promisechange, it is much harder toactuallymake it happen.This isthe lesson that N-VA, the larg-est party in the federal govern-ment, is learning the hard way.N-VA has always blamedFrench-speaking socialistsPS for standing in the way ofmeasures long overdue, espe-cially in social and economicareas, but evenwith the social-ists absent from both thefederal and Flemish govern-ments, change is proving diffi-cult.The discussion about earlyretirement is, as one commen-tator called it, an uncomfort-able reality check for N-VA. Inthe past, letting go of work-ers from the age of 50, or evenyounger, was often the solu-tion for ailing companies. Asa result, the inactivity stats arevery high for older workers.To keep the social securitysystem affordable, Belgium’sgenerous early retirementsystem must be reformed. Inthe words of Open VLD partypresident Gwendolyn Rutten:“Fifty-five is not old.”In theory, everyone agreeson this. In practice, this is amatter for the Group of Tento consider. The Group of Tenis made up of representativesfrom employers organisationsand unions onmatters such aswage increases.Negotiations in the Group ofTen can be pretty tough anddon’t always end with results,but when an agreement isreached, the federal govern-ment usually accepts it andturns it into policy.Not so with the Group of Tendecision on early retirement.Both employers and unionsrejected the idea of “activat-ing” early retirees. Employersare not ready to hire this agegroup, while unions, in theabsence of job opportunities,consider the measure merepestering.In a rare move, the federalgovernment did not acceptthis. N-VA feels particularlyuneasy about the Group ofTen. Sure there is a tradi-tion of co-operation betweenemployers, workers and thegovernment, but the currentfederal government feels itrepresents yet another inter-est group: future generations,who will have to foot the bill.In the past, Open VLD hastried to resist the informalpower of institutions like theGroup of Ten (“who electedthem anyway?”), but that, too,proved to be in vain.A government compromisethat speaks of “active, passiveand adapted availability” onthe job market may be a wayfor every party involved tosave face. But is it the radicalchange N-VA had hoped for?\ Anja Otte

5th columN Belgium and Netherlands toco-operate on terrorism, airspaceleaders of neighbouring countries sign agreement on four main issues

The Belgian and Dutch governments havepledged to strengthen the ties that bindthe two as neighbours, with cross-border

co-operation on a number of issues, includingfire-fighting, radicalisation and terrorism,airspace and embassies. Representatives of thetwo governments met last Wednesday in TheHague and signed agreements on four mainissues.From mid-2017, the countries will take turnsin patrolling the joint airspace of the Bene-lux, using fighter planes to react to any terror-ist threat coming from civilian aircraft. Luxem-bourg, the third member of the Benelux union,has no fighter fleet, but the ambassador toThe Hague co-signed the agreement all thesame. Protection against a threat from militaryaircraft is handled at Nato level.Interior ministers for the two countries agreedon a plan to co-operate on the use of fire-fight-

ing helicopters in severe fires such as occurredwhen the Kalmthout heath caught fire in Mayof 2011. Dutch helicopters joined in to fight theblaze. In the future, theNetherlandswill provideall material and personnel; Belgium will be

required to reimburse only the real costs of theoperation.From the middle of next year, the two countrieswill share the use of the offices of the Belgianembassy in Kinshasa. They also pledged toincrease co-operation in the areas of energy andtaxation.Belgium and the Netherlands are already lead-ers in the European policy to fight radicali-sation of young people, and the two govern-ments pledged to work closely together on theissue. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte tookthe opportunity to congratulate Belgian primeminister Charles Michel on the success of theoperation to break up a terrorist cell in Verviersin January, in which two suspected terroristswere killed.“This was one of the most successful preventiveoperations of the last quarter,” Rutte said, call-ing it “a top performance”.

alan hopemore articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

Belgian prime minister charles michel (left) and his Dutchcounterpart mark rutte in The hague last week

© Paul Van welden

© courtesy meters en Peters

march 11, 2015

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Art on the fringedutch student reveals eventful history of leuven’s “outsider” venue

continued from page 1

becamevacant that the academic author-ities decided to finance renovation –which basically meant putting a wall inthe middle dividing it into a performanceroom and a bar.”It would become the favourite spot ofLeuven’s cultural crowd until 2002, when itmoved to its current home, a landmark neo-Gothic building between Naamsestraat andSchapenstraat.In the meantime, Klapstuk gave thecultural hotspot a broader appeal. Whatstarted in 1978 as a multimedia “happen-ing” co-produced by the local branch ofthe Festival of Flanders, programmingexperimental performance arts andmini-malmusic,wouldeventually be revampedinto an independent biennial contempo-rary dance festival.“For their first edition in 1983, they bookedthe leading American avant-garde chore-ographer Merce Cunningham,” says Brock.“International names enabled them toslowly break out of the student world.”

The relationship between the university andthe arts centre has always been a difficultone, she says. “Both sides were happy thatthe students were getting an extra-curric-ular education, but the university neverreally rewarded the arts centre financially.Academic circles were always a bit suspi-cious of ‘that leftist gang’.”Some rectors were supportive, while others“didn’t take them very seriously,” says Brock.The fact that the arts centre asserted anautonomous position didn’t help the situa-tion.Instead of “corny repertory theatre,” thecentre programmed experimental dance,theatre and movies. “This unconventionalcourse was often interpreted as arrogantand elitist,” Brock explains. “They claimeda place the university could not offer them.”So when the government of Flanders offeredto subsidise them on a structural level, theydidn’t think twice.As it became an official arts centre in 1993,staffwere encouraged towiden its scope. Butinstead of getting bigger, the team opted tomainly support theatre-makers and focus onthe process of art production, not on reach-ing an audience.Then, explains Brock, “an internal crisis andnegative advice by the Culture Commis-sion of the Flemish authorities threatenedto cancel their subsidy, which caused panicand led to the dismissal of the whole team”.Artistic director An-Marie Lambrechtshas trod the opposite path. Startingin 1997, she showed far more ambi-tion, explains Brock. “She went to themayor, socialist Louis Tobback, to pleadfor a collaboration with the city theatreStadsschouwburg, resulting in Dubbel-spel, a festival giving theatre companiesthe opportunity to play in both a small

and a big venue.”The timing was just right. The policy of thenew culture minister, Bert Anciaux, focusedon lowering the thresholds of cultural parti-cipation, while the province of Brabant hadjust been split; Leuven had become the capi-tal of Flemish Brabant, with Tobback asa combative mayor, and city renewal andmarketing were high on his agenda.“Tobback was a believer in the culturalappeal of his home town,” says Brock.“Almost immediately the plan of moving thewhole arts centre out of the social sciencescampus to the stately Arenberg site becamevery concrete.”With financial support from the city and theprovince, renewed interest from the univer-sity and a final investment by the govern-ment of Flanders, a renovation project byarchitectWillem Jan Neutelings was funded.“Rumour has it the decision was only madeafter Tobback, slamming his fist on the table,said: ‘If Bruges gets its Concertgebouw, weget our arts centre.’”Just before moving to the new building,the name Stuc was changed to STUK.Scale models by Neutelings still showedthe original name, but the ‘K’ of the nowdefunct but beloved Klapstuk festival was

integrated in the name. Of course, stukalso means broken or out of order, keep-ing a reference to the obstinate, avant-garde nature of the centre.The introduction of a new building anda wider range of disciplines such as rockmusic, visual arts and cinema attractedbigger audiences: Visitor numbers increasedfrom 40,000 in 2000 (in the old building) to70,000 in 2003 (in the new building).Since the start of the new millennium, thecultural landscape has changed, not least inLeuven. STUK used to be the only art housein town; now it is one of many. There’s notonly the city’s own 30CC programme; overthe last 15 years, new spaces for visual arts(M Museum), music (Het Depot) and thea-tre (OPEK) have emerged. They have all hadan influence on the disciplines presented atSTUK, which has been forced to reshape andseek out niches once again.Starting from the new season in September,STUKwill present itself as aHouse forDance,Image and Sound, emphasising the conver-gence between these three fields. “Contem-porary dance has difficulties in other citiesand arts centres,” says Brock, “so STUKwill be embracing the breakthrough disci-pline with even more passion. And instead

of encompassing all visual arts and music,it’s more relevant to focus on media art andexperimental sounds.”These three disciplines are also not limitedby language and occur in an internationalcontext, so the arts centre has decided todo all its communication in both Dutch andEnglish.“I didn’t only want to show how STUK haschanged, but also how its context haschanged, on a local, national and interna-tional level,” says Brock. “Looking at thepast, people tend to get nostalgic, but Idon’t think that’s a good idea. I often hearpeople saying ‘In the 1980s, there was noth-ing, but everything was possible’, and it’spartly correct. But the development of thearts centres changed the whole context andmake comparisons with the past pointless.“That said, I don’t think STUK needs toworry:They always got awaywith it – throw-ing away the old stuff, taking risks and doingsomething completely new.”

STUK, een geschiedenis 1977-2015 (STUK, aHistory, in Dutch) is on sale at STUK from 21March

\ cOVer sTOry

www.stuK.BE

Academic circleswere always abit suspicious of‘that leftist gang’

socialist mayor louis Tobback with a model of theproposed new centre, which opened in 2002

With a spate of books and birthdays forBeursschouwburg, Kunstenfestivalde-sarts, Vooruit, AB and BehoudDe Begeerte,there’s been a lot of reflection in the Flem-ish arts field lately. On a slowly turningmobile, connected to the ceiling of theSTUK exhibition room, hang 37.5 objects,all witnesses of a past that’s slowly passingby once more.Among them are a dress from the Brus-sels-based American dancer and choreo-grapher Meg Stuart and meaningful itemsselected by artists such as Jan Fabre andWim Vandekeybus, whose timeless perfor-mances are part of a “memory lane” series.All items have audio fragments of, well…37.5 seconds.A video montage includes archive frag-

ments that are exactly 37.5 seconds long,and you can pick out one of the 100 songsavailable on a jukebox — from The Curethrough jazz and minimal music to indie-tronics— and dance to it on an improviseddance floor.Wait, 100 songs? “37.5 songs were way toofew, and, let’s be honest, it’s a gimmickwithanexpirydate,” says curatorMarleenBrock.“I might as well admit that these 37.5 yearswere just random,” she laughs. “They had towait until my PhD was finished.”

The free exhibition Was het nu ’t Stuc, STUCof STUK? opens on 21 March and is followedby a party

watchiNg aNd heariNg37.5 years go by

The team behind sTUk in 1977 (above); a poster for sTUk’s grand opening (right)

\ 6

The Foundation Against Cancer has called on the government to bantanning salons, after a report revealed that there is virtually no official scru-tiny of the sector. Tanning salon operators described the call as “drastic”.According to figures from the economy ministry requested by MP Els VanHoof (CD&V), the number of inspections of tanning salons has halved overthe last three years. In the 58 inspections that tookplace last year, only threesalons were found to be operating in line with regulations.The rules in force covermatters such as the intensity ofUV lamps, themain-tenance of lamps and filters, the quality of eye protection and the exclusionof minors and people with Type 1 skin – pale, fair and freckled, who nevertan and always burn.“Nobody knows at the moment exactly how many salons there are,” VanHoof said and called for a system of mandatory registration.The Foundation Against Cancer went one step further. Skin cancer special-ist Brigitte Boonen, who works with the foundation, spoke on VRT radioabout why a ban is needed. First, she said, the evidence that sunbeds cancause cancer is “overwhelming”. Belgium is among the leaders in Europeof sunbed use.“Even if the regulationswere being followed, which is not the case, the radi-ation from a sunbed would be equivalent to a factor 12,” said Boonen. Evenat that low level, medical advice is to use sunscreen.The majority of cancer cases are caused by exposure to the sun, notsunbeds, argued Marc Debecker of tanning consultancy Vlaamse Zonne-consulenten. To call for a ban is “to take an elephant gun to shoot a gnat,”he said. Sunbeds are not in themselves dangerous, although excessive useof them can be, he said.Federal consumer affairs minister Kris Peeters said he had met with bothsides and assured them that the sector is being continually monitored.“Breaches of the rules will not be tolerated if it involves health risks,” hesaid. \ AH

About 1,000 taxi drivers demon-strated in Brussels against mobil-ity minister Pascal Smet’s new taxiplan, which opens the door to thelegalisation of Uber.The caravan of taxis drove fromNorthStation to theSchumanarea,blocking traffic along the way. Thegathering included taxis from else-where in Belgium, as well as somefrom other countries where Uberis also considered a threat.When Uber, which bills itself asa ride-sharing service, arrivedin Brussels, it was immediatelydeclared illegal by Smet’s prede-cessor, Brigitte Grouwels. Shehad Uber cars seized by policefor operating in the capital whilenot conforming to the regulationsrequired of official taxis.Smet’s new plan would allow Uberto operate under strict condi-tions. Drivers would have to regis-ter and pay taxes and would onlybe allowed to work for Uber as aside-job. Tariffs, which at presentcan change according to the timeof day and the level of demand,would have to be transparent.

Uber cars would not have accessto bus lanes or taxi ranks.Smet also promised taxi driversgroup purchases, organised bythe region, of cars, fuel, insuranceand credit card readers, to helpreduce costs for the sector. He saidhe would review the current limitof 1,300 on the number of officiallicences in circulation.Following the demonstration,two of Brussels’ official taxi asso-ciations filed a complaint againstSmet. Both ATB and Taxis Unitedclaim that the mobility ministeris in breach of a decision taken in2007 – before the arrival of Uber –by the Brussels-Capital Region ontaxi services and car hire. \ AH

Ghent-based food company Alprois investing €80million this year ingrowing its production of plant-based drinks and other vegetarianfood products. The company willinvest 80% of the total in Belgium– about €64 million. It will alsotake on 250 new employees, 200 ofthem in Belgium.The investment will see the arrivalof eight new production lines,five of them in Wevelgem, bring-ing the total to 26. The other threewill be at its plant at Kettering in

the UK. Production of almond andhazelnut milk drinks, currentlyproduced elsewhere undercontract, will be brought in-house.“Where before, Alpro was a brandfor people with health issues, suchas high cholesterol or the effectsof menopause, these days wehave become a brand for peoplewho want to lead a healthy life-style,” said CEO Bernard Deryck-ere. “Plant-based is healthier thananimal-based and better for theenvironment.”

Alpro has spent €75 million sinceit extended its production of soya-based drinks and introduced itsalmond and hazelnut lines, takingon 200 new staff. The companynow employs 910 people, 80% ofthem in Belgium. By the end of theyear, total staff will have risen to1,160. Alpro had a turnover lastyear of €410 million.In related news, Flemish dredgingcompany Jan De Nul has said it islooking for engineers, technicians,construction workers and electro-

mechanics as it announced thelaunch of a new multi-purposeship built in Croatia.And security firm Securitas islaunching a campaign to hire140 staff over the age of 50. Thecompany currently employs over-50s in one-third of its positions inBelgium; it says it prizes them fortheir “maturity and alertness”. Tenof their agents are older than 70.\ AH

Foundation Against Cancercalls for ban on tanning salons

Brussels taxi drivers blocktraffic in protest

Alpro to invest €80 million and create 250 jobs

\ BUsIness

apparelVan de Velde

The Aalst-based lingeriemanufacturer has written offits €31.4 million investment inthe US Intimacy lingerie chain,seven years after initiating itspartnershipwith the company.

Beverageschampagne

Belgiansare theworld’s biggestdrinkers of Champagne percapita after the French. Thecountry guzzled almost 10million bottles last year, 2.3%more than in 2013.

Distribution amPThe French Lagardère mediagroup is seeking a buyer for itsBrussels-based press distribu-tion and newsstand operatorAMP. The marginally profita-ble company, which handlesalmost 90% of the distributionof print media in Belgium, alsoowns the Press Shop chain ofstores.

energy eliaThe Brussels-based electric-ity transport and networkoperator has signed a jointventure agreement with theUK National Grid company toset up the first electricity inter-connection linking the Belgianand British networks. Elia isexpected to invest up to €2.3billion in the project over thenext four years.

rail siemensNational railway operatorNMBS has been forced to delaythe introduction of its newdouble-decker coaches until2019 because German manu-facturer Siemens is legallycontesting the €3 billioncontract won by its compet-itor, Alstom-Bombardier.The new rail cars had beenexpected to start operatingfrom 2017.

retail VeritasThe fabric and accesso-ries chain, based in Kontich,Antwerp province, has beensold to the Luxembourg-basedIndufin investment group foran unspecified amount. Thecompany, launched more thana century ago, operates morethan 120 outlets in Belgiumand has plans to open up to 80more stores over the next fiveyears.

Telecoms BaseThe country’s third largesttelecommunications opera-tor has been put on themarketby its owner, the Dutch KPNgroup, with an asking priceof €1 billion. Potential buyersare said to include Mechelen-based media group Telenet,owned by theUS Liberty globalcompany, and the FrenchAltice group.

weeK iNbusiNess Companies unite to create

world force in fruit and vegmerger of flemish concerns would see annual sales of €3.7 billion

Three Flemish companies have begun talkson merging aspects of their businesses inwhat would be a new world leader on the

market of fruit and vegetables.Greenyard Foods is a Ghent-based companylisted on the stock exchange and active in frozenand preserved fruit and vegetables, with produc-tion facilities also in France, the UK, Poland andHungary. Univeg from Sint-Katelijne-Waver,Antwerp province, specialises in fresh fruitand vegetables and is present in 27 countries,employing more than 4,000 people in total.Peatinvest, meanwhile, also from Ghent, isactive in the horticultural sector in four coun-tries, supplying substrates for professional grow-ers and hobbyists.The three already have one thing in common:the main shareholder is Hein Deprez, a West

Flemish entrepreneur who started out grow-ing mushrooms and whose businesses now turnover €3.3 billion a year.The companies together, according to a state-ment by Greenyard, would have combined sales

of €3.7 billion annually. Univeg alone delivers10,000 pallets of fresh fruit and vegetables to 19out of 20 of the largest supermarket chains inEurope, according to the company.“Creating a combined group offering fresh,frozen and canned fruit and vegetables wouldbe beneficial to growers, consumers, retail-ers, employees and shareholders,” Deprez saidin a statement. “We believe societal trends callfor a more holistic view on the consumption ofproduce.”The companies said no decision had yet beenreached on the structure of a future collabora-tion. Talks have been scheduled on valuation,and a joint strategic roadmap is being devel-oped. On the Brussels stock exchange, Green-yard shares rose 15% on news of the possiblemerger.

alan hopemore articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

© Ingimage

© aurore Belot/Demotix/corbis

march 11, 2015

\ 7

Biologist Bart Van de Vijver isjust back from a journey to theSouth Pole. In spite of a series ofsetbacks, he managed to collectspecimens of some of the mostbeautiful living things on Earth.

If you take a drop of waterfrom the sea, a river or evena shallow pond and put it

under a microscope, there’s agood chance you’ll be stunnedby what you see. A glimpseinto this micro-world feels likeentering a wonder-room from theRenaissance: All the most bizarreand complex forms and shapesare there. It’s like you’re immersedin a parallel world governed bymathematics and geometry.All these forms and shapes arepure nature. They are the externalskeletons of diatoms, one of themost common algae and the baseof nearly every aqueous ecosys-tem in the world.The skeletons are made of silica(glass) and are composed of twoparts. And because every diatomspecies has its own particularskeleton shape, often decoratedwith an additional geometricalpattern, these micro-organismsare among the most diverse crea-tures on the planet.And there are a lot of them. Scien-tists have counted more than50,000 diatom species – and theyestimate that another 100,000 arewaiting to be discovered. Most ofthem are no larger than a 10th ofa millimetre, but altogether theirtotal weight equals that of all thefish and sea animals that eat themevery day.Diatoms live on carbon dioxideand sunlight, which they use tosynthesise organic compounds.Although they’re rarely talkedabout, diatoms are – just like therainforests on land – the greenlungs of the Earth.Some biologists devote their livesto the science of diatoms. Theycan spend weeks on end lookingfor interesting species, often inthemost remote (and untouched)corners of the world. One of themis Bart Van de Vijver, who collab-orates with the Botanic Garden inMeise, just outside Brussels.A few weeks ago, Van de Vijverdiscovered and described his300th species, a feat thatmade theheadlines. He named it Halam-phora ausloosiana after GertAusloos, his friend and colleaguewho died suddenly last year.Like three-quarters of the speciesVan de Vijver has discovered,H ausloosiana comes from thewaters around the South Pole. Heis one of the lucky people who getto do fieldwork in one of the mostuntouched places on Earth: theAntarctic.In January, he took part in a Span-

ish expedition, aiming to stay fortwo weeks on Deception Island,one of the safest harbours inAntarctica. Curious about Vande Vijver’s experience, we got intouch with him just after his boatmoored in Ushuaia – the gatewayto the Antarctic in the southerntip of Argentina.It turns out the trip didn’t goentirely as planned: To beginwith,

bad weather kept them at theairport at Punta Arenas in Chile.“It took us three attempts to landat theChilean base onAntarctica,”he says, “and, once we were there,the Chilean navy held us on aboat for three more days, for vari-ous logistical reasons. Sowhenwefinally reached Deception Island,there were only three days left. Ihad to crammy planned scheduleof nine fieldwork days into onlythree.”Once they were in, the weathercontinued to hinder them. “MyCzech colleague, Kate Kopalová,and I had to work amid strongwinds and lashing rain.”The general question that scien-tists like Van de Vijver are tryingto answer is what diatoms actu-ally are. And are they found liter-ally everywhere, as many scien-tists believe? Or do they have aspecific range of distribution, justlike macro-organisms such asplants and animals?“By collecting material fromdifferent islands with a more orless untouched ecosystem,” saysVan de Vijver, “we hope to learnmore about their distribution.We collect material that’s both

alive and dead. The dead skele-tons we use to study the differ-ent species morphologically; theliving organisms we try to bringhome safely, where we grow themin our laboratory so we can studytheir genetic diversity.”The Antarctic is the perfect placeto do all this because there’s solittle human influence there,unlike in environments closer to

home. “Whenwe learn somethingabout the distribution of diatoms,we have to be sure that it’s entirelynatural,” Van de Vijver explains.That’s not possible, he contin-ues, “in the neighbourhood of,for example, the port of Antwerp.Seagoing vessels carry tons ofballast water by which marinediatom species are distributedaround the world. So when youfind something unusual in thewater of the Scheldt, you can’t besure if it originated there. I oncefound a species in the port whoseclosest relatives are normally onlyfound in the Indian Ocean.”The diatom’s skeletons haveweird and wonderful shapes andpatterns, but scientists don’treally know for what purpose. “Idon’t have a clue,” Van de Vijveradmits. “Every day I’m stunned bythe incredible variety of shapes,forms and patterns that theypossess. For the shapes, however,I can make a guess. All planktonneeds to be very buoyant, so theyrequire some necessary struc-tures. Some epiphyte species –species that live on water plants– look like little curved knots. Sothey can attach themselves easily

to reed canes.”It’s the additional patterns thatmost skeletons are decoratedwith that make them look likelittle jewels, he says. “I supposethere’s somemathematics in it, asfractals are found in many moreforms in the biological world.Thanks to these patterns, work-ing with diatoms is a daily sourceof joy and admiration.”The island where Van de Vijverhas been working has a naturalharbour formed by the caldera ofa sleeping volcano. It looks like itwould be a magnificent holidaydestination, I point out, if temper-atures were a bit higher. And itseems others think the same, tothe detriment of scientists hopingto make use of its pristine envi-ronment.“When I was doing fieldworknear an old whaling station, Isaw a tourist boat that droppeda hundred tourists, many of themelderly, on land,” Van de Vijverrecalls. “They started to swarmaround like bees, and then I hearda whistle. They all put on theirbathing suits to go swimmingin the water, which is pleasantlywarm due to volcanic activity.“We, on the other hand, need apermit for every move we makeon the island. We have to disin-fect our material and ensure thateverything we carry is ‘seed-free’.But these hordes of rich peoplecan bring all their bacteria andviruses to the island. Tourism inthe Antarctic really needs to bebetter regulated.”

All creatures weird and smallflemish scientist leads the field in the exotic world of diatoms

Vito launches seismicstudy in limburgThe Flemish Institute forTechnical Research (Vito) andenergy research park Energy-Ville have begun a study todetermine whether a sustain-ableenergysupplyonthebasisof geothermal energy is possi-ble in central Limburg. Fortwo weeks, specially equippedtrucks from the Germancompany DMT are carry-ing out measurements in theregion. The study will exam-ine the possibility of pump-ing warm water from a depthof between two and three kilo-metres. This process shouldlead to the generation of elec-tricity and would help to heatbuildings. Such geothermalenergy systems are alreadybeing used in the Netherlandsand Germany.

One in 10 newbornsoverweightNearly one in 10 (9.5%) babiesborn in Flanders exceeds ahealthy weight, accordingto a study by the Universityof Leuven. If a baby weighsmore than four kilograms atbirth, its birth weight is toohigh in comparison with theaverage weight. A newbornFlemish girl weighs on aver-age 3.35kg and a boy 3.45kg.The researchers looked atdata from the Study Centrefor Perinatal Epidemiology,which has statistics that goback to 1999, when only 8%of babies were born over-weight. Women with a bodymass index of 30 or more havean increased chance of havingan overweight baby. Excessiveweight gain during pregnancycan also lead to larger babies,as can the mother’s diet andgenetic factors from either themother’s or father’s side. It cancause problems during thebirth and means an increasedrisk of obesity at a later stage.

Governmentto tighten upcyber securityThe Flemish minister foradministration, LiesbethHomans, has launched a planto tighten up digital securityin government departments.She has based the policy on arecent internal audit of digitalsecurity, which showed thatdepartments were strong onsecurity in certain areas, butthere were still weaknessesthat could be exploited bycyber criminals. The reportmade several recommenda-tions, including the introduc-tion of a government digitalsecurity strategy and a digitalsafety awareness campaignaimed at all Flemish civil serv-ants.

weeK iNiNNovatioN

\ InnOVaTIOn

senne starckxmore articles by senne \ flanderstoday.eu

© Botanic Garden meise

Bart Van de Vijver and colleague kate kopalová (above) at work in the antarctic studying and collecting diatoms (below)

Working with diatoms is a dailysource of joy and admiration

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march 11, 2015

\ 9

A 48-hour rushsolvay Business game gives European students a leg-up

master’s fee raisedfor non-europeansThe enrolment fee thatstudents from outside theEuropean Economic Area(EEA) have to pay to start aMaster’s degree will increaseat some Flemish universitiesnext academic year, reportsVeto, theUniversity of Leuven’s(KU Leuven) student news-paper. “The growing groupof non-EEA students needsspecial assistance,” said JanRaeymaekers, head of educa-tional organisation at KULeuven. “That’s why a few ofour faculties are raising theregistration fee.” Antwerpand Hasselt are also raisingtheir enrolment fees for thesestudents. The Free Universityof Brussels plans no change,and Ghent University willdecide in the coming weeks.

University collegeswant to raise the barFlemish university collegeswant to oblige first-yearstudents to achieve a mini-mum of 60% of the total studypoints rather than the current50%. The University Colleges’Council (Vlhora) hopesthis will lead to a change inmentality among first-yearsthat encourages them to workharder from the start of theirstudies. Students who don’tachieve 60% could receivestudy guidance or even berefused the right to registerfor the same discipline. Fourout of 10 first-year studentsin Flanders’ higher educationinstitutions do not achieve60%of study points, accordingto figures provided by educa-tion minister Hilde Crevits.

record “second-chance” diplomasYoung people in Flandersare increasingly getting theirsecondary education diplo-mas through the Tweede-kansonderwijs, or second-chance education, system.In five years, the number ofstudents in the system hasdoubled – from 4,006 in theacademic year 2009-2010 to8,617 in 2013-2014.The figurescome from the region’s educa-tion minister, requested byMP Elisabeth Meuleman ofGroen. De Standaard saidthe increase was due to theincreased number of second-chance education centres inrecent years. Those centreshave also recently workedmore closely with the Flemishemployment agency VDAB,whichhas expanded the scopeof the system. \ AF

weeK iNeducatioN

\ eDUcaTIOn

Since 1 January, student tutors in Flandershave to pay the government social contri-butions of up to €75 every quarter. Studentorganisations StudAnt and Sagio – represent-ing tutors in Antwerp and Leuven respectively– have issued warnings that the measure willput many students off tutoring and are likelyto increase undocumented work.StudAnt and Sagio were both founded bystudents in higher education. Both non-profitorganisations bring students from second-ary and higher education who have difficul-ties studying into contact with fellow studentswilling to offer help. The tutors provide assis-tance with particular courses or help studentsdevelop more efficient study habits.In the past, student tutors were exemptedfrom paying social contributions when theyearned less than €1,408 a year. “Our studentsnever earn more,” StudAnt and Sagio said in ajoint statement. “We try to provide all studentsinterested in tutoringwith hours, sowedistrib-ute the lesson hours among as many studentsas possible.”The organisations claim that many of their

membersdonotwant to giveupwhat little theyearn. “They are never sure if we’ll have lessonsfor them, so they don’t know if or when they

are going to earnmoney,” they stated. “Further-more, some students find it difficult to pay thecontributions.”Student tutors at StudAnt and Sagio earnbetween €15 and €18 per hour, depending onthe distance they have to travel and the level ofassistance offered.“Our tutors, however, are doing it mostly tohelp other students, to review courses them-

selves, to acquire didactic skills, to work in ateam and to learn to explain difficult issues inan accessible way,” the organisations said.They added that fair remuneration was impor-tant because students spend a lot of time ontutoring assignments and have to pay for theirown transportation and course materials.According to StudAnt and Sagio, student tutorsare highly valued by their mentees becausethey can relate to the lives of the students.“Our service guarantees quality, flexibility, apersonal approach and affordability,” the non-profits said in the statement. “We offer a strongalternative to expensive tutoring organisa-tions.”The organisations stated that if the legislationis not revised to meet the concerns of studenttutors, they may need to cease their opera-tions. Flemish educationministerHildeCrevitshas already promised to look into the matter,togetherwith Acerta, the social insurance fundthat handles both organisations’ social secu-rity contributions. \ Andy Furniere

Last year’s winnersdesigned a proposal thatwas implemented into a

marketing strategy by the nationalrail authority. One participant nowworks for the largest consultingcompany in the world, onlymonths after finishing his studies.Think students don’t have what ittakes tomake it in the real world ofbusiness? The organisers of SolvayBusiness Game beg to differ.The Solvay Business Game (SBG)will return to Brussels for a two-daycontest at theSheratonAirportHotel this week. Now in its eighthyear, SBG claims to be the largeststudent-organised business gamein Europe, with over 1,600 appli-cants and 400 qualifying partici-pants in Master’s and final-yearBachelor’s programmes from 52European universities.The competition was first createdby students from the Solvay Brus-sels School of Economics andManagement in 2007. It is split intosix challenges organised by corpo-rate partners like Unilever, BDO,Electrabel and Baume &Mercier.The first challenge took placeonline last November. The 1,600participating students, put inpairs, had but a few hours tocomplete their assigned task andsend their solutions to the judges.One of last year’s proposals turnedout to be so good, rail authorityNMBS decided to use it in its ownmarketing strategy. “The NMBSwas just about to kick off its Blue-bike scheme,” explains DorianKronenwerth, spokesperson forSBG and a former participant.“The task for the students was todevelop a strategy of how to better

promote the brand and make thebikes more attractive. And thewinners actually then workedtogether with the railway to mergetheir strategies.”

Students who qualified via theonline challenge in the autumnadvancetonextweek’sfinal,hostedby consulting firm McKinsey &Company, the competition’s mainpartner for the past four years.Thestudents, randomly divided intoteams of six, are asked to complete

challenges that test their market-ing, strategic decision-making andnegotiation skills.In the last leg of the competition,the eloquence challenge, the best-

performing students of the previ-ous challenges have to debate atopic on stage in front of all theother participants, professors,guests and the media.The panel of judges includesBruno van Pottelsberghe, deanof the Solvay school, Hakima

Darhmouch, a local TV presenter,Stéphane Rosenblatt, director ofcommercial broadcaster RTL-TVI,and Brussels-based entrepreneurBrunoWattenbergh.According to Kronenwerth, thepurpose of the competition is toexpose students to the reality ofthe business world and to givethem a concrete set of skills theycan use when applying for jobs.“The idea is to give students thepractical side of things, to make ita stepping stone into the profes-sional world, to equip them withskills, to give them the opportu-nity to experience different sectorsof the industry and to let them seewhich ones could be of particularinterest to them,” he says.For Nicolas Maelfait, a Bachelor’sfinalist in last year’s edition, theevent was an invaluable learningexperience. “During that week-end, I learned more about teamdynamics, how to give good pres-entations, how to negotiate andhow to address the clients’ needsthan in three years at university,”he says. “The increased ability tothink clearly under pressure willhopefully help me when I start jobinterviews in the near future.”For another 2014 winner, RomainHup, who nowworks forMcKinsey& Company, the event is all aboutnetworking. “While students haveplenty of opportunities to meetpotential recruiters on campus orduring events organised directlyby the companies, the dynamics atSBG are totally different,” he says.“Students get to know companiesthrough real exercises instead ofanother corporate presentation.”

Student tutoring schemes worried about contributions

We offer a strongalternativeto expensivetutoring organisations

Bartosz Brzezinskimore articles by Bartosz \ flanderstoday.eu

www.solvayBusinEssgamE.com

Students get to know companiesthrough real exercises instead ofanother corporate presentation

© courtesy solvay Business Game

Teams of students take a stab at real business challenges this week in Brussels

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\ lIVInG

Bringing history into the futureflemish wood carver recreates relics stolen from English abbey

It’s the start of the season for festival-goers andrevelry-seekers of all kinds, with people slowlyrising out of hibernation to attend an ever-increasing number of events across the region.From now through the summer months, therewill be no chance to twiddle your thumbs, espe-cially for the foodies among us. A few high-lights this month include Kerk Food Festival andSunday Foodcamp, both in Ghent, and Leuven’sAmuse-Gueuze.

Thefirst editionofKerkFoodFestival last yearwasan immediate success, which is hardly surprisingwith a concept like Food Trucks and Cocktails.This year, the organisers have booked 16 trucksto fill the spacious covered hall, ranging from theDutchWeed Burger, with its 100% vegan “healthyfast superfood”, to Epicurus with its artisanalorganic ice cream. Add in the free entrance, qual-ity DJs and entertainment for the little ones, andyou couldn’t ask for a more perfect family outing.20 March, 17.00-23.00; 21-22 March, 11.00-23.00;Kerkstraat 24, Ghent

\ www.tinyurl.com/kerkfoodfest

Beyond the monumental gateway of Ghent’sbeautifully renovated Old Fish Market lies aninner courtyard just begging to be used for some-thing like Sunday Foodcamp. This new eventkicks off on 22 March and continues throughmid-October, featuring a different caterer or foodtruck every Sunday. Enjoy fine wine and fingerfood from the friendly chaps over at mobile winebar and food truck Le Van Rouge, for example, or

lick your fingers clean after a tasty grilled mealprepared by the Korean barbecue chefs at Mokja.22 March to 11 October, 18.30-22.30, Oude Vismijn,Sint-Veerleplein 5, Ghent

\www.tinyurl.com/sundayfoodcamp

The idea for food-pairing event Amuse-Gueuze(pictured) was born of a love for two very Flem-ish creations: gueuze beer and fine food, bothprepared by passionate people with respect fornature. And so the exclusive event was launched,a five-course meal featuring pure, authenticdishes served with lambic and gueuze beers,those wonderfully tart, spontaneously fermentedbrews that are so unique to the Flemish region.This third edition will take place in Leuven, butplaces are limited, with just four seats left at thetime of writing. But never despair, the organ-iser assures me there will be a fourth editionof Amuse-Gueuze come autumn. 12-14 March,19.00, Het Land aan de Overkant, Léon Schreurs-vest 85, Leuven \ Robyn Boyle

\ www.amusegueuze.com

bitefoodie events

creativa BrusselsBelgium’s biggest fair forcrafts, hobbies and creativepursuits, including paint-ing, ceramics, sewing, cakedecorating and scrapbook-ing. Workshops for kids andadults. 12-15 March, 10.00-18.00; Brussels Expo, België-plein 1; €11

www.brussels.creativa.eu

carnival in hasseltMiss Carnival? Well, getyourself to Hasselt thisweekend because there thefestivities take place half-way through Lent. Chil-dren’s Parade andCrazy PubCrawl on Saturday, Interna-tional Parade and festivitieson Sunday. 13-15 March;Hasselt city centre; free

\ www.uitinhasselt.be

messing withthe marollenA guided tour of the Marol-len neighbourhood of Brus-sels, focusing on socialhistory and urban renewal.Includes the Justice Palace,Brigittinen Chapel and Sint-Pieter Hospital. Reservevia website. 14 March,13.30-17.00; Justice Palace,Poelaertplein, Brussels; €11\ www.brukselbinnenstebuiten.be/

youth Book weekHumour is the theme thisyear for Flanders’ festivalcelebrating children’s litera-ture, organised in co-opera-tion with schools, libraries,bookstores and publishers.See website for completeprogramme. 14-29 March,across Flanders

\ www.jeugdboekenweek.be

Traditionalsword DanceThe tradition of sworddancing in Flanders goesback hundreds of years.Since 1970, the group LangeWapper has been recreatingthis ceremonial dance everyyear in Antwerp, accompa-nied by drums, pipes andflutes. 15 March, repeat-ing performances between8.40 and 13.30; Handschoe-nenmarkt and Grote Markt,Antwerp; free

\ www.visitantwerpen.be

care DayOpen House at hospitalsand health-care centresacross Flanders. Guidedtours, demonstrations, kids’activities, info sessions. Seewebsite for participatinginstitutions in your area. 15March; across Flanders; free

\ www.dagvandezorg.be

weeK iNactivities

denzil waltonmore articles by Denzil \ flanderstoday.eu

© courtesy amuse-Gueuze

www.PatricKdamiaEns.BE

who is PatricK damiaeNs?• The only full-time ornamental wood carver in Flanders• Studied furniture-making at Sint-Jansberg College in Maaseik for sixyears and ornamental wood carving at the Don Bosco Institute in Liègefor four years

• Works incloseco-operationwithastaircasemaker, twocabinetmakers,a panel-builder and a furniture restorer

• Has customers throughout the world• Has been awarded this year’s Ereteken van de Arbeid (Belgian GoldHonour Badge of Labour).This recognition of his skill is awarded by theKoninklijk Instituut der Eliten van de Arbeid (Royal Institute of theElites of Labour)

• Doesnotownamobilephone, hasflownonlyonceandhasnever visitedEngland

Alittle over a year ago, theBenedictine Abbey of StMichael’s in Farnborough,

England, received some visitors.Every year, thousands of peoplecome to see this magnificent19th-century abbey.But theseparticular visitorsweren’tyour typical heritage lovers; theydidn’t queue up and pay their £3 forthe one-hour guided tour. Instead,they broke into the abbey undercover of darkness, entered the cryptand stole historic framed prayers inFrench and Latin from the tomb ofPrince Louis, son of Napoleon III(and nephew of Napoleon Bona-parte).Prince Napoléon Eugène LouisJean Joseph Bonaparte was theonly child of Emperor NapoleonIII of France. He died aged 23 whilefighting for the British Army underLord Chelmsford in the ZuluWar inSouth Africa.When his body was retrieved fromthe battlefield, a number of hand-written prayers were found in hiswallet. These were returned to hismother, Empress Eugénie, who hadthem engraved and mounted onintricately carved wooden frames.The works were placed in the fami-ly’s crypt in Farnborough Abbey.Until their theft last February,they were used regularly by monksduring mass.Despite the efforts of local policeand an international appealamong antique dealers, the prayerframes have not been retrieved, sothoughts turned to their replace-ment. “The framesweremade by anunknownwood carver in incredibledetail. Finding someone to makeexact replicas was always going tobe a difficult task,” abbot CuthbertBrogan told local reporters.

After making some initial enquir-ies, Brogan stumbled upon thewebsite of Patrick Damiaens, anornamental woodcarver in Maas-eik, Limburg. “After seeing picturesof what he is capable of – in partic-ular the highly detailed and deli-cate floral designs – we knew wehad found someone capable ofequalling, or maybe even exceed-ing, the work of the original crafts-man.”Following discussions about theproject, the job was awarded toDamiaens. “It was a great honour tobe asked to carve replicas of thesebeautiful prayer frames,” he tellsme. “I was also very excited aboutthe challenge involved, as the level

of intricacy and detail in the orig-inals is exceptional. For much of

the time, I will be carving under apowerful magnifying glass.”Damiaens is always looking forjobs that push his technical skillsto the limit and even force himto develop new skills, he says. Hewill spend some time in muse-ums in Paris acquainting himselfwith original carvings done in thevery ornate Napoleon III-style. Thisincludes detailed acanthus leaves,small satyrs and the emblems ofthe emperor.The original prayer frames weremade of walnut, as will be thereplacements. “Walnut is ideal forthis type of job, thanks to its veryfine grain,” he explains.Damiaens has sent cuts of Frenchwalnut to a furniture maker, whichwillmake the frames andpass themontoDamiaens to carve.The largestof the three measures 60 x 80 centi-metres.Damiaens has photographs of theoriginals, from which he’ll maketechnical illustrations before hesets to carving. When the prayerframes are completed, he hopes totravel to Farnborough for their offi-cial unveiling next year.

© henny Van Belkom

Few reach the level of woodcarving skills possesed by limburger Patrick Damiaens

march 11, 2015

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Rumours put to reststam museum responds to doubts around masterpiece with tell-all exhibition

“Panoramic View ofGhent”, realised byan unknown painter

and dated 1534, has long beenconsidered theoldestpaintedviewof the capital of East Flanders. Itwas also one of the few original16th-century cityscapes of Ghentthat survived the passage of time.“Panoramic View” was alsoconsidered to have great historicsignificance because the paint-ing shows what the city lookedlike before Emperor Charles Vhad major urban works carriedout. No wonder the government ofFlanders decided to recognise thepainting as a masterpiece in 2009.In recent years, however, anumberof scholars have called the paint-ing’s 15th-century date into ques-tion. One historian even claimedthat it might just as well be aromanticised copy created muchlater, in the 19th century.So SMAK sent the piece off to theBrussels-based Royal Institutefor Cultural Heritage (IRPA-KIK),which did an in-depth study andhas now revealed these claimsand doubts to be unfounded.Case 1534: A Masterpiece UnderInvestigation, an exhibition onview at the Ghent city museumSTAM, explains what the scien-tists uncovered andwhy they’re sosure the painting (pictured) is nota fraud.The exhibition reveals that thepainting was named and datedfrom the inscription in the frame:“Ganda Gallie Belgice CivitasMaxima 1534” (Ghent Largest Cityof Gallia Belgica).Most city portraits realised inthe 16th century showed a simi-lar tendency to boast the praisesof the cities they depicted. “We’re

talking about an era in which cityportraits became an independ-ent genre and no longer servedas a background for religiousscenes,” explains co-curator WoutDe Vuyst. “In fact, these painter-mapmakers were the predeces-sors of the first cartographers,who would later skip perspectiveand stick to a top view.”But back toCase 1534. Howcanwebe sure the painting was realisedthat year, when the latest avail-able records of it go back untiljust 1728? It was at that time kept

in the city’s Sint-Pieters Abbeyand served as evidence in a trialbetween the City of Ghent andthe bishop. How do we know withabsolutely certainty that “Pano-ramic View” is not in fact a copy?The exhibition reveals that theproof is in the painting. For theirCase 1534 investigation, the IRPA-KIK researchers used photo-graphic techniques that allowedthem to see a work’s individuallayers. They found that the paint-ing was clearly executed in twostages: first, the painter sketched

his outlines and only later filled inthe details.“It is remarkable how detailed itis and howmany corrections weremade to the first drawing,” saysDe Vuyst. “The changes the artistcontinuously made, together withhis fluency and artistic signature,indicate it is an original work.”Adds fellow curator JeannineBaldewijns: “Comparisons with

other city portraits of the same eradon’t show any anomalies. Also,the black painted edges with nailholes are characteristic of 15th-and 16th-century canvas paint-ings.”Cross-sections of samples theresearchers took from the paintlayers showed pigments that weretypical for the time. The pres-ence of blue azurite, a mineralimported from Hungary, is espe-cially intriguing.“By the end of the 16th century, itwould disappear from the West-ern European market, since theTurks occupied Hungary,” says DeVuyst. Though he admits that it’simpossible to be sure of the exactdate, he notes that “all evidenceindicates that the city portrait waspainted between 1530 and 1540”.But there were other discover-ies, too. “We were often surprisedby the results of interdiscipli-nary research,” says De Vuyst. “Aspecialist in waterways pointedout a relatively large river vessel onthe Ketelvaart. It confirms recentarchaeological discoveries, indi-cating that the Scheldt was origi-nally far wider at the present-dayWalloon Krook. Only later wasmore land claimed from the riverby filling it up with the waste ofnearby tanneries.”Putting all the pieces of the puzzletogether, through different disci-plines, makes this kind of researchcomplex “but all the more intrigu-ing,” says De Vuyst. “An ivory-tower mentality about your disci-pline will not get you anywherehere.”

The Polish seaport city of Gdansk ishosting “Flanders Week in Gdansklater this month to highlight thelinks between Flanders and Poland.The week of events from 14 to 21March is being organised by vari-ous Flemish and Polish organi-sations to celebrate trading andcultural links that go back to theMiddle Ages.The festival marks the opening ofthe new Shakespeare Theatre inGdansk, which stands on the siteof a wooden building constructedin the 17th century by the Van denBlocke family fromMechelen. Orig-inally a fencing school, the buildingwas later used by travelling Englishtheatre companies, leading to itbeing called the ShakespeareThea-

tre.Gdansk (pictured) was part ofthe Hanseatic League merchantconfederation, which dominatedtrade agreements along the coast ofNorthern Europe from the 14th to17th centuries. This paved the wayformuch trade between the regionsas well as urban and architecturalinfluences.

Theweekwill focus on themes suchas maritime co-operation, urbanplanning and heritage conserva-tion. Events include a photo exhi-bition of green space in Ghent andMechelen, a screening of the filmThe Broken Circle Breakdown and aconcert by the Frank Vaganée trio.Several prominent Flemish leadersare travelling to Gdansk to attendevents, including minister-presi-dent Geert Bourgeois, GhentmayorDaniël Termont and Mechelenmayor Bart Somers. The city ofGhent, which already has stronglinks with Gdansk, is playing a keyrole in the programme.Mechelen isalso closely involved because of theVan den Blocke family link. \ DerekBlyth

Flanders Week in Gdansk celebrates linkswith Poland www.flandErswEEKgdansK.Eu

© courtesy Flanders week in Gdańsk

Experts have identified remainsof the 16th-century citadel knownas Zuidkasteel, or South Castle,under the Royal Museum for FineArts in Antwerp (KMSKA), Flem-ish science magazine Eos reports.The remains are from the mainwall of the citadel andwere discov-ered during digging works relatedto the renovation of the museum.Researchers also found remains ofthe barracks of the South Castleand of a bunker structure fromwhere soldiers could fire theirguns.The citadel was built on the orderof King Philip II and the Duke ofAlba to help control the rebelliouscity of Antwerp. It served as thebase for Spanish soldiers who, in

1576, pillaged the city – the histor-ical event known as the SpanishFury.The imposing construction occu-pied almost the entire south quar-ter of the city. The citadel wasdemolished in the 19th century,and KMSKA was built on the spot.\ Andy Furniere

Remains of citadel foundunder Antwerp museum

© wikipedia

a map of 17th-century antwerp, with theimposing citadel on the left side

www.stamgEnt.BE

tom Peetersmore articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu

sTamGodshuizenlaan 2, Ghent

until 24 may

© courtesy sTam

researchers confirm that “Panoramic View of Ghent” is the real deal

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march 11, 2015

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Flamenco in Flandersguitarist myrddin is ploughing a lonely musical furrow

The son of a Flemish folk icon,singer-songwriter Myrddin isfollowing in the footsteps of amusical family as he releaseshis fifth album, in a genre that’ssomething of a niche in Flanders.

Sometimes a musician needsonly one name. You have toadmit that operating under

the name Myrddin is much moremysterious and intriguing than“Myrddin De Cauter”. And sothe youngest son of Flemish folkicon Koen De Cauter dropped hissurnamewhen he released his firstalbum 15 years ago at the age of 21.Since then, Myrddin, who toursFlanders this month, has been oneof the region’s most interestingflamenco guitarists and compos-ers, injecting the genre with folkand jazz. “I grew up in a familywhere music was omnipresent,”he says. “Not only flamenco, butalso classical, jazz, Hungarian andRomanian music.”Myrddin – “Merlin” in Welsh, andthe name of a mythical Welshprophet – grew up in a very musi-cal environment. His father is asinger and multi-instrumentalistand his three older siblings all playmusic, too. “I wasn’t really inter-ested until I started playing the

guitar,” he says.But even before he picked up theguitar, Myrddin played the clari-net. It’s a childhood instrument,but he still plays it sometimes“during concerts, mostly when Iplay with the family band”.

But it was six strings that changedhis world and guided Myrddin toflamenco. “It happened very natu-rally,” he says. “One day I triedsomething on my father’s guitar,and I asked him if he could teachme flamenco. “‘You don’t know

what you’re getting into,’ he toldme, but he taught me the basics.I mastered them pretty easily andwas immediately obsessed withthe music.“It’s not easy to put into wordswhat attracts me to flamenco, but

I certainly like the physical aspectof playing it. And it’s a genre thatgives you the chance to be verycreative. From the beginning I’vebeen writing my own music. If Ididn’t, I wouldn’t be playing.Musichas to be personal.”And, he adds, referring to themodern flamenco master whodied last year: “What’s the use ofimitating Paco de Lucía?”Flamenco is, to put it mildly, notthe most thriving music genre inFlanders. “Sometimes I do feel a bitlonely,” Myrddin admits. “Luckily Ihave my own music. If I were onlyan accompanist, I would moveto Spain, because flamenco isn’treally alive here.”And did he ever think about goingto live there? “Until a few yearsago I did, but it isn’t my priorityanymore. Maybe because I writemy ownmusic. But anyway, I regu-larly work with Spanish musi-

cians.”Sometimes he has gigs in Spain,too, “but they’re not always veryfond of foreigners who performtheir music”.In the 1990s, Koen De Cauterrecorded two albums withsongs based on poems by the19th-century Flemish poet GuidoGezelle. For his new album, Rosade papel (Paper Rose), Myrddintransformed the poet’s “Mijn hertis als een blomgewas” (My Heart IsLike a Flower) into a song, sung byhis father. It’s not the first time he’sused poetry as inspiration: On his2005 release Novar, Myrddin hadfolk music legend Wannes Vande Velde singing Gezelle’s “Dienavond en die rooze” (The Eveningand the Rose).

“All my life I’ve been crazy aboutGezelle’s poems,” says Myrddin. “Ifind it very special that his Flemishpoetry can work in a completelydifferentmusicalcontext.Onpaperit might look like a mismatch, butit isn’t. And no, it never occurred tome to translate it.”Another of Myrddin’s heroes onthe new album is the French chan-sonnier George Brassens. “He isn’tthe world’s greatest guitar player,but the man has created amazingmelodies. I love transposing musicI love to another realm.”Two other songs on Rosa de papelare based on poems by the Span-ish author Federico García Lorca.“I don’t always fully understandwhat he’s talking about, but that’snot important. I chose thosepoems partly because I like howthe words sound.”Rosa de papel wasn’t recorded ina regular studio, but in the houseof Myrddin’s in-laws. “I don’t liketo work in a recording studio,”he says. “The sound of the guitardepends strongly on the room inwhich you play it. That goes forall instruments, but the guitar is avery fragile instrument.”And they deliberately ignoredstudio norms. “We recorded liveand normally you would put thepercussionist, for instance, in aseparate room. But that wasn’tpossible. Still, it didn’t cause us anyproblems.”This is Myrddin’s fourth album in15 years. “It’s difficult music toplay and compose, so I like to takemy time,” he says. But he’s alwayslooking for new songs. “After a fewyears I start to get the itch again,and I feel the desire to record anewalbum.” The countdown to 2020can start now.

illuminine#1 • ZealFrom unyielding noise rock to dreamyambient: It might be a giant step formankind, but it’s just one small step forKevin Imbrechts. This musician fromLeuven is amember of rock bandMosquito,but his first solo outing as Illuminine – thename refers to a song byThurston Moore –is much more intimate. The nine pensiveinstrumental tracks and five interludes areambient soundscapes woven around themusician’s intricate guitar playing. Onstage, Illuminine has been upgraded to anine-piece ensemble: a contemporarychamber orchestra that submerges thelistener in melancholy moods.

daanThe Mess • PIASAt the end of last year, Daan released Total,a career-spanning box set containing 170songs. Out of the blue, he’s following it upwith the new albumTheMess. As an expla-nation: It’s mostly a reworking of previ-ously released songs as a trio (with cellistJean-François Assy and Isolde Lasoen ondrums, percussion and trumpet). He didthe same thing five years ago on his albumSimple. Yet The Mess doesn’t feel like easyrepetition; on the new outing, the three-some sound much more extroverted thanDaan alone. And when they strip down thesongs, like in piano ballad “The Player”,they really strike a chord.

antwerp gipsyska orkestraKilo Gipsyska • Music & WordsCombining Central European gypsy musicand Jamaican ska might have sounded likea weird combination when the AntwerpGipsyska Orkestra was founded 12 yearsago. But with Kilo Gipsyska, they prove forthe third time that the mix is much morethan a gimmick. The most importantchange compared to the older releases isthe language: much more English, muchless Romani. But Kilo Gipsyska is still filledto the brimwith swinging partymusic. Andrecently they got one of the greatesthonours a band can dream of: enthusiastsin Kosovo formed a cover band.

music reviews

christophe verbiestmore articles by christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

www.myrddinmusic.com

across Flandersfrom 12 march

If I didn’t write my own music, Iwouldn’t be playing. Music has to bepersonal

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In a space in-betweenPerformatik festival brings two disparate worlds closer together

To the uninitiated, “performance art”seems a rather vague category, ataxonomical catch-all for any experience

that is endured in an artistic context but doesn’tquite qualify as “theatre” or “dance”—usuallybecause it’s too weird or too boring.The cognoscenti, on the other hand, consider itthe cutting edge of contemporary art. Borrowingat will from the entire spectrum of artistic disci-plines as well as everyday life, the performanceartist is said to short-circuit conventional cate-gories and revolutionise artistic practice.The truth lies somewhere in between. Withroots in early 20th-century Futurism and Dada-ism, performance art came into its own in the1970s with the pioneering work of Serbia-born,US-based Marina Abramovic', who explored theaudience’s real-time relation to the performerand the performer’s relation to her own body.These conceptual concerns would finally worktheir way into the DNA of contemporary thea-tre at large.“Performance art has influenced theatre somuch in recent decades that there are no longerany strict boundaries between them,” saysKatleen Van Langendonck.So it’s only natural that Performatik was bornat Brussels’ Kaaitheater in 2009. Each biennialedition uses performance art to explore a differ-ent aspect of contemporary creation for anentire fortnight. This fourth edition tackles therelationship between theatre and the visual arts.“These are two very separate worlds,” says VanLangendonck, the festival’s curator. “Each has itsown rhythm, its own codes, its own venues, itsown audiences, its own support structures and

its own artists. There are obstacles to be over-come, of course, but we have so much to learnfrom one another.”As one of the capital’s landmark performancevenues, Kaaitheater reached out to its visualarts counterparts to organise a kind of exchangeprogramme centred on live performance.Among the 10 institutions who answered thecall were fine arts centre Bozar, contemporaryarts centre Wiels, literary hub Passa Porta andexperimental music laboratory Q-O2, as well asart and antiques gallery DonVerboven ExquisiteObjects.Two dozen performances (many of them free)are spread out across these partner venues. Atthe heart of the programme are two ambitiousworks, or rather “transpositions” from perfor-mance to visual arts and vice versa. Seminal

Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa De Keers-maeker’s Work/Travail/Arbeid begins in famil-iar territory with a dance piece, namely her 2013production Vortex Temporum. But instead ofpresenting it on stage in front of a seated audi-ence who experience the performance linearlyfrom start to finish, the work is parcelled out inan exhibition to be seen piecemeal by spectatorswho can come and go at will. This continuouspresentation is hosted by Wiels.Joëlle Tuerlinckx’s That’s It! cuts the other way.The Brussels-born artist takes her extensivearchive of visual works and puts it on stage inthe form of a multidisciplinary pantomime withlive soundtrack provided bymusician ChristophFink.When That’s It! was first staged last year atLeuven’s STUK and London’s Tate Gallery, it wasbut twohours in length.ThePerformatik versionadds more than three hours to the total runningtime.Since performance art is inherently concep-tual, the Performatik programme also includesno less than 10 conversation salons. “We havenever put on so many of these,” Van Langen-donck says. “It’s a bit of an experiment in itself.But the concepts are just as important as theperformances.”A reminder that there is method in all thismadness.

Peter Terrinnominated forlibris PrizePeter Terrin is the only Flem-ish author among the sixnominations for the LibrisLiterature Prize, one of themost prestigious prizes forDutch-language letters. Theannual award, worth €50,000,honours the best novel of theprevious year. Terrin is nomi-nated for his book MonteCarlo, the story of a Brit-ish Formula 1 mechanic whosaves a spectator – a famousAmerican actress – from afiery death. His own inju-ries sustained in the heroicendeavour and the lack ofrecognition from anyoneinvolved sends him into adownward spiral of anger andresentment. Flanders Todaynamed Monte Carlo one of2014’s five best novels. Libriswill announce the winner on11 May.

screen Flandersawards €1.43 millionto film projectsScreen Flanders, the govern-ment’s film support agency,has announced funding of€1.43 million for seven audio-visual projects. They includethe comedy FC De Kampi-oenen 2, to be directed byJan Verheyen, Say SomethingFunny by Nic Balthazar andKebab Royal by JessicaWood-worth and Peter Brosens. Thefunding comes from the agen-cy’s third call for projects in2014. For 2015, Screen Flan-ders has €305million to spendin two funding rounds.

Tapir born atantwerp ZooA baby Malayan tapir wasborn at Antwerp Zoo lastweek, the first baby for tapircoupleNakal andKamal. Aftera 13-month gestation period,the baby (pictured) was bornwithout complications, thezoo said in a statement. It’sthe sixth tapir born at the zoo,which is a success story: Fourout of five species of tapir,including the Malayan, areendangered, and they do notmate easily in captivity.

weeK iN arts& culture

Here is an exhibition you are notmeant to enjoy. De andere verbeeld/Verbeeld gevaar (The Other Imag-ined/Imagined Danger) sets outto explore the way the “other” wasdepicted in Low Countries reli-gious art between 1450 and 1750.In other words, three centuries ofpropaganda and prejudice directedat Jews, Africans, Turks and othergroups despised by the Christians ofthe time.The period chosen also covers theReformation and Counter Reforma-tion, when Catholics and Protes-tants waged doctrinal war againstone another, and the exhibitionincludes images produced in thatconflict as well.The result is an uncomfortablesuggestion that all these groups areequal, that Christians have beenvictimised just as much as Jews andAfricans. In this sense, the exhibi-tion is not just about propaganda; itis propaganda.The educational part of the exhi-bition has toured Flanders for thepast year and makes its final stopat the Begijnhof church in Turn-hout, Antwerp province. It consistsof a series of advertising panels, the

sort usually built into bus shelterswhere they scroll through differentposters. Here each panel is devotedto a particular target group – Jews,Blacks, Turks, Heretics andCatholics– with reproductions of three paint-ings that attack them in some way.This method of presentation empha-sises that this is art with an ideologyto sell, although the visual quality ofthe reproductions suffers. Even so, itis possible to see that some of thispropaganda reached high aestheticstandards.Take “Synagoga” (pictured) by theMaster of the Legend of Saint Ursula,a beautiful, if derogatory, personifi-cation of the Jewish religion, paintedfor a convent in Bruges.The most striking image, however,recounts a scene from the Miracle ofthe Holy Sacrament, an anti-Semitictale of Jews who stole consecratedbread, only to find it bled when theycut into it.The painting, by Jakob vanHelmont, has been slashed, revealingthe wooden supports beneath. Thisbrings home the physical violencethat so often accompanied the prej-udice on show, although how thepainting came to be damaged is notexplained.

The second part of the exhibition isparticular to Turnhout. In the Begi-jnhofMuseum, alongside the church,a number of artworks and artefactsthat fit the theme have been selectedfrom its collection.The finest is perhaps a painting ofChrist being mocked by Jews andTurks on his way to the cross, byFrans Francken the Younger.There isalso an attractive polychrome statueof St Catherine of Alexandria, tread-ing the Roman Emperor Maxentiusunderfoot. The only barb against thehome team is a set of playing cardssatirising the Pope.Perhaps the oddest point in the exhi-bition again involves the Miracle ofthe Holy Sacrament, with variationsof the tale taken from a 1770 bookanda 1905 children’s paper.These aredisplayed in a roomwhich otherwisedocuments how the begijnen used tobake sacramental bread. Quite whatmessage we are meant to draw fromthis unnerving juxtaposition is notclear. \ Ian Mundell

History of art as hate propaganda inTurnhout exhibition www.BEgijnhofmusEum.BE

Begijnhof church and museumBegijnhof 56, Turnhout

until 5 april

georgio valentinomore articles by Georgio \ flanderstoday.eu www.KaaithEatEr.BE

kaaitheater and othervenues in Brussels

18-29 march

Icelandic dancer Bára sigfúsdóttir collaborates with both avisual artist and a musician in The lover at Performatik

march 11, 2015

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festival

family sPecial eveNt

heritage

The genealogists at FamiliekundeVlaanderen have been researchingfamily science for a full 50 years,and they’re marking the occasionwith a special weekend, half busi-ness and half pleasure. The firstday is dedicated to the organisa-tion’s 50th annual conference, thisone on the subject of First WorldWar refugees. The lecturers are

experts in the field, and anyoneinterested in genealogy iswelcometo attend.The second day is a cele-bration with presentations, work-shops and panel discussionsgeared toward the general public.An exhibition on genealogy andheritage spans the entire week-end. \ GV

Antwerp arts centre deSingellaunches a new internationalinitiative with this dance festi-val. No, the capital of the Phil-ippines isn’t particularly knownfor its dance scene. In fact, thesprawling post-colonial metropo-lis, which has recently found itselfin the path of several catastrophictropical storms, has invested little

in the arts. But a small, passion-ate community has been inspiredby international artists to forge adistinctlyFilipinobrandofcontem-porary dance. deSingel invitesseveral of the city’s artists to intro-duce themselves to a Belgian audi-ence. The Manila programme willbe followed in the autumn withStop in Jakarta. \ Georgio Valentino

For nearly three years, fivehipsters played every firstThursday of the month at

the Ghent cocktail bar WhiteCat, blending jazz, soul, pop, hiphop and electronics into onefunky collage. After using theirimprovisational skills on tracksfrom other jazz cats, they’re nowreleasing their first studio albumwith original stuff. (Yes, it’s a pun.Ha ha.)Even if their eponymous debutisn’t provoking the same energyas their sweaty late-night gigs,it’s still a groovy instrumentaltrip to get hooked on. There’s thenod to the late master: The band

name STUFF. refers to the open-ing track fromMiles InThe Sky, the1968 album on which Miles Davisexperiments with new horizonsand sounds, inventing his own“fusion”.For this more contemporaryoutfit, young jazz drummerLander Gyselinck selected a mixof Antwerp and Ghent musicianswithvariousmusicalbackgrounds.Being so flexible at taking on eachother’s roles, a genre-crossingmashup is guaranteed.Early feedback is heart-warm-ing. The band (pictured) just madetheir UK debut in The Old BlueLast in East London, and the BBC

has picked up the new track “EventHorizon”. As a result, invitationsfor festivals abroad are comingin. “We just want to play as muchas possible,” says keyboard playerJoris Caluwaerts, who’s also tour-ing with Lady Linn, Magnus andThe Go Find, and names timemanagement as one of the band’s

biggest challenges.Another one is getting used to thedaylight. “Most of our past gigswere scheduled in between DJs,so they all started after midnight,”says Caluwaerts. The upcomingrelease concerts will also be anexception to that. \ Tom Peeters

For the fifth year running, theEuropean Blues Association isclaiming American rootsmusic fortheOldWorld.TheEuropeanBluesChallenge is an epic battle of thebands, a self-styled Eurovision ofthe Blues. Previous editions wereheld in Berlin, Toulouse and Riga,and now it’s Brussels’ turn. Groups

from 20 European countries strumit out over three days for the cham-pionship title. Winners will alsobe invited to perform at some ofEurope’s biggest blues festivals.Among the opening night festiv-ities is a special performance bylocal group Fred and the Healers(pictured). \ GV

And we’re jamming

STUFF.coNcertBrusselsHommage à Brel Intime:Flemish performance artistFilip Jordens pays tributeto Jacques Brel with searingrenditions of the late Belgianmusician’s work. 15 March,15.00-23.00, De Markten,Oude Graanmarkt 5

\ www.demarkten.be

GhentTuur Florizoone & DidierLaloy: Belgian accordionduo, increasingly well knownfor their distinctive blendof jazz, classical and worldmusic. 15March, 11.00-12.00,Handelsbeurs, Kouter 29

\ www.handelsbeurs.be

classicalBrusselsKlara Festival 2015: Annualfestival of classical and newmusic featuring a diverseprogramme, from middayconcerts and operas to galaevenings and contemporaryexperiments. Until 21 March,across Brussels

\ www.klarafestival.be

visual artsGhentCharacteristic Faces: OnHawk Noses and Chip-munk Cheeks: Variousworks illustrating the intrigu-ing but problematic historyof appearance and aesthet-ics and the role they play inpsychiatry, criminology andpublic opinion. 14 March to21 September, Museum DrGuislain, Jozef Guislainstraat43

\ www.museumdrguislain.be

filmantwerp & GhentBanff Mountain FilmFestival World Tour: Thepopular Canadian festival offilms about mountain sportspasses through Flanders onits world tour, with screen-ings that highlight everythingfrom remote landscapes toadrenaline-packed extremesports. 16 March 20.00, DeBijloke, Jozef Kluyskensstraat2, Ghent; 17 March 20.00, DeRoma, Turnhoutsebaan 286,Antwerp

\ www.banff.be

familylombardsijde(middelkerke)Donkey Cavalcade: 56thannual procession of donkeysfrom one coastal village toanother, in honour of the localtradition of farmers bringingtheir produce to market bydonkey. 15 March 14.30, fromWestende to Lombardsijde

\ www.ordevandeezel.be

Perhaps it’s emigrant nostalgia, butthe Irish diaspora tends to cele-brate the feast day of the EmeraldIsle’s patron saint with even moreado than the residents of the coun-try itself. The annual New YorkCity parade is notorious for itshard-drinking hedonism. Our ownBrussels get-together is a more

restrained affair, a family-friendlyafternoon of Irish fellowship andtradition. You need not be Irish toparticipate, of course, but there isa strict dress code: green, green,green. The parade is organised bythe Irish in Europe Associationand led by the Brussels CaledonianCorneymusers pipe band. \ GV

stop in manila

st Patrick’s day Parade

family history day

European Blues challenge

\ aGenDa

across Flanders and Brusselswww.stuffisthEBandnamE.com

18 march to 18 april

desingel, antwerpwww.dEsingEl.BE

12-15 marchFelix archief, antwerpwww.familiEKundE-vlaandErEn.BE

14-15 march

Jubelpark, Brusselswww.mEEtuP.com/irish-in-EuroPE

15 march, 13.00ancienne Belgique, Brusselswww.BrussElsBluEs.Eu

12-14 march

© koen Bauters

march 11, 2015

\ 16

facebook.com/flanderstoday

Flemish TV host Tom Waes likes to trek aroundthe world looking for adventures – Kamperentussen de wilde beren, of een trektocht bij

-50 graden Celsius – Camping among wild bears orhiking in temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius,according to De Morgen.Waes has just set off on his second world tour, withvisits planned to exotic destinations like North Korea,Spitsbergen and Panama.Wanneer TomWaes op reisgaat, mag het wat meer zijn dan een weekje all-inaan de Turkse Riviera – When Tom Waes goes onholiday, it’s more than just a week all-in on the TurkishRiviera, the paper explains.But it looks like the intrepid traveller is going to have tospend a couple of nights in the beach town of Blanken-berge if he survives the grizzly bears and the frostbite.In his first broadcast of Reizen Waes – TravellingWaes, he visited the Albanian beach resort of Dürres(pictured). “Het is hier juist hetzelfde als in Blanken-berge” – “It’s just like Blankenberge here,” he said tocamera. “Het is gewoon afschuwelijk” – It is simplydisgusting.Blankenberge was not amused. Blankenberge kwaadop Tom Waes voor Albanese grap – Blankenbergeangry at Tom Waes for Albanian joke, read the head-line in De Standaard.“Waes moet zijn research beter doen, want zijnclichébeeld klopt niet” – “Waes needs to do betterresearch because his stereotyped image isn’t true,”insisted the beach town’s mayor Patrick De Klerck.The town councillors were so incensed that theydiscussed the programme at their next meeting. “Wezullen Tom Waes uitnodigen om hier een dagje door

te komen brengen” – “We’re going to invite TomWaesto come here and spend a day,” said the tourism alder-man, Philip Konings. “Het kan hier druk zijn, maarhet is geen lelijke, chaotische boel” – “It can get busyhere, but it’s not an ugly, chaotic mess.”Waes was not available for comment. He was head-ing off to his next destination. So De Morgen sent areporter to check out Blankenberge. She met AnnHooft of the tourist office. “We worstelen al jarenmet ons imago” – “We have been struggling for yearswith our image,” Hooft told the journalist. “Het prob-lem is alleen dat je heel moelijk van een slecht imagoaf geraakt” – “The problem is that it’s very difficult toshake off a bad image.”No one denies that the beach can get crowded, shesaid. Butwie iets verder zou gaan, zou zien datwe ookandere troeven in huis hebben – Anyone who looks alittle bit further will discover that we have other treas-ures. Zoals de prachtige haven of de hippe beach bars– Like the beautiful harbour and the hip beach bars.Waes will discover all this when he visits – unless agrizzly bear gets him first.

Talking Dutchdon’t mess with Blankenberge

\ BackPaGe

the last word

tough talk“We are all ready to return toour countries and inflict greatdamage. While you sleep, thereare brothers hiding everywhere,waiting for the order to strike.”Tarik Jadaoun, a Belgian fighting inSyria, interviewed on French TV

lost in space“Our count is not a scientificallybased experiment. But the largenumber of free places shows thatit’s absolutely illogical to want tobuild four new car parks.”Hannes Nolf, one of the opponentsof Brussels City’s plans to build newcar parks, counted 2,600 free spacesin existing car parks lastThursday atlunchtime

out for the count“If I have to choose between amale and a female artist of equalworth, then I tend to go for thewoman. Simply because they areunder-represented, and I want toserve half of my public.”Pukkelpop organiser ChokriMahass-ine, whose 2014 festival featured 36female acts and 218 male

Born to run“We’re not house plants that haveto stay indoors all day. We wantto get out and about.”Mil Coenen and Sylvain Lucas ofBeringen, Limburg, have launchedthe scootmobiel club for disabledusers of electric scooters

a. I’m very worried about how things are changing and think the government needs to act

b. Privacy concerns don’t bother me because I’m very careful about what I put online in the first place

c. Times have changed, and if you participate in social media, which is voluntary and free, you have toaccept the conditions

Belgium has been proactive inEurope in taking on one of theinternet’s biggest players: Face-book. The social media site’s newconditions aren’t transparentenough and in fact violate EU regu-lations, Bart Tommelein, secretaryof state for privacy issues, has toldus. Tommelein has met with the

multinational corporation, whichsays it will work with the EU on itsterms and conditions.A large minority of you reckonyou’re prudent enough online nottoneedanyspecialprotection fromthe evils of social media, andmorethan one in 10 of you consider theuse of your data as part of the deal.

Most of you, however, aren’t buyingthat. While terms and conditionsmay be relatively benign today,who’s to say they’ll remain so? Thegovernments of Europe would liketo keep Facebook on a short leash,and so would most of you.

Pollare you concerned about facebook’s breaches of privacy according to Eu law,including using your profile photo in ad campaigns?

\ next week's question:The Foundation Against Cancer wants tanning salons to be banned because a majority of them fail inspection,ignoring cancer risks. What do you think?Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!

CONNECT WITH US LIKE USTweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday

In response to: More Flemish actors launching internationalcareers than ever beforeLily OzoraiSo handsome our Matthias !!!

AnoukTouched by Antwerp I felt the love. Thank you! X

In response to: Dramatic fall in applications for Belgian nation-alityMax BerreI’m ABSOLUTELY DREADING having to deal with this citizen-ship stuff later this year.

Usher Raymond IV @UsherAntwerp was on fire tonight #URXTOUR

Marcello Arrambide @WanderingtradrStunning view from my lunch in Ghent: http://ow.ly/JCmLVLoved the waterways #Belgium #travel

voices offlaNders today

Andrew Stroehlein @astroehleinFinally back home in warm & sunny Brussels. New York, Ilove you dearly, but you got to shake off that deep freeze...

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