Gossaert, sometimes called Jan Mabuse after his possible birthplace at Maubeuge in Wallonia, was an important figure in the Antwerp Mannerists school of the early 16th century. He is centrally situated between Jan Van Eyck's mediaeval tradition and Rubens' Baroque and was a main proponent of the Renaissance currents coming out of Italy, where he travelled at a time when both Michelangelo and Raphael were working in Rome.
The solution has been to introduce a degree of innovation, which is certainly nothing new to Klara, the Brussels leg of Festival of Flanders, the region-wide classical and new music festival. Among the several municipalities that take part with their own programmes, its Brussels and Ghent that really know how to bring the genre to the people.
Every year, a group of people and places work to bring the public closer to an understanding of the impact and importance design has in our daily lives. Whether it's the shape of a building, the pile in a carpet or the colour of your toaster, design has the power of invention and innovation, and designers strive to sell it all in one big, attractive package.
For Bizet himself, success, rather than love, proved elusive and fickle. In spite of all the care he poured into his final opera, a sizzling tale of passion and jealousy set in 1820s Andalusia, its Paris première in March 1875 was a spectacular flop. Botched up by second-rate singers and musicians, slowed down by interminable scene changes, taxed with obscenity, it was withdrawn from the stage after only a few weeks.
The trees glistened with little fairy lights, a green streak of parrots cried out overhead, and the whole thing took on a magical feel against the darkening magenta sky. We reached the bandstand to find a slim man bobbing away furiously in front of a grand piano, its innards exposed and revealing large swathes of masking tape stuck over the chords. A couple of violinists and a cellist sat facing him, waiting. Pink and green lights hit his face as it grew darker, and a transfixed crowd hunched on benches or sat on the ground hugging their knees.
That’s what Ostend represents for the people portrayed in the exhibition Aller/Retour, staged in odd locations around the town. It’s a collection of largescale photographs by Stefaan Vanfleteren with commentaries by Michael De Cock of Theater ’t Arsenaal in Mechelen, also co-curator of Ostend’s recent Theater aan Zee (TAZ). Aller/ Retour launched as part of TAZ but fortunately lasts several weeks longer.
Admittedly, the MAfestival’s programme focuses on a much later period than Bruges’ cosmopolitan heyday: the 17th and 18th centuries, when westerners developed a craze for all things foreign as a result of the giddy spirit of discovery and colonial expansion that swept over Europe. It was a time of growing confidence and arrogance, when Rembrandt painted himself coiffed with a turban and dainty chinoiseries took over the decorative arts.
This was supposed to be a time to work on his forthcoming show at the Edinburgh Festival, where he’ll be performing as part of the Free Fringe. “I’ve never done stand up in Britain – and I’ve never done it in English. I don’t speak English a lot any more at all, so it’s a challenge: can I converse with people who are living in a totally different environment? Which is why I’m going to Edinburgh this year – to get my arse kicked.”
Beaufort is Flanders’ ultimate art parcours. The outdoor triënnale runs up and down the Belgian coast, clear from the tippy-tip in the north to the deep south next to France. It’s well attended and easy to take in over a weekend – for one reason: the coast tram. If the coast tram didn’t exist, it’s very possible that Beaufort – a unique platform for extraordinary international artists – wouldn’t exist either.
The irony of Rodenbach's story is that he spent very little time in Bruges, visiting only occasionally to see his father's family. The city was economically moribund in the middle of the 19th century and no place for people hoping to get on in the world.
Flanders Today is a 
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