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#382 Erkenningsnummer P708816

may 27, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ rEad morE at www.flandErstoday.Eu currEnt affairs \ P2

Politics \ P4

BusinEss \ P6

Ghent for the win

innovation \ P7

Chill, baby

Antwerp bicycle manufacturer Chillafish is breaking into Japan with a cute contest

For the first time in their 115-year history, KAA Gent have won the Belgian league championship \2

Education \ P9

art & living \ P10

“it’s a part of us”

Bruges Snapshot exhibition series showcases the city’s relatively new Nepalese community

\7

Let’s Zeppelin

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© Toon lambrechts

ghent arts centre creates a community project from a mere footnote of history toon lambrechts more articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

One hundred years ago, a German zeppelin fell from the sky in Ghent. It made for no more than footnote in the history of the First World War, but for the Ghent socioartistic theatre group De Vieze Gasten, it was the perfect foundation for a new neighbourhood project that focuses on conflicts small and big – and on Led Zeppelin.

“S

ee that big zeppelin over there?” Kato, Helen and Simon ask me. All of them are fifth-year students at Ghent primary school De Oogappel, and they’re pointing toward a round structure fashioned from willow branches that a couple of workers are unloading from a truck. “We made

it. Later on, we will march in a procession with our zeppelin to the Brugse Poort while we sing.” The children seem to be having a blast. And why wouldn’t they? The sun is out in full force, and marching through the Brugse Poort has got to be more fun than sitting inside a classroom. But why the zeppelin? “It’s about an airplane from the past,” one of them ventures. “No, it’s about anything that flies,” someone else interjects. “No, about the war,” a third says. They’re all right. Their project, Let’s Zeppelin, is based on the events of 7 June, 1915, when a battle took place in the skies above Ghent’s Brugse Poort neighbourhood. It was the very first German zeppelin successfully shot down in

the war. This project brings a larger-than-life war down to neighbourhood size. While these three pupils clearly don’t see eye to eye on the why of the project, they all agree it was great fun. “For about a month, we worked on this project in school,” they explain. “All the classes participated. For a full week, we crafted things like costumes and flags, and we learned the songs you’ll hear soon.” Some 100 children have gathered at Segers Park, the heart of the Brugse Poort, a working-class neighbourhood in Ghent. They are all wearing elaborate outfits. Some children look like small, noisy aircrafts, complete with propellers on their heads. Others are dressed in black and sportcontinued on page 5


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