A 15-year-old schoolgirl from Herent near Leuven last week made her debut on the catwalks of New York, modelling the autumn womenswear collection of Calvin Klein. Louise Maselis won last year’s Elite Look Model competition in the beach resort of Sanya in China ahead of 80 girls from 70 countries. She was then given a contract with the world’s top model agency in November, and her management moved from Amsterdam to Paris. Elite also represents household names like Cindy Crawford and Monica Bellucci.Full story
At first glance, it’s easy to write off photographer Erwin Olaf as a commercial prima donna, airbrushing oiled models and strategically cropping “June” for the next gay men’s calendar. A low-rent photographer at high-rent prices.Full story
Maybe they were fishermen looking for fresh fishing grounds or explorers broadening their horizons. But the first Spaniards to arrive in Flanders were, in any case, probably the Basques. Noted for their expert seamanship, they could easily have made a voyage through the Bay of Biscay, up the coast of France and into Bruges. Full story
Ivo Hermans pours me a glass of Rioja from behind his tiny, candlelit bar in Leuven and plunges into thought with an exclamation of “Hmmm”. The Spanish aficionado is about to tell me how the word “flamenco” is connected to Flanders and has, in fact, got nothing to do with pink, wading birds.Full story
When Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that bears his name in September 1609, he had little idea of the impact of his voyage. But his exploration set the stage for Dutch colonisation in the New World and forged a trail that subsequent adventure seekers would follow from Europe to the Americas.Full story
Roos Van Acker is a TV presenter, a Studio Brussel DJ, Humo magazine's favourite cover girl and the 185th choice for Greatest Belgian of all time. Before breaking into every form of media you can
think of, Van Acker, 32, sang for the 1990s pop group Eden. Now
she's gone back to her roots on a tour of Flanders with an ad hoc band,
performing songs about broken hearts. We caught up with her between
tour dates, radio programmes and meetings about her future with
television station VT4.Full story
Since mediaeval times, the citizens of Aalst have
taken to the streets once a year, dressed in colourful disguises, to
poke fun at their politicians, party like crazy and show the rest of us
how to celebrate Carnival.Full story
The prestigious Culture Awards from the Flemish
Community were announced last week in Hasselt by culture minister Bert
Anciaux. The 13 awards to Flemish artists cover a wide range of
activities, from cartoon strips to Baroque music. Each winner, one of
three nominees in each category, takes home €12,500 and a bronze
statuette specially commissioned from sculptor Johan Tahon.Full story
