Brussels annual arts festival Kunstenfestivaldesarts, which is on now until 28 May, is one of 26 events chosen by the Culture Programme of the European Union to receive financial support for the 2011-2013 period out of a total of 674 proposals received. In addition, kfda was among the 18 of the 26 to receive funding in all three years. The award is recognition that the festival of performing arts and exhibition is one of the top arts festivals in Europe. www.kfda.be

About 240,000 people took part in Flanders’ Erfgoeddag (Heritage Day) on 1 May, a record for the event. An initiative of FARO, the Flemish Association of Cultural Heritage, the theme this year was poverty and the working poor. The record number was “not surprising,” commented Flemish culture minister Joke Schauvliege, “because looking back at the past helps us to understand the present.” www.erfgoeddag.be

The “Das Brett” has won the Henry Van de Velde public prize. By Brussels-based designer Kaspar Hamacher, the Das Brett is a bookshelf that slopes slightly in the middle, so the books support each other and bookends are not needed. “I try to bring meaning to my work in an artistic manner without losing sight of functionality,” said Hamacher. The prize is voted on by visitors to the annual Henry Van de Velde exhibition in the Flemish Parliament building. Hamacher receives a trophy and a €2,500 award.
www.henryvandevelde.be

The nine life-size wooden sculptures of elephants by South Africa artist Andries Botha have become well known in Flanders, having premiered in 2006 as part of the Beaufort exhibition on the coast before being bought up by the Zoological Society of Antwerp and finding a place in front of the entrance to the Antwerp Zoo and then in the gardens of the Royal Museum of Africa in Tervuren. Last week the elephants were again on the move – to their permanent home at the entrance to Planckendael animal park in Mechelen. A new habitat for the Antwerp Zoo’s elephants is now under construction at Planckendael and will be ready in 2012. www.kmda.org