Belgium explained

 at last, after this short film, everyone can understand Belgium and the Belgians ... Enjoy!

 http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1413701618339

Belgium in a briefcase (or something …)

Nation – nationality : interesting theoretical items, but what do they mean?

To make this all more concrete, we tried to find out what is so typical “Belgium”.

The question:

“You go to another country in another continent. You can bring one suitcase / briefcase with objects and photographs. What would you take with you and show to the people about “Belgium” ?

Monuments in material and attitude

1. Copy of the Declaration of Independence : yes, this country really exists, although almost nobody expected this when it was “founded” as a compromise …

2. Atomium : almost the icon of a united Belgium; a relic of the famous world expo ’58, became a uniting factor between the different regions and maybe a symbol for the future.

3. Manneke Pis : the most popular statue in Belgium, with great emotional value; real and absurd, the statue and the story behind it.

4. Compromises : the noble art of making useful compromises kept Belgium alive … no place for strong and one-dimensional statements

5. Surrealism : to live in this country, to believe that it really exists and to tell this abroad, you need a strong portion of surrealism and absurdity, like some of our most important artists of the 20^th / 21the century –  René Magritte, Marcel Broodaerts, Wim Delvoie, Jan Fabre, …

6. New heroes, just in case ...

“Blackest Black” – an black variety, the blackest possible invented by a Belgian artsit

Music : Deus, Brel, Arno, Zita Swoon,

Comics

People who must be known abroad, even if …

1. Leopold II : the second king of the Belgian nation – for some a genius, for others a cruel dictator who started the big colonial experiment in Congo.

2. Herman Van Rompuy (with a Haiku) : this politician “of the second chance” made it towards the European top – president of the EU council … We need some “new” heroes, urgent !

3. De “kleine zelfstandige” : the little entrepreneur, distributor and central meeting point in a local economy, despite his / her own dreams – after all , it’s the Belgian state of mind that made this country as it is : entrepreneurs, artists, politicians … mostly they have this state of mind ( dreams, hard work, compromise, laughed with, a bit of paranoia and a lack of guts to convince the world )

4. Eddy Wally : a charm singer, always smiling, always busy … laughed with in Belgium, popular far abroad (China, USA, …)

5. Eddy Merx : a living legend in the bike competition, sportsman of the 20^th century in Belgium

6. Sven Neys : a living legend in “Veldrijden” , a less known bike competition in the mud, on snow and ice … World famous to those who are familiar to this sport

7. Fashion – designers  : Antwerp is famous for it’s academy that delivers great minds in the mode –industry.

Ordinary things that are most important for the Belgians :

1. A brick : lets build houses out of thousands of bricks, and complain that it is to expensive to do so.

2. Mono volume : big cars to drive around with children and their belongings: a maxi cosi, a (design) buggy, a small bike, a step, some toys, another step, some safety gear, and some more toys.

3. A Cow : a strange, bit foolish like animal that used to inhabited the place that we turn in to houses … Without the cow, Belgians wouldn’t had survived it all.

4. “Frietketel” : a genial instrument that helps to create the unhealthy but delicious Belgian french fries – another way to survive the hunger past of the Belgians

5. TV : no words for this

6. Lace : to trick some tourists in places like Bruges or Brussels

7. Diamonds : to attrack the rich and wealthy – the Antwerp diamond centre is strong connected with the Jewish community in Antwerp, that colours the streets.

8. A “German helmet” : to remember the 20the century wars and the peace afterwards

9. Belgian beer : to forget the history and what goes wrong – or just to feel heaven before you die

10. Cheese : for every beer, a different cheese

11. Chocolate : no more words, just enjoy.

To be continued ...

Belgium, Finland & Germany in cartoon style.

 In the official EU-promo leaflets, we found these cartoons about our 3 partner countries. Very funny and very cliché … A good exercise in what we know from each other and from our own country.

Try it yourself : look and comment.

Have fun!

Europe in a briefcase (or something …)

Europe is becoming our new “Nation”, a new transnational unity to overcome the old nations and to be prepared for a new century … ?

The 11th Province of Belgium

 Since everyone is talking about the splitting up of Belgium, there is a new belgian province discovered ... In Senegal !

Will this 11th province save Belgium ?

Look and see ...

Two artists, two countries ... one work!

 For the exhibition Article 27 / 2009 "The origin of Humanity, inspired by Charles Robert Darwin.", Vivian Majevski and Karel Van Gerven worked together. Vivian is a participant of the group of Forssa - Wahren Opisto. Karel is a participant of the Belgian - Art27 group.

It is a unique experiment, over a long distance, via mail & webtechnics ... and : it is a supplemantary result of our Rethink it -partnership.

Look for yourself :

More:

Karel van Gerven

Vivian Majevski 

Vivian also contributed her own work to the expo "On the Origin of Humanity ... "

We all are many ?!

 The text " We all are many "  by the hand of A. Sen, brought us to interesting thoughts. After the Transnational meeting in November 2009 in Heusden-Zolder ( were we commented on eachother in a funny / amusing and artistic way ), all participants had to comment on themselves as "European Citizens".

Here, some results of this creative session :

Amartyra Sen stresses the essential plurality of human beings and how the undermining of this plurality lies behind most of the worlds’ most violent conflicts.

(cfr. ‘Making Worlds’, catalogue Venice Biennale 2009).

In fact, we are all many, and this is important to remember.

Amartyra Sen points out that today human beings tend to be defined in terms of their religious identities, ignoring the numerous other factors that combine to make a person who he or she is.

This results in a reductive “miniaturization’ of man that proves the ground for tensions between groups. Instead of viewing ourselves and others in terms of a singular identity, we should remember that each and everyone of us carries a multitude within. In that sense, Sen emphasizes, we are all many: “ The same person can be, without contradiction, an American citizen, of Caribbean origin, with African ancestry, a Christian, a liberal, a woman, a vegetarian, a soccer fan, …

YouTube, The Way Back Machine - Belgian Music - Part II

In my previous article about music (Five easy pieces - Belgian Music - Part I), I wrote about (Belgian) jazz, the appreciation of which is not what one might call widespread. So, here is a selection of five songs from completely different genres, or are they?

1. Will Tura - Eenzaam zonder jou

This one goes way back to my early childhood. It was the first hit of Will Tura in 1962, sold 60 000 times that year and can still be appreciated. In the clip we see Will Tura in 2008. The song is a rather romantic sing along. Will Tura never was one of my favorite singers, but for some reason I kind of like this song. 'Lonely without you'.

2. Zjef Vanuytsel - De Zotte Morgen

In the late sixties and seventies 'kleinkunst' was very popular in Flanders. The name 'kleinkunst', or 'small art', wanted to be an intimate artform, with mostly accoustic instruments. This song is 'kleinkunst' of higher level. The song ('The Crazy Morning) was written in 1970 and still sounds very good. I used to play it myself from time to time. In the clip we see a very recent picture of Zjef Vanuytsel, who actually is (and was at that time) an architect.

3. TC Matic - Oh la la

We also have rock and roll in Belgium. I remember having a whistle in my ears for a few days after going to a concert of TC Matic in the early eighties. Arno, the lead singer still performs. It's a pitty you don't see the performance in the clip, but the sound of this one is best. You can see TC Matic in action, with very bad sound quality,  here >>>

4. Vaya Con Dios - Johnny

In 1986 Dani Klein, back ground singer, finally reached her goal: having her own band, singing her own jazz, swing, latino songs. They had some major hits, also abroad. The band split in 1991 and Dani Klein started a solo career. During the late nineties she lost interest. This week I read an interview with her and her son in which they announce a new record. She's back.

5. Wannes Van De Velde & Roland Van Campenhout - Oorlogsgeleerden

You can't talk about Flemish music or kleinkunst without mentioning the recently deceased Wannes Van De Velde (on YouTube >>>). This clip is two in one, because we hear him in a duet with Belgian blues singer Roland Van Campenhout (on YouTube >>>).  They sing their own cover of Masters of War (Bob Dylan), in the dialect of Antwerp and in English. Goos pimples!

Five easy pieces - Belgian (?) music - Part I

Herwig suggested to approach Belgian or Flemish identity (whatever that means, see my previous post) from a musical perspective. Since I used to play music a considerable amount of time ago (recorder, guitar and flute), I will try to find some clues. Please feel free to comment.

1. Django Reinhardt - 'Minor Swing'

Django Reinhardt was born in Liberchies, Belgium. So that would make him a Belgian. His parents were gipsies (Sinti) and the group travelled through France, Corsica and North-Africa. Django grew up in a trailer camp near Paris and spent most of his life in France. He also went to the US and played with Duke Elington. He died in France.
So was he Belgian? Most likely he considered himself primarely a gipsy, but nevertheless, on acount of his place of birth he is claimed as being Belgian. Anyway, his music and the way he played the guitar had a major influence on quite a number of people. But is he a Belgian?

2. Toots Thielemans - 'Bluesette'

Toots Thielemans was influenced by, among others, Django Reinhardt. I saw him at Jazz Middelheim. The man is a classic and whether you like his music or not, you can hardly rule him out when talking about Belgian (jazz) music. Born and grown up in the old quarter of Brussels (the Marolles), still reminiscing over that part of his life frequently in interviews, I suppose we can surely call him a Belgian.
On the other hand, in 1952 he emigrated to the US and has lived there ever since. So is he a still Belgian?

3. Philip Catherine - 'Stella by Starlight'

Another Belgian musician who considers Django Reinhardt as a major influence is Philip Catherine. Charles Mingus called him the 'Young Django'. In the video he playes with the late Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. I saw Philip Catherine at Jazz Middelheim as well, a couple of times, one time playing with Toots Thielemans. 
Philip Catherine was born to a Belgian father and an English mother. He was born in London in 1942 and the family lived there during World War II. They went back to Brussels after the war. He probably is a Belgian. Or, since he was born abroad, is he?

4. Nathalie Loriers - 'Silent Spring'

Actually I know next to nothing about Nathalie Loriers, except that she was a surprise and a revelation on a Jazz Middelheim edition in the early nineties. She spent her own pay for playing on the festival on hiring a double bass player to enhance her sound. I heard from her from time to time on the radio and she still seems to make good music.
Since she was born in Namur, she is Belgian. Hurray! Found one. But she's a Walloon! So probably some Flemish nationalists won't agree.

5. Chris Mentens

Chris Mentens is the baldy one with his spectacles on top of his head, playing the double bass. Well, Chris is really, really Belgian and really, really Flemish. Found a genuine one at last!
I know that he is because we met in secondary school and we played in several bands together. We also listened a lot to Frank Zappa, an influence you can still hear from time to time in his music. Chris used to have shoulderlong hair and in those days he wore his spectacles (you know, the John Lennon model) on his nose.
I was better at playing guitar, so Chris bought himself a bass. Now he is one of the leading Belgian double bass players. How hard can that be: Since there aren't many of those around, that's quite an easy goal to achieve.
By the way, I saw him playing at Jazz Middelheim as well. Afterwards we got rather drunk.

On the other hand, jazz is an international language. So I suppose all this Belgian-Flemish-Walloon stuff is rather pointless.

Read more about:

• Django Reinhardt
• Toots Thielemans - personal website
• Philip Catherine - personal website
• Nathalie Loriers - and also
  
• Chris Mentens - personal website

Some more Belgian jazz: