It is in the middle of farm land in rural East Flanders, and it is a shoe museum. People tended to smirk when I told them that this is where I was going to spend my afternoon. But Shoes or No Shoes proved to be one of the most ambitious and beautifully-designed museums in Flanders. And, although it is solely (get it?) dedicated to shoes, you could even call it diverse. It is a collection that sometimes made me laugh, sometimes made me ponder the importance of shared objects and, just once, brought me to tears. Over a pair of shoes.

The Flemish Region is putting much time, effort and funding into First World War monuments right now, in the lead up to 100 jaar Grote Oorlog in de Westhoek (Centenary of the Great War in the Westhoek), the 100th anniversary of the First World War. This will be commemorated across the country with special events during the period 1914 to 1918.

In a cold room on a Sunday afternoon, a group of halfnaked women with heavily made up faces watch as a tall, regal and impossibly sexy woman wriggles and spirals in a modern belly dance. Instead of applause at the end of her performance, she turns expectantly towards a thin woman who has been sitting in the corner, watching her tight lipped. Obviously not impressed, Miss Deena Ray delivers some hard-hitting advice to the girl adorned in a peacock headdress and gold-bead harem pants; she wants to know why the performer still has her top on.

A whopping 90% of waste in Flanders comes from industrial sources – from innocuous office rubbish, such as paper and desk chairs, to highly toxic chemicals and metals, which often find their way into the soil and rivers.