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october 5, 2016 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2

Power plays

politics \ p4

BUSiNESS \ p6

Bizarre burials

innovation \ p7

education \ p10

art & living \ p11

Human story

The deal to sell a stake of Eandis to the Chinese is off, leaving politicians to debate the future of the energy grid manager

Flanders’ most striking mausoleum, about to get a much-needed renovation, is unique in Flanders for one very strange reason

One of Antwerp’s most treasured museums, the Plantin-Moretus – a hymn to the printing industry – is back open after a major renovation

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Turning Japanese Ghent Film Festival honours one of the richest cinema histories in the world Lisa Bradshaw Follow Lisa on Twitter \ @lmbsie

With concerts, parties, director talks and 120 films, the Ghent Film Festival is the largest in the country and this year puts the rich history of Japan’s cinema in the spotlight.

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hen film critic Patrick Duynslaegher took over as artistic director of the Ghent Film Festival in 2011, he said immediately that he wanted to devote the guest country slot to Japan. It has taken him a few years to get there, but this year the festival has 13 new films from the Land of the Rising Sun. And that was no small feat. “It’s difficult to get the films,” says Duynslaegher, just ahead of the kick-off of the festival’s 43rd edition. “When you’re dealing with Japanese companies, you need someone to introduce you. You can’t just write to them and tell them that Belgium’s biggest film festival wants to show their movies. They won’t answer you.”

Through the help of a local translator, the organisers managed to get the proverbial foot in the door. They not only got the films, they secured four directors as guests at the festival. “There is still a very strongly formal way of doing things in Japan,” says Duynslaegher. He pauses before adding: “Which is reflected in their filmmaking. The content is shaped by the form.”

The Japanese films programmed for the festival run the gamut from horror to mafia drama to comedy but are all representative of certain standards. “Japanese films are very stylish,” Duynslaegher explains. “These are all stories that take place in modern times, in contemporary houses, but the interiors and their behaviour feel like they’re from 100 years ago.”

This is evident in Creepy by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, in which the protagonist flees to the suburbs to escape his final tragic hours as a police detective investigating a serial killer. In Danchi, a quirky comedy about the escapades of tenant neighbours, the action takes place in one of the many housing projects that were quickly erected following Japan’s post-war baby boom.

“You see that the houses are very narrow, very small, but it’s completely built for their way of moving. They often continued on page 5

\ CURRENT AFFAIRS

VUB to become multilingual

New rector Caroline Pauwels wants to see a more language-friendly Brussels university Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

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he new rector of the Free University of Brussels (VUB) has said that the institution should improve its relationship with its host city by, among other initiatives, increasing its multilingual character. “We are a Dutch-speaking university but have to position ourselves more as multilingual to better prepare students for the new international reality,” Caroline Pauwels told De Standaard.

Pauwels said that other languages should be introduced into bachelor’s programmes that are now only provided in Dutch. “We could

take over courses in French from the ULB, our French-speaking counterpart,” she said.

“Our students could also take lessons at a ULB campus.”

She would also like to offer lecturers with a French- or English-speaking background the chance to give lessons in these languages. VUB and ULB already provide an English-language Master’s programme for engineers. “We have noticed that students develop a different vision of society by following lessons in another language,” she said.

70% of people over 45 care for parent or partner A study shows that seven out of 10 people over the age of 45 in Flanders are caring for a parent or partner. The survey was carried out by the Free University of Brussels (VUB) among 2,900 people aged between 45 and 75, at the request of the Socialist Mutualities, which wanted to examine how affordable and quality elderly care is possible, and what the public think about it.

It also showed that 21% of respondents spend on average 10 hours a week helping a parent or partner who needs care. They keep them company and help them with administrative matters, getting around and household chores. On average, they have been doing it for more than six years.

In six out of 10 cases, this care is complemented by home care for an average six hours a week. This focuses mostly on personal care and household chores. Without this care at home, about 70,000 more people would have to move into a rest home.

The respondents also expressed their fears of loneliness or financial difficulties. The majority want to remain living independently, especially if their partner is still alive. If the partner passes away, a rest home becomes an option for one in five respondents. Living with children wasn’t generally considered.

The mutualities want to see more investment in support for carers and in professional home care. \ AF

Starting this academic year, VUB also offers an English-language Bachelor’s in social sciences, in co-operation with Ghent University. Pauwels would like to expand this kind of co-operation to French-speaking partners, but also to others, such as Germanand Italian-speaking institutions.

“More than 95% of people in Brussels speak French, more than one-third speak English and about one-quarter speak Dutch,” she said. “It would be a mistake to shut ourselves off from these other languages, as language is a pathway to understanding other cultures.”

© Courtesy VUB

Brussels’ pedestrian zone to increase over next decade The Brussels-Capital Region is planning an extension of its pedestrian zone in addition to the existing city-centre zone, according to the most recent Regional Plan for Sustainable Development. The zones would see several areas becoming car-free, including streets around Flagey, Stalingradlaan and the Louiza bottleneck.

The plans, to be carried out by 2025, include the enclosure of a number of the city’s tunnels, which would be built over to allow the creation of car-free areas above.

The overall plan involves the conversion

of 25 kilometres into pedestrian streets.

Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort, however, pointed out that the version of the plans that was leaked to the press has already been updated. The latest version of the plan will be on the regional government’s agenda in October, he said, and includes plans that extend until 2040.

The pedestrian zone could eventually extend up to 40km, he said, taking in Elsensesteenweg, Luxemburgstraat, Zavel, Luxemburgplein and Jourdanplein, among other streets. \ Alan Hope

Centre Pompidou to lend works to new modern art museum in Brussels Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort has revealed the identity of the partner mentioned in a speech last month by his then chief of staff, Yves Goldstein, regarding the capital’s planned new modern art museum. The Centre Pompidou in Paris will share parts of its collection of 120,000 works, as well as serve as advisor on the shape the museum will take, Vervoort said at a press conference last week.

The conference took place in the former Citroen garage on Ijzerplein in the canal area of Brussels, where Vervoort was joined

by Centre Pompidou president Serge Lasvignes. Later in a tweet, the Pompidou referred to the new museum as “CentrePompidou-

Bruxelles”.

The project will be overseen by Goldstein, who stepped down from Vervoort’s cabinet just days ago. The cost of the museum is estimated at €140 million, and it is due to open by 2020, said Vervoort.

Goldstein’s appointment provoked questions from the opposition.

“Was a selection procedure organised to appoint Yves Goldstein,” asked Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA) in a press release, “or was that found not to be necessary once again?” She welcomed the idea of a Centre Pompidou by the canal, but warned that such co-operative efforts have gone wrong before.

Groen expressed doubts about the entire museum project. “Planting a cultural UFO from Paris here is

€54.5 million

raised from additional excise duty on alcohol between January and August, compared to the €146.7 million expected at the time of the tax-shift

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© AFP/BELGA

Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort (left) and Centre Pompidou president Serge Lasvignes announcing the co-operation from the Citroen building

no solution to the problems we have,” said member of the Brussels parliament Arnaud Verstraete.

“I thought the idea was for rich and poor to come together in the former Citroen garage.”

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raised each day by road tolls in force in Belgium since April, according to Viapass, the company that operates the system. Flanders accounts for 63% of the road toll income

businesses in Brussels applied for “crisis credit” loans to help small businesses cope with the aftereffects of the March terrorist attacks. More than half were food and drink businesses

Verstraete suggested that a technical school on the site would be of more use to the people living in the area. He also enquired how the project would be funded, as culture in the capital is a responsibility of the Flemish and Frenchspeaking communities, not the Brussels region.

Yamila Idrissi, a member of the Flemish parliament for SP.A, however, expressed support for the museum. “This decision will give Brussels a creative and cultural boost, in the canal zone in particular,” she said. “It will provide employment, a make-over for the area and help improve the image of the capital. This shows that as a region we absolutely can play at world-class level.” \ AH

€190 million

fine (€5.4 million) for AB InBev from the Securities and Exchange Commission after it was found guilty of paying bribes to officials in India to allow the brewer to produce and sell more beer

paid by Group GH for the Toison d’Or complex in Brussels, home to Apple, Marks & Spencer and Zara.

It’s thought to be one of the largest retail property deals ever in Belgium

october 5, 2016

WEEK in brief Unions staged a national demonstration in Brussels last week to protest against the policies of the federal government of Charles Michel. Organisers said 65,000 demonstrators took part; police put the number at 45,000.

Flemish economy minister Philippe Muyters has been named as the “most enterpriseminded politician in Flanders”

by NSZ, a union that represents the self-employed. Muyters won the award for his reforms to the government’s system of hiring target groups, such as young people, older workers and those with a handicap.

The headstone belonging to sergeant-major Andrew Gale, a British casualty of the First World War, was changed last week from the notation used for unknown soldiers to his full name and rank, in the presence of his great-grandson. Gale was identified thanks to the detective work of an employee of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission working in her off-duty time.

German rail authority Deutsche Bahn (DB) is considering cutting off all rail connections with Belgium because of the Passenger Name Records (PNR) system the Belgian government is preparing to introduce in the coming months. PNR means that passenger names have to be recorded by the government, making it impossible for tickets to be sold up to the last minute of departure, DB said. An EU directive has brought in PNR for air traffic, but Belgium is extending it to train travel.

Belgium climbed two places in this year’s competitiveness ranking of the World Economic Forum, from 19th to 17th, while gaining praise for its education system and strong technological development. On the minus side, Belgium lost points for tax policy,

face of flanders administrative red tape and obstructive labour laws. Switzerland is in first place, followed by Singapore and the US. Eddy Bruyninckx, CEO of the Antwerp Port Authority, was a featured guest speaker at the Oesterpartij, a meeting of key stakeholders in the Scheldt estuary region that takes place every year in the Netherlands’ Zeeland province. The ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, the largest and second-largest in Europe, should work together more closely to create a common policy for the hinterland, he said. The ports of northwest Europe handle 60% of Europe’s maritime traffic, he said, and, although they are competitors, they have common interests.

The Flemish government’s mobility and public works department has issued a critical advice on the planned new national football stadium at Heizel in Brussels. Although the stadium will be owned and managed by the city of Brussels, it is to be located on the territory of Grimbergen, which is in Flemish Brabant. The advice says the mobility effects will extend far beyond those described in the environmental report.

Contractors Ghelamco hope to begin work in 2017 for completion in time for the European Championships in 2020.

EU Commissioner Marianne Thyssen has warned the Flemish government that the Commission will include spending on the Oosterweel motorway link in Antwerp as part of the 2017 budget when judging whether the budget is in line with EU rules.

Last week the Bourgeois government presented a budget it said was balanced, but which excluded Oosterweel spending, as well as a portion of investment in hospitals. Opposition party Groen said the news from the EU meant the government’s claim of a balanced budget was “a fairy-tale”.

Police in the Westkust zone have been testing a new super-scanner that uses camera imagery, sound recording and laser beams to monitor whole sections of the coastline in order to pick up traces of anyone or anything crossing the beach, entering the water or burying something under the sand. The privacy commission has expressed misgivings. “It can’t be permitted to scan every tourist, listen in on conversations and record people 24 hours a day,” the chair of the commission said.

The government of Flanders is sending a team from its Audit Vlaanderen agency to go through the records of the city of Hasselt, following the resignation of mayor Hilde Claes last month amid allegations of misconduct. Among other complaints, Claes is accused of awarding a contract to the partner of her chief of staff without a public call for tenders. The auditors will have automatic access to all the city’s buildings and documents.

Bianca Debaets, Brussels minister for road safety, has begun an investigation into moving advertising panels, after the Belgian Institute for Road Safety (BIVV) argued they are illegal. The panels, operated by Clear Channel, show three advertisements in rotation and can be distracting to drivers, BIVV said.

Belgian law forbids any red or green background to be placed within 75 metres of a traffic light unless situated more than seven metres high.

Expats living in Ghent are invited to the International Friends event on the evening of 6 October at the Bijloke Music Centre. Sponsored by the business support network De Community Gent, the event features information stands on getting settled in the city, language classes, job and study opportunities, starting your own business and volunteering. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

Julie Baekelandt When the first Lady Chef of the Year was announced back in 1991, Julie Baekelandt was not quite six years old. Last week she was awarded the honour herself, voted by a jury of culinary journalists.

The prize was meant to put female chefs into the spotlight, in a sector where they form a minority – though less of a minority than media attention might make you think. When the new batch of young chefs representing Flanders’ gastronomy was announced last month, there were only four women listed in a group of 54 chefs.

Baekelandt was one of them.

Baekelandt, 30, was born in Zottegem, East Flanders, and went to the celebrated hotel school Ter Groene Poorte in Bruges, alma mater of the likes of Sergio Herman, Roger Van Damme and Lady Chef 2009 Sofie Dumont.

After graduating, Baekelandt worked in the south of France for three years, something that still informs her style. The time there included a stint in Provence with Wout Bru – another Ter Groene Poorte graduate, who, she says, instilled in her a passion for

ladychef.be

Japanese ingredients. She also worked in the kitchen of top veggie chef Seppe Nobels of Graanmarkt 13 in Antwerp.

Baekelandt was then ready to opened her own restaurant, C-Jules, in her hometown, which serves Belgian dishes with an emphasis on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.

The competition requires finalists to prepare a menu on a theme, which this year was “contrast” – classic ingredients in a modern incarnation. Baekelandt’s entry was fillet of Gressingham duck with beetroot and goat cheese, followed by mullet with cockles and squid, chanterelles and tomato.

Then came the Welsh lamb shoulder – a tougher cut, which she cooks sous-vide for five hours before finishing it in the pan and serving with aubergine, cucumber, mint and potato confit. To finish, apple with salted caramel and lemon verbena. The menu is currently available at C-Jules.

“Winning this title is the ultimate accolade for every female Belgian chef,” Baekelandt said.

“It’s going to be an exciting year.

It’ll be a busy time, but that’s the way I like it.”

\ tinyurl.com/intlfriends

OFFSIDE No-go Brussels It’s an open secret that many Flemish people consider Brussels to be the Land that God Forgot, what with its walls bedecked in penis images and its populace speaking all manner of foreign tongues.

But a no-go zone? Nobody goes that far. People living as far afield as Genk or Ghent still manage to drag themselves into the capital for, say, a concert by U2 or a fashionable performance by Lang Lang at Bozar.

Unless you’re Hungarian, of course.

The Hungarian government recently started advising travellers that some European cities should be considered no-go zones: London, Paris, Marseilles, Berlin, Stockholm,

© Courtesy njam.tv

Flanders Today, a weekly English-language newspaper, is an initiative of the Flemish Region and is financially supported by the Flemish authorities.

© O.van de Kerchove/Visit Flanders

Copenhagen and… Brussels. The reason? A referendum last weekend in Hungary on the question of resettlement of refugees.

According to the flyer, the numbers of refugees in the aforementioned cities has now reached such a peak that the authorities are no longer in control, which may come as news

to most of the people in most of the places cited.

The government of right-wing Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban tried and failed to convince his people that the EU should not be imposing quotas of refugees on member states without the agreement of parliament. That’s fair enough, even if his views are being backed by nationalist factions. But is that a reason to diss Brussels?

Surely not.

Donald Trump only brought widespread positive attention to the capital of Europe when he described the city as a “hellhole”. Orban isn’t likely to bring it down, either.

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 Bradshaw DEPUTY Editor Sally Tipper CONTRIBUTING Editor Alan Hope sub Editor Bartosz Brzezi´nski Agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino Art director Paul Van Dooren Prepress Mediahuis AdPro Contributors Rebecca Benoot, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz, Paula Dear, Andy Furniere, Lee Gillette, Diana Goodwin, Clodagh Kinsella, Catherine Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom Peeters, Arthur Rubinstein, Senne Starckx, Christophe Verbiest, Denzil Walton General manager Hans De Loore Publisher Mediahuis NV

Editorial address Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden tel 02 467 23 06 editorial@flanderstoday.eu subscriptions tel 03 560 17 49 subscriptions@flanderstoday.eu or order online at www.flanderstoday.eu Advertising 02 467 24 37 advertising@flanderstoday.eu Verantwoordelijke uitgever Hans De Loore

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\ POLITICS

5TH COLUMN Chinese chequers

The story of Eandis – the energy intercommunal that groups more than 200 municipalities – was the stuff of political thrillers last week.

For the past two years, Eandis has been talking to the Chinese energy giant State Grid as a potential minority investor. This deal was just about sealed, as city after city agreed to it. The only political objections came from Groen, which favoured a co-operative people’s investment.

Last week, Flemish energy minister Bart Tommelein unexpectedly (Open VLD) voiced objections. As a city council member in Ostend, he had previously voted in favour of the deal, but he changed his mind. He now preferred the stock market as a source of new capital. Tommelein’s move irked coalition parties N-VA and CD&V. Next, a document penned

by Belgian State Security emerged, warning of State Grid’s close involvement with the Communist Party and the Chinese army. (“James Bond could have told us this much: The company’s name is State Grid,” said Leuven mayor Louis Tobback (SP.A), in a reaction to the document).

Minister-president Geert Bourgeois (N-VA) brushed aside the document – again to the irritation of other politicians. Surely State Security should be taken more seriously. Bourgeois soon admitted it was troublesome; the deal was doomed anyway because of… ...the city of Antwerp. It had made its participation in Eandis conditional: The port city wanted to opt out of a flat rate, holding on to its own lower rates. After the Flemish energy regulator Vreg rejected this condition, Antwerp pulled out, making it impossible to restructure the organisation in a way that would allow China’s investment.

All weekend, the bitter political conflict, which by now included politicians from every party and level of government, raged on. Ghent mayor Daniel Termont (SP.A) was furious. “Antwerp only thinks of itself,” he said, even though his own city had been reluctant about the Chinese deal, too, postponing the vote.

What is next for Eandis, which still needs extra capital? A co-operative or a stock market launch? Should strategic assets such as energy be given more thought in the future? And should we apologise to the Chinese?

There is no agreement on any of these questions – but the grudges could be borne for years to come. \ Anja Otte

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Budget and diversity topics of September Declaration Minister-president’s annual speech sets out goals for coming year Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

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he government of Flanders has achieved the stability promised in 2014 and 2015, and now it will go one better, according to minister-president Geert Bourgeois: “The motor is running; now it’s time to switch to turbo”.

Bourgeois delivered the traditional September Declaration at the opening of the new session of the Flemish parliament last week. The annual speech serves as a summation of the state of affairs in the region and the priorities of the coming year.

“Growth is now making itself felt,” Bourgeois (pictured) told parliament. “Purchasing power is increasing, and the number of bankruptcies has fallen drastically. Above all, employment opportunities are the highest they’ve been in 10 years.”

© Eric Lalmand/BELGA

The previous weekend, ministers had approved a balanced budget for 2017. “We are investing record amounts in schools, welfare, child care, social housing, mobility, climate and more,” Bourgeois said.

He also gave some details of the amounts involved: €100 million for new school construction; €200 million for social housing associations; €132 million for welfare; €100 million for cycling infrastructure; and €100 million for road infrastructure.

Bourgeois also shared his views on a diverse society, in the wake of last year’s stream of refugee applications. “A welcoming society is a shared society,” he said. “In a diverse society, our norms and values form the most important framework for solidarity. From both newcomers and the Flemish people, we demand they accept the basics of this society. We are aiming for a society where Sam, Samir and Samuel, Meryam, Miriam and Marie all have equal opportunities.

A society where those children can grow up into active and engaged citizens.”

Child allowance and roof insulation: details of the new budget

Government of Flanders calls for radical EU reform

The budget announced before the Flemish parliament last week contains a number of measures, some of which directly affect citizens.

The Flemish child allowance will not be indexed in 2017. Together with the decision not to index the government’s own working budget, this measure will account for savings of €200 million, Bourgeois said.

The tax break offered for roof insulation disappears from 1 January. The premium paid to anyone installing roofing insulation will be reduced to €6 per square metre in the first year for anyone working with a contractor and €3 per square metre for work done by the owner.

The government is still working on details of a tax hike on new diesel-run delivery vans. Since the introduction of the road toll on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, many companies have switched to lighter delivery vans, affecting the expected income from road tolls. Existing delivery vans would not be affected. \ AH

The government of Flanders has called for a radical bottomup reform of the way the European Union makes decisions, in a white paper on the future of the EU following the British vote to leave.

The paper begins by stressing that the government fully supports a level of European co-operation based on subsidiarity, proportionality, responsibility and solidarity. The UK’s departure from the EU – known as Brexit – is not an isolated incident, the paper points out. “The EU today is confronted with a failure of confidence and systemic crises,” it says, with an increase in “concern over the direction of EU policy and the current working of EU institutions”.

At the same time, it faces problems beyond its control: the refugee crisis and security problems,

Gatz announces €3.3 million extra subsidies for cultural projects Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz has announced that an additional €3.3 million in new subsidies for culture, as part of the recent budget decisions taken by the government. Gatz also has €2 million more to spend on Brussels, also part of his portfolio.

The major part of the supplementary culture budget – €2.2 million – is destined for specific projects, including youth orchestras; renovations to Ghent’s opera house, Antwerp’s DeSingel and Bruges’ Concertgebouw; and for a series of international concerts in the renovated Elisabethzaal in Antwerp.

The other €1.1 million is an addition to the project subsidies for cultural organisations announced in July.

The additional €2 million for the Flemish Brussels Fund, which had already received €2.6 million for 2017, makes up for a €2 million cut applied by Gatz in 2014. The fund covers investments in a variety of areas in the capital, including culture, wellbeing and education.

© Courtesy Kaaitheater

“At the start of this legislature, we said that we would economise, and then build up afresh,” Gatz said. “There was a very clear agreement that the Flemish Brussels Fund would be rebuilt from 2017.

We had to make cuts, and sometimes that was difficult, but now we can start to grow again. The worst is behind us.”

Among the investments planned from the fund is a new 200-seat performance space for Kaaitheater (pictured), which will be built within the existing infrastructure.

Some of the new project subsidy budget will also go to the Vaartkapoen cultural centre in Molenbeek, which lost its structural subsidy in July. \ AH

social dumping and fiscal shopping and an ageing population.

“The European project requires a relaunch, and the EU needs to go back to its sources,” the paper states.

“People need to be more involved, and their expectations, criticisms, worries and hopes need to be listened to,” minister-president Geert Bourgeois says in a concept note attached to the white paper. “The EU also needs to be the subject of public debate at all levels.”

Bourgeois also repeated his call made earlier in the year for a better Europe. “This debate on the future is an opportunity for the EU to reflect on itself. We’re talking about a better Europe.

A Europe that brings results, that embodies the wishes of the people and offers them a future.” \ AH

Flemish parliament holds debate on religion and gays The Flemish parliament’s equal opportunities committee held a debate last week on religion’s role in views on homosexuality. The informal hearing was a follow-up to a much-discussed segment on the VRT news programme De afspraak in June.

The segment of De afspraak on religious attitudes towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual community aired just days after the attack on a gay club in Orlando, Florida. Presenter Bart Schols invited rabbi Aaron Malinski and imam Brahim Laytouss, both of Antwerp, to give their views.

When asked how he would react if his son came out to him, rabbi Malinski repeated several times that that was very unlikely to happen and that the Jewish community has more “control over the trajectory” of their children’s lives.

Committee chair Lorin Parys said before the meeting that he was pleased to see representatives from so many religions taking part, as well as all political parties. “We will be talking about the tension between religious views of homosexuality and the basic values of equality on which our society is built,” he said. \ AH

\ COVER STORY

october 5, 2016

DNA of a city: Follow is back at Ghent film fest

The aptly titled Creepy is one of the highlights of the festival’s programme of contemporary Japanese cinema

Turning Japanese

Ghent Film Festival puts spotlight on Japanese cinema FILMFESTIVAL.BE

continued from page 1

sit on the floor, for instance. They are rarely standing. This is one of those cultural differences you discover in their films. It’s not the goal of these films to teach you this, but you learn it all the same.”

Duynslaegher is counting on this interest in what many still feel is a mysterious culture to get people to check out this part of the festival’s programme – which also includes about 100 other films from across the world. “We have strong images of Japan,” he says. “It’s much different than if you say ‘Taiwan’, for instance, which is very difficult to imagine. But with Japan, you think of Mount Fuji, the flag, major electronic brands. And then we have traditional images like samurais and geishas. I think it’s a culture

that attracts people.”

All of this, he says, should work to coax people into seeing movies from a country they don’t necessarily associate with cinema. That they don’t, he says, is a shame.

“If you look at the entire history of film – the richest history, the greatest films, the greatest directors – a lot of critics and cultural historians would agree that, after American cinema, Japan would come second. Some might argue France or Italy, but that’s it. No other country would beat them.”

Japan’s studio system of the mid20th century was responsible for some of the world’s most classic films and master directors, like Yasujiro Ozu and his Tokyo Story and Floating Weeds, and Akiri

Kurosawa with Seven Samurai and Rashomon. But like in Hollywood, says Duynslaegher, Japan’s massive studio system fell apart, and a fragmented system is more vulnerable to public opinion and a fluctuating economy.

“Another reason Japanese cinema has lost a bit of its lustre,” he says, is competition from neighbouring countries. “In the 1950s, when Japanese cinema was discovered in the West, it was the only Asian cinema we knew. Since we’ve discovered Chinese and Korean cinema, Japan has become less prominent.”

“The way a film has been made for the last 110 years is that you get one writer and one director and a producer and a bunch of actors, and you make it. And that’s the logical way to do it.”

But Declan Lynch would much rather play with the ideological than the logical. So he started the Follow project. It made its debut in 2013 – a series of short films intercut to create a feature. Each film was by a different writer and director, and the only requirement was that they be shot in Ghent.

Lynch’s family moved to Ghent in 2012, and he spent a few years travelling back and forth between his native Dublin, where he made documentaries for the BBC, to his new city in Flanders. He spent countless hours just walking around the city, “looking at it and seeing what an amazing place it was. And I wanted to make a film about it, but I knew I couldn’t because I didn’t know enough.”

So he put out a call for scripts from people who knew Ghent better than he did. There was no money and no marketing, and no one knew who he was. But, with a promise from the Ghent Film Festival to give him a screening, he slowly gathered scripts, chose projects and found directors. Many of them were first-time directors, but some had made shorts before.

And in a few months, Follow Gent premiered at the festival. Lynch got what he wanted, but didn’t have the feeling that the journey was complete. So he did the whole thing again the following year.

One of the stories remained and became a reference point for the other stories. Some writers and directors returned, but new ones also joined.

Now in its fourth incarnation, Follow IV will screen twice at this year’s festival.

What started as a desire to make a feature from a group of shorts has morphed “into a rolling experiment,” says Lynch. “It’s about documenting the fictional life of a city. I think that anything you can document

Anything you can document in a documentary – a city, a person – you can document with fiction in a documentary – a city, a person – you can document with fiction.

If you were to look back on the films in 20 years, you’d see that each is of its own time. On a basic visual level, a city is always morphing, always changing, so that’s sort of like a constant character that keeps on developing.”

Marie-Lise Tombeur is a first-time director this year on the Follow project. She is making a short that follows two men discussing the

11-21 October Across Ghent

Festival in four A festival the size of Ghent’s, with not only more than 120 films but also concerts, talks and galas, can feel a little overwhelming. Check out these options first.

1 Spotlight Japan Don’t miss out on the programme

of the festival’s guest country, which boasts 13 new films and four guests. An interesting choice is Nagasaki: Memories of My Son, in which a mother who lost her son in the bombing begins to see him again. Also recommended is Lowlife Love, a no-holds-barred peek inside the grungy world of independent filmmaking in Japan, a country that produces hundreds of straight-toDVD movies a year.

2 Flemish cinema Among a number of movies by

Flemish filmmakers at the festival this year are Home, which won Fien Troch the best director award in Venice last month, and Bavo Defurne’s Souvenir, the festival’s closing film, which stars Isabelle Huppert as a washedup former Eurovision contestant.

3 Opening night The big opening gala at Kinepolis

is for invited guests only, but tickets are still available for the public opening night at Vooruit cultural centre, with the same movie and, crucially, the same guests.

British director Ken Loach will be in attendance to talk about his new film I, Daniel Blake. It’s classic material from the famous director of social cinema, which tells the story of a middle-aged man (Dave Johns) who needs help from the welfare system for the first time in his life but finds it anything but helpful. Co-star Hayley Squires will also be in attendance.

4 World Soundtrack Awards If you, like me, watch

the opening credits of every episode of The Bridge just to hear the song, then you won’t want to miss the concerts played during the annual event that honours the best in film music. At both the award ceremony and a concert the following night, the Brussels Philharmonic and Flemish Radio Choir perform scores from House of Cards, Fargo and Mad Men, as well as other popular TV series. \ worldsoundtrackawards.com

meaning of art in Ghent’s Fine Arts Museum. But not all is what it seems, and the movie quickly swerves into the fantastic.

“I read all the scripts, and this was the only story that I really wanted to catch on camera,” she says. Meeting the two scriptwriters, she was surprised that she had interpreted the story differently than they had meant it. And this is one of the things that the Follow project does best – getting people talking and thinking about how to tell a story.

“Some people call Follow a great platform for new filmmakers or new actors, but we have both new and established filmmakers, both new and established actors,” says Lynch. “To me it’s not about a platform; at its heart, it’s about storytelling. I just want to tell a better story.” \ LB

21 October, 20.00 & 22.30

Sphinx Cinema

Sint-Michielshelling 3, Ghent

\5

\ BUSINESS

week in business Retail Ikea The Swedish furniture giant has launched Click & Collect, whereby customers can order products online and then pick them up later. The test project currently requires customers to pick items up at the Anderlecht store, but a fuller-service model is planned for 2017.

Stationery D’Ieteren The Brussels-based car distributor has acquired Italy’s Moleskine company, producer of high-end notebooks and stationery, with annual sales of €128 million in 114 countries. D’Ieteren has also decided to spin off its property portfolio, valued at €140 million, in a separate affiliate.

Banking KBC Flanders’ largest financial institution is seeking to acquire the United Bulgarian Bank. The move marks KBC’s return to the acquisition trail in Eastern Europe after years of inactivity in the area imposed by European authorities as conditions for its public bailout in 2008.

Air Ryanair The Irish low-cost carrier is launching four new routes from Brussels Airport in April, to Madrid, Malta, Hamburg and Milan. It will also increase flight frequencies to Porto. The move is expected to push Ryanair’s Belgium-based traffic to over nine million passengers.

Bicycles Eddy Merckx The company producing bicycles named after the worldrenowned cycling champion is investing €13.7 million to increase capacity and shore up its balance sheet.

Hotels Metropole Up to 50% of the hotel on De Brouckereplein in central Brussels is up for sale following the decision of the Wielemans family to sell its stake.

The hotel, launched in 1895, has been negatively affected by the creation of the capital’s pedestrian zone.

Shipping Exmar The Antwerp-based group, serving the gas and oil industries, is considering the sale of its LNG stocking and re-gasification activities to the Dutch Vopak group for up to €500 million.

\6

Antwerp puts end to Chinese stake in energy manager Eandis City votes against deal to sell of part of energy grid manager Alan Hope Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT

T

he city of Antwerp has effectively pulled the plug on any deal that would allow China’s State Grid to take a stake in energy grid manager Eandis, after the city council voted against the move last week.

Together with other municipal councils, Antwerp had to agree to the fusion of the various power grid managers in Flanders but could not agree to the condition that the creation of Eandis Assets would mean all regional price differences would end.

“In the discussions about the merger of Eandis, Antwerp city’s position has always been that it could not happen at the expense of the people of Antwerp,” councillor Koen Kennis said.

Antwerp’s energy costs are the lowest in Flanders, and the takeover of a share of Eandis could only occur, according to the Flemish power industry regulator Vreg, if all tariffs were equalised across the region.

The city had previously approved the merger of the grid managers and the acquisition of a share in the total by the Chinese.

“This is not good news, given the great deal of work over the last two years, which is now lost,” said Eandis chair Piet Buyse. “If the merger

© Courtesy Eandis

into Eandis Assets cannot be completed, then the introduction of a private partner cannot go ahead.”

A meeting was due to take place as Flanders Today went to press of the seven bodies that would have come together under the umbrella of Eandis Assets – bodies currently managed by seven consortia of different municipalities – to discuss how to proceed.

The most pertinent question is where Eandis will go now for financing to replace the Chinese offer of €830 million for 14% of the merged management of the power grid. One option, proposed

by Open VLD president Gwendolyn Rutten, is the sale of shares in Eandis to the public to raise cash. “That’s the way forward,” she tweeted.

“Good for the people and the Flemish economy.”

The Chinese deal many because of the importance of a strategic asset and the links between State Grid and the Chinese government. Flemish energy minister Bart Tommelein changed his position on the sale last week. Previously in favour of the sale, Tommelein has now agreed with others that Eandis should be launched on the stock market.

“A lot of people don’t understand – and I’m with them on this – how we could sell off something as strategically important as our power network to a foreign investor,” he said.

Also last week, a letter addressed to Tommelein from the state intelligence service was leaked to the press. It stated that State Grid has links with Chinese intelligence and a similar deal was earlier blocked by the Australian government on grounds of national security. The letter claimed there was a danger of Eandis technology – as well as customer data – falling into the hands of the Chinese military, and counselled “extreme caution”.

Lufthansa exercises option to take over Brussels Airlines

Volvo Car in Ghent to increase production by 16,000 units

German airline Lufthansa has exercised its option to take over Brussels Airlines fully, for the price of €2.6 million for the 55% share it does not already hold. The price appears exceptionally low for an airline recently valued at €200 million and which made €41.3 million in profit last year.

An agreement dating back to 2008, when Lufthansa bought 45% of the shares in the suffering airline gave it a price guarantee: the remaining shares would be sold at a fixed price at or before a September 2016 deadline. In other circumstances, Lufthansa ought to have paid some €150 million.

Brussels Airlines will now arrange the handover of the 55% shares remaining in other hands to Lufthansa, with

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo is increasing the production in its Ghent factory by 16,000 units a year, which will add 15 shifts. That translates to 100 new workers on temporary contracts.

Volvo took on 350 temporary workers over the summer months, and the 15 new shifts will be handled until December by the existing crew, with production operating seven days a week. Some vacation days have also been carried over to 2017 to allow the factory to continue producing this year. In 2017, 100 additional temporary workers will be hired, which will put an end to weekend work.

The new production target brings the Ghent factory’s production above 250,000 vehicles for the sixth year in a row, meaning the plant will not have to call upon the government’s system of economic unemployment. That system covers workers who are laid off temporarily when there is not enough work for them.

“There’s going to be a lot of overtime,” said managing director Eric Van Landeghem. “Workers have decided that they will be compensated by additional vacation days in lieu, rather than overtime.” \ AH

© Arpingstone/Wikimedia

the aim of completing the transaction by the end of the year. Those investors are mainly financial and industrial groups and regional authorities that stepped in when national carrier Sabena went broke in 2001, to help a new national airline get off the runway. \ AH

Age discrimination in hiring on the rise, says Unia The two organisations in Flanders that represent the self-employed have reacted to news that age discrimination in hiring is on the rise in the region. With the legal pension age being raised to 65 and some key redundancies, such as the closing of the Ford factory in Genk, age discrimination in hiring is being reported in greater numbers.

For NSZ, the problem lies in the system of paying employees according to length of service. “Companies would be only too happy to hire over-45s because they have experience, knowledge and expertise,” said chair Christine Mattheeuws. But employers are put off by the higher salary such candidates are entitled to, she said.

Unia, the federal anti-discrimination agency, has received an increasing number of complaints in

© Ingimage

recent months about discrimination against older candidates. Some potential employers have openly told applicants they are too old, even though such discrimination is illegal. Unia received 45 complaints in 2015; this year to date

there have been 74.

Federal employment minister Kris Peeters suggested sanctions against employers that discriminate. “Yes, we should be able to apply sanctions,” he said. “If we find out that older employees are being passed over because of their age, then I want us to be able to take action.”

At Unizo, meanwhile, director-general Karel Van Eetvelt counselled caution. “In very exceptional cases there’s the matter of age discrimination,” he said. “But please let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill.”

The cases reported by Unia represent “a very low number” compared to the rising employment rate among older workers, Van Eetvelt said. People over the age of 45 made up 44% of all new hires in 2015. \ AH

\ INNOVATION

october 5, 2016

Social e-inclusion

week in innovation Fleming receives ‘Swiss Nobel Prize’

Digipolis codes the digital futures of Flanders’ biggest cities Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

DIGIPOLIS.BE TEANNUALCONFERENCE.INFO

F

or more than a decade, the ICT departments of the cities of Ghent and Antwerp have worked together under the umbrella name Digipolis to better respond to common digital challenges such as e-governance.

The two branches exchange experiences, discuss solutions and collaborate intensively on staffing and purchasing policy, but they also adapt their own strategies to the specific needs of their respective cities. Digipolis supports the local police departments, for example, by running the CCTV systems, but it also sets up projects to boost digital participation.

In Ghent, members of the team focus on making digital products and applications accessible to everyone through the Digitaal.

Talent@Gent initiative. “We fight the divide between people who have the necessary knowledge of and access to digital technology and those who don’t,” says Johan Van der Bauwhede, the director of Digipolis’ branch in Ghent.

This year, Van der Bauwhede’s team hosts the Telecentre Europe Annual Conference (TEAC16), a meeting of 150 representatives from digital inclusion organisations in 30 countries. The focus is on e-inclusion strategies, revolving around the central theme of Digital Skills for Future Jobs.

Federal minister of the digital agenda, Alexander De Croo, is among the confirmed keynote speakers. He will be joined by another influential Fleming: Saskia Van Uffelen, the CEO of the telecommunication company Ericsson Belux.

As its name implies, the conference will also focus on the evolu-

© Courtesy Digipolis

Formed from the merger of Ghent and Antwerp’s city ICT departments, Digipolis works to make technology more accessible to everyone

tion of telecentres – public spaces that offer free access to computers and wi-fi, and are often staffed by volunteers who can assist people with digital issues.

Digipolis has 75 telecentres in Ghent, which it calls Digital Talent Points. They play an important role in combatting the digital divide by being accessible to people from all social backgrounds.

At the conference, the team behind Digitaal.Talent@Gent will also present its new project, Digikriebels, which consists of a series of four lessons where pre-school children play educational games with their parents or grandparents.

Along with supporting pre-schoolers in their transition to primary school, Digikriebels also boosts parents’ and grandparents’ confidence and reinforces the relationship between home and school.

Through its Onbeperkt Mediawijs (Unlimited Media Literate) project, Digipolis helps people with mental disabilities become more digitally active by teaching them how to use

computers, social media and other ICT devices. The project aims to boost their independence and aid in self-development. It is organised in co-operation with the non-profit organisation Vonx, which provides learning opportunities and activities to the mentally challenged.

In the project Code Your Future, underprivileged children and teenagers learn how to code and play their own video games, which teaches them valuable coding skills doing something they like.

For this project, Digipolis is joined by non-profits Fyxxi and Mediaraven.

The flagship project for Digipolis Ghent is the implementation of the digital policy for the city’s new public library, De Krook. The library, expected to open early next year, will offer so-called makerspaces, or communal areas that let the public experiment with various

6-8 October

kinds of media.

“Visitors will be able to make websites or create content for radio, TV and YouTube,” says Van der Bauwhede.

Those attending TEAC16 will also take part in a tour of the Digital Interactive Fair, which showcases innovative start-ups and lets the visitors test out new technologies, like drones, virtual reality and 3D printing. It also includes workshops and hands-on demonstrations for people of all ages.

The fair forms the start of the annual Digital Week, organised

by Digipolis in various parts of the city. On the programme are lessons, workshops and demonstrations for both ICT novices and advanced digital learners.

Participants of the week-long initiative will be able to learn how to use Microsoft Office or how to install specific programmes, but there will also be more advanced courses on 3D printing, virtual reality and more. While most of the activities are free, some include a small fee.

Meanwhile, in Antwerp, the local branch of Digipolis is working on the City of Things project, which aims to turn the city into a testing ground to examine how the Internet of Things – the idea that everyday objects can communicate across digital networks – can improve the daily lives of residents.

Among innovations being tested are traffic management systems and public waste bins that send out a signal when they need to be emptied.

TEAC16

Hoogpoort 63, Ghent

Q&A

KVAB.BE

Professor Johan Martens of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts (KVAB) is working on a system to capture and reuse harmful CO2 emissions What’s the essence of your strategy?

Fossil carbon compounds, which took millions of years to form, are converted into CO2 in a matter of milliseconds and discharged into the atmosphere. Natural CO2 absorption, like from trees, works too slowly to compensate for the rising amount of emissions.

There are several potential strategies for reducing CO2 emissions.

KVAB is focusing on identifying feasible solutions at the chemical end. Because of its vital role in the economy, carbon will maintain a prominent place. Rather than eliminating it, we should strive to create a CO2-neutral world within the foreseeable future.

How do you propose we curb emissions?

There are two types of CO2 emissions: those coming from point sources and those from diffuse sources. Each is responsible for about half of all emissions. Point sources are the large installations, like power plants, refineries, blast furnaces, cement kilns and incinerators, of which there are about 220 in Flanders.

The capture of CO2 from point sources and its conversion into fuels, chemicals and other useful materials is already possible. Some emerging technologies are being used on an industrial scale; others are still being tested.

We believe that the massive

carbon capture are lacking when it comes to these areas.

amounts of energy needed for these processes must come from low-carbon energy sources, mainly from the sun, but also from tidal energy, geothermal energy or nuclear energy.

CO2 emissions from diffuse sources (such as permafrost) are the more challenging problem, especially the ones coming from land, water and air transport, because the technological breakthroughs in

What are the main benefits of your approach?

With the technological knowledge currently at our disposal, it would be impossible to ban carbon from the entire energy supply. On the other hand, a transition to a mixed carbon/hydrogen economy could reduce CO2 emissions from the transport sector even more significantly.

Finally, there is already a distribution system for methane, a renewable energy source obtained from captured CO2 and hydrogen gas.

Methanol derived from it offers advantages as a liquid fuel and is also fundamental for the chemical industry in the production of chemicals and plastics. \ Interview

Flemish researcher Johan Auwerx has received the Prix Marcel Benoist 2016, otherwise known as the “Swiss Nobel Prize”. The 59-year-old scientist is a professor at the EPFL polytechnic in Lausanne and received the award for his work on the role of the organelle mitochondrion cell in metabolism. Auwerx, who was born in Diepenbeek, Limburg, and earned his PhD at the University of Leuven, has made ground-breaking discoveries on the interaction between cells and nutrition, resulting in methods to reduce fat cells and limit the effects of metabolic diseases.

His work has directly led to the development of new preventive strategies and therapies in the battle against obesity, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders.

€30m for maritime research centre Flanders is investing about €30 million in a new maritime research centre in Ostend, where they will build a complex with a towing tank and wave basin, to test the manoeuvrability of ships.

Until now, there has been only one towing tank in Flanders, in the Water Engineering Laboratory in Borgerhout, near Antwerp. This tank cannot meet all demands and is getting too small for increasingly larger ships. The new towing tank will be 174 metres long and 20m wide. The centre will also house a coast and ocean basin where researchers can generate waves, flow and wind. Construction should start early next year and finish in 2020.

Pets welcome at UZ Brussel Construction has started on Villa Samson, the first hospital space in Belgium that will allow patients to visit with their pets and will use animal-assisted therapy. The project is an initiative of the University Hospital of Brussels (UZ Brussel) and will be located on its campus in Jette.

Research shows that a pet can play an important role in the healing process, but pets are not allowed in Belgian hospitals, except assistance dogs. In Villa Samson, not only can a patient’s pet be brought in for a visit, therapeutic sessions will be organised with specially trained animals. The name of the new space refers to the dog in the popular Flemish TV kids’ series Samson & Gert. \ AF \ vriendvoorhetleven.be

by Senne Starckx

\7

\ INNOVATION

october 5, 2016

Energy revolution

Old mining site is new hub for energy innovation in Flanders Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu

ENERGYVILLE.BE

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ive years after EnergyVille was launched, the research centre for sustainable and intelligent energy systems has officially opened its new carbonneutral headquarters, on a former mining site in the Waterschei district of Genk. The researchers in the Limburg centre are working on the transition to a society powered by renewable energy, focusing on urban environments.

University of Leuven (KU Leuven) professor Ronnie Belmans, the CEO of EnergyVille, has big ambitions for the organisation. “When I studied in the 1970s, we had the international oil crises, and nothing has fundamentally changed since then,” he said at the opening.

“Now is the time for a true energy revolution.”

EnergyVille was established in 2011 by KU Leuven, the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito) and nanotechnology firm imec. Hasselt University has now also become a major partner.

At the start, about 30 researchers moved into the former studio of Flemish ceramic designer Piet Stockmans. Now, 250 researchers are working in a state-of-theart building that is completely carbon-neutral.

“We are working to develop the energy solutions that we hope will be used as mainstream technology in people’s homes in 10 years,” says EnergyVille project manager Wim Cardinaels.

In the battery testing lab, for example, researchers evaluate the performance of batteries to improve their reliability and costefficiency. “We are performing tests on batteries for electric vehicles as well as also those for home use,” explains Cardinaels.

In the thermotechnical lab, the researchers focus on things such as the optimal use of heat networks and reusing residual heat from the industrial sector. “With the residual heat from the port of Antwerp, for example, it should be possible to provide heat to the whole city,” says Cardinaels. “Much of this useful heat currently disappears in

© Courtesy EnergyVille

In the thermotechnical lab, the researchers focus on how to get the best out of heat networks

cooling towers.”

The experiments in the thermotechnical lab can also benefit the development of geothermal energy in Flanders. At the Balmatt site in Mol, Antwerp province, Vito is carrying out a large-scale project to tap into the potential of this powerful energy source stored several kilometres under the soil.

consumer energy management could be optimised sustainably, 240 families tested common appliances like dishwashers that were equipped with intelligent energy management systems. The experiment showed the importance of user-friendliness in adjusting people’s consumption behaviour.

There is also important research

With the residual heat from the port of Antwerp, it should be possible to provide heat to the whole city In the “home lab”, researchers examine how the fluctuating availability of renewable energy – like wind and solar power – can meet consumer demand. The solution lies in intelligent management systems, or smart grids, which streamline the use of green power.

The researchers in the home lab build on the results of the Linear project, in which EnergyVille was involved. To examine how

taking place on the roof of EnergyVille, where solar panels have been installed. The researchers are testing the best way to set up panels to increase their efficiency.

They are also fine-tuning an innovative weather station, which will analyse the conditions – concerning for example the wind and solar radiation – to which the panels are exposed, to better adjust the technology to the elements.

While there is already plenty of activity in this building, construction is under way next to it to expand the working of EnergyVille in a second building. This workspace, called EnergyVille II, is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2018. The labs will be mainly used for research on solar panels and new batteries for local energy production and storage.

The growth of EnergyVille also boosts the development of the Thor science park, where it is based. The park is part of the larger Thor site in Waterschei – including space for related business activity.

With EnergyVille as the main attraction, the plan is to turn Thor into the place to be for knowledge institutions, research centres and innovative companies involved in sustainable energy activities.

Last year, IncubaThor also officially opened in the science park, offering facilities to start-ups dealing with green energy technology.

About 20 start-ups have already answered its call. At the business park zone, a major project is also being developed, called MoThor: a large office space initiative for

Engineer wins first Flemish PhD Cup with surgery-enhancing robot Andy Gijbels, a doctor of engineering sciences at the University of Leuven, has won the first Flemish PhD Cup with his presentation on robot technology. Gijbels was chosen as the best of eight finalists in explaining the core of his research in three minutes to a general audience.

Organised by non-profit Scriptie, the PhD Cup is meant to help young researchers learn how to promote their work succinctly outside the world of academia. Sixteen chosen participants received media train-

ing, and the final eight took part in the final at the Paleis der Academiën in Brussels.

Gijbels (pictured) has developed a robot to enable eye surgeons to operate 10 times more precisely than currently possible.

The technique will be especially useful in surgery on patients who have been blinded by blocked retinal veins. Some 60,000 people per year worldwide suffer from the condition.

During surgery, doctors have to inject an anticoagulant in the extremely fine veins

© Kevin Faingnaert

which seven buildings are being constructed.

Thor will also be the home to the Technology Talent (T2) campus, set up by the city of Ghent with the Flemish employment and training agency VDAB and the Flemish agency for entrepreneurial training Syntra. The plan is to have about 1,300 people, from all ages, participating in technology projects at the T2 campus by September 2018.

At the inauguration, energy minister Bart Tommelein explained his concrete support to help make EnergyVille the centre of a network of research, education and business development. He wants to establish a flexible regulatory framework for the whole of Thor Park. This means current laws would have to be adapted to make the testing of new technologies and business models less complicated.

The development of expertise and entrepreneurial activity around green and smart energy is one of the cornerstones of the Flemish government’s SALK recovery programme for Limburg, drawn up in 2013 after the closure of the Ford factory in Genk was announced.

phdcup.be

of the eye. This manoeuvre is too precise for human hands, but can be done with the assistance of Gijbels’ robot. The robot will be used for the first time on patients in the coming months.

“Fascinating research that was presented very clearly and convincingly by a talented and passionate researcher,” said the jury about Gijbels’ presentation. The engineer will receive a €10,000 to follow a course in entrepreneurship at Vlerick Business School. \ AF

\9

\ EDUCATION

week in education Per-head funding for higher education Flanders’ universities and colleges will again receive extra funding if their student population increases. The system of per-head increases in funding was put on hold for the last two years, but the government has decided to put it back into play. Education minister Hilde Crevits has said that, from 2017, universities and colleges will get an additional €40 million. Flemish innovation minister Philippe Muyters also announced that he has earmarked some €200 million for scientific research, while professional education is also receiving extra support, via the reform of the child allowance policy. The government is also adding €100 million to the construction budget for new schools, in collaboration with the private sector, bringing the total to €300 million.

Foreign language lessons start ‘too late’ Only 37% of pupils in Belgium learn one or more foreign languages in primary school, which is the second-lowest percentage in the EU, according to a study by the statistical agency Eurostat. The findings were published yesterday on the European Day of Languages. Eurostat examined foreign language education in 29 European countries.

Only Portugal scored worse than Belgium at 36%. On average, 84% of pupils in primary schools in Europe learn one or two foreign languages.

Belgium’s score derives from the timing of foreign language education. In 2004, French became a required course in the fifth and sixth years of primary school in Flanders.

Before that, foreign language was not required for primary school students.

UAntwerp rector wants civic courses Herman Van Goethem, the new rector of Antwerp University, wants to introduce “civicoriented optional courses” in bachelor’s degree programmes.

He pointed to courses on sustainability, cultural diversity and modern media. “If students are learning how to debate or perform surgery at university, they also need to understand the world in which they will do this,” Van Goethem told De Morgen. A course in which students learn how people from other cultural contexts react to certain situations, he said, would be very beneficial. “Migration and diversity are becoming increasingly important topics,” he said, “and they require more intellectual consideration.” \ Andy Furniere

\ 10

Students told the Flemish parliament what they expected from their education during the Day of the 100

© Courtesy Vlaamse Scholierenkoepel

School of life

Pupils tell politicians what they want to learn in secondary school Emma Portier Davis More articles by Emma \ flanderstoday.eu

A report by students of what they feel is missing in their curriculum is to be discussed in the Flemish parliament, with life skills, wellbeing and politics at the top of the list.

C

itizenship, how to cook carrots and how to resuscitate somebody are just some of the things that kids in secondary school want added to their curriculum. In short, they want to be better prepared for life outside the school walls.

These are the findings of a report by the Vlaamse Scholierenkoepel (Flemish Students’ Chapel), whose members hit all types of secondary schools across Flanders – general, technical and professional schools and art academies – gathering responses from 17,000 pupils.

The report was commissioned by the Flemish Parliament, which is in the process of debating a new curriculum for the eindtermen, or graduation goals, which are the key things that all students should have learned by the time they leave secondary school.

“We have to ram information into our heads all the time when we’re at school, but when we’re put into a real-life situation, we don’t know how to deal with it,” says Timpa Vanoosterweyck, a 17-yearold pupil at Xaverius College in Antwerp.

In February, the Flemish parliament held the Day of the 100, where two pupils from each of 50 schools came to Brussels to talk about what they wanted from their education. Meanwhile, the Scholierenkoepel selected 10 students, including Vanoosterweyck, to put together their report.

As well as visiting schools (Vanoosterweyck was responsible for

visiting an art academy after the Day of the 100 showed that there wasn’t any input from these types of schools), the chapel organised a chat-cafe on its website and a super-size ideas board.

Their goal was to be as inclusive as possible in terms of schools, and, rather than presenting what all the students think is wrong with the curriculum as it stands, they wanted to present what they think is missing.

“What we did is to go to schools and try and get students involved.

We wanted to have the debate be about what their vision is. It wasn’t our job to push our vision,” explains Vanoosterweyck.

Six themes emerged from the report: health, mental health, nurturing individual skills and talents, getting ready for life after school, more comprehensive sex education, and putting both feet in the world, which includes learning how to look at the world, religion, economics and politics.

According to Vanoosterweyck, what was evident from the report was that pupils want to learn more about citizenship, especially about politics, economics and the world around them. “If there was one thing that everyone was keen on, it was that.

“From about the age of 15, many students feel that they don’t understand what is going on around them. When I say I want to learn about politics, I don’t want to learn about the policies of each party. I want to learn about why they think like that. The bigger picture.”

On a more practical note, students say they want to learn about job contracts, filling in a tax form, how to get a mortgage and how to manage their money. They also want to learn about things like

SCHOLIERENKOEPEL.BE

cooking carrots and how to iron clothes.

In Flanders, with its four streams of secondary education – general, technical, art and vocational – there are big differences in terms of what pupils want to see included in the curriculum. “The requests for more practical things were coming from the general schools,” says Vanoosterweyck.

Among the topics common to all schools, however, were first aid, health and wellbeing, and language.

“The topic of first aid really stood out. Loads of kids want to know how to help someone on the street who is hurt. It’s already obligatory in school, but no one really spends any time on this. Most kids just know how to put on a plaster.”

Instead, students really want to know how to resuscitate someone or take care of someone who is seriously hurt. They also want to learn more about taking care of their own health, including healthy food and mental health. The report points to the high risk of burnout among students.

Concerning sexual health, the message is clear: educators need to get with the times. That means teachers should pay attention not just to traditional boy-girl relationships but to homosexual and transgender relations and the dangers of pornography, sexually transmitted disease, abuse and sexting.

In an increasing globalised world, secondary school kids also want to use foreign languages more, including when studying other subjects. “I’ve been raised with three languages. I think people who speak more languages are more confident and think more globally,” says Vanoosterweyck, who speaks

Dutch, English and Japanese.

The Flemish Parliament will consider in its debate the input from the students as well as the views of teachers and parents and other stakeholders before putting together a report about how the graduation goals should be reviewed.

Kathleen Helsen, head of the parliament’s education commission, says: “It’s really important to listen to the students and my report will look at what can be done today and what can be done in the future in the review of the goals.”

Meanwhile, education minister Hilde Crevits says: “The debate touches the heart of education. It’s a strong point that 17,000 children under the impetus of the Flemish Students’ Chapel have been working on this. We will take these valuable proposals into account.”

For Crevits, the two things in the report that she is most eager to see included in the reviewed graduation goals are financial literacy and learning about first aid; her office is already organising a symposium about the latter on 11 October.

In general, Crevits noted that pupils wanted more freedom of choice in their secondary education and more tailored learning, as well as taking care of their wellbeing and putting their feet firmly in society. “Students rightly ask to focus on issues that are strongly linked to citizenship: critical learning to think, form an opinion, reflect on social issues and deal with diversity.”

Vanoosterweyck: “I hope that the politicians will listen to what’s in the report and use it in the whole debate, because students are underestimated and, in general, that’s not really fair. We are the ones who know best.”

\ LIVING

october 5, 2016

A grave interest

week in activities

Flanders’ most striking mausoleum gets a much-needed facelift

Time for the autumn edition of this semi-annual garden fair on the grounds of a castle with its 25-hectare Englishstyle park. More than 200 vendors will be selling flowers, plants, local products and garden tools. The featured guest country is Canada, with living history, First World War remembrance events and Canadian food. 7-9 October 10.00-17.00, Park van Beervelde, Beervelde-Dorp 75, Beervelde; €12

Toon Lambrechts More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu

A

tall mound of artificial rocks dominates the cemetery just off the Liersesteenweg in Sint-KatelijneWaver, north of Mechelen. From the top, an open-armed statue of Jesus stares down with pity and compassion at the weary visitors.

Inside, tarnished murals depict scenes from the gospel.

Proverbs chiselled in stone remind the living of their own mortality and sinful lifestyle. The most combative of these reads Vandaag ik, morgen gij (Me today, you tomorrow). Cracks in the dark blue ceiling invoke a starry sky.

This is a place for the dead, a mausoleum built in 1929 by viscount Hubert Ysebrant de Lendonck as the final resting place for himself and his family. “Ysebrant de Lendonck was a remarkable and eccentric figure, to say the least,” says Patrick De Greef, an architectural historian and an expert on sepulchral heritage.

As a young man, Ysebrant de Lendonck left Sint-Katelijne-Waver on the eve of the First World War. He settled in the US, where he married a wealthy woman twice his age.

“After her death in 1924,” says De Greef, “he returned to Flanders.

Five years later, he had the monumental mausoleum built.”

In addition to being eccentric and suffering from delusions of grandeur, Ysebrant de Lendonck was also likely a deeply religious person. The exterior of the mausoleum is designed as an artificial rock formation, a popular style known as loudresgrotten that’s found all over Flanders.

“But in the 1920s, this style was on its last legs,” explains De Greef. “Art deco architecture was in full swing, but the monument stayed true to

Beervelde Garden Days

\ parkvanbeervelde.be

Night of Darkness This annual event raises awareness of the problems caused by light pollution, especially for animals and the environment. Many communities will darken streetlights, and there are night-time activities for young and old: nature walks, stargazing and more. 8 October, across Flanders; free \ bondbeterleefmilieu.be/nacht

© Emma Patsie/Flickr

the old-fashioned way of building, which was not that common for sepulchral monuments. This is what makes the mausoleum’s design unique in Flanders.”

eternity. It’s the only example of standing graves in Flanders.”

In the 1990s, the concession for Ysebrant de Lendonck’s family to use the grave expired. Asked by the

They’re all buried standing upright, alongside Ysebrant de Lendonck’s grave, forced to honour him for eternity Another remarkable feature, De Greef adds, is the way the dead are buried. “Apart from Ysebrant de Lendonck, they’re all buried standing upright. It appears as though they are standing alongside his grave, forced to honour him for

city council about the plans for the mausoleum, the family members removed all their relatives from the common grave, with the exception of Ysebrant de Lendonck and two of his staff members, who were also buried there.

The mausoleum slipped further into neglect, when a group of citizens decided to take matters into their own hands and began a procedure to protect and restore it. Recently, the first phase of the restoration was completed, with the refurbishment of the concrete exterior. In the next stage, the volunteers will work on the murals and the rest of the interior.

De Greef says the renovations couldn’t come soon enough. “The outside concrete was severely degraded. A few more years, and there would be nothing left to restore. That would have been a pity, because this mausoleum is really one of a kind. Its size and style, and the way the dead are buried – all these aspects are more or less unique in Flanders.”

BITE

Delhaize’s new cosmopolitan sausages are frankly not-so-hot dogs Street food is all the rage right now. Everyone with any culinary ambition has a food truck. Celebrity chef Jeroen Meus is selling hot dogs; The Jane owner Sergio Herman wants to open a chip shop.

So it’s no surprise that the big supermarket chains would want to jump on the bandwagon.

It is, however, a little surprising that a huge chain like Delhaize would start off with hot dogs. Hot dogs are not innovative; they’re there at every weekly market across the country. You also find them in every Carrefour Express and Delhaize Shop & Go, in a variety of forms.

The only thing Delhaize could have done is to make them slightly better. Have they done that?

Following on from last year’s promotion of hamburgers using Angus, Limousin and Iberico meat, Delhaize is now offering hot dogs identified as London, New York and Berlin. The base dog is a mixture of beef and pork, smoked naturally (no smoke essence added). They’re at the top of the range of hot dog sausages, as the price-tag (€3.49) would imply.

London is flavoured with bacon and cheddar,

New York with mustard and ketchup and Berlin with curry and fried onions. Clearly, each is reaching for something identifiable with the city concerned. Unfortunately – perhaps the result of too many focus groups – none really achieves its aim.

The flavours may all be present, according to how hard you wish for them, but there’s nothing like the effect of a real splash of ketchup or a real slice of cheese. (I advise you add some real condiments yourself.)

The store is also promoting a package of organic hot dog buns to go with them, which are a little too good for such a thing as a hot dog, frankly.

Infuriatingly, they come in packs of four, while the sausages come in packs of three.

Next month, Delhaize extends further into the world of street food with a range of readymeals from across the world: a Greek kebab, a Chinese Bao bun and a Mexican taco, among other surprises yet to be revealed. The street has moved into the supermarket. Nothing is sacred.

Market of Tomorrow This monthly outdoor market gives young, innovative designers a chance to show and sell their work – in clothing, jewellery, home decor and graphic design. Thirty stalls plus a DJ and food trucks make it a festive street party. 9 October 12.00-18.00, Pleintje Vismijn, Kloosterstraat, Antwerp; free \ marktvanmorgen.be

Orchard Day The community orchard in Merendree, East Flanders, boasts more than 200 kinds of fruit trees, including heritage varieties. Bring your own fruit to be pressed into juice (register via the website), taste local products, play folk games, go on a scavenger hunt or take a ride on one of three bike routes. 9 October 13.0017.00, Dopershoek 8, Merendree (Nevele); free \ rlm.be

Forest Week The theme for this year’s edition is “Welcome to the Biggest Sports Club”, with an emphasis on the many possibilities for athletic activities in Flanders’ forests and parks.

Check the website for the free activities in your area, from yoga to mountain biking to trail running. Kick-off event on 9 October in the Kempen’s Bosland, in north Limburg.

9-16 October, across Flanders; free \ weekvanhetbos.be

\ Alan Hope © Courtesy Delhaize

\ 11

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in Flanders?

If you can’t think of anything at all, you’d better check out our new e-book

Quirky Flanders offers 20 unexpected – or downright odd – activities or sights across the region you can get busy taking part in right now

Visit the Flanders Today website to download the e-book now! For free!

www.flanderstoday.eu

\ LIVING

october 5, 2016

The city of books

week in arts & CULTURE

Reopened printing museum takes visitors back to Antwerp’s golden era Sally Tipper Follow Sally on Twitter \ @sallybtipper

MUSEUMPLANTINMORETUS.BE

The newly renovated Museum Plantin-Moretus is a hymn to the printing industry and the eponymous family who pioneered the craft in Antwerp, helping place the city squarely at the centre of Europe’s publishing industry.

I

n a room filled with centuriesold printing presses, a short film plays on a loop. It’s a mesmerising close-up, silent but for the rustle of paper and the echoes of a craftsman at work. A typesetter selects characters and paper, binds his materials into position, applies ink, then cranks a wheel to produce a printed manuscript; Virgil’s epic Aeneid.

The detail is so fine you can see every grain in the paper, every hair on the typesetter’s hand.

It’s one of the first things you’ll encounter at the newly renovated Museum Plantin-Moretus, a hymn to the printing industry and the eponymous family who pioneered the craft in Antwerp, exporting knowledge to the rest of the world.

Christophe Plantin, a French bookbinder, moved to Antwerp in the mid-16th century, buying the house on the city’s Vrijdagmarkt that would become the hub of his family business. Here he printed and distributed thousands of religious, scientific and linguistic texts written by leading scholars of the time. His daughter Martine was later put in charge of the business; at 20 she married Jan Moretus, who became his father-inlaw’s successor.

This was an age of plenty for the Low Countries, and for Antwerp in particular. It was an international port and a city of books, home to dozens of printers, publishers and booksellers. Trade was expanding, leading to increased wealth and flourishing culture. Scholars from all over Europe settled here, and merchants shipped their wares to and from the city’s port.

The city of Antwerp bought the house and its contents from Edward Moretus 140 years ago, and in 2005 it was recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.

As part of the €4.5 million renovation, the museum urgently needed a modern depot for its vast collection of printed material – they change the books on display every two years and turn the pages of coloured books every three months to protect them. Alongside the repository, the museum now also has a new reading room.

“This house breathes books,” says museum director Iris Kockelbergh, and indeed, books are everywhere, lining the walls and picked out as exhibits. “We didn’t want to create a multimedia museum; we wanted

450 translations for Frankfurt Book Fair In the run-up to the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair, where Flanders and the Netherlands are the official Guest of Honour, Germany has published more than 450 new translations of Dutchlanguage books. Frankfurt is the world’s largest trade fair for books. Most of the translations to German are literature, including both fiction and non-fiction as well as poetry, children’s books and graphic novels. This is the largest number of new texts concerning the guest country or region ever produced by Germany for the fair. It’s also expected that other countries will translate Dutch-language texts into their languages to have available at the fair, which takes place from 19 to 23 October. \ buchmesse.de

New opera relates daring Nazi train escape

© Ans Brys

The renovations to Plantin-Moretus have brought the former printing house into the modern era, with audio guides, hands-on activities and plenty of space to house the vast collection of printed material

to create a place where you can feel at home.”

The makeover has helped with that, paying particular attention to increased comfort. Benches, seats and lecterns encourage visitors to sit and read, to take their time. The beautiful guidebook takes each room in turn, offering biographies of the nine generations that lived and worked here, as well as notable quotes, reproductions and an overview of the historical context.

You also get snippets of family tales. How Plantin had his five daughters educated in numerous languages so they could help out with proofreading, for example, or

except for one contemporary, digital interloper: a young girl reading with a glimmer of a smile on her lips, who radiates light.

On closer inspection, the background appears to be shifting. The girl is one of Plantin’s daughters: as well as a pioneering publisher, the museum reminds us, he was also a family man. (You could also choose to take it as a message that reading makes you radiant.)

Elsewhere, a bone china tea service sits on a table, chandeliers drip with teardrop-shaped crystals, a gilt clock ticks on the wall; all reminders that this was a living household – not to mention a rich one, thanks to Plantin’s entrepre-

We didn’t want to create a multimedia museum; we wanted to create a place where you can feel at home the grandson obsessed with inventorying his possessions who left 32 versions of his will when he died.

In the museum itself, the scenographers wanted to move away from a focus on the printing industry and bring to light the various facets of Plantin – the father, the publisher, the businessman, the humanist – in as poetic a manner as possible.

One way they’ve achieved this is displayed in the large drawing room, on whose walls hang portraits of the nine generations of the Plantin-Moretus dynasty.

All are gloomy and straight-faced,

neurship.

There are more than 30 rooms to visit, from the type store and the drawing room to the libraries and courtyard. The creaking of floorboards adds to the atmosphere, as do various subtle soundscapes.

The second-floor foundry, up a spiral staircase from the dark library, is breathtaking: a long room flooded with natural light – one of the few to be lit, for the protection of the delicate manuscripts. This is where you learn about the process of creating type.

Plantin bought his letter sets from the best designers of the day, and

to prevent other printers using them he bought the equipment too.

But today the museum is much more than a pilgrimage site for those who love typography. Audio guides featuring well-known Flemish voices help to bring the family and the age to life, while those visiting with children can take on a murder mystery challenge. There are also opportunities to dress up and join in handson activities.

Philip Heylen, Antwerp city councillor for culture and heritage: “It’s a superb story of 400 years of history, entrepreneurial drive and creativity. For me, this is the most important museum in Antwerp.”

It’s not a nostalgic look back to the good old days, but a living museum and a human story, he says. “Art is great, exhibitions are great, but this is history. History bursts out of every volume. Here we see a printer, businessman, daredevil, networker and family man at work.”

In terms of his managerial acumen, he says, Plantin was up there with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. “He came here as a migrant, and he has given us many things. He taught us how to think, and here in Antwerp he laid the foundations for the computer. He was a visionary.”

Flemish culture minister Sven Gatz compared the museum to a time machine transporting visitors back to the 16th century. Few other museums are as groundbreaking, he said at the official opening. “The renovated museum is everything a museum today can and should be. It feels like at any moment the printers could be arriving to start their working day.”

British composer and conductor Howard Moody has written a new opera relating the story of Brussels-born Simon Gronowski, the youngest of 115 people who famously escaped a Nazi train headed to Auschwitz in 1943. The event went down in history as the only successful attempt to free Jews from a transport to the camp. It happened at Boortmeerbeek in Flemish Brabant, when a group of young men stopped the train carrying more than 1,600 deportees.

The 11-year-old Gronowski survived the rest of the war in hiding and lives in Brussels to this day. The opera, called Push, premiered on 1 October at the Battle of Hastings Festival in Bexhill, East Sussex.

Liveurope a success, says AB Liveurope, a consortium of concert venues that works to increase the circulation of up-and-coming European musicians, has been extremely successful in getting musicians and bands onto stages in other countries, according to Ancienne Belgique, which co-ordinates the programme. Implemented two years ago and funded by the EU’s Creative Europe Programme, Liveurope venues are supported through a bonus system based on the number of emerging, nonnational artists booked. The figures from the first two years show that 837 bands from 36 countries have been booked.

“If you look at the programming of our member venues before we implemented this bonus system, it is clear that Liveurope makes a difference,” said co-ordinator Fabien Michlet. \ Lisa Bradshaw

\ 13

\ ARTS

The X factor

Owner of Flanders’ premier gallery reflects on 35 years of promoting local artists Christophe Verbiest More articles by Christophe \ flanderstoday.eu

ZENO-X.COM

M

y creaking shoes are breaking a sacred silence. It’s a Tuesday morning, and the Zeno X art gallery is closed. No street noise permeates the thick walls of this former milk factory in a workingclass quarter of Antwerp.

I’m walking between two dozen paintings by Luc Tuymans, half of them new, half of them old.

Among the latter is my favourite of his, “Der Diagnostische Blick IV”.

The exhibition Scramble: 25 Years of Collaboration celebrates a longrunning partnership between Tuymans and Zeno X Gallery. The former is Flanders’ most famous contemporary painter, the latter the region’s number one commercial art gallery. The collaboration started in 1990 – technically 26 years ago, but both parties were too busy to celebrate last year.

Gallery owner Frank Demaegd, who opened Zeno X in 1981, had already bought a work by Tuymans before the artist asked him to represent him. “Despite my interest in painting – I even painted for a short while – I was collaborating with people working in different mediums,” he says. “During the 1980s, showing paintings was almost ‘not done’.”

Then in 1987, Flemish painter Raoul De Keyzer asked Demaegd to represent him. From then, Demaegd embraced painting again. Though he still works with photographers (Dirk Braeckman), sculptors (Mark Manders) and artists who combine almost every possible medium (AnneMie Van Kerckhoven), his artist roster is mainly painters, including renowned Flemish painter Michaël Borremans, the Amster-

© Courtesy Zeno X Gallery Antwerp, photo Peter Cox

Luc Tuymans’ “The Priest”, 2016

dam-based Marlene Dumas and German artist Johannes Kahrs.

“As a former painter, I know very well what it means to create a painting,” Demaegd says. “I think this makes me a slightly better judge of paintings. But deciding to collaborate with an artist is a question of feeling, too. I’m looking for artists who are unique.

Take Dumas, Tuymans and Borremans: three very different painters, but they have an unmatched authenticity. Some years ago, Flanders suddenly had a series of Tuymans-like painters. I wasn’t interested in them. I only want the

real deal.”

It’s a delicate exercise for gallerists to find a balance between their artists. “I’ve heard in the past from some artists that I was too busy with Tuymans and didn’t do enough for them,” says Demaegd.

“But it’s important to have a few artists that are doing very well financially. It gives me the leeway to invest in others who are less successful. Big galleries are doing this less and less.”

He illustrates this with an example. “A stand at Art Basel costs me €150,000. That investment won’t be paid back by artists

whose works are sold for €5,000.

In fact, every work sold for less than €20,000 means a loss for me.

Not for the artist, because they get their share. But I can only do this because we have people like Tuymans, Borremans or Dumas.”

Contemporary artists tend to understand this, he stresses, but “all this clearly means that starting a new gallery is a hell of a job”.

Demaegd, who trained as an architect, says that when he was young,

Until 22 October

he didn’t focus on this financial side. “Passion for art, intuition, even some naivety made me start Zeno X,” he says. “In those first years, my wife and I both still had jobs outside the gallery.”

Even with 35 years of experience as a gallerist, he finds life isn’t without its pitfalls. “The worst that can happen to a gallerist is working for 10 or 15 years with an artist, investing loads of time and money in them, then seeing them leave one day for one of those huge galleries.

“That’s why I’m glad I’m in Antwerp and not in London or New York, where you have to compete with the likes of Gagosian Gallery and Hauser & Wirth, which have 150 to 200 employees. Those galleries are only interested in an artist whose works sell for more than $50,000 or $100,000.”

But he doesn’t blame them for it. “Due to their financial means, they really can make a difference for the artist. That’s the way of the art world nowadays.”

He doesn’t mind not being in the same position. “I like to spot a talent, help it bloom – or manage it, if you want – and see how it evolves. Recently at the MoMa in New York I saw ‘Still Life’ by Tuymans, a work based on a Cézanne that I’ve shown here, hanging between four paintings

by Cézanne and four by Picasso.

Well, I can tell you, I felt elated when I saw it. That’s why I do this job. It gives me infinitely more pleasure than the money I earned from selling it.”

Zeno X Gallery

Godtsstraat 15, Antwerp

Abstract artist gives popular Brussels square a burst of new colour Jourdanplein, in Brussels’ European quarter, is getting some new colours courtesy of French artist Guillaume Bottazzi. For the next two months he will be executing a giant abstract painting on the wall of an apartment block at one end of the square.

“Jourdanplein is a nice, popular place but we need to have more coherence between the buildings, the cafe terraces and the people,” says Jean Laurent, deputy mayor of Etterbeek responsible for the project.

The high, blank face of the building in question, where Waversesteenweg meets Graystraat, clearly clashes with the classic Brussels facades around the square. “But it is there, so we thought it was better to use it positively.”

In 2014, Etterbeek chose cartoonist

\ 14

as more appropriate for the international crowd that gathers on Jourdan.

Bottazzi’s paintings combine rounded forms and calming pastel colours intended to make a direct appeal to the senses. According to the artist, the painting will be a direct challenge to the violence of images produced by the terrorist attacks on Brussels this year.

The idea is also for the colours in the painting to be echoed in the awnings and umbrellas of the cafe terraces around the square.

“We hope each terrace will use a different colour, and it will be like another painting, but on Jourdanplein,” says Laurent, “In this way,

commerce and art will have a dialogue.”

Bottazzi will work alone on the painting, which will stand 16m high and 7m wide and is expected to take about two months to complete. No unveiling will be necessary since it will develop in full sight of the public, but a formal inauguration is planned for November.

The painting is a prelude to a more general renovation next year that will pedestrianise part of the square.

Meanwhile, you can see more of Bottazzi’s work and learn about his working methods in an exhibition at Artiscope Gallery in Brussels. \ Ian Mundell

© Guillaume Bottazzi

Philippe Geluck and his character The Cat to brighten up a series of

walls in the Jacht neighbourhood.

But something abstract was seen

3-29 October

Artiscope

35 Sint-Michielslaan, Brussels

\ AGENDA

october 5, 2016

The school of hard knocks

Painting After Postmodernism Until 13 November

R

eports of painting’s death have been greatly exaggerated. The oldest known art form, dating back to humankind’s cave-dwelling days, is still kicking despite a series of (relatively) recent setbacks. The major exhibition Painting After Postmodernism: Belgium-USA in Brussels proves that painting is alive and well and living in...

Belgium and the USA. Painting’s troubles began with the advent of photography in the 19th century and came to a head almost exactly 100 years ago when Marcel Duchamp put down the paintbrush and championed the ready-made. Since then, concept

Vanderborght & Cinéma Galeries, Brussels pap.brussels

art, “happenings” and video and digital technology have all challenged the time-honoured practice of smearing pigment on a flat surface.

But the practice survived by carefully navigating the critical currents of the day. It steered a course through the Gestalt theory of mid-century Modernism and, more recently, the aesthetic freefor-all of postmodernism. This last passage was a turbulent one.

Painting After Postmodernism presents the work of 16 contemporary artists – eight Belgian and eight American – who are helping to reconstruct the art form after decades of deconstruction,

“The Refuge” by Flemish artist Jan Vanriet

during which Warholian kitsch was king. Each painter takes a different approach to the task, while respecting the autonomy

CONCERT

VISUAL ARTS

W.E.R.F. Label Night

Step Up!

8 October, from 18.00 Bruges record label W.E.R.F. was born in 1993 as a vehicle for local pianist Kris Defoort’s debut album.

It has since become one of Flanders’ most respected jazz institutions, supporting hundreds of artists and releasing more than 150 albums.

This mini-festival celebrates its rich history with performances from

Concertgebouw, Bruges concertgebow.be

established and rising W.E.R.F. talent. Among the stars of the evening are label stalwart Defoort and his new group Diving Poet Society as well as up-and-coming duo SCHNTZL, Nathalie Loriers Trio and Ragini Trio (pictured), who are set to perform their latest world fusion work. \ GV

Radio Modern’s 10th Anniversary

Eddie Izzard

Exactly 10 years ago the party machine known as Radio Modern was assembled. Its objective was simple: to organise retro-themed soirées complete with swing bands, old-school soul DJs, Lindy Hop lessons, costumed performers, vintage stylists and a photo booth for the punters. It was a winning formula. Radio Modern has partied its way across Flanders with several events per month ever since. This tin anniversary shindig turns the kitsch factor up to 11 and features bands with names like Slick Nick and the Casino Special and a “beauty boudoir” by resident fashion mavens The Modernettes. \ GV

Vooruit, Ghent radiomodern.be

Argos, Brussels argosarts.org

Sarah Ferri: The Ghent-born singer-songwriter with Italian roots mixes piano, pop, R&B and soul inspired by legendary songbirds Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. 7 October 20.00, AB Club, Anspachlaan 110 \ abconcerts.be

Ghent Ertebrekers: The new group made up of Flip Kowlier, Peter Lesage and Jeffrey Jefferson perform funk, hip-hop and soul with a juicy West Flemish accent in an out-of-theway refurbished warehouse. 6 October 19.00, Kerk Gent, Kerkstraat 24 \ kerkgent.be

FESTIVAL Brussels Harp Festival: Festival dedicated to one of the world’s most versatile instruments, featuring Celtic, chromatic, Scottish, classical, folk and Japanese sounds. 7-9 October, Solvay Library, Belliardstraat 137 \ brusselsharpfestival.com

Belgian dance is known the world over for its progressive flair, often crossing artistic frontiers and incorporating elements of other cutting-edge art forms like video and performance art. This retrospective group exhibition traces the history of the contemporary scene from its beginnings in the 1970s to its flowering in the 1980s and beyond. Step Up! celebrates dozens of artists, including iconic choreographers Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Wim Vandekeybus as well as pioneering filmmakers like Thierry De Mey. And this is just the beginning. The Step Up! project continues into 2017 with several future chapters. \ GV

STAND-UP

Brussels

Brussels

9 October to 18 December

PARTY 7 October, from 21.00

and history of the medium.

The exhibition is curated by eminent American art historian Barbara Rose and organised by the Roberto Polo Gallery in collaboration with the City of Brussels and Cinéma Galeries. The bulk of the 256 canvases are shown across six floors of the historic Vanderborght building, itself a marvel of modernist architecture.

The rest is displayed in Galeries’ basement space, the Underground. Upstairs, the cinema hosts a series of film screenings on the subject. Several of the films, including a survey of American art in the 1960s, are written and directed by Rose. \ Georgio Valentino

CONCERT

FILM Brussels Age d’Or: Annual film festival focused on experimental and trend-setting cinema in promotion of the subversive, maverick and poetic side of the film industry. Guests include filmmaking duo Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige of Lebanon and American filmmaker and film preservationist Mark Toscano. 6-11 October, Cinematek, Baron Hortastraat 9 \ agedorfestival.be

ACTIVITY get tic

17 November, 20.00 British comedian Eddie Izzard is on a mission. Three years ago, as if anticipating the Brexit fiasco and hoping to head it off at the pass, the polyglot performer set out on an epic circumnavigation of the globe. He performed in three languages across 28 countries, proving that, at their

kets n ow

Stadsschouwburg, Antwerp livecomedy.be

best, the British are anything but isolationist. Now Izzard returns for a few select European dates during which he’ll present, in English, a “reloaded” version of his acclaimed Force Majeure show.

Considering his reputation for selling out arenas, this theatre gig is an intimate affair. \ GV

Brussels Spelpunt: Monthly board game evenings, inviting players to bring their own drinks and join a table to meet new friends while rediscovering classic games or learning new ones. Wednesdays 19.00-21.30, Muntpunt literary salon, Muntplein 6 \ muntpunt.be

EVENT Across Brussels and Flanders Fair Trade Week: Annual campaign to promote fair trade products with special activities in shops and supermarkets across the region, including concerts, tastings, games and breakfasts. 5-15 October \ weekvandefairtrade.be

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\ BACKPAGE

october 5, 2016

Talking Dutch

VoiceS of flanders today

Bonfire of the frietkoten

In response to Pets allowed at new Villa Samson hospital department Shiv Davis: Excellent news!!!!

Derek Blyth More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu

I

t started with the snail stall on Beursplein in Brussels. De vergunning van escargotverkopers Chez Jef & Fils – The permit granted to the Chez Jef & Fils snail stall loopt eind december af – runs out at the end of December, ran a story on the Brussels news website Bruzz.

Het stukje Brussels erfgoed moet plaats ruimen voor de werken aan de voetgangerszone – This piece of Brussels heritage has to go to allow work on the pedestrian zone. Daarna is hun sjofele caravan niet langer welkom op het Beursplein – After that, their ramshackle caravan will no longer be welcome on Beursplein.

What a shame, I thought. Not that I ever ate any of Jef ’s slimy creatures, but I liked the scruffy old white van with its big pots of simmering snails. It seemed to represent the relaxed spirit of Brussels, like sausage stands do for Berlin.

But it has to go. And that’s only the beginning of the purge, because now the city has its sights on an even more precious monument to street food – the frietkot, or chip shack.

Brussels schepen van Handel Marion Lemesre wil de huidige tien frietkoten in Brussel-Stad vervangen – Brussels trade councillor Marion Lemesre wants to replace the 10 existing frietkots in central Brussels door nieuwe exemplaren – with new models, reports Bruzz.

You may be wondering why this bonfire of the chip vans has to happen. Het frietkot op het IJzerplein voldoet niet aan de esthetische vereisten van de Stad – The fries shack on IJzerplein doesn’t conform to the city’s aesthetic demands, Lemesre explains.

She wants to install better-looking frietkots. Lemesre wil een wedstrijd uitschrijven – Lemesre wants to organise a competition om een nieuwe, uniforme look voor Brusselse frietkoten te bepalen – to create a new uniform look for Brussels’ frietkots.

De nieuwe frietkoten moeten er allemaal hetzelfde uitzien – The new frietkots have to all look the same, en herkenningspunten worden – and act as recognisable landmarks zoals de rode telefoonhokjes dat zijn in Londen – like the red telephone boxes in London.

Het idee is om dit jaar nog een archi-

In response to Harbour masterpiece: stunning new port HQ opens in Antwerp Jacques-Nicky Smekens-Brodbeck: The two buildings separately are nice, but together, they are not the best match!

In response to Antwerp couple head south to set up elephant retirement home Jacqueline Sidwell: In spite of everything there are angels in the world.

tectuurwedstrijd uit te schrijven – The idea is to organise an architectural competition as early as this year voor een retro of hedendaags ontwerp – for a retro or contemporary design, Lemesre explains.

We willen een herkenbare architectuur – We want an architecture that can be recognised, iets waaraan mensen kunnen zien dat ze in Brussel zijn – something that lets people know they are in Brussels, said Lemesre.

But what says you’re in Brussels more than a greasy chip stand belching smoke at 2am?

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

In response to Quirky Flanders: Wander along Mechelen’s lost river Jennifer Treasure: Used to live in a village close to Mechelen.

I miss it and wish I was back there sometimes.

Adam @AdamOgle Counting down the four weeks until holiday! #Bruges #holiday #travel

Noel Dolphin @NoelDolphin When I told my wife I was planning on going to Cardiff, Berlin, Brussels and Ghent this week I think she thought I was joking

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the last word Tough talk

Food for thought

“These are two boys who can’t play football; they have no talent.

They’re bringing down the level of the club.”

“Unhealthy eating is not only a problem for people who are overweight. It’s a problem for all Belgians.”

Frank Drillieux of third-division Rode Duivels Zoutleeuw held nothing back in sacking two eightyear-olds from the boys’ team

Karen De Ridder, a researcher at the Scientific Institute for Public Health, who found that Belgians eat too much meat and sweets, and not enough veggies, potatoes and fruit

Reality check “I had a very idealistic view of politics. I was going to make the world a better place. But I’ve discovered that politics is not all about idealism.”

© USA Today Sports/Reuters

TO THE FORE Rising Flemish golf talent Thomas Pieters made his debut in the Ryder Cup last week, with mixed fortunes in Minnesota. He beat American JB Holmes in Sunday’s singles, but the US team were clear winners overall. The 24-year-old from Geel, one of the longest hitters in the game, was a wildcard inclusion by Europe’s captain Darren Clarke. Pieters, the world No 42, is only the second Belgian to represent Europe in the competition, after Nicolas Colsaerts of Brussels.

Staden mayor Francesco Vanderjeugd, the youngest mayor in the country, described his rude awakening in Het Nieuwsblad

Cheers “We’re an old-school bar. You used to go to the bar for social contact; now you have that in your pocket. But Bar Popular is still a meeting place.”

Bar Popular in Mechelen was voted Best Café in Flanders by readers of Het Nieuwsblad

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