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Comic book magazine Stripgids celebrates its 25th edition
© vzw Strip Turnhout/Jan Van Der Veken

Toon Horsten is an intellectual. He is a writer, journalist, German studies graduate and the author of a book about books. And he is the lone editor of Stripgids, a free bimonthly about what the Belgians call the ninth art and, according to Horsten, “the only real comic book magazine in Flanders,” whose 25th edition has recently been published.

A new life

That was in early 2006, when the province of Antwerp and the non-profit organisation Strip Turnhout – which also organises an annual comic book festival, the oldest and biggest of its kind in Flanders and an award ceremony for the Flemish Culture Prize for Comic Books – expressed their wish to relaunch the magazine that had existed in the early ’80s, to inform the public about the developments in the flourishing Flemish comic book scene.

Philip Ebels
(August 2, 2011)

Let it bee

Bees in Flanders are dying out in record numbers, raising concerns about future food supply

“A beekeeper doesn’t let it get him down when he’s faced with a major loss in his hives. Bees and beekeepers will never die out completely.” Achiel Geurts spoke philosophically, back in April, after finding out his beehives in Lanaken in Limburg province had been stricken with the condition that’s annihilated bee colonies worldwide. “About 70% didn’t make it,” he said. “But it was my own fault.”

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the new name for an old phenomenon, previously known as disappearing disease, spring dwindle or autumn collapse. The first published report dates back to 1869 in the US, and there were epidemics on the Isle of Wight in England between 1905 and 1919 in which 90% of the island’s bees died. The phenomenon is characterised by three main factors, all present at the same time: young bees have been left behind; there is plenty of food stocked; and the queen is still present.

Alan Hope
(July 26, 2011)

Taming the beast

Bike coaching teaches would-be cyclists how to master the streets of Brussels

The weather is just clearing up on a Monday afternoon in the Brussels’ commune of Schaarbeek, after violent morning showers washed away the sticky heat of the weekend before. Abdel Azakhnini is glad. Otherwise, he might not have agreed to climb onto a brand-new Grandville city bike and pedal all the way from where he lives to where he works, at the tram depot close to the Terkamerenbos, on the other side of town.

“I only cycle when it’s nice outside,” he says, attaching the Velcro on his yellow reflector vest. “If it’s not, I take the car.”

Azakhnini, in fact, recently left his own bicycle with relatives in Morocco; the one he’s on now is a loaner from Brussels’ cycling organisation Pro Vélo. He likes to ride a bike but is used to the seaside in Morocco, where the climate is cycle-friendly.

Philip Ebels
(June 15, 2011)

Welcome to Camelot

Hundreds of Belgians discover the joys of “anti-squatting”
© Pauline Niks

Three happy campers recline in a rumpled sofa atop an Antwerp high-rise. They are laughing and chattering like they own the place, yet their scruffy shirts and cheap beer hardly suggest the assets required to land such a premium piece of real estate.

They are not builders taking a break, nor tourists come to enjoy this quiet roof with a view. What they are is a band of handpicked vassals of a little-known organisation called Camelot, a Dutch firm that is colonising Europe at breakneck speed.

Joris Verdonck
(May 31, 2011)

Welcome to the laboratory

Four Flemish friends experiment their way to being one of the world’s best brewers
© Jake Shaw

After two interviews and several beer-runs, I had the feeling that I had established a solid relationship with Carlo Grootaert, one of the four men behind De Struise Brouwers in tiny Oostvleteren, West Flanders – a feeling I saw confirmed shortly after by his oddly intimate email.

"I made a quick trip to Valencia, Spain, and got mugged," Grootaert wrote me, "my bag stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it. I was thinking of asking you to lend me some quick funds that I can give back as soon as I get in." What an honour and a privilege to be invited into the inner circle of one of the beer industry's rising stars.

Jake Shaw
(May 25, 2011)

Face of Flanders: Matthias Schoenaerts

It made its way around the internet faster than a tourist can buy a waffle: Matthias Schoenaerts is off to the US to star in the Hollywood remake of the hit Flemish film Loft. Rarely is a Flemish actor the recipient of such an honour, especially in a film in need of such a strong ensemble cast.

But Eric Van Looy, the Flemish director charged with re-shooting his film in the atmospheric New Orleans, pushed the American producers to consider Schoenaerts. They reviewed his work and were convinced, much to the amazement of a Flanders now bursting with pride.

Lisa Bradshaw
(May 25, 2011)

Getting the swing of it

In a basement in Ghent, the Shortie George awaits
© Iryna Kutova

The sound of a trumpet lures me down a flight of stairs to a small basement where I find a number of couples speaking an odd language. Shim Sham. Boogie Back. Shortie George. Tic Tac. All the vocabulary of the Lindy Hop, a style of swing dance made popular in the early 1920s.

While consistently popular over the years, Flanders' love affair with swing has been on the noticeable up-and-up over the past decade. With swing parties regularly thrown by Radio Modern and websites like www.lindyweb.be, it's easy to find a spot with classic, upbeat jazz to dance to nearly any night of the week. But if you don't know your Charleston from your Balboa, then taking a class to learn the basics of this high-energy style of dance is a logical first step.

Courtney Davis
(May 18, 2011)

Offside: Eek!

© Shutterstock

He looks like a bandit, but he breeds like a rabbit. His name is the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), but his preferred habitat is the forest – or the Walckiers park in Brussels, a tiny corner of green right beside the railway tracks leading to Schaarbeek train station, close to the nature reserve Moeraske (the little marsh).

That’s the conclusion of MOB, the environmental commission for Brussels and surroundings, which has been running Operation Chlorophylle since 2006. (The name has nothing to do with photosynthesis, as you might expect, but with the main character in a comic strip by the late Raymond Macherot.)

Alan Hope
(May 18, 2011)

“One for the people”

Antwerp’s long-awaited new city museum opens this weekend with a flourish
© Sarah Blee

The MAS has been compared to many things. Piled boxes designed to lure in Alice in Wonderland and tell her various stories. A lighthouse that guides people in from across borders.

"Come and meet Antwerp in the world, come and meet the world in Antwerp" is the flag this 15,000 square-metre building sails under, and you can find it in the very heart of the old port, Het Eilandje. The opening festival of the Museum aan de Stroom, or Museum on the Stream - Antwerp's long-awaited civic pride and joy - is from 13-16 May.

Monique Phillips
(May 11, 2011)

Finding your inner baksteen

Seminar helps expats navigate the ins and outs of buying property in Belgium
© BELGA

In a country with seven governments and three languages, the process of buying property is filled with administrative and linguistic hurdles that can be perplexing to the locals, let alone the foreigners.

That’s why this month the East Flanders Chamber of Commerce has organised an English-language seminar addressing the topic. Held in Ghent, “Buying Property in Belgium” aims to help expats understand the necessary steps in becoming property owners.

Katy Desmond
(May 4, 2011)