Flanders today march 13, 2013
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#271
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f r e e n e w s w e e k ly
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living
Down in history
Vanackere resigns
Erkenningsnummer P708816
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Lend them your ears
Traipse across a candlelit countryside path while learning about the Flanders of yore during the Night of History
An “atmosphere of distrust keeps me from my work,” said the former federal finance minister 5
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Some of the best authors in the world are coming to Brussels for the Passa Porta Festival 11
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© Jim Huylebroek
Out of the streets
Urban dance and music in Antwerp are being elevated to a fine art. But is street culture in a studio really the same thing? Linda A Thompson
Urban or street arts used to have a literal meaning. Graffiti, hip-hop, breakdancing, rap – arts that were created in the streets by those without access to (or interest in) theatres and culture houses. Rather late in the game, Flanders is only just starting to embrace urban culture, and Antwerp is the run-away leader, taking the arts of the street into the Flemish Opera, the Toneelhuis and the Night of the Proms. This has given many young people in the city a serious self-esteem boost, but mainstreaming a cultural phenomenon is not without its risks.
T
hree years ago, Sihame El Kaouakibi resolved to take street culture off the streets. With an initial grant of €20,000 from Antwerp city council, she organised a series of dirt-cheap summer dance workshops that eventually grew into Let’s Go Urban. The organisation now has, among other achievements, a professional dance crew that has gone from small, local gigs to full-blown productions at the Flemish Opera and Night of the Proms. Let’s Go Urban offers lessons in more than 30 disciplines to over 1,000 members – a tenfold increase from the first year. El Kaouakibi also established an urban talent agency and joined hands with Antwerp music centre Trix to offer a year-long
training programme with classes in songwriting, recording techniques and the ins and outs of the music industry. El Kaouakibi has, in essence, spread the urban gospel. “She has been an ambassador for the whole scene,” says Leen Verbist, the city’s former youth and child services alderwoman, who helped El Kaouakibi secure her initial grant. “She has brought the urban scene into the mainstream.” In interviews with reporters, in meetings with local officials, in lectures abroad, El Kaouakibi emphasises time and again that urban culture is more than just MTV-style hip-hop. Instead, she says, it encompasses everything from rope-skipping, graffiti and skating to hip-hop and spoken word. The 26-year``continued on page 3