Crisis hits BelgiumMore temporary accommodation has opened up for the 4,000 migrants expected to apply for asylum in Belgium this month, a number not seen since 1951

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While the idea of sharing economy may still sound like a novelty to most, a host of companies and initiatives built around sharing everything from cars to gardening tools have popped up across Flanders. Despite some legal hurdles, local entrepreneurs are counting on patience and word-of-mouth to pay off.

The sharing economy has arrived in Flanders and the rest of Belgium, even if most people don’t know about it yet. Awareness and levels of participation

are low, according to a survey published in July, but the idea of sharing appeals to people, which leaves local companies in this innovative area of business feeling optimistic.“I talk to a lot of people about our concept and about other concepts, and mostly I hear good things back,” says Sebas-tiaan Schillebeeckx, founder of campsite platform Campr. “There are a lot of new Belgian companies starting in this

sector, and I think the future here is good.”Maarten Kooiman, co-founder of car-sharing site Tapazz, agrees. “Everywhere there is idle capacity, or where there are big organisations doing things that people can do collectively, there is the potential for new systems that can deliver the same or better services at a lower price.”The sharing economy is about finding unused resources and making them available to people who would like to use them. This saves money, reduces environmental impact and builds social connections. For example, rather than buying gardening or DIY tools you can borrow them from a neighbour through the Peerby website, a Dutch initiative that now operates in Belgium. The service is free, so it saves you money, and you can meet people in your neighbourhood who share your interests. Lenders have the satisfaction of seeing their tools put to use rather than laying idle, and the planet is spared the burden

of making more ladders and lawn mowers. Not all sharing economy initiatives are this pure, though. Many involve paying to “share”, with both the lender and the intermediary company taking a cut. This does not cancel out the benefits, but it does change the relationship between lender and borrower. Yet if the economic balance is right, everyone benefits, and it is possible for whole new businesses to emerge. Hence the excitement about Airbnb, which connects people with empty rooms or apartments with travellers looking for somewhere to stay, and alternative taxi service Uber, which (though technically illegal in Brussels, where it continues to operate) allows drivers with time on their hands to pick up people looking to get from A to B. The success of these companies also explains the protests from professional taxi drivers and hoteliers who see Uber and Airbnb using casual labour to compete in their markets,

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swing itA young Flemish entrepreneur (and his mum) are making swings for disabled kids after months of very special research

is he or isn’t he?Did you know that the Manneken Pis in the centre of Brussels isn’t the original? Hold on to your hat – many think the one tucked away in a museum isn’t the original, either

Sharing is caringflanders is slowly warming up to the idea of a sharing economy

© Richard Hammond for greentraveller/Courtesy tapazz

ian mundellfollow Ian on twitter \ @IanMundell

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\ CuRRent aFFaIRs

The existence of only one approach road for traffic to Brussels Airport is “unworkable,” according to the Flemish chamber of commerce (Voka). The organisation

was reacting to the incident last week when a gas leak caused massive tailbacks on the A201, leading to chaos for passengers arriving to catch flights.A gas leak was detected at about 7.30 in one of the airport’s technical buildings, located on a road that adjoins the A201. The road was closed, leading to traffic backed up on the A201 and the Brussels ring road. Further tailbacks followed when drivers tried to find alternative routes via Woluwelaan and the centre of Zaventem. Power company Eandis closed off the leak, caused by digging works, at about 8.30, and the road was re-opened, but effects were felt on traffic for hours. “The second most important economic gateway to our coun-try can only be reached by one route,” complained Paul Hegge, director-general of Voka Halle-Vilvoorde. “Today we saw how

an incident on that route immediately leads to problems,” he said. “The results of a more serious incident don’t bear think-

ing about.”Voka repeated calls for the creation of a second approach link-ing the airport with the E40 from Leuven, which would not only function as an alternative route in the case of similar incidents, but could attract traffic away from the saturated Brussels ring. About a dozen flights were delayed as they chose to wait for passengers to arrive, according to airport spokesperson Flor-ence Muls. Another 50 people who missed their flights were offered free transfers. “After the A201 was closed, we got in touch with passengers immediately and asked them to leave on time and to take the train to the airport,” she said. “A number of airlines decided to wait for passengers and let the flight depart a little later than scheduled. The impact on flights all in all was limited.” Some passengers abandoned their vehicles on approach roads in an attempt to get to the airport on foot. They will face fines when they return from their travels, said police.

Single access road to airport questioned after gas leakflights delayed as a201 road blocked, passengers abandon cars

pigeons belonging to Flemish pigeon fanciers went missing last week after becoming lost in bad weather on their return from a race in France

passengers handled at Brussels Airport in July – about 80,000 a day and 6.3% more than the same period last year, bringing growth for the first half of 2015 up 10%

of Flemings over the age of 18 takes care of a sick, handicapped or elderly family member, friend or neighbour, according to the Flem-ish government’s research depart-ment

people found their way by train to the Flemish coast during the month of July, rail authority NMBS said. The peak came on 11 July, Flemish Community Day, with 68,000 visitors

passengers checked by ticket inspectors on trams and buses of Flemish public transport author-ity De Lijn in the first six months of this year, a record. 2.3% of them had no valid ticket

alan HopeFollow alan on twitter \ @alanHopeFt

20,000 1,159,238

26.2%

© laurie Dieffembacq/Belga

Emma and Lucas were the most popular names for newborn babies in Flanders last year, according to figures from the economy minis-try. In second place were Elise for girls and Liam for boys, followed by Louise and Vince.For Emma, it’s the continuation of a trend: the name has led the list every year for 10 years now.According to the ministry, there is more variety in the list of names now than there was 20 years ago. From the top 20 girls’ names in

1995, only three remain: Marie, Charlotte and Julie. The three leading boys’ names in 1995 were

Thomas, Jonas and Kevin. Thomas remains at number 31, but Jonas has plummeted to number 76, while Kevin fell out of the top 100.In Brussels, meanwhile, the list is headed by Lina for girls and Adam for boys. Adam moved ahead of Mohamed as the most popular boys’ name last year. Mohamed remains in second place, followed by Rayan. Lina moves up from third place, followed by last year’s favourite, Aya. Sarah came in third. \ AH

Emma and Lucas most popular baby names in Flanders

The number of animals in Flem-ish shelters went down in 2014 by 14% compared to 2013 – from 36,358 to 31,439 animals, accord-ing to figures from the government of Flanders. The number of dogs taken in dropped by even more: by 27% from 11,218 to 8,179. The number of animals that had to be euthanised also fell dramatically, by 35% to 241.

Ben Weyts, Flanders’ first minis-ter for animal welfare, attributed the lower numbers to “a strong animal welfare policy”. In partic-ular, the fall in the figures for cats was, he said, a result of his Katten-plan, which came into force last year. That plan makes it obligatory for anyone selling kittens to have them sterilised and fitted with an identity chip. “That has brought

down the number of stray cats, and the number of cases of eutha-nasia,” Weyts said. And the minister made an appeal to anyone thinking about getting a new pet. “Go and take a look in a shelter,” he said. “Maybe you can give some poor animal a new home. We took a nice cat from the shelter, and it’s turned out to be a fantastic family friend.” \ AH

Fewer animals in Flemish shelters last year

Jean Lambrecks, whose daugh-ter was kidnapped 20 years ago in Ostend and later found murdered by serial killer Marc Dutroux, has filed suit against the children of Dutroux and his ex-wife and accomplice Michelle Martin. Lambrecks is demanding a share of their grandmother’s estate as part of the damages the parents of Dutroux’s victims were awarded. Dutroux remains in prison after being sentenced to multiple life sentences for kidnapping, rape and murder in 2004. Martin has since been released from prison and lives in Wallonia. At the trial in 2004, the parents of their four young victims and two more girls who survived the ordeal were all awarded damages. For Lambrecks, that came to €179,000. Last week, speaking from his home in Hasselt, he

said that he has yet to see any damages. He is now claiming a share of the inheritance refused by Martin on the death of her mother. The estate includes a villa in Waterloo, jewellery and shares worth an estimated €70,000. Martin was apparently advised to decline the bequest to allow it to pass to the couple’s three children in order to avoid the victims’ relatives being awarded any proceeds. Legal experts have said that the court could find in Lambrecks’ favour because Martin’s refusal was deliberately intended to escape paying the victims’ families. One of the survivors, Laetitia Delhez, gave a statement via her lawyer saying she would not seek payment from Dutroux and Martin’s children. “The chil-dren of the couple must not be held responsible for the actions of their parents,” she said. \ AH

Father of victim sues Dutroux’s children for damages

© Ingimage

august 19, 2015

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faCe of flanders

This year’s Ghent Film Festival, the country’s largest, kicks off on 13 October and welcomes a new director-general: Martijn Bal. He replaces Bart Vandesompele, who resigned last year in order to focus on his own business. It’s hard to imagine a more wide-ranging and varied CV in the audio-visual world than Bal’s. He was born in Ghent but stud-ied theatre at the conservatory in Antwerp. From there he went via a short spell as a newspaper reporter into television produc-tion, working for independent production houses Kladara-datch! and IDTv in Amsterdam. He then moved back to Belgium to spend nine years with TV station VTM, rising from producer to head of entertain-ment. From private to public, he crossed over to VRT as deputy channel manager of Eén, respon-sible for all local output. By that time, digital TV had hit the market, and Bal moved back to the Vlaams Mediamaatschap-pij, parent of VTM, to become head of digital media. There he launched three new digital channels and created the video-on-demand website iWatch. In 2012, he was asked to become director of iMinds, Flanders’

digital research centre bringing together all five universities in the region. But it wasn’t all media this and digital that. Shortly after leav-ing the Antwerp conservatory, Bal was behind a drum kit, playing for The Dinky Toys on their hits “My Day Will Come” and “The Test of Time”. When the band broke up in 1994, he played drums for, among others, Tio Pepe and the Bordellos, The MooD and Roland. “Film Fest Gent will continue to support quality cinema and the talent behind it,” Bal said in a statement announcing his appointment. “We offer a unique platform where a wide audience can discover these films and those who made them in a genu-ine festival atmosphere.” The festival is also, he pointed out “the place to be for profes-sionals. I look forward to strengthening the strong posi-tion the festival holds within the fast-moving film and media landscape and to move forward together with the team to face new challenges.”The 42nd edition of the Ghent Film Festival takes place from 13 to 24 October. \ Alan Hope

martijn Bal

Last week we reported how Flemish daily De Standaard was on the hunt for the public’s choice of the ugliest place in Belgium. They asked for nomina-tions and put them up for a public vote. A tidy 49,093 people voted. Who would have imagined ugliness could provoke so much enthusiasm? The winner, with 5,434 votes, is the Belgian coast. Collectively. “Ugly concrete blocks without soul and without style,” wrote one voter. And that’s without even mentioning the marauding seagulls. Part of the coast, on the waterfront in Ostend, comes the runner-up with 5,218 votes. The installation “Rock Strangers” by Flemish artist Arne Quinze is a series of orange fibreglass shapes that many would-be critics in Ostend have always hoped would be blown into the sea by the next strong wind. Not so far, it seems. In a distant third place is another fixture local people love to hate: the Stadshal in Ghent, described by one participant as “an unfinished concrete base with a building-site shed on top”. It earned 1,968 votes.

Making up the rest of the top 10: the new city hall in Hasselt (“frightening”), the Hopmarkt in Aalst (“faulty urban renewal”), the Gentbrugge viaduct (adjoining “the saddest houses you can imagine”), the rounda-bout sculpture “King of the Scheldt” in Oudenaarde, the Antwerp Ring, the Vilvoorde viaduct, and, with 556 votes, the main square in Geel, which, after all that ugliness, looks comparatively innocuous. \ AH

Everyone’s a critic offside

weeK in BriefWeever fish stung three tour-ists in one day on a recent week-end at the Flemish coast, which the Poisons Centre called “excep-tional”. The lesser weever (Echi-ichthys vipera) lives on the sea bed close to shore and has venom-ous spines along its back that deliver a painful sting that peaks after half an hour. The only treat-ment is copious washing followed by immersion in very hot water. So far this summer 25 people have been stung.

Only 9% of Belgians changed jobs voluntarily in the past year, compared to an international average of 14%, according to a survey carried out by employment agency Randstad. Only Japan on 6% and the Netherlands on 8% scored lower. Reasons are long-service pay bonuses and expen-sive firing procedures, which hamper job mobility, said Rand-stad.

Gent-Sint-Pieters, the busiest railway station in Flanders, got a new nickname last week – Neuzekesland. The name refers to the local delicacy cuberdons, the conical sweet otherwise known as a neuzen (noses). The name was the winning entry in a compe-tition for students run by rail authority NMBS to promote their Go Unlimited rail pass for young people.

Federal minister for work Kris Peeters has expressed strong support for an extension of compassionate leave – the period of leave, currently two or three days, allowed following a death. Opposition party SP.A has proposed extending the period to five to 10 days to be taken at any time within a year of the death, rather than between the death and the funeral as at present. “Being allowed three days off work is very little if you’ve lost a partner or a child,” said Peeters.

As many as 30 storks have been spotted feeding along the side of the canal in Brussels, by the Buda bridge and the site of the future postal sorting facility, Brussel Natuur reported. The organisa-tion is trying to attract brooding storks by offering pre-built nests in the hope the birds will adopt the area as their future brooding spot. The canal-side, the organ-isation explained, offers a wide variety of prey for the birds: frogs, toads, rats and fish.

Opposition party Groen has demanded the recall from recess of members of the Flemish parlia-ment’s environment and animal welfare committee to discuss the issue of ritual slaughter. Animal welfare minister Ben Weyts has been criticised by Muslim repre-sentatives over his decision not to allow slaughter without stunning at temporary facilities set up for the Muslim feast of the sacrifice, Eid al-Adha. “Over the last few days we’ve heard many opinions, but we’re no further forward,” said Groen member Hermes Sancto-rum.

Giel, the Flemish youngster who went to court for the right to live and study in a Buddhist monastery in India at the age of 15, was held for more than two hours last week at Brussels Airport trying to enter Belgium. During his battle two years ago, which was ultimately success-ful, he disappeared for a time and was reported missing by police. Apparently the report was never cancelled, and when his passport was checked at the airport, the old report came up. Giel is due to stay at home in East Flanders until mid-September.

The Flemish Red Cross has issued an urgent call for blood donors, as reserves of O negative, A nega-tive and AB negative are down to only two days’ supply. The short-

age is typical for the summer months, a spokesperson said, as regular donors are on holiday. For most other blood types, stocks are at about a week.

www.rodekruis.be

The Flemish agency for roads and traffic has come up with a novel method of ensuring emer-gency service vehicles arrive more rapidly at the scene of motor-way accidents: turn the kilome-tre signs by the roadside to face oncoming traffic. Normally the signs are placed parallel to the road’s edge. But in an experiment on the A12 and E40 over recent weeks, the agency found that a simple 90-degree turn made the signs easier for traffic to read.

Remote controlled foxes, lasers, birds of prey, sacrificial offer-ings of tasty rubbish: the coastal municipalities have tried every-thing to tackle the plague of seagulls, but nothing has worked. “The seagulls adapt extremely well,” according to Bram Degrieck, environment alderman in De Panne. Now some councils are calling on Flemish environment minister Joke Schauvliege to allow killing of the birds to a limit per square kilometre, but she pointed out that numbers are already in decline.

A suspect in the alleged contract murder of Stijn Saelens in his mansion in Wingene, West Flan-ders, in 2012 has been ordered to be extradited to face trial in Belgium. Evert de Clercq is suspected of acting as a middleman in what investigators say was a contract killing ordered by Saelens’ father-in-law, who remains in custody. De Clercq, from Zeeland prov-ince, was arrested and delivered to Belgium two years ago, but his DNA did not match the sample found. The man whose DNA did match gave evidence that led to the second arrest of De Clercq.

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

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

Editor Lisa BradshawdEPuty Editor Sally TippercontriButing Editor Alan HopesuB Editor Linda A ThompsonagEnda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentinoart dirEctor Paul Van Dooren PrEPrEss Mediahuis AdProcontriButors Rebecca Benoot, Bartosz Brzezinski, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana Goodwin, Julie Kavanagh, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Daniel Shamaun, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Débora Votquenne, Denzil WaltongEnEral managEr Hans De LoorePuBlisHEr Mediahuis NV

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vErantwoordElijkE uitgEvEr Hans De Loore

filmfEstival.BE

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Crombez breaks outWhen coalition governments have internal disputes, it is always much harder for the opposition to be heard. This is particularly true of SP.A, Flan-ders largest opposition party. After a year of painful party introspection, the new presi-dent, John Crombez, stepped up last weekend.After more than 20 years of governing, the socialists fell out of grace with the public and ended up in opposi-tion. “It’s the socialists’ fault” became a mantra during the 2014 election campaign and the first months of the new government. Take the solar panels on roof-tops all over Flanders. As they were heavily subsidised, they became a massive success. In the end, they proved so successful that everyone using electricity will end up paying for them for many years to come. All the social-ists’ fault.On top of a negative percep-tion, SP.A was facing internal struggles. Its leader, Bruno Tobback, refused to resign as is customary after an elec-toral defeat. This left the party paralysed during the long wait for its new leader. Mean-while, Groen took on the posi-tion as the leading voice in opposition.In June, SP.A party members elected challenger Crombez as their new leader. To many of them, it was a relief. The start of a new era. Still, apart from express-ing more sympathy with the Greek Syriza than with the EU finance ministers dealing with Greece, the public didn’t hear much from Crombez. Who was this new guy and what did he stand for?In a TV interview, Crombez addressed all that, making it obvious that he wants to be the new leader of the opposi-tion. In the year since the new governments took over, the average family in Flanders has lost €679, he stated, citing the rising energy and education costs. The tax shift is not what it claims to be, he continued: the “super rich, the fraudsters and large companies” will not be the ones contributing more. “If the government is serious about a tax shift and lets this small group contrib-ute more, this will result in €200 million extra revenue.” Crombez took the tax-the-rich idea one step further by proposing a tax service task force to look into the wealth of the super-rich and large companies. “This concerns less than 1% of the popula-tion.” The governments cater to the rich, leaving families to pay: looks like this will be SP.A’s new message. \ Anja Otte

5th Column Jambon sets up task force to fight human traffickinginterior minister has plans to prevent ”a Belgian calais”

Federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon has set up a task force to address human

trafficking, in an effort to avoid the creation of “a Belgian Calais,” he announced at the weekend. “Crime will always take the line of least resistance,” he said on VTM News. “If the authorities in Calais become tougher, we have to expect the smuggling networks to come here. And prevention is better than cure.”The task force is made up of representatives of various bodies involved with the fight against human trafficking: federal and

local police, magistrates, the Office for Foreigners, asylum agency Fedasil and the provincial gover-nors. The work will include shar-ing information, planning joint actions and co-ordinating intel-ligence on trafficking gangs with authorities in other countries, particularly France and the UK. “We are after those who make money off the backs of people we should be regarding as victims and who sometimes pay for their actions with their lives in misera-ble circumstances on those boats and in container lorries,” said Jambon (pictured).

Since the beginning of 2014, police have filed reports on 355 human trafficking suspects, 40% of whom are involved in more than one case. The most common nationality involved in the crime are Belgians, representing one in five smugglers, followed by Afghans and Iraqis. Most of the people being trafficked are Syrian, Algerian and Moroccan. In the first half of this year, 467 ille-gal immigrants have been caught in West Flanders as a result of human trafficking. “That’s 10% fewer than the year before, most likely thanks to the increased efforts we’ve already made,” Jambon said.

alan HopeMore articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

© Jonathan Raa/Demotix/Corbis

Federal asylum and migration minis-ter Theo Francken (N-VA) defined his plans for asylum policy at an emergency meeting of the parliament’s home affairs committee, called during the summer recess to discuss the current migration situation. Twice in ten days, the Office for Foreign-ers in Brussels – the first port of call for asylum-seekers in the country (pictured) – was overwhelmed by the number of applicants. In highly publicised reports, it had to send some applicants away until the next day, leaving them temporar-ily without accommodation. Francken’s department was told to find 2,500 new places for arriving migrants to cope with demand. Francken told the committee he will be seeking talks with local authorities, police, the Red Cross and refugee non-profit Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen to arrive at clear agreements. At current rates of arrival, the number of migrants expected in August, he said, would

be around 4,000, a number unseen in Belgium since the signing of the Geneva Treaty on migration in 1951. “If the 2,500 extra places turn out not to be sufficient, then other arrangements will have to be made,” Francken said. He aims for a total of 10,000 flexible places: “That certainly doesn’t mean keeping all 10,000 places open all the time,” he said. “But if, for instance, we need capacity for an additional 300, we can call on them quickly.” Aside from the 2,500 added last week, Belgium has 16,000 permanent places and 2,000 buffer places for asylum-seek-ers. \ AH

4,000 migrants expected in Belgium this month, says Francken

Government coalition party Open VLD is preparing a bill to amend the law on intellectual property to put an end to what is effectively a ban on taking photos of public buildings. At present, anyone who takes a photograph of the Brussels skyline in which the Atomium appears is in breach of copyright and owes a fee to the owners of the rights to the design of the monument – the estate of André Waterkeyn. The same goes for countless other buildings and fixtures that appear in the capital and across Belgium, such as the cartoon murals in the streets of Brussels or Jan Fabre’s famous pierced beetle sculpture in Leuven. Most breaches of this sort of copy-right are ignored. “Of course every

artist isn’t busy tracking down every reproduction, but the fact that they tacitly allow photos doesn’t mean they can’t come after their rights later,” explained Open VLD MPs Patricia Ceysens and

Frank Wilryckx, who are behind the amendment. “Look at the Atomium, which has in the past sent people summonses for the payment of authors’ rights.” The bill would install what it calls

“panorama rights” in Belgium’s intellectual property law, allow-ing the taking of photographs of anything in public space. The prin-ciple, which is already in force in other EU countries, considers that the original artist knew that the work would be present in public and therefore must accept that passers-by would take photos of it, either deliberately or as back-ground. The photos could then be published in print or on social media, for both private and public consumption. “People’s freedom to take pictures in public has to be more impor-tant that copyright protection,” said Ceysens, a former Flemish minister. “That’s only logical, since these works are often paid for with public funds.” \ AH

Drop ban on photos of monuments, pleads Open VLD

While there is often a surplus of chemists in Belgian cities, there is often a shortage in rural areas, accord-ing to federal health minister Maggie De Block, who has announced that she wants to adjust legislation to allow for a better distribution of chemists.According to the Belgian Chemists Association (APB), there is one chemist per 2,150 inhabitants in Belgium, which is a high number. In Europe, only Greece has a larger supply of pharmacies. In the Netherlands for example, there only is one pharmacy per 8,000 residents. “Because of the surplus, many chemists are not profita-ble,” said APB spokesperson Jan Depoorter.That surplus mostly exists in the cities and is due to loopholes in the legislation. According to a law dating from 1973, towns can have one chemist per 2,000 resi-dents and medium-sized cities one per 2,500. “But these criteria can be circumvented through regulations for exceptions,” Depoorter explained. De Block is now analysing, together with pharmacy unions and the Federal Agency for Medicine and Health Projects, how the legislation can be improved. All phar-macies in Belgium are mapped, and a team is examining where they are situated and how many people they serve. \ Andy Furniere

Health minister wants better distribution of chemists

© www.atomium.be - saBaM 2011 - alexandre laurent (aerial)

© Courtesy VtM news

\ aPB.BE

august 19, 2015

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Sharing is caringfrom campsites to car rides, the sharing economy is here to stay

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side-stepping regulations they have to follow. The July survey that reported low participation levels in the shar-ing economy was commissioned by the bank ING, which was inter-ested in finding out how the shar-ing economy would change the way its customers spend their money. The pollsters questioned around 1,000 people in 13 European coun-tries about their involvement and attitudes towards sharing. This was defined as sharing goods rather than services, so while borrowing a car was covered, sharing a ride was not. The survey also excluded sharing without payment. In Belgium, the survey found that only 8.5% of people surveyed had borrowed or lent something for money in the previous year. Of these, 1.7% were only lend-ers, 4.3% only borrowers, with 2.5% doing both. The items most often borrowed were cars, holiday homes and bicycles. Those most often lent were clothes, cars and things for children, such as toys.Brussels comes through as a rela-tive hotspot, with more than 16% of residents in the survey partic-ipating in the sharing economy. This can be explained by the greater population density and relatively low levels of car and bicycle ownership, which makes borrowing these items a more popular option.

PotentialWhen asked if they envisaged sharing resources in the year to come, 44% of respondents said yes, with 7% considering lending, 14% borrowing and 23% interested in doing both. “This indicates that the sharing economy has a great deal of potential,” ING concludes.This assessment of the shar-ing economy in Belgium – low participation but high interest – sounds about right to local entre-preneurs. “There are other coun-tries that are more active in the sharing economy, and Belgium is still just catching up,” says Schil-lebeeckx. But things are moving quickly. “A lot of people are open to the idea, so I think 44% is a real-istic number.”His Antwerp-based company Campr is a variant on the Airbnb model that connects campers with people who have space that could accommodate a tent. One motivation was to open up uncon-ventional sites for camping, such as back gardens and other urban locations.This has proved a hit with users. “Garden camping is the most popular,” says Schillebeeckx. “People like the idea of having their own private campsite and having a more personal connec-tion with their hosts.”

There are currently more than 230 campsites in the system, 60 of them in Belgium. As of the end of July, more than 100 nights had been booked. “This is our first summer, and we are getting some bookings in, but we can also see that it takes time to set up a marketplace,” Schillebeeckx explains. “It is not something that you can create in a month and expect it to be profit-able from day one.” Word of mouth will help it grow, and that takes time, he says. “But if the system works well, and people use it and have a good experience, then more people will join in.” Car sharing site Tapazz, which is also based in Antwerp, has had a more complicated set of barriers to address since it was established in 2012. Some are common to all sharing economy initiatives, such as how to reach people who are not digital natives. But others are more local. “In Belgium, culturally you still have the car as a status symbol,” says Kooiman (pictured above). That makes some people reluc-tant to share, while others are prevented from sharing because they drive company cars, a popu-lar option thanks to fiscal incen-tives offered by the government. “Around 40% of cars in Belgium are company cars, and until now most companies only allow employees and their partners to drive these cars.” A further problem is that Tapazz is competing with the car club Cambio, which receives public money for activities such as marketing. “Individuals who want

to rent out their cars have to do so almost at a loss if they want to compete with the government-sponsored car club,” Kooiman says.

The government is not interfer-ing on purpose, he adds, but its tradition of supporting Cambio is hindering new approaches to sustainable transport that could emerge from the community.Discussions about these barri-ers are underway, and there has already been progress in the area of insurance. One Belgian company, P&V, has developed a policy specifically for people who want to lend their cars through Tapazz, and Kooiman is hopeful that other options will follow.At the moment Tapazz has 1,400 members. “There’s a lot of poten-tial for increasing that,” Kooiman says. “As soon as these barriers are taken away that will make a big difference, and then we can easily evolve towards tens of thousands.”A newer sharing economy company is PiggyBee, whose site recruits travellers to deliver items from one place to another. For instance, if you can’t get your

favourite English tea in Brussels, the site will connect you with a Eurostar traveller willing to slip some into their suitcase.At the moment this is a free initi-

ative, with participants offering small tips or payment in kind in return for the delivery. But that will change in the next few months as the site adds paid options. “I’m an entrepreneur, so the idea is to make money one day,” says

founder David Vuylsteke. “We launched the site to see what would happen, and then the idea is to put a business model on top of that.” Although PiggyBee is based in Brussels, the concept is interna-tional; it doesn’t matter if Belgians are slow to catch on. “In general, Belgians are late adopters,” says Vuylsteke. “Only time will change that. Once everybody is talking about [the sharing economy], then it will work.”Yet he thinks Belgium is a good place to launch a sharing econ-omy company. Investors may be cautious, but they have a long-term view that allows an idea time to mature, and there are plenty of skilled people in the workforce. “Belgium is a good place to build a reliable, solid business,” he says, “rather than something that rises very high, then crashes very fast.”

\ COVeR stORy

PiggyBEE.com

taPazz.com

gocamPr.com

Belgium is a good place to build a reliable, solid business, rather than something that rises very high, then crashes very fast

© Courtesy Campr

Pitch your tent in someone’s back garden through Campr, which hooks up landowners with backpackers

© Richard Hammond for greentraveller/Courtesy tapazz

“same service, lower price”: tapazz car-share co-founder Maarten kooiman

\ 6

\ BusIness

Fitness Fit20Dutch-based fitness company Fit20 has opened its first gym in Belgium in Kraainem, offering eight machines for a 20-minute workout in an air-conditioned space, which it claims makes it unneces-sary to change into training clothes or even take a shower after. The chain is hoping to attract busy commuters with no time to work out.

Insulation CogebiStaff of the insulation manu-facturer Cogebi in Beer-sel, Flemish Brabant, voted 92% in favour of a restruc-turing plan that will cut its 80-person workforce in half. The Russian parent company has decided to move produc-tion of the basic material, mica, to a Russian plant. Those who leave will receive a redundancy payment and additional damages, as well as training.

It Innovation studioThe IT company, based in Genk, has changed its name to Mitch&Mates. The change was brought about, the company said, because of the “poisoned connotation” of the initials IS.

Payments Bancontact

Brussels public transport authority MIVB is carry-ing out a trial of equipping ticket inspection teams with mobile Bancontact terminals to allow them to impose fines on fare-dodgers on the spot. The system would allow the authority to avoid adminis-trative procedures and costs, a spokesperson said.

Publishing Pelckmans

Publishing company Pelck-mans of Kalmthout, Antwerp province, announced that it has fired its director, Karl Drabbe “with immediate effect”. Drabbe helped grow the company from princi-pally a textbook publisher to a more general list. Pelckmans announced that it was start-ing a secondary publisher, Polis, last spring, named after publisher Harold Polis, who will now run Pelckmans.

Retail PrimarkSome 1,100 people waited in line for the opening of the new Primark store in Ghent, the Irish clothing retailer’s fourth in Belgium. Elsewhere, rumours were circulating that the company planned a second Brussels store in Elsensesteenweg, but Pri- mark’s PR spokesperson denied all knowledge.

weeK in Business Flemish biscuit producer Lotus

takes over UK firmlotus acquires British energy bar producer natural Balance foods

Lotus, the Flemish baked goods manufacturer based in Kaprijke, East Flanders, has acquired a controlling share

of 67% of Natural Balance Foods (NBF), a British company that makes snacks under the Trek and Na-kd brands. NBF, which specialises in energy bars and gluten- and dairy-free snacks, was founded in 2004 by California brothers Jamie and Greg Combs. It now employs 40 people, with sales last year of £20 million (€28 million). With the acqui-sition, Lotus – famous for its speculoos biscuits – plans to expand NBF in Britain and abroad. The price of the stake is reported to be €83.65

million. “We recognise that there is a growing global demand for healthy, unprocessed and tasty alternatives,” said Lotus CEO Jan Boone. “The

Na-kd and Trek brands, which are complemen-tary to our current product and brand portfo-lio, will ensure Lotus has the right product and brand offering for all consumers.”“Today is an exciting and pivotal moment for the growth of wholefood snacking,” the Combs brothers said in a statement. “Over a decade ago, we founded Natural Balance Foods with the dream of a whole food revolution, where natural, delicious and affordable snacks would be mainstream and appreciated around the world. This strategic partnership will be enor-mously helpful in that important effort, and we are delighted to have Lotus by our side.”

alan HopeMore articles by alan \ flanderstoday.eu

Alternative taxi company Uber plans to launch a new service in Brussels, despite still being illegal in the capital. UberX uses professional drivers to provide a taxi service – the company uses the term “ride-shar-ing” – to users of the Uber smartphone app. At present the company offers its Uber POP service, using members of the public who choose to work as Uber drivers. Some are known to be professional, licensed taxi drivers, but there is no obligation to be. UberX is one step closer to the kind of service that Brussels is likely to allow at some future date. Uber was declared illegal by the last regional government, a view was upheld in court. Uber appealed, and a verdict is expected in September. Along the way, however, a new government was voted in, and the current minister for mobility, Pascal Smet, has taken more of a conciliatory tone towards the service. The official taxi sector, however, is less willing to open its arms to Uber. It complains of unfair compe-tition from a service that is not subject to licensing, inspections and legal restrictions imposed on official taxi drivers in the capital. “We welcome any enter-prise that offers taxi services according to the laws in force,” taxi associations said in a joint statement. UberX offers a more professional service, more expensive than Uber POP and with more restrictions – UberX drivers may not use cars older than seven years, for example, and must pass an exam on local knowledge. According to one of the three taxi organ-

isations, UberX could be an attempt to get in through the back door of the laws on limousine services. Those are less restrictive than rules for taxis, with prices set by the market rather than by government decree. “Uber’s strategy seems to be to offer taxi services at rates lower than the official taxi tariffs, and then, as soon as the taxi companies are priced out of the business, to let the market have its way,” said Pierre Steenberghen of taxi association GTL. In the meantime, Uber has had talks with authori-ties in Antwerp about starting the service there and is also reported eyeing Ghent and Charleroi. \ AH

Uber to extend services in Brussels, despite being illegal

Energy companies that bill custom-ers who leave for another provider could face fines, the economy minis-try has warned. Last week it was revealed that one electricity provider, Essent, was sending invoices to customers who terminated their contract to sign up with another provider. Since 2012, customers in Belgium have the right to change provid-ers without penalty. Similar end-of-contract charges were seen as an impediment to changing provid-ers and therefore a barrier to free competition. “Our investigation is still under way, but if it turns out that in fact the energy companies are carrying out practices that are now allowed, then they could face fines of several thousand euros, or in the worst case could be referred to the prosecutor’s office,” economy ministry spokesper-son Johan Verbelen told VTM News. The bill sent to customers is based on an entire year, regardless of when they cancelled their contract. Essent considers this a minimum charge, CEO Frank Brichau said, justified by the fixed costs the company is faced with under the regulations. Other companies, however, say they do not operate under such a system. Since December, Essent has also applied an increased fixed charge, up from €75 to €120 for gas and electric-ity together. For the variable tariff the price went up from €60 to €120, while at the same time the price per kilo-watt hour decreased. Customers who leave part-way through the year are also being charged a full year’s fixed charge, which the 2012 changes to the law were intended to prevent, consumer protection organisation Test-Aankoop said. \ AH

Essent’s contract charges could be illegal

Thanks to the good weather this year, there has been more solar power produced through solar panels in Flanders than ever before, according to sector organi-sation PV Vlaanderen.In five of the first six months of this year, the amount of solar energy used exceeded the average monthly use. Per solar panel, there has also been more energy produced than in past years.A standard solar panel in Flanders will this year deliver about 1,043 kilowatt-hours of electricity, said the organisation. That is the highest level since 2009, when the statistics were first recorded. This means that owners of solar panels are getting more green power certificates than usual. For home-owners with small installations, the energy grid manager will automatically buy the green power certificates – leading to extra income. The meter of the homeowners’ electricity consumption will also be turned back, because they deliver extra solar power to

the power grid.Owners of large installations have to sell the certifi-cates to the energy grid manager or energy produc-ers. For those organisations delivering electricity, the certificates serve to reach the solar power quota set by the government.April and June were particularly sunny this year, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute. In April, the sun shone 69 hours and 25 minutes more than the average for the month. In June, there were 57 hours and 30 minutes more sunshine than usual. \ Andy Furniere

Record amount of power from solar panels

© Courtesy VRt

august 19, 2015

\ 7

“Everything I’ve seen in the playgrounds that’s designed for children

with disabilities is cold, hard and made out of metal,” says Manu Vollens, co-founder of Thea Swing. “I wanted to create a swing that’s soft, lightweight and doesn’t draw unwanted attention.”Five years ago, Vollens was an industrial design student at the University College of West Flan-ders. One semester, as part of a class project, he was tasked with designing a product for a person with a disability. That’s how he met Thea. At the time, Thea was 12. When she was younger, she loved to swing in her garden, supported by one of her parents who would hold her in their lap. As she grew, this was no longer possible. Due to a rare neurological disor-der called Rett syndrome that affects only girls, Thea has little to no control over her physical move-ments, can’t speak and requires constant care.Vollens says at first he did not know what to expect. “I never had any comparable experience because no one in my family has any disabilities,” he says. “I had to find a way to communicate with her and figure out the easiest solu-tion so she could enjoy swinging again.”Over the next few months, together with classmate Frederick De Pauw, Vollens designed several prototypes and paid visits to Thea’s home. “We would have her try out the swing,” he explains. “Thea communicates with real emotion; some prototypes would make her cry, while with others we saw her laughing.” They used her responses as indi-cations whether what they were doing was working or not.The very first prototype was made out of Vollen’s old rucksack. “From the beginning, we wanted to use only fabrics to make the swing as lightweight as possible and give it a soft feel,” he says. “The point was to make it functional but also unob-trusive, so it wouldn’t look like a cumbersome special-needs prod-

uct.”The swing is only a seat, so they tested different ways of hanging it on a conventional swing set. They also sewed in Velcro fasteners so it could be easily rolled up and trans-ported, and even attached support ribbons for Thea’s parents to swing

her while maintaining eye contact. Eventually, the two students got it right. “With the last design, we could see how excited Thea was about swinging,” Vollens says. “It was the best feedback we could hope for.”At the end of the course, they gave Thea the final prototype. They then launched an online campaign to raise funds and managed to sell more swings. Over the next few years, the two young designers drifted apart in

pursuit of other opportunities, and production stopped. Eventually, Vollens landed a career as an inno-vation consultant, when a conver-sation with Vincent De Dobbeleer gave his old school project a new lease on life.As a marketing manager for multi-

national corporations, De Dobb-eleer has made a trade out of creat-ing new companies and national branches. In 2014, he was chosen the Flemish Marketer of the Year by Trends magazine and the market-ing organisation STIMA.The experienced marketer quickly recognised the swing’s potential and decided to help Vollens launch Thea Swing. “There is no product like it available, but there is a real need for it,” he says. “We decided to put it on the market again, but

the only way to do it right this time was to focus all our energy on it.”They work on a bootstrap budget. Every swing is made to order, and, when demand is high, Vollen’s mum helps with the sewing. For a two-person company they have big dreams. “Eventually we want to sell the swing all over Europe and the world,” De Dobbeleer says. “We already sold one in Canada, but first we need to make sure we can sustain ourselves.”The feedback so far is positive. Thea Swing is active on social media and a new website was launched this month. The goal is to create a community where parents and caretakers can share their experi-ences with the product. “We’re always telling people, ‘If you have an idea; if you can think of a similar product or have a need for it, just let us know,’” De Dobbeleer says. “It doesn’t stop at a swing for us.”Recently, Vollens paid Thea’s family a visit. “I felt very welcome in their home,” he says. “Thea keeps using the original swing, and it still looks nice after all these years. That really shows we’ve made a quality product.”

Keep on swingingflemish duo launches a portable, hand-made swing for disabled children

Fertility experts at the University Hospital Brussel (UZ Brussels) are the first in Europe to succeed in preparing the birth of a baby through the removal of an ovary and then using in-vitro matura-tion (IVM), which utilises imma-ture egg cells in the lab. The baby was born at the end of July.IVM is considered safer and cheaper than the traditional in-vitro fertilisation, in which drugs are used to mature egg cells

in the ovary, removed, fertilised in the lab, then implanted back in the woman’s body. In IVM, imma-

ture cells are taken, then matured in the lab. If it goes well, they can then be fertilised and implanted.About 100 babies have been born at UZ Brussels since 2010 through IVM. But this is the first time in Europe that researchers have successfully used the technique in which one ovary is removed and immature egg cells taken from it. “It’s a complex technique,” said fertility expert Michel De Vos of

UZ Brussel, “but it is one that is very useful for women whose egg cell reserve is shrinking because of diseases like cancer.” The mother in this case suffered from dangerous blood vessels on the womb, the consequence of miscarriages. “If she had become pregnant in the natural way, she was in danger of internal bleed-ing,” said De Vos. \ Andy Furniere

UZ Brussels first in Europe to remove ovary for in-vitro maturation

uantwerp researchers solve beaver mystery Researchers from Antwerp University (UAntwerp) have discovered that beavers – built to be active during the day – became nocturnal animals because they were hunted intensively in the past. Archae-ological findings indicate that beavers were an easy and popu-lar target for hunters in the Pleistocene era, and contin-ued to be hunted through-out history for their fur, flesh and castoreum, in addition to being threatened by wild pred-ators. Using footage recording, the researchers showed that beavers – until recently extinct in Flanders – haven’t adjusted to a lack of hunting and local predators and remain active at night. They also discovered that beavers were more active during clear nights with plenty of moonlight. This confirms that their eyesight is not adapted to the dark.

worries about youth weight training trendIncreasingly more teenage boys are taking part in exces-sive weight training in fitness clubs and following strict eating patterns to develop to build more muscles, Het Laat-ste Nieuws has reported. The newspaper spoke to owners of health clubs about the marked increase and regularly heard that the numbers have been growing every month for the last two years. According to one owner, the increase can be attributed to an ever-grow-ing focus on beauty and health. Experts point out that young people’s bodies are only fully grown at about the age of 20, so extreme fitness and weight training before then can have negative effects on muscles and joints.

Children prefer Facebook to discuss problems Youngsters between the ages of 10 and 14 years prefer to talk to their mothers about their problems via Facebook messaging rather than face to face, according to a study by University of Leuven commu-nication scientist Viktorien Van Loon. Van Loon inter-viewed 16 mothers about how they communicate with their children and found that Facebook helped to take the first step in addressing sensi-tive issues, like bullying and crushes. The study also showed that mothers try to monitor the Facebook use of their chil-dren because they are worried about bullying and use Face-book groups to get in touch with mothers of their child’s classmates. \ AF

weeK in innovation

\ InnOVatIOn

tHEaswing.BE

Bartosz BrzezinskiMore articles by Bartosz \ flanderstoday.eu

Thea communicates with real emotion; some prototypes would make her cry, others laugh

© Courtesy thea swing

thanks to support straps, parents can help their children swing

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august 19, 2015

\ 9

Under the skinscientists use X-ray to determine if manneken Pis is the real thing

andy furniereMore articles by andy \ flanderstoday.eu

university orientation tests big successMore than 16,000 second-ary students in Flanders took the new non-binding “orien-tation tests” meant to guide them towards the right area of university study. The Luci test was administered by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), and the Simon test was administered by Ghent University (UGent). With a pass rate of 71%, students from general education (ASO) scored best on the Leuven test. About one-third of students from technical education (TSO) also passed. “The test makes many students from TSO realise that they can make it at university,” said Lieve De Wachter, associate professor of languages at KU Leuven.

Professional education helps BusO students

Students from the second-ary education programme for those with special needs (BuSO) who after graduat-ing follow an additional year of alternating professional education (ABO) increase their chances of finding a job, said Flemish MP Axel Ronse (N-VA). Statistics released by education minister Hilde Crevits show nearly 70% of youngsters who graduate from professional education find a job within one year. The rate for BuSO graduates who follow an ABO is 63.4%, compared to 60% for those who don’t. “The statistics show that BuSO students have extra assets on the job market after an additional year of learning,” said Ronse.

BDa adds transcontinental diplomacyStudents enrolled in the Brus-sels Diplomatic Academy (BDA) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), can now also study in Washington, DC and in Shanghai. BDA, estab-lished last year, offers post-graduate degrees in Economic Diplomacy and in Interna-tional Trade and Investment. New this year is the postgrad-uate Flagship Programme in Economic Diplomacy and International Business. In all programmes, students will have the opportunity to follow part of their time abroad, where they will pay a fee to the guest university. “The initi-ative provides students with global knowledge,” said VUB in a statement. It also gives them a chance to experience economic diplomacy in prac-tice and aids in their profes-sional success, said VUB.

weeK in eduCation

\ eDuCatIOn

Herent city council has decided that the local playground organi-sation will no longer arrange visits to Boudewijn Seapark in Bruges. The town in Flemish Brabant has judged that the facility’s dolphinar-ium doesn’t contribute to protect-ing the species and that the shows are not educational in nature.The tanks where the animals live, the council further said, do not successfully simulate their natural living environment.Herent pointed out that EU legis-lation prohibits the commer-cial use of sea mammals and only

makes an exception for scientific and educational projects. “Keep-ing and training dolphins influ-ences their behaviour and natural instincts in such a way that dolphi-nariums don’t succeed in making a scientific or educational contribu-tion,” stated the council.The Flemish-Dutch animal rights organisation Bite Back has called on all municipal councils and school directors to follow the example. It suggests visits to local centres for unwanted or injured wild animals as being more animal-friendly and educational.

Boudewijn Seapark responded that it fulfils all European and Belgian requirements for holding dolphins and has its license renewed every year by the government of Flan-

ders. It also pointed out that, at the demand of the government, inde-pendent experts last year deter-mined that the dolphins’ welfare was adequately provided for.“We also participate in research that is impossible to carry out in their natural habitat and that helps the dolphins who live in the wild,” the seapark stated. “During the shows, we inform audiences about keeping the oceans clean and about threats facing dolphins in the wild.” \ AF

There are many mysteries surrounding the tiny bronze Manneken Pis statue

that has such a symbolic value for Belgium. One question that troubles scientists is whether the sculpture currently showcased as the original in Brussels’ city museum Broodhuis is in fact the authentic one. The Free University of Brussels (VUB) is trying to clear up the confusion.There are a few things that art historians agree on when it comes to Manneken Pis (which means “peeing boy” in Dutch). One of the certainties is that it was created by sculptor Jérôme Du Quesnoy the Elder in 1619, on commission from the City of Brussels. The statuette decorated one of the public foun-tains, where drinking water was distributed at the time.A long list of legends has since grown around the sculpture’s meaning. According to one story, the Manneken was a boy who saved the city by peeing on the burn-ing fuses of explosives, with which besiegers wanted to blow up the city walls. Another tale says that the statue refers to a duke who came into power when he was still a baby. During a battle, his cradle was hung in a tree, from where he supported his soldiers by peeing on enemy troops.A more sober explanation is that the statuette is an homage to the city’s medieval tanneries, where urine of small children was used in the processing of leather. The ammonia in the urine helped make the leather more supple.After it was installed near the Grote Markt, Manneken Pis was rarely left in peace throughout the centuries. In 1745, English troops abducted the statuette during the War of the Austrian Succession, but it was rescued in the East Flemish town of Geraardsbergen. Only two years later, soldiers of Louis XV set their collective eye on the cherubic bronze. The French king arrested the culprits and gave

the Manneken back, out of fear of a revolt. In 1817, another tumultuous year, Manneken Pis was stolen by a released convict. When it was even-

tually retrieved, the statuette was in several pieces. The parts were used to create a new boy in bronze. Almost 150 years later, in 1965, Manneken was the victim of vandals for the last time. Half of the

sculpture, from the knees up, went missing. It was found back mirac-ulously in the canal Brussels-Char-leroi months later.After restoration works, the orig-inal Manneken was put safely on display inside the Broodhuis on Grote Markt and the empty spot on top of the fountain was replaced with a replica.But art historians have long since discussed the authenticity of the statuette in the Broodhuis. The latest researcher to tackle the problem is Géraldine Patigny, PhD student at the French-speaking Free University of Brussels (ULB).As Patigny could not find sufficient info in the archives, she turned to the VUB’s Research Group Electro-chemical and Surface Engineering (Surf) for help. A team of scientists, led by post-doctoral researcher Amandine Crabbé, is now exam-ining the chemical composition of the bronze in the hope of shedding some light on the mystery.“The team has already analysed

the surface of Manneken Pis with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscope,” explains profes-sor Herman Terryn of Surf. “This technique has the big advantage of being non-invasive.”If the results of the X-ray prove to be inconclusive due to corrosion or patina coatings on the surface, the researchers may have to take small samples from the statu-ette to be checked in the lab. With these samples, the patina layers and the composition of the under-lying bronze can be investigated in detail.The scientists are also looking to see if the alloy includes nickel, which was not used in the 17th century. The presence of nickel would indicate that the statuette is a replica from the 19th century, while its absence would suggest it is authentic. “In a few months, we should have a good idea whether the Manneken in the museum is the original,” says Terryn. Belgians, cross your fingers.

Herent city council first to cancel school visits to seapark

Art historians have long discussed the authenticity of the original statuette

© Pbrundel/wikimedia

\ 10

\ lIVIng

Nifty Wiftiesnew blog challenges misperceptions about women 50 and older

Two Flemish journalists have created a new online platform that debunks

stereotypes about older women and tackles such topics as sex, menopause and how to look fabulous at 50 – and beyond. Ann Lemmens and Hélène Van Herck, both in their 50s, met 30 years ago while working at the Flemish women’s magazine Flair. Their careers later took separate paths, until one day they rekindled their friendship via Facebook. “We were both annoyed with the representation of women over 50 in the media – grey hair, dazed by menopause, without any ambition or sex appeal,” says Lemmens. “We got in touch and not long after, our blog was born. Together, we felt we mastered the right tone of voice to reach our age group and discuss topics we all could relate to.” Wifty.be (the founders’ self-coined term for women over 50) went live in 2013, under the motto “een haha-erlebnis” – a reference to the German phrase for the Eureka effect, the founders’ initials and the humour that runs like a red thread through the website. “At the same time, we often hear from our readers that they have finally found a platform that matches their personalities and interests,” Van Herck explains. “That’s a real aha-erlebnis.”Both women, who still work in the media, regularly write about almost any topic. “We get the most reader interaction in posts related to life after 50. The empty nest syndrome, for instance, is a recurrent theme,” Lemmens says. “I have children, Hélène doesn’t, so we’re really complimentary in our writing. Hélène is the expert in all things ab fab.”

Guest writers also regularly contribute to the blog. “We invite specialists to talk about meno-pause, among other topics. And we’re always happy when other women share their stories on our website, too,” Van Herck says. “It’s very inspiring and we have women from all over the world. We call them World Wide Wifties.” Wifty.be also organises events and talks for readers, with topics as diverse as heritage and dating. Ab Fab evenings, meanwhile, are set at “an exclusive location, where we chat about fashion and have our Wifties discover a new brand of sunglasses, for instance,” says Lemmens. There are Wifty parties, too. The next one takes place in October at the MAS restau-rant in Antwerp.So what, at the end of the day, makes Wifty.be different from traditional women’s magazines? “Compared to younger generations, there seems to be no competi-tion between Wifties,” Van Herck explains. “We’ve all already achieved so much, so the jealousy is gone and has been replaced by admi-ration for each other. Whenever the Wifties are together, it rains compli-ments.” And while the blog might be aimed at women in their 50s, some readers are younger – or a lot

older. “We trust our gut feeling and our experience working for

women’s magazines and seem to get the tone

right to reach a lot of women,” Lemmens explains. “Since we both have full-time jobs, we don’t need to rely on commer-cially binding content. We’re selective in what we do and always keep it real. That’s

probably why many women keep

on reading.” And men in their 50s are familiar with the publication, too. “We

call them Mifties,” Van Herck laughs. “They pop up

on the blog every now and then or join their Wifty wife or

girlfriend at our events. Some of them have told us we’re the

best-looking and most-fun group of women they’ve ever spent the evening with.”After more than two years, the Wifty founders are ready to take their blog to the next level, start-ing this autumn. “We’d like to involve more women, go interna-tional and find out how women deal with typical Wifty issues on the other side of the world,” Van Herck says. “It’s never too late for something new.”

And what if the sky really was the limit? “We’d love to sit on the couch and chat with über Wifty Oprah Winfrey,”

Lemmens laughs. “That, and having a cup of tea with Michelle Obama.”

Belgium’s first-ever Vegan Summer Fest takes place in Ghent later this month, but don’t worry if your breath smells like bacon; organisers say everyone is welcome. “We want to stress that – vegans and non-vegans, there won’t be any vegan police at the door,” says Tim Bruneel from BE Vegan. “We’re really hoping for lots of non-vegans to come and see what it’s all about.” There have been vegan festivals in the Netherlands and Germany, “but nothing like this has been seen before in Belgium,” Bruneel contin-ues. The event, at Ghent community space KERK, will find food trucks serving such fare as Veg-Mex, raw food and vegan kebabs.“There will be live music, cooking demonstrations and workshops

where you can learn to make your own cosmetics and cleaning prod-ucts,” says Bruneel. The festival will also spotlight vegan businesses like

Ghent-based tattoo parlour Tory-mun Tattoo, which uses vegan ink, and Shoezuu, a shoe company that sells non-leather shoes. Because veganism is about more than food. Many vegans abstain from consuming or using any

animal products, both edible and non – from handbags to cosmetics. It’s no coincidence, then, that there will also be information stands from animals rights organisations and awareness groups for anyone interested in delving into the ethics of the lifestyle choice. If you’ve got an entrepreneur-ial spirit, be sure to check out the talks delivered by those who have ventured onto the vegan start-up road. “We’re hoping this will inspire people who are thinking about starting a business themselves,” Bruneel explains.Concern for animal rights is the main reason people become vegan,

he continues, “but there is also a huge ecological benefit. It takes a massive amount of resources to raise animals, which puts a burden on climate change and increases CO2 and methane production. Being vegan reduces your ecologi-cal footprint.” Health benefits are also a consid-eration, with links being made between a diet low in saturated fats and reduced incidences of cardio-vascular diseases. The Ghent venue has indoor and outdoor facilities, so even if it’s rain-ing, you can still get your vegan on. \ Vanessa Rombaut

BiteBelgium’s first-ever vegan festival comes to ghent

International Fireworks FestivalA pyrotechnic display and competition on the Flem-ish coast, with five countries trying to outdo each other: Denmark (19/8), Switzerland (21/8), Greece (23/8), Portu-gal (25/8) and Belgium (27/8). 19-27 August, 22:00-22:30, Strand Duinbergen, Knokke-Heist; free

\ myknokke-heist.be

Dansen in het parkAn outdoor dance festival for all ages and abilities. Work-shops for adults and kids, plus performances of folk dance, ballroom and modern in the afternoon, followed by open dance parties in the evening. 21-23 August, Azaleapark, Achterstaat, Ghent; free

\ danseninhetpark.be

Best of west FlandersA four-day bike event with routes of varying length for recreational and serious cyclists, plus mountain bike routes on the weekend and routes for children and fami-lies on Sunday. 20-23 August, Expo Roeselare; €3

\ westvlaanderensmooiste.be

atlantikwall nocturneAn evening program on the Atlantic Wall, the remnants of the military fortifications built along the North Sea by the Nazis. Guides will tell you about its history, while musicians, poets and artists contribute to the atmos-phere. 22 August, 18.00-22.00, Provincial domain Raver-syde, Ostend; free

\ raversyde.be

lissewege light FestivalThe “white village” of Lissewege, part of Bruges, is lit entirely by fire and candle-light for two nights, while live music, street theatre and light installations add to the magi-cal ambience. 21-22 August, 21.00-23.30, Lissewege; free

\ bruggeplus.be

Vintage tractor showA gathering for collectors and admirers of old tractors, steam engines, motorcycles, military vehicles and other machines. The theme for 2015 is Evaporator Engines. Old-fashioned carnival rides for the kids. 22-23 August, Weelde Airfield, Turnhout; €7

\ hmck.be

weeK in aCtivities

BEvEgan.BE

© Courtesy Just like your Mom

keRkGentbrugge (Ghent)

23 august, 11.30-22.00

katrien lindemansFollow katrien on twitter \ @kCRlindemans wifty.BE

Journalists Hélène Van Herck (left) and ann lemmens call their blog a “full-time hobby”

august 19, 2015

\ 11

Gazing towards Mexicoour series on flanders’ secrets traces shadows of a forgotten war in East flanders

Flanders’ rich heritage has left behind many traces, and while some are touristic highlights, others are more obscure. This week we go to East Flanders, where a mourning statue recalls a disastrous military exploit and a Flemish railway tunnel served as a hideaway for a Nazi leader

On the Tacambaro Square in Oudenaarde, in the southern part of East

Flanders known as the Flemish Ardennes, a life-size statue of a woman looks out over the parked cars. She is called “The Mourning Woman”. Sculpted by artist Willem Neefs, she casts her melancholy gaze towards Mexico, mourning the victims of a foolish military adven-ture of the then young Belgian state.In 1861, France declared war on Mexico over a conflict that arose over Mexico’s debt. France saw it as an opportunity to set up the North American country as a vassal state. They asked Maximilian of Habs-burg if, by chance, he wanted to become emperor of Mexico, and he said he did, indeed, like the sound of it. Supported by Mexican conserva-tives who preferred monarchy over a republic, in 1864 Maximilian was crowned emperor of Mexico, and the Second Mexican Empire was born.Mexicans themselves, however, apart from the conservatives, did not appreciate an emperor being forced upon them from Europe. A

rebellion soon arose against Maxi-milian. Support from the French mili-tary managed to keep him on the throne till 1866 when, under pressure from the US, France was forced to withdraw its troops.

Barely a year later, the monarchy fell. Maximilian surrendered and was executed in 1867, and Neefs sculpted his statue soon after.But what does Belgium have to do with France’s disastrous foreign policy in the Americas? Little,

except that Emperor Maximil-ian was married to Charlotte, the daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium. Belgium was thus sucked into a military campaign doomed to fail. This raised great opposi-tion, but the government pushed through the plans.When Belgium was first estab-lished, the European powers imposed neutrality on the newly born country, so officially there was no Belgian involvement in the French war. However, the French government distrusted the Mexi-can army and established a volun-teer corps charged with guarantee-ing the safety of Princess Charlotte and her husband Maximilian. The call for volunteers found a ready audience in Belgium, drawn in with promises of honour and riches for potential soldiers. The so-called Belgian Legion was trained in Oudenaarde in the autumn of 1864 under the leader-ship of Lieutenant-General Chape-lié, Commander of the Royal Mili-tary School.Once on Mexican soil, the volun-teer corps, some 1,500 troops, did not serve as guards, but was used to fight insurgents instead. This move proved disastrous in April of 1865, when the Belgians, respon-sible for the defence of the city Tacambaro, came under attack by insurgents who severely outnum-bered them. After five hours of battle, they surrendered. Some 300 volunteers had lost their lives, and the role of the Belgians in Mexico was over.Princess Charlotte was evacu-ated in 1866 but never recovered

from the shock of the ordeal. Her mental state deteriorated rapidly. Her brother, King Leopold II, who had succeeded his father, brought her back to the palace of Laeken. They tried to conceal the fate of her husband from her, but when she found out that Maximilian was dead, she lost the last remnants of a sane mind. Until her death, she insisted that she was the empress of Mexico.

nazi hideoutNot far from Oudenaarde, mean-while, the tiny village Nukerke lies somewhat hidden in the slopes of the Flemish Ardennes. While constructing the railway line between Oudenaarde and Ronse in 1862, engineers ran into a prob-lem: the Spichtenberg, a hill too high to lay the train over it and too wide to go around. The only solution, they reckoned, was to build the line straight through it. Flanders had its first railway tunnel.During the First World War, the tunnel was destroyed, but it was later rebuilt. That would prove useful to Nazi leader Herman Goering. Fearing the increasingly intense bombings of the Allied Forces, Goering hid for three days in the tunnel in Nukerke. But don’t imagine it was in darkness and misery. The Nazi vice-chancel-lor had his own personal train with all the luxury and comfort of home. The rural area surrounding him was full of wild game, so he would not have suffered from an empty stomach like the foot soldiers of the crumbling Third Reich.

toon lambrechtsMore articles by toon \ flanderstoday.eu

Flanders Today has launched an e-book with ideas for how to spend a year’s worth of weekends. Visit our website Flanderstoday.eu and click the pop-up to get your fee copy of 50 Weekends in Flanders. We’ll also print one of our suggestions every week here, too.

Weekend at the Sea: DE HAANDe Haan is a charming coastal town that has hardly changed since it was established in 19th-century romantic German style. The strict planning laws laid down at the time have prevented the construction of modern apartment buildings, and you still find small family-run hotels, unique B&Bs and friendly restaurants.

www.visitdehaan.be

Wonder at DE HAAN TRAM STATIONThe coast tram pulls up in De Haan next to a beautiful Art Nouveau station built in 1888. It was designed by the Brussels archi-tect Georges Dhaeyer in a fanciful style with

steep overhanging eaves, elegant carved wood and the French name Coq-sur-Mer in decorative letters. Albert Einstein got off the tram here in 1933 at the start of his stay at the Flemish coast.

Explore DE CONCESSIEThis quarter was built in a romantic English style by the German architect Joseph Stüben. He created a romantic beach neighbourhood where you find quaint white houses with

steep red roofs that look as if they belong in a German fairy tale.

Hike to CHALET WESTHINDERHidden in the dunes near Wenduine, this simple wooden fisherman’s cabin is one of the most romantic spots on the Belgian coast. It now serves as a café, plain inside, with bare tables and maritime relics. It also has a large outdoor deck where you can sit if the wind isn’t hurling sand in your face. The cooking is simple, with delicious homemade shrimp croquettes as the house speciality, along with chilled sangria to create a holi-day mood.

Eat at MARKT IXChef Benne Van Torre runs a cool, contem-porary restaurant in an old seaside house decorated with white walls and designer lamps. Van Torre grew up in a fishing family and claims to know where to get the best sole in the world. He works in an open kitchen,

creating some of the most adventurous food on the coast.

www.markt11.be

Get ice cream at ICE RENÉThis simple ice cream salon has been a fixture of De Haan for more than 50 years. It is now run by a young couple who make ice cream using goats’ milk supplied by a nearby organic farm.

www.ijsrene.be

Stay at VILLA LA TOURELLEThis rambling villa with bay windows and a turret is one of the most romantic places to stay at the sea. The owner Maria Vantorre has decorated the nine bedrooms in a light country style that incorporates parquet floors and baroque beds. It’s worth asking for room nine in the turret for the stunning view. \ Derek Blyth

www.latourelle.be

50 weekends in Flanders: Half-timbered paradise

© shutterstock

© toon lambrechts

statue of “the Mourning woman” in Oudenaarde recalls a disastrous military exploit in Mexico

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64 i best of belgium 2015

FaMIlYThere is no lack

of excellent

daycare options in

Belgium, but the bestplaces

fill up fast, so be sure to

book your place early. In

this section you will find

associationswho offer

information concerning

childcare and welfare,

and lots of fun activities

for youngsters. Details

of language courses for

children arealso provide

d

28/05/15 13:36

best of belgium 2015 i 25

list of fresh, cooked-to-ord

er pittas, it’sa popular

spot for a quick bite to eat

. Choosing isdifficult,

but as the pittas aren’t ver

y big there’sno shame

in ordering two.Themenu also featu

res salads and

sweet options, and there’s

a large, sunny terrace.

Ä 31 Rue Watteau, Brussels

King Kong isa trendy Peru

vian joint serving a

limited but finger-lickingmenu. Choose

a hot

or cold sandwich – the ham

burger and chicken

mayonnaise come highly reco

mmended – andopt

for a side such as the yuca

chips or mixed bean

salad. If you’re there arou

nd lunchtime, go for the

rotisserie chicken, with po

tato salad, salad, apple

sauce and a drink for just u

nder €12.

Ä 227 chaussée de charleroi, Brussels

When in Liège,you have to t

aste the famous

boulettes Liégoises: meatballs with

a savoury dark

sauce. Try them at l’Oeuf au P

lat, a populareatery

with an affordable menu.They also serve

amean

fry-upwith eggs, bacon an

d sausage, whichwill

set you back€11 if you go

for themeal deal which

includes a glass of wine, co

ffee and a shot of local

schnapps at the end.

Ä 30 La Batte, Liège

www.oeuf-au-plat.com

For cheap, cheerful and he

althy eating you can’t

go wrong with fast foodoutlet Potato

licious.

It serves soups and salads a

s well as baked

potatoes. The goat’s cheese option com

es highly

recommended, whilemeat eaters will enjoy the

crispy baconvariety. Kl/vr

Ä 5 Verlorenkost, Ghent

potatolicious.be

GoUrMet DINING

At Va doux vent, a duo of d

aring youngchefs,

Stefan Jacobsand Romain Mouton, serve

modern

dishes with a nod to retro cuisine.

The name

is a tribute tothe French c

olonial Indian spice

vadouvan; Jacobs’ passion

for spice was aroused

while working under Fren

ch spice master Olivier

Roellinger. Only 18 months after o

pening,

the team, including former Comme Chez Soi

sommelier GontranBuysse, picke

d up a Michelin

star in 2012.This compact Uccle to

wnhouse was

formerly occupiedby Brussels c

ulinary star Bon-

Bon, now the bearer oftwo Michelin stars

and

occupying new premises in Avenu

e de Tervuren,

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. Gener

ous portionsand a

preference for meat in the mains. Menus €35-

€85.Ä 93 Rue des carmelites, Brussels

www.vadouxvent.be

At the heart of the tourist t

rap restaurant quarter

Rue des Bouchers lies Aux

Armes de Bruxelles, a

legendary address that’s p

erfect for traditional

Belgian cuisine.The institution

has been

serving generations of visit

ors as well asloyal

locals. On themenu: oysters,

lobster, Belgian

specialities such as shrimp croquettes,

waterzooi,

carbonnade,steak-frites a

nd plenty of fresh fish.

Service is impeccable. Mains €19-€57.

Ä 13 Rue des Bouchers, Brussels

www.auxarmesdebruxelle

s.com

Three-Michelin-starHertog Jan ope

ned in

new premises in 2014,in a renovate

d barn just

outside Bruges. Pared-do

wn pure design, the

dining roomis dominated by lar

ge glass walls

overlookinga farm garden.The green view

is

reflected in the menu, which f

eatures colourful

and seasonalveggies, and

the lack of clutter

continues inevery dish: th

e very best ingredients

served simply with tantalising flavours an

d

accompaniments. Chef Gert De Mangeleer and

host JoachimBoudens took

over the former

Bruges bistroBrasserie Her

tog Jan 10 years ago.

It’s now one of Belgium’s top culinar

y addresses,

as reflected in the prices.

Dishes from€60-€90;

menus €115-€315.

Ä 52 Loppemsestraat, Zedelgem

www.hertog-jan.com

At 23 and with only a fewyears of expe

rience

at high-end restaurants in

the Netherlands

and Spain, Kobe Desramaults took ov

er his

parents’ struggling Frenc

h bistro in deepest

Flanders andtransformed it into In D

eWulf, an

award-winning, Michelin-starred restauran

t

that promotes local ingredients. When he isn’t

growing his own herbs, Desramaults is sourc

ing

from neighbouring farmers and buyin

g fresh

fish in nearby Dunkirk.Th

e tasting menu (from

€140) features many regional

delicacies and the

results of thechefs’ foragin

g in the richsoil of the

agricultural land. Accommodation also

available.

Ä 1 Wulvestraat, heuvelland

www.indewulf.be

Arriving on the Antwerp r

estaurant scene in 2014,

The Jane has provoked asmuch discussio

n on

architectureand design bl

ogs as it has for its food.

Dutch chefs Sergio Herman (formerly of Oud S

luis

in the Netherlands) and Ni

ck Bril offer exquisite

coR De chAsse

L’AiR Du teMPs

28/05/15 11:30

88 i best of belgium 2015

travelBelgium has excellen

t

connectionsto the rest

of Europe, but getting

around the country is also

easy thanksto its public

transport system. In

this section you can find

information on airports,

national railservices,

buses and coaches, cyclin

g

organisations and car-

sharing schemes

28/05/15 13:55

38 i best of belgium 2015

Come the summer, there’s

no better place to unwind

and revive the senses than

at the Belgian coast. With

pristine sandy beaches

and handsome seaside

towns extending from

Knokke-Heist in the northeast to De Panne in

the southwest, the area offers something for

everyone – from thrill-seeking water sports

fanatics to those who prefer sipping cocktails

at the beach after a day of shopping.

eXPloreThe coastal tram makes exploring Belgium’s

seaside comfortable and affordable. Don’t worry

about traffic jams or finding a place to park –

the 67km tramline, the longest in the world,

departs from 68 locations between Knokke-

Heist and De Panne every 10 minutes during the

high season and stops at all the resort towns.

Tickets are available at tram stations, kiosks and

supermarkets for €5, and for €7 in the tram.

www.delijn.be/en/kusttr

am

SeeThough all the resorts are worth a visit, make sure

you take time to revel in the opulence of Knokke,

also known as the Saint-Tropez of the North Sea.

Here, the elegantly dressed and well-coiffed stroll

through streets dotted with high-end boutiques,

art galleries and trendy restaurants. Many wealthy

Belgians own weekend mansions in Knokke. It’s

definitely a place to see, and be seen.

DoWant to sunbathe undisturbed, challenge the

waves on a surfboard or go for a zen-inducing

walk? De Panne not only boasts the widest beach

on the Belgian coast, it’s also surrounded by

four nature reserves. In the sandy dunes of the

Westhoek you can peacefully wander for hours,

clearing your head and admiring myriad plants

and wildlife as you go. Ever tried land yachting?

De Panne is where this adventurous sport first

evolved.

eatA visit to the coast is the perfect opportunity

to sample the region’s fantastic seafood. At ’t

Kantientje in Knokke, chef Dominique Pille will

delight you with his culinary expertise. Start

your meal with oysters, follow with one of his

lobster specialities and end with a mouthwatering

dessert. For mussels, Resto de Rimini in Sint-

Idesbald (Koksijde) is sure to please. Bear in mind,

however, that mussels aren’t usually served out

of season (between April and July). But Rimini’s

other seafood choices – such as prawn croquettes

– will not disappoint.

www.kantientje.be

www.restohofterhille.be

SleePFor the ultimate indulgence, stay at Hotel Manoir

du Dragon in Knokke-Heist. Set in a beautifully

restored villa dating to 1927, the four-star hotel

offers 16 rooms, most with private jacuzzi and

a view of the Royal Zoute golf course. In the

morning, enjoy a sumptuous breakfast that

includes fresh fruit, eggs, homemade preserves

and Belgian specialities. Another excellent choice

is Esprit de Mer in De Panne. The cosy bed and

breakfast has three tastefully decorated rooms

and is just 400m from the beach. PW

www.manoirdudragon.be

www.espritdemer.be

tHe CoaSt

21/05/15 16:32

For the ultimate indulgence, stay at Hotel Manoir

du Dragon in Knokke-Heist. Set in a beautifully

restored villa dating to 1927, the four-star hotel

offers 16 rooms, most with private jacuzzi and

a view of the Royal Zoute golf course. In the

morning, enjoy a sumptuous breakfast that

includes fresh fruit, eggs, homemade preserves

and Belgian specialities. Another excellent choice

is Esprit de Mer in De Panne. The cosy bed and

breakfast has three tastefully decorated rooms

and is just 400m from the beach. PW

www.manoirdudragon.be

PLUS YOUR ESSENTIAL 45-PAGE EXPAT DIRECTORY

DePot bRuXelles X

best of belgium2015 • €4,95

Best of BelgiumtHe iNsiDeR’s guiDe to touRism AND lifestYle

BELGIUM EXPOSEDAll that’s quirky and coolabout this country

Offbeat museums Underground art Where to eat Travel tips

001_001_BB15_cover_.indd 2

Best of Belgiumplus expat Directory 2015

The insider’s guide to culture,tourism and lifestyle

august 19, 2015

\ 13

\ aRts

A maze of perspectivesgenk’s c-mine celebrates 10 years with laybrinth and festival

C-Mine, Genk’s one-of-a-kind cultural centre, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

The long-term project of converting the former Winterslag coal mine into a combination of cultural centre, exhibition space and design campus was officially launched in 2005. Since then, C-Mine has become one of Limburg’s biggest tourist draws, with 800,000 visitors per year. As part of its decennial celebra-tions, the architectural duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh (Pieter-Jan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh) have created a monumental outdoor labyrinth in the site’s central court-yard. Covering 1,600 square meters, the labyrinth is an interactive artwork that invites visitors to lose them-selves in a convoluted maze created from steel plates five metres tall. Twists and turns challenge one’s sense of direction, while dead-end passages require doubling back. Along the way, geometric cut-outs create both unexpected views within the labyrinth and inter-esting perspectives of the world outside (pictured). The architects, who also designed “Reading Between the Lines”, the site-specific “see-through church” installation in the countryside of Borgloon, were inspired by the site itself. “We came up with the idea for the labyrinth because we were fascinated by the head frame that stands in the middle of the site, from which you have a view over the whole courtyard,” says Gijs. “This relationship is interesting because, as a viewer, you can walk through the labyrinth as well as climb the tower and see it from above.”From the top of the 62-meter-high head frame – the construction that housed the mine’s lift mechanism – visitors can get a bird’s-eye-view

of the labyrinth. From above, the maze becomes an orderly pattern of lines and angles, rather than the disorienting and fragmentary structure experienced from within. At ground level, the walls of the labyrinth frame views of the indus-trial steel structure towering above it. The tower is accessible via an outdoor staircase with the purchase of a ticket to C-Mine Expedition, an interactive mine attraction under-neath the mine site. The labyrinth, however, is free to visit until the end of September.The labyrinth is also the starting point for C-Mine Line Up, an expe-rience trail that leads visitors on

a self-guided, interactive journey through the mine site. Upon leaving C-Mine, the route continues along Genk’s multicultural Vennestraat, with its many speciality shops and international restaurants, and into the historic tuinwijk, or garden district, built as planned housing for mine workers in the early 20th century. C-Mine’s anniversary is also being marked with a varied program of special exhibitions and events. Vollebak Vennestraat is a hip street festival in the neighbour-hood on C-Mine’s doorstep. For four consecutive Saturdays start-ing on 22 August, Vennestraat will be completely car-free starting at

17.00, with entertainment, street art, live music and international cuisine. In the Energiegebouw, C-Mine’s main building, there’s an exhibition by Flemish photojournalist and fine art photographer Stephan Vanfle-teren. His MMXIV: De Rode Duiv-els is a series of large-scale, black-and-white portraits of the Belgian national football team, depicted in extreme close-up, or with naked torsos like modern-day Olympians.Celebrated ceramist Pieter Stock-mans has his studio in the former warehouse of Winterslag. A retro-spective exhibition of his work, in honour of the artist’s 75th birth-day, approaches his oeuvre from a new perspective. In Porselein over Porselein, curator Hugo Duchateau regards Stockmans as a painter working in porcelain.Theatre in the Saddle is a one-day bike event that leads participants on a route through lesser-known places in Genk. At each stop, circus acts provide entertainment for the whole family while food and drink trucks offer refreshment. The bike route ends at C-Mine, where more circus acts and a closing show take place in the central courtyard.Finally, on 12 September, C-Mine will host an open house, where the 40 organisations, businesses and creative start-ups that call the site home open their doors to the public. Visitors can meet the young entrepreneurs working in C-Mine Crib, an incubator for cutting-edge new enterprises, and lean about the diverse products and ideas being generated every day by the many companies housed in these former mine buildings. A free map and programme book-let for C-Mine Line Up are availa-ble at C-Mine’s visitor centre until 31 August

The wide variety of contempo-rary art coming out of China can be sampled at Bozar’s cryptically titled exhibition Chinese Utopias Revisited: The Elephants. There are videos, paintings and photogra-phy, plus some impressive installa-tions – but no obvious elephants.The utopian idea of China’s econ-omy is central to the work of Cao Fei, who spent six months creating art with workers in an Osram light-ing factory. Her film Whose Utopia begins with the workers’ gestures and their place in the production process, before opening out to include their dreams and aspira-tions (pictured). Another of her works involves a clothes rail hung with Osram

uniforms, each with a label on which the washing instructions are replaced by a minutely writ-ten account of one worker’s story. Lean in to read the label, and you feel strangely close to the absent body.Western artists mingle with the Chinese throughout the exhibi-tion, drawing out connections. For example, Cao Fei’s work is accom-panied by Haroun Farocki’s film Workers Leaving the Factory, and Klaus Scherübel’s self-absorbed photo series Artist at Work. Wang Jiuliang’s photographs of the waste dumps that encircle Beijing are paired with Jan Kempenaers shots of the damage caused to the village of Doel by the expansion of

Antwerp’s port.Some of the nine Chinese artists have produced work with local

connections especially for this exhibition. Yin Xiuzhen has added Brussels to her series of portable cities, each urban landscape built from scavenged fabric in an open suitcase. And Song Dong’s installation “They Are All Not Mine” fills a room with window frames from a demolished Beijing neighbourhood. Their glass has been replaced by mirrors, and they are surrounded by clocks, typewriters, toys and other kinds of bric-a-brac, much of it bought in Brussels’ Vossenplein flea market. \ Ian Mundell

East meets West as Chinese artists mingle with locals at Bozar Bozar.BE

BozarRavensteinstraat 23, Brussels

until 30 august

© Courtesy the artist and Vitamin Creative space

Chinese artist Cao Fei’s whose utopia records the dreams of factory workers

c-minE.BE

© Filip Dujardin

the 62-meter-high steel headframe offers a bird’s-eye-view of the labyrinth

Centre of ghent hosts Hollywood film shoot The Sint-Michiels bridge in the centre of Ghent, famous for its views of the city’s three towers, underwent a facelift to make it appear to be from the 16th century for the shoot-ing of the Hollywood film Emperor this week. The bridge was built in the early 20th century. Most of Emperor, starring Adrien Brody (The Pianist) as Charles V, who was born in Ghent, is being shot in the Czech Republic. About 10% of it, including the spectacular opening scenes, are being shot in Ghent. The Sint-Michiels bridge will be closed to all traffic, including foot traffic, during the shoot. Other scenes are being shot at the Gravensteen castle and at the nearby Drongen abbey. New Zealand director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warri-ors) will be in Ghent the entire week, as will all the film’s lead actors.

De Roma director wins Humanitas PrizePaul Schyvens of the De Roma cultural centre in the Borger-hout district of Antwerp has received Antwerp province’s biennial Humanitas Prize. The award, worth €7,500, goes to a person or organisa-tion that “has made an excep-tional contribution to the prosperity and well-being of the province”. Schyvens, 64, still works at De Roma, known for its varied offering of world music, cinema and theatre. He is currently busy oversee-ing a complete renovation of the 1920s building, which stood empty for 20 years until he revived it in 2003. “Schyvens knew how to keep diverse social groups engaged in the project and how to bind together different generations and communities,” said the jury.

Van looy signs up for more slimste mensErik Van Looy, the film direc-tor well known for hosting the VIER TV quiz show De slimste mens ter wereld (The Smart-est Person in the World), has signed up for a further five seasons of the show. The contract with production house Woestijnvis is exclu-sive: Van Looy may take on no other TV work. He will, however, remain active in the film industry. The director of Flemish blockbuster Loft and its American remake is currently working on a new film called De Premier (The Premier), starring Loft star Koen De Bouw as a prime minister on the run from kidnappers.

weeK in arts & Culture

diana goodwinFollow Diana on twitter \ @basedinbelgium

\ 14

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A monumental featlarge-scale paintings by roger raveel find breathing room in Blankenberge

Many paintings and assemblages by the late Flemish artist Roger Raveel are so large they don’t fit in a conventional gallery. Now these works – arguably his most accessible – are given the space they need at the Casino in Blankenberge, where the high ceilings and vast wall space provide enough room – if not always the right ambiance

Flemish artist Roger Raveel liked to paint on a large scale, producing work that is a challenge for any

exhibition curator to place. One or two of his huge canvases or installations might be squeezed into an average gallery, but going further is rarely possible. Step forward Blankenberge Casino, which has turned one of its high-ceilinged func-tion rooms over to a dozen of Raveel’s awkward, idiosyncratic creations.The exhibition, appropriately called Raveel XL, also features a selection of more manageable paintings and draw-ings that help guide visitors through the artist’s career. These show his progress in the 1950s from bright figurative painting to abstraction and back again, before he settled into a curious combination of the two approaches that would become his mature style. Recurrent elements, such as cats and men wearing flat caps, emerged from drawings made around his home town, Machelen-aan-de-Leie in East Flanders. Even the white square, which became a signature abstract motif in his painting, seems to owe its existence to the Flemish washing line than any Russian avant-garde prede-cessor.Raveel, who passed away in 2013, first got a taste for large-scale painting in 1955 when he produced a mural for a bungalow in Deinze. A decade later he took on a greater challenge, creating an entire Raveel world in the cellars of Beervelde castle, near Ghent. Art for the Brussels metro and the Flemish parliament would follow in later years, as well as decorations for the church oratory in Machelen-aan-de-Leie and the pilots’ house in Ostend harbour.Some of the works in Raveel XL also began life as site-specific installations. The biggest is “Het Venster van Luik” (The Window of Liège) a vast mirrored window created in 1989 for the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art in Liège. Unsym-pathetic local reactions resulted in the window’s removal, but it benefits from the displacement, looking like a giant altar-piece now that it has been released from its architectural constraints. The change in setting is not so kind to “De roep om solidariteit” (The Call for Solidar-ity, 2002). This was commissioned for an island in the Hofvijver, a small lake in the centre of Den Hague, giving a sense of ship-wreck to the three cut-out figures waving to attract our attention (a forth, Raveel’s flat-capped everyman, holds up a mirror to onlookers). Bringing them indoors less-ens the impact considerably.Meanwhile, “De zwanen van Brugge” are

literally swans out of water, the four life-size wooden cut-outs balancing on a rack rather than floating on the canals of Bruges as intended. Each swan has one of Raveel’s trademark squares cut in its side, so that when afloat a patch of water would be visi-ble on the bird’s flank. Raveel intended this to be a poetic state-ment, but when the swans were set loose during the 1971 Bruges Triennale they were quickly interpreted as a comment on the pollution in the canals. Happily, the water quality in Bruges has improved so much that people are invited to swim in the canals as part of the 2015 Triennale.One of Raveel’s favourite conceits from the 1960s onwards was to include mirrors in his paintings, creating an exchange between the work of art and its surround-ings, sometimes bringing the viewer’s own image into the fabric of the work. In “Vader en zoon II” (Father and Son II, 1990), the mirror is placed to reflect the viewer stand-ing behind the artist as he looks at his father.Raveel’s free-standing objects take this blurring of art and its surroundings a step further. In “Op de vernisage” (The Open-ing, 1971), two men are framed talking at a gallery opening. The space around them is cut out, so that you can see through to the other side, while a mirror below their waists reflects back your own legs and the

room behind you. A more metaphysical use of mirrors occurs in “Een karretje van de ruimte” (A Hand-cart of Space, 1991), a cube of mirrors on wheels that seems to contain nothing but

an infinity of reflections. Then a fairground note creeps in with “Zelfbeschouwing” (Introspection, 2006), a loosely constructed booth in which visitors are confronted by a cruelly angled pair of mirrors. Wherever you look, your face is split and distorted.The mirror is dispensed with for “Laat uw portret maken als David-ruiter…” (Have Your Portrait Taken as David’s Rider..., 1973-74). This large painting, based on an original by Jacques-Louis David, has a hole cut where the rider’s face should be so that visitors willing to climb a step ladder behind the painting can inhabit the scene themselves. The copy is relatively faithful, apart from the replacement of a neo-classi-cal colonnade behind the rider with a typi-cally Flemish concrete garden wall.

Finally, the exhibition includes two monu-mental paintings. “De lezer” (The Reader, 1989), conceived to hang out of doors during that year’s Gentse Feesten, is brought inside, but “Horizontaal en verti-kaal in hemel en aarde” (Horizontal and Vertical on Heaven and Earth, 1987) is simply too big. It has been placed on the wall of an adjacent building so that it is visible through the Casino’s huge windows.Raveel’s playfulness and poetic engage-ment with his surroundings comes through strongly in all of his large work, making it more accessible than some of his conventional paintings. I particularly like “Wij zijn vrij, dachten wij” (We are Free, We Thought, 2001), a mobile pigeon loft that Raveel has painted with a vibrant green landscape. A figure on one side waves fare-well, while on another there is the poem that gives the work its title: “We are free, we thought. Thoughts flew away. Pigeons came back.”Raveel made this work for his 80th birth-day celebrations, when it was wheeled though the streets of his home town. He lived on for more than a decade, dying two years ago at the age of 91. The extensive museum devoted to his work in Machelen-aan-de-Leie is now run by the province of East Flanders, and this exhibition in Blankenberge is the first of a number of planned initiatives to make Raveel’s work better known.

Casino BlankenbergeZeedijk 150

until 27 september

Raveel sometimes brings the viewer’s own image into the fabric of the work using mirrors

Roger Raveel’s “Father and son II”

the artist with his “window of liège” in 1989

ian mundellMore articles by Ian \ flanderstoday.eu

cultuur.BlankEnBErgE.BE

august 19, 2015

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PerformanCe

festival event

musiC festival

Few summer festivals are hosted by community schools, but Colora has built a solid reputation on its grassroots identity. For a quarter-century, the festival has dedicated itself to world music and good vibes. Now Leuven’s little-festival-that-could celebrates 25 years of intercultural dialogue. Although the annual shindig has grown

into a full weekender packed with performances by over a dozen international groups, the atmos-phere remains resolutely inti-mate and inclusive. Headliners include Los Callejeros (pictured), a Leuven-based fusion ensem-ble whose members hail from Belgium, Mexico and Peru. \ GV

It’s tempting to call this Brussels’ answer to the Edinburgh Inter-national Festival, but this annual shindig put on by contemporary performing arts centre Brigit-tines, is a different animal entirely. The focus is on avant-garde performance with an emphasis on dance. And this festival chal-lenges its performers with a differ-ent theme – always defiantly left

of centre – every year. This time it’s “Outrages and Ravishments”. Modern art, of course, has always been more or less shocking. Brigit-tines’ guest performers, including Dutch choreographer Annamirl van der Pluijm (pictured), are invited to explore that legacy and what it means for artists in the 21st century. \ Georgio Valentino

During the Renaissance, Flanders was a hotbed of extraordinarily skilled musicians whose special brand of

polyphony was in high demand across Europe. That so much of this heritage has survived to this day is largely thanks to Petrus Alamire, a music copyist who committed the works of his contemporaries into beautifully illuminated manuscripts now scattered across a few libraries around the world.Alamire was born in Nuremberg before moving to the Low Countries in the late 15th century. Nor was Alamire his real name: He coined it for himself with notes from the scale. What is certain is that he led a full and adventur-ous existence: Aside from running his copy-ing studio, he was a composer in his own right, dabbled in mining engineering and spent what-ever time he had left spying for Henry VIII.

It was about time someone shone a spotlight on this mysterious polymath and his legacy, and this is precisely what Laus Polyphoniae, the Antwerp leg of the Festival of Flanders, is about to do. For 12 days, the beautifully restored Amuz will resonate with religious and secular pieces by the likes of Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez and Pierre de la Rue, who ranked among Alamire's favourites, but also with music by contemporary composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino.Performers include the very best of the new generation of Flemish musicians. Paul Van Nevel will perform exquisite anonymous pieces with his Huelgas Ensemble (pictured). Other guests come from further afield, such as US lutenist Paul O’Dette, who will revive old songs from a manuscript kept in Florence, and the

famed Tallis scholars in one of Alamire's rare transcriptions of an English work, a mass by Robert Fayrfax. Illuminated music scores will be on display at the nearby Antwerp cathedral, while work-shops and theatre performances will target children and young performers. \ Marie Dumont

Last year’s inaugural edition of this seaside fashion weekend was such a success that this year promises to be bigger, better and more stylish. A full 30 local boutiques, a dozen bars and restaurants and several Belgian brands and designers will collaborate in elegant ways at what will surely be the coast’s fash-ion event of the summer, complete with late-night Poplife dance party at Kursaal Ostend. It’s also a chance to see the city like you’ve never seen it before as Mode in Oost-ende’s six lifestyle mavens, includ-ing world-champion bartender Jurgen Nobels, share their favour-ite spots. \ GV

Exploring the great Flemish songbook

Laus PolyphoniaeConCertantwerpLady Linn and Martine de Kok:  Two of Flanders’ best-loved pop singers join forces with amateur pop-up choirs for this one-off perfor-mance. All choir singers are recruited from the public and trained through workshops. 21 August, 20.00, deSingel, Desguinlei 25

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visual artsBrusselsJan Krediet, die woont hier niet:  This photo exhibition explores the nooks and cran-nies of Brussels’ cafes, not the happy-hour hotspots of the European quarter but the dives of the ancient Marol-len neighbourhood. Until 28 August, Congres Station, Pachecolaan 38

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musiC festivalBrusselsFeeërieën:  Ancienne Belgique’s open-air experimental music fest unfolds in one of Brussels’ biggest parks. Opening day boasts an avant-premiere by contemporary classical composer Christina Vantzou. 24-28 August, Warandepark

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Holsbeek (Flemish Brabant)JazzWood:  The fifth edition of this open-air jazz festi-val links nature and culture. The programme was curated by veteran Flemish trumpet player Jan Muës and is hosted by radio personality Marc Van den Hoof. 22 August, 18.00, Chartreuzenbos

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familYantwerpKindernocturne:  Antwerp’s New World emigration museum opens its doors after hours for a special family-friendly nocturne. The kids will learn all about the trans-atlantic voyage to the US of yesteryear. 28 August, 18.00, Red Star Line Museum, Montevideostraat 3

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filmacross west FlandersCinébib:  Flemish film festi-val Mooov and the province of West Flanders host these free, open-air screenings in various West Flemish loca-tions throughout the summer. Films are accompanied by live music, street theatre and other festivities. Until 12 September

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The organisers of Ghentville have constructed a pop-up village made entirely of wooden pallets on Ghent’s post-industrial periph-ery. If that’s not enough, they’ve also filled it with leisure activities of every stripe. You’ll find exhibi-tions, boutiques, food and drink, even a cinema and open-air laby-rinth inspired by hometown relic the Ghent Altarpiece and its Mystic Lamb. Nightly entertainment is provided by local and interna-tional DJs, including the founder of Detroit techno Kevin Saunder-son. For those who don’t want to go home after the open-air dance party, Ghentville even offers deluxe camping accommodations. \ GV

Brigittines international festival

ghentville

colora festival

mode in oostende

\ agenDa

amuz.BE19-30 august

Brigittines, Brussels BrigittinEs.BE

until 29 augustFreinetschool De Zevensprong, leuven colora.org

21-23 august

langerbrugge, ghent gHEntvillE.BE

until 30 augustacross Ostend BElmodo.tv/modEinoostEndE

22-23 august

© alidoor Dellafaille

© Carlos ania

august 19, 2015

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facebook.com/flanderstoday

It’s one of those worrying rumours that comes back every summer. Like ants in the kitchen. Or relatives from Canada who want

you to take them to look at the Manneken Pis. Here’s how De Morgen announced the latest summer panic: Zomerse onrust over dieventaal op gevels – Summer panic at burglars’ signs on houses. It seems that burglars are using secret signals to indi-cate whether houses are worth robbing. Met die tekens geven ze kompanen ook uitleg over het leefge-drag van hun slachtoffers – These signs also provide their colleagues with information about their victims’ habits.Here are the signs to look out for on your wall, the paper says. A suitcase means reeds bezocht – already visited; a jagged line is gevaarlijke hond – dangerous dog; a circle with a cross means niets interessants – nothing of interest; three sloping lines means reeds bestolen – already robbed.This is an old story that crops up without fail every year, but now it’s filtered through to social media. Op sociale media neemt het aantal zenuwachtige berichten over mogelijke dievenbendes en hun geheime codetaal toe – On social media, there’s been a sharp increase in the number of stories involving possible bands of thieves and their secret codes. Particularly now that summer has arrived – en veel mensen hun huis een tijdje verruilen voor een zonnige vakantiebestemming – and many people are temporarily swapping their home for a sunny summer destination.As soon as the story reached Facebook, people started making smart comments. Super! Ik ga vanavond

zelf het teken “reeds bestolen” op mijn gevel zetten – Fantastic! I’m going to put the “already robbed” symbol on my front wall tonight, someone wrote.Stories about secret codes have also appeared in news-papers in the Netherlands, France and the UK. But this could just be another urban myth to keep us lying awake at night. The police admit that the number of burglaries rises during the summer. But that’s due to other factors, they say, like overflowing letterboxes or houses with no sign of activity. They’re not convinced we should be worrying about burglars’ secret codes. Ze bestaan zeker, rondtrek-kende dievenbendes – They certainly exist, these gangs of thieves roaming around, die in een codetaal aangeven waar er bijvoorbeeld veel geld en juwelen te rapen vallen – that use secret codes to indicate houses where, for example, there’s a lot of cash or jewellery. Maar de afgelopen jaren hebben we er nauwelijks mee te maken gehad – but we’ve hardly had any of these cases in recent years. So it seems we shouldn’t be panicking. There are much more important things to worry about, such as what you’re going to do to entertain the relatives from Canada, or how to get rid of those ants.

Talking Dutchthe writing’s on the wall

\ BaCkPage

the last word

open season“Employees are constantly being distracted in open offices. People are more likely to come and disturb you, colleagues make loud telephone calls, there’s a constant drama going on in front of you. Even someone passing by is a diversion.”KU Leuven student Anahi Van Hoot-eghem confirms in her Master’s thesis what we all knew: open plan offices are a nightmare for concen-tration

amoozing graze“I’ve seen some simple things that I’ve never seen in Shanghai. A farm with cows, for example.”Chinese student Zhao Dandan visited Flanders for a month this summer as the guest of Antwerp province

what’s in a name? “We think our names are super. Everyone wants to know what they mean. To be honest, I think the important thing was for them all to start with ‘B’.”Blixa Van de Voorde, 22, from Dendermonde, whose brother Brin-dal and sisters Boo-Yaa and Boppem are unlikely ever to figure on most-popular-names lists (see story, p2)

shining bright“You’re doing those children no favours by sticking them in sepa-rate classes. They need to discover for themselves the diversity in society. Although they do need to be better supported.”Professor Peter Van Petegem of Antwerp University, as two new schools for gifted children prepare to open, in Tervuren and Herentals

a. Marijuana ought to be legalised in general, for everyone, because banning it just doesn’t work

b. People who need the drug should have it in any way that suits them, but the system needs to be abuse-proof

c. If the drug really is a medicine, it should come in the form of a medicine. Nobody needs to smoke antibiot-ics, do they?

Medical marijuana was approved in Belgium earlier this summer – but barely. It’s legal in one form, a mouth spray, for the treatment of one condition, multiple sclerosis. In response, a couple of groups in Flan-ders began giving advice to patients outside of those parameters.Because being in possession of

three grams or less of marijuana in Belgium is legal – though again, barely; municipalities can override the regulation with tougher laws if they want to – these groups are providing patients with plants and teaching them the best way to use the drug for whatever ails them.Nearly all those who voted in our

poll agree that marijuana should be legal as a drug to relieve pain and also nausea, such as that associ-ated with chemotherapy. A full one in three of you would like to see it legalised in general – not just for medicinal purposes.Now you just have to convince poli-ticians to adopt a less rigid policy.

Pollthe use of medical marijuana in Belgium is a fact, but some say the new law needs to be better clarified. what do you think?

\ next week's question: Herent city council has stopped playground groups from visiting Boudewijn Seapark because dolphins in captivity are not educational. 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: Herent city council first to cancel school visits to seaparkDenzil WaltonI am proud to live in Herent with a city council that makes such a bold decision

Judith Brock @BrockJudithFirst night partying in #Brussels. Already love this city

Nils Way @nils_way#ostend such a beautiful city!

Kreativ.Quartiere @KQ_RuhrOn a rainy day, birds will cheer you up #Antwerp, Belgium #streetart #graffiti #mural

Wesley King @WesleyTKingLoved working from Europe...Ghent, Belgium was like writing in the middle ages. #ghent #writing

voiCes of flanders todaY

In response to: New campaign gets budding gardeners off to healthy startTim SheltonGardening is a better idea for being organic and also a quick solution for our unhealthy eating

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derek BlythMore articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

© Courtesy Het nieuwsblad