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Cultural blueprint for Flanders

Joke Schauvliege announces changes to cultural policy for the coming years
© Wikimedia Commons

Flemish culture minister Joke Schauvliege (pictured) last week revealed her blueprint for the future of the region’s culture policy, with proposals on multi-year financing, a new approach to funding for major institutions and changes to the composition of the committees that advise on subsidies.

Schauvliege’s “concept note” is a sort of white paper on the evolution of cultural policy in the coming years and will eventually be translated into a new Culture Decree. One of the main goals of the paper is to increase the pool of members of the various committees that advise the minister on the subsidies to be granted to groups and organisations, in order to make it easier to avoid conflicts of interest.

Alan Hope
(March 20, 2013)

Plans announced for port of Antwerp

Opposition from locals and farmers over loss of villages and agricultural land
© Alan Hope

Last week, the government of Flanders released its final development plans for the port of Antwerp. According to Flemish ministers present, the regional planning programme (Grup) combines growth potential and concern for the environment.

The plan foresees an increase in the port area of nearly 1,800 hectares. The Verrebroek dock on the left bank will be lengthened, and a new lock built on the Deurganck dock. The plan also leaves the door open for a new Saeftinghe dock at some point in the future. The land required for that dock has already led the town of Doel to be mostly abandoned; it is currently occupied by activists fighting the issue in the courts.

Alan Hope
(March 20, 2013)

Hopping to victory

Flanders’ home brewers are honing their skills to be named Best Amateur Brewer
© Michel Vanneuville

Up and down Flanders, groups of (mainly) men will be getting together in each other’s garden sheds and garages over the coming weeks, carefully tasting beer and making appreciative noises. Each one has the hope of becoming the best amateur brewer of the Low Countries. The winner will be announced in May, and I would be remiss in not being on hand to report to the readers of Flanders Today on the taste qualities of the winning beer.

The contest is organised by Brouwland, a company that specialises in the provision of equipment and materials for the brewing, winemaking and liqueur industries, as well as offering kits for home brewers.

“We’re going in search of the best brewer who does it as a hobby. Professional brewers are not allowed to enter,” explains Stijn Michiels, marketing manager at Brouwland. “The winning team gets 500 litres of their own beer, brewed by a professional brewery. That’s a way of saying thanks to everyone who helped them along the way with a party.”

Alan Hope
(March 20, 2013)

Babel

A biblical story reclaimed
© The Wind, 2010 / Du Zhenjun / Galerie RX, Paris

Where better than Brussels to put on an exhibition about the Tower of Babel? All those languages! All that confusion! And at Botanique as well, in the shadow of the Finance Tower. Perfect!

But I’m getting carried away with the old version of the Babel story as it appears in the Book of Genesis. This goes as follows: After the Flood, the survivors decided to build a city with a tower high enough to reach the heavens. They spoke a single language and worked effectively together, so God punished their presumption by mixing up their languages and scattering them across the face of the Earth.

Ian Mundell
(March 20, 2013)

When bigger is better

Ostend’s new Grote Post is the culture boost the city has been waiting for

Don’t be fooled by the name: Ostend’s De Grote Post is not a post office; it is a culture centre. But it used to be a post office, and the now-vast space, which began staging performances three months ago, has kept the atmosphere of the protected post-war building intact.

You would be forgiven for missing the opening of De Grote Post, Ostend’s new culture centre. Though it’s been in the press for a couple of years, mostly with an air of relief that the building, which has stood empty since 1999, would finally be put to good use, it began staging events quietly, with invitation-only performances by Tom Lanoye and Wouter Deprez last December.

Lisa Bradshaw
(March 20, 2013)

Steven Vanackere steps down

The federal minister of finance quits over ACW accusations
© Laurie Dieffembacq / BELGA

Tired of being on the defensive, vice prime-minister and minister of finance Steven Vanackere resigned last week amidst the commotion surrounding the worker’s movement ACW.

“Because of my political inspiration, rooted in the Christian-democracy and the Christian workers’ movement, some people find it unimaginable that I can function impartially as a minister for finance, even though there is nothing to prove this allegation. ... This atmosphere of distrust keeps me from my work, which is not in this country’s interest. It is not in my party’s interest either. I admit that it is more than what I can take as a person. Any doubt about my integrity, I find very unjust.”

Anja Otte
(March 13, 2013)

Government extends support to small business

Funding for training and advice is increased by €4 million and Banks Plan is approved
© ingimage

The government of Flanders is extending its support programme for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with more money and new subsidies for coaching. The government’s SME portfolio is a digital platform where small businesses can go to request support and advice. Last year the platform gave assistance to 32,000 companies, with a total spend of €34 million. This year, that budget is increased to €38 million.

“The SME platform allows us to encourage training within small businesses and makes it easier for our SMEs to use the services of external advisers,” commented Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters.

The SME platform will also include coaching for business owners, particularly for growth companies and companies that are being passed on from one family member to another. Companies requesting coaching will get ongoing practical support to a maximum value of €10,000.

Alan Hope
(March 13, 2013)

Out of the streets

Urban dance and music in Antwerp are being elevated to a fine art. But is street culture in a studio really the same thing?
© Jonas Lampens / IMAGEDESKy

Urban or street arts used to have a literal meaning. Graffiti, hip-hop, breakdancing, rap – arts that were created in the streets by those without access to (or interest in) theatres and culture houses. Rather late in the game, Flanders is only just starting to embrace urban culture, and Antwerp is the run-away leader, taking the arts of the street into the Flemish Opera, the Toneelhuis and the Night of the Proms. This has given many young people in the city a serious self-esteem boost, but mainstreaming a cultural phenomenon is not without its risks.

Three years ago, Sihame El Kaouakibi (pictured) resolved to take street culture off the streets. With an initial grant of €20,000 from Antwerp city council, she organised a series of dirt-cheap summer dance workshops that eventually grew into

Linda A Thompson
(March 13, 2013)

A night to remember

History lessons have never been so engaging as during Flanders’ annual Night of History
© Courtesy Mostaard Wostyn

One evening a year, people in Flanders have the chance to immerse themselves in the past and learn about their local history. De Nacht van de Geschiedenis, or The Night of History, finds more than 240 events spread across the whole of Brussels and Flanders in such diverse places as castles, bakeries, artists’ studios, town halls, farmhouses, breweries and churches.

Every year, The Night of History is organised around a different theme, and this year it’s Craftsmanship. Craftspeople, historians and storytellers will give lectures and demonstrations on a rich array of trades practised in bygone times and today. Glass blowers, chocolatiers, bookbinders, auto mechanics, luthiers, stone carvers, master brewers, cheese makers, surveyors, blacksmiths, art restorers, puppeteers ... a dizzying array of experts wax poetic about their vocations.

Diana Goodwin
(March 13, 2013)

Imagine all the writers

Arab Spring revisited at Brussels biennial literature festival Passa Porta
© Catherine Helie

Nearly 100 writers from 30 countries over five days at 27 locations in one city: Numerically, Passa Porta is an impressive festival. And a glance at the programme suggests that there’s reason to believe that this fourth outing of the literary celebration will be as good as the previous highly praised editions.

The slogan for this year’s Passa Porta Festival is “Imagine!” It’s a large umbrella under which very different kinds of literature can be presented. It’s clear that the power of imagination reigns in the work of many visiting authors. It’s no coincidence, of course, that the festival puts an important focus on the consequences of the Arab Spring.

Christophe Verbiest
(March 13, 2013)