It was in the wake of Bruges’ stint as European Capital of Culture in 2002 that a group of arty young people founded the association. They had participated in organising the cultural celebrations, and the experience proved formative. “We came of age during the culture capital,” says Jorijn Neyrinck, one of Tapis Plein’s founders and its current director.

Having studied anthropology, Bruggeling Neyrinck was aware of the importance of tradition and custom. Yet she observed that while gargantuan efforts were made to preserve (and even reconstruct) Bruges’ picture-postcard architecture, its intangible culture was sorely undervalued.

What is intangible heritage?

“In 2003, the United Nations defined intangible heritage as being, among other things, oral expressions, social practices and traditional craftsmanship,” explains Neyrinck. Examples from Bruges include the local dialect, the Procession of the Holy Blood and lace-working.

One of Tapis Plein’s first projects explored Bruges’ identity and history as a tourist destination. It opened a pop-up tourist office where visitors could read guidebooks old and new about Bruges, showing how the city has changed over the years but also how tourists’ perception of it has developed.

Alternative tourist maps for locals were provided, and people working in tourism, such as the canal boatmen, recounted their memories of an older Bruges in recorded interviews. “People of the neighbourhoods outside the centre of town were happy to be heard and presented as part of the city,” Neyrinck recalls. And visitors were happy to have their photos taken against a series of vintage postcard-esque backgrounds.

Tapis Plein wants to develop “projects and experiments on heritage with unexpected questions and approaches,” explains Neyrinck, “with themes that relate to people’s lives and in ways that differ from classical methods in museums or archives, for example.” Hence one activity in 2004 reconstructed the Second World War experience of the Sint-Michiels neighbourhood, while another involved creating a pop-up neighbourhood museum in northern Bruges, where locals contributed mementos, like old photos and letters.

It all illustrates how Tapis Plein’s projects tend to cut across a swath of issues, ranging from history to education, from citizenship to city policy. Furthermore, the projects strive to be as inclusive as possible, reaching out to communities, schools and youth centres.

Bringing Bruges into the present

“Every initiative we take,” says Neyrinck, “reflects on how to create a sustainable city and a future here, knowing that heritage is something to cherish and develop, not just to conserve and to show.” If Bruges appears to be a town that cultivates the past, Tapis Plein’s often experimental work has not always been received with open arms. “Bruges is conservative, and people here tend to push back against policies that could inject greater vitality into the community,” notes Neyrinck. By focusing so much on its historic patrimony and a “stereotypical tourist market”, the town chases off its young, whether they are families or students. But with municipal elections approaching, she adds, hopefully these issues will be put back on the agenda.

Soon after it was set up, Tapis Plein was plying its trade beyond Bruges’ cobbled lanes. For a project called Geluveld Mon Amour, to celebrate the 900th birthday of the village of Geluveld, nearly 60 kilometres away, Tapis Plein photographed the villagers in a variety of staged scenes – most memorably in a series of portraits of individuals or couples on the same sofa but accompanied in turn by their personal effects.

A Mechelen city guide for kids and a project on krulbol – a traditional Flemish game that is a cross between curling and boules – followed, with the latter involving an exhibition, a book and several workshops. In just under nine years, Tapis Plein has undertaken dozens of projects and has six part-time employees. For the moment, it is the city’s only cultural association to prefer folk history over the more illustrious tales in the history books.

“But Tapis Plein is not nostalgic,” insists Neyrinck. It’s more important to them that residents understand the town’s Catholic heritage than that they be fervent believers, or that lacemakers produce items that sell rather than make items that are identical to 200 years ago.

www.tapisplein.be