BRUSSELSBELGIUMEUROPE

FOCUS

We join the Belgian foreign minister in China

INTERVIEW

Brussels police chief Jacques Deveaux

CULTURE

Manifesta 9 and other art shows in Flanders

LIFESTYLE

Last-minute travel

JUN 29-JUL 12 2012ISSUE 21 €4.95

DEP

OT

BRU

XELL

ES X

9 771373 178016 21

Looking good!Looking good!Spruce up for summer with our beauty guideSpruce up for summer with our beauty guide

J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

2000

I predict a riotA hardcore minority of mainly east European football fans may have behaved badly at Euro 2012, but when the tournament was co-hosted by Belgium 12 years ago, the culprits waved a different flag

In 2000, Belgium co-hosted the European Football Championships with the Nether-lands, and it wasn’t all plain sailing. Under the headline ‘Riots erupt at Euro 2000’, The Bulletin’s Alan Hope reported how football hooligans ran amok in Brussels and Charl-eroi on June 16 before the England-Germany match. Police in the capital used tear gas, water cannon and batons to subdue rioters in the city centre. About 800 England fans were arrested and deported. Unlike the German authorities, the British had failed to prevent known offenders from travelling to the games.

Belgium knows what hosts, Poland and Ukraine are up against when fired-up fans take their beer-soaked fury, frustration and misdirected elation out on one another. This time, the culprits have been a multinational bunch: Russians attacking and injuring stewards in War-saw were fined €120,000; Croatian fans chanting rac-ist abuse and lighting flares landed the country’s football association with a €80,000 fine. And English fans, never to be left out of the action, were fined €5,000 for an at-tempted pitch invasion. By Cleveland Moffett

Celebrating 50 years

2012

Editeur Responsable /Verantwoordelijke uitgever: John Stuyck, A. Gossetlaan 30, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden. Opinions expressed in The Bulletin are those of the authors alone. For reasons of space, street names in Brussels are given only in their French version.

52 Visual Arts FlandersWe take a look at Manifesta 9 in Genk and the rest of the programme for Flanders’ summer of art

56 Mapping CyprusA new exhibition on the divided island of Cyprus opens at Bozar

60 14 DaysThe Bulletin’s cultural highlights for the fortnight ahead – in Brussels and beyond

68 FilmCinema reviews and recommendations

71 Property76 Classifieds80 Jobs

82 Capital LifeHarpist Maria Palatine opens her diary for The Bulletin

Contents

9 News In Brief

14 Didier Reynders in ChinaReportage from the foreign minister’s recent trip to the Far East

18 Jacques Deveaux The police chief – and author – shares his thoughts on crime and punishment

21 Your MoneyBuying a house in Belgium

24 The BrandWe profile Manutti, one of Belgium’s best-known outdoor furniture brands

25 Know-how Everything you need to know about travel insurance

27 Lifestyle In Brief

32 Love at First BiteAline de Gottal from cookware shop Pimpinelle shares her foodie favourites

34 Brussels beauty guideFrom the best tanning shops to the best facials, we help you get ready for the summer

38 Up my StreetOut and about in Evere

41 Behind the ScenesMusiekpublique

42 FocusWhere to book a last-minute holiday

44 TravelAll sorts of watersports in Zeeland

46 Digital

47 Community

Politics & Business

Culture & Events

Lifestyle & Community

2 3

p14 Didier Reynders p32 Tram Experience

p52 Art in Flanders

p30 Calavera

1

Cover story

5 THE BULLETIN

Belcrownlaan 23 | B-2100 Antwerp – BelgiumT +32-3-360 55 00 | T +32-2-772 34 87 | F +32 3-360 55 79

WWW.MOVING.GOSSELINGROUP.EU | MOVINGGOSSELINGROUP.EU

GOSSELIN MOVING, CONSTANTLY CARING

Gosselin Moving and Belgian chocolatiers have one thing in common: a reputation for quality above all else.

Just like that memorable fi rst bite of a Belgian chocolate, your fi rst contact with your dedicated Gosselin specialist will show you right away that all of your relocation needs will be handled fl awlessly.

Whilst the Belgians have spent decades refi ning their chocolates, Gosselin has more than 80 years of experience relocating people around the globe (or around the corner), immediately making everyone feel comfortable in their new surroundings.

The master Belgian chocolatiers are renowned for their extensive selection of delectable chocolates for every taste. Similarly Gosselin Moving, through its 48 offi ces, off ers a comprehensive à la carte menu of moving services for every type of relocation, removal and storage need.

We care for our clients like family and are always looking for that extra ingredient to make your move as smooth as possible.

Scan this QR code or check onwww.moving.gosselingroup.eu/bulletin for your exclusive off er!

Gosselin Moving ... savourthe excellence.

GOS008_TheBulletin_122x185_LE02.indd 1 3/02/12 14:46

Ready for your next career step? It’s time to invest in your talent!

Take our fast-track to high-management

Internationalise your career with outstandingprofessors from30 countries

Join a 40 years legacy of success

www.solvay.edu/general-management-programmesOr contact Asja Kamenica: +32 (0)2 650 38 94asja.kamenica@solvay.edu

Download our brochures & register to one of our info-sessions

MBA SOLVAY

1 or 2 years of high-level MBA learning

Career advancement programmeInternational Business Field Project

ACCELERATED MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME AMP

16 days of intensive immersion in management

Your entry point for MBA SolvayPrivileged access to MBA Solvay for all successsful AMP participants

EXECUTIVE MASTER IN MANAGEMENT(EMM/CEPAC)

9 months, case-study centered

With practical know-how in all major areas of managementIn a french speaking environment

120305-sbs-AMP-122x185.indd 1 5/03/12 10:20

J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

Politics& Business

BATTLE OF WATERLOO REPLAYED Exactly 195 years after Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, an army of 3,000 history enthusiasts from 18 countries squared up on the original site of the battlefield to replay the encounter. After two hours of re-enacting the slaughter of 9,500 soldiers through hand-to-hand com-bat and fusillades, Wellington’s men emerged victorious through the plumes of smoke.Meanwhile, the skeleton of a soldier, probably British and with the initials CB, has sur-faced two centuries after he was shot in the chest during the Battle of Waterloo. The remains were found when digging began for a new car park in Waterloo.

Living history

1

9 THE BULLETIN

10 POLITICS & BUSINESS THE BULLETIN

Percentage of the non-European women living in Belgium who are unemployedIn Numbers

64% 72.4%Increase in the cost of drinking water in Belgium

over the past six years

BELGIUM In Brief

Business

Economy to grow 0.6% this year

The Belgian economy is expected to grow 0.6 percent this year, according to the governor of Belgium’s National Bank, Luc Coene, far better than other Eurozone nations. He says Belgium will also meet its budgetary targets this year. Meanwhile, Belgium attracted 176 foreign investment projects in 2011, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2010, according to IBM Plant Location International.

GDF Suez to cut electricity production in Belgium

French utility company GDF Suez plans to cut its fossil-fuel-powered electricity production in Belgium by nearly 900 megawatts, closing three unprofitable units by September 2013, according to newspaper reports. Two gas units and one unit combining coal and biomass to produce electricity are reportedly to close as stricter environmental rules have led Belgium to raise taxes on fossil-fuel power stations.

Delay for Brussels wind farm listing

A planned deal involving a wind farm operator that would have resulted in Belgium’s first major stock market flotation in three years has been delayed, with the companies involved blaming the latest bout of uncertainty in financial markets. Belgium-based wind farm operator Electrawinds and a Frankfurt-listed acquisition company postponed their planned tie-up which would have resulted in the latter chang-ing its name to Electrawinds then seeking a listing in Brussels.

Bakery group to spend €80 million on upgrades

The Puratos Group will spend €80 million globally boosting its production capacity this year. It comes after a strong set of final results for 2011, with net sales up 11 percent to €1.21 billion. The Brussels-based firm, which offers products and application expertise for the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors, said it had achieved growth “in line with its long-term strategy”.

Brussels hotels book 5.9 million stays in 2011

Overnight stays in Brussels rose by 6.7 percent last year, with 3.2 million people staying in hotels for a total of 5.9 million overnight stays. Business travellers accounted for 53 percent of bookings.

POLICE

Judicial police chief suspended over forgery claims

The head of the federal judicial police of Brussels, Glenn Audenaert, has been suspended for four months over allegations he forged key documents. He is also accused of a breach of confidence for using the police database to look up confidential information for a businessman friend. The suspension – proposed by interior minister Joëlle Milquet and confirmed by justice minister Annemie Turtelboom – comes after Audenaert was questioned for 11 hours and his office was searched by Dendermonde authorities.

POLITICS

Temmerman to head WHO unit

Marleen Temmerman, the senator with the Flemish socialist SP.A, is set to leave Parliament in October to take over the World Health Organisation’s department of reproductive health and research in Ge-neva. She will also leave her directorship of the Women’s Clinic at the Ghent University Hospital, but she will maintain an associa-tion as a professor at Ghent University.

JUSTICE

‘Exorcists’ given nine-year sentences

Two self-pro-claimed exorcists have been handed nine-year sentenc-es by the Brussels Court of Assizes for the killing of Latifa Hachmi, 23. Four other defendants re-ceived suspended sentences. Latifa died at her home in Schaerbeek in August 2004 after being subjected to repeated violent attempts to exor-cise the devil using Islamic rituals.

TAXES

De Gucht tax probe

EU trade com-missioner Karel De Gucht has been accused of tax fraud by the Belgian authori-ties, who say he failed to declare the profit he made on the sale of shares of the Vista group on which tax was due. The authorities want De Gucht and his wife to pay tax on profits they made from selling shares, said to total €1.2 million in an operation dating from 2005. De Gucht insists he has done noth-ing wrong. Under Belgian law, his profits should be taxed if the shares were received in return for his work as a director.

Glenn Audenaert, head of Brussels’ federal judicial police

11 POLITICS & BUSINESS J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

Quoted

The predicted life expectancy of a Belgian in 2050, compared to 80 years in 2010

86 yearsPercentage of Belgians who receive invalidity benefit due to illness or disability

3.33%Facebook accounts in Belgium, almost half the population

4.6 million

Take to the streetsBrussels is an example of fine urban planning gone awry, says Kristof Dams

In 1903, the New York Times described Brussels as “one of the most artistic capitals in Europe”. The paper was more specifically referring to what was then known as municipal art (ie urban

planning and design). That’s right: there was a time when Brussels’ urban planning policies were seen as examples that others could learn from. That same year, former mayor Charles Buls, famed author of the urban planning classic L’Esthétique des Villes, embarked on a lecture tour across the US, explaining how it should be done.

What has happened since then? One hundred years of dramatically ill-informed decisions, it seems. The north-south rail link sliced the city in two. Popular neighbourhoods near Midi and North stations were flattened to make way for office districts. The lovely residential neighbourhood around the old Lambermont monastery was taken apart piece by piece and progressively replaced by a European quarter without style or vision. And finally: access roads were laid all around to take you from the main road straight to the Grand’Place.

Among the first to decide that enough was enough was The Bulletin. Scandalised by the fact that the Grand’Place served as a car park, this magazine called for a series of sit-ins in the early 1970s – which effectively helped rid the historic square of cars. Philosopher Philippe Van Parijs has always relished this story of ex-pat activism and has now decided to emulate it. Hence his Boulevard Anspach picnics, the first of which was a resounding success, with 2,000 people present and Brussels mayor Freddy Thielemans vowing to make the road car-free every Sunday afternoon during the summer.

But this is perhaps no more than a ‘city beach’-style symbolic measure meant to defuse the situation, which has been a major point on the agenda of liberal opposition party MR for a long time. Leading party member (and Brussels MP) Marion Lemesre, in a 2011 discus-sion in Brussels Parliament, cried out: “Yves Montand would have never sung J’aime me promener sur les grands boulevards here. Just look at the state they’re in, a real disgrace! The 1970s flower boxes serve as trash cans, tiles are coming loose, the plywood metro entrances are pitifully ugly... and there’s litter everywhere!”

Bearing in mind the increased competition of several major shopping malls in the works in the periphery and pressure from shop owners, MR will not opt for a low-traffic Brussels any time soon. PS, meanwhile, say they support the picnics, as they are in line with their own mobility policy. It seems that if you want to rid the grands boulevards of traffic, the ballot box (this autumn) is not the only way. But there is a proven stratagem: keep on picnicking!

Kristof Dams is a Ghent-based journalist and historian

Yes, there was a time when Brussels’ urban planning was seen as an example to learn from

On Belgium

FILM

Belmondo honoured in Brussels

French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (pictured above) has been awarded the medal of the Order of Leopold, one of Belgium’s most prestigious royal honours, at a ceremony in Brussels’ Bozar theatre. The 79-year-old – who has starred in 95 films during his 50-year career – was accompanied by friend and fellow actor Jean Dujardin, cur-rently filming in the capital, and his Belgian girlfriend, Barbara Gandolfi.

TRAFFIC

Belgium tops listing for traffic jams

Drivers in Belgium wasted an average of 55 hours stuck in traffic last year, the worst in Europe, according to a survey. The study, by traffic information company Inrix, places Brussels and Antwerp at numbers two and three in the list of most congested cities, only beaten by Milan.

“There is no miracle solution. We can’t just start building more roads; there are too many houses here for that”Flemish minister of mobility and public works Hilde Crevits, responding on Radio 1 to the study above that put Belgium at the top of the world’s most traffic-ridden countries

FINANCE

Dexia ‘time bomb’ could swell public debt

Bailed-out Dexia is a threat to the budgets of Bel-gium and France, likely needing yet another injection of taxpayers’ money that would further sink public finances, accord-ing to one of the bank’s former lawyers. Bernhard Ardaen, who spent 20 years at Dexia, has authored a book on the col-lapse called Time Bomb, saying its needs could even-tually swell Bel-gium’s public debt by €150 billion to 1.5 times its an-nual output. The Franco-Belgian group was rescued for a second time in three years last October. Already stripped of most of its businesses, it now faces a future as a hold-ing of bonds and loans, with state guarantees to prevent a Lehman-like collapse and domino effect.

22 POLITICS & BUSINESS THE BULLETIN

The Brand – Manutti

The great outdoorsWhat Belgium lacks in tropical weather, it makes up for in world-class outdoor furniture companies. We take a look at one of the biggestby emma firmin

Deerlijk-based Manutti brings the comfort of indoor living outside

23 POLITICS & BUSINESS J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

Where would entrepreneurs be without garages? The businesses born in the space where the car resides

reads like a who’s who of great ideas: Ap-ple, Google, Harley Davidson, Dyson. And although Manutti – the Belgian outdoor fur-niture company with the Italian-sounding name – has slightly more modest plans for world domination, its origins also lie in the informal engine room. In the 10 years since it started, Manutti has made the transition from local to global, with its products avail-able in more than 50 countries. In 2008 it made the move from oily to sleek, setting up a new headquarters and showroom in Deerlijk, near Kortrijk in West Flanders.

Manutti was founded by Stephane De Winter in 2002. The name is not only a “nod and a wink to Italian design” but also to his son, Manu. The company’s decade of activity reflects the growth of a sector that for many people used to mean a few mismatched deck-chairs on a patio. The idea of outdoor living – extending the interior living space into the great outdoors – has provided a new ‘room’ for designers, producers and consumers to fill. For De Winter, this evolution has been driven by people’s desire “to experience the same comfort outside as inside. They want to sit comfortably in their chair or sofa, have a table that fits their needs, accompanied by outdoor lighting, side tables and accessories. They want the whole picture.”

If you’re looking out at another grey, wet and windy day, it might come as a surprise that a Belgian company is one of the leading producers of high-end outdoor furniture, along with Tribù and Royal Botania, and international competitors such as Kettal, Barlow Tyrie and Gloster. But adaptability has been key to Manutti’s success in an in-dustry where regional markets are cooled not just by the economic climate but by equally variable natural elements. As De Winter explains, along with the aesthetics

of design, “the important thing that comes with outdoor furniture is that it must with-stand all weather and has to be maintenance-friendly.” Research and development (R&D), and in particular material innovation and related care products, have contributed significantly to the growth of the company.

“In the beginning Manutti offered [de-signs] in wrought iron and wicker and a couple of table collections. Over the years we introduced collections that made us stronger year on year: in 2006, for example, we had the San Diego collection that impressed the outdoor market because of its rattan-style weaving. Nobody [else] had a collection that looked like rattan but which actually consisted of synthetic fibres. But the real breakthrough for Manutti was in 2009, with the Zendo collection. We introduced it com-pletely in white, in Nautic imitation leather, like you also find on boats. We took a huge risk by launching this collection, it was new in the outdoor sector, but afterwards, luckily we could say that our instinct was right!”

That mix of intuition and innova-tion has also seen the company incorporate LED lighting into table design (Luna, 2011) and

when it comes to materials, De Winter is particularly excited about the development of new smooth, waterproof, anti-fungal fi-bres. De Winter, whose company has been one of the main proponents of modular outdoor seating concepts, also believes “a big challenge for the outdoor world is us-ing the right upholstery for the right frame, especially powder-coated and stainless steel frames. We are already working on this and hope to give the customer more and more tailor-made furniture, based on his or her specific needs.” Manutti now offers 53 collections, which use materials such as thermo-lacquered aluminium, ceramic and recyclable fabrics such as Batyline and for-est-managed teak which sees the company

work with Indonesian non-profit foundation Trees4Trees; as the company has grown, so have the needs of its customers. “We are a strong player on the residential market,” explains De Winter, “which in the begin-ning was our main focus. Two years ago we applied that knowledge to the contract sector and that effort has paid off: today the contract market represents thirty percent of our total turnover and we aim to raise it to fifty percent in 2013.”

De Winter’s career has taken the kind of meandering path that gives the sometimes derisive expression Jack-of-all-trades a posi-tive glow. His family owned a flax business, and as a youngster De Winter would help out. After completing his studies at night school, he, eventually ended up as an ac-countant for Verstraete-Hahn, a textile manufacturing company. Later on he joined Belgian furniture company Vincent Shep-pard, developing its brand abroad, where the successful introduction of outdoor versions of Lloyd loom chairs stirred his alfresco spirit.

And so to the garage. It wasn’t long before the company started testing the market. In 2002, Manutti showed its first products at spoga + gafa, a major garden trade fair in Cologne. Over the years it has participated in Maison & Objet in Paris and Singapore’s IFFS, while in 2010, Manutti made its first appearance at Milan’s Salone del Mobile and Interieur in Kortrijk. Presence at trade fairs is just one of the ways the company has steadily built up its global profile. Looking forward, Manutti is planning to increase its already impressive 400 points of sale, enhancing its international network of lo-cal dealers, agents and distributors. And despite the weather, De Winter identifies Belgium as the company’s biggest market, along with the Netherlands, France, Ger-many and other European countries. But Manutti has broad horizons and according to De Winter, the company is also “on

24 POLITICS & BUSINESS THE BULLETIN

the rise in countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, America, Canada, Russia and Dubai. In the future we hope to build up our brand recognition in these countries.” Asia, and in particular the contract markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China, are also becoming increasingly important.

Manutti proudly states that its products are ‘Made in Belgium’. Although it has production centres in the

Czech Republic, Indonesia and Poland, manufacturing, espe-cially that of tables, also takes place in Belgium. De Winter oversees an R&D team of five but brings together a mix of professionals with expertise in different fields. The com-pany has also collaborated with Belgian designers such as Jürgen Oskamp (Achilles & Latona collection, 2005), Bram Bollen (Liner collection, 2010) and Gerd Couckhuyt (Mood table collection, 2012), and sees collaboration as key to the company’s suc-cess. “In the future we certainly want to continue working with external designers to promote Belgian design on an interna-tional level,” says De Winter. Manutti also emphasises its flexibility and ability to respond to and anticipate the needs of its diverse buyers, and takes the step of road-testing its design before a panel of customers. Such exchanges can sometimes be more a monologue than a dialogue in real terms, but for Manutti the relationship is a

valuable strategy for both the direction of its designs and meeting the demands and desires of the market.

Manutti celebrates its 10th anniversary throughout 2012, under the name The Per-fect 10. “We are a Belgian company and for the birthday event we wanted to show to our customers from around the world that we have world-class talent here in Belgium,” says De Winter, when explaining why Ma-nutti asked 10 Belgian artists to create some-thing special for the company. The results include a cartoon by Herr Seele featuring

his famous character Cowboy Henk, a CD by DJ and musician Buscemi and something tasty from chocolatier Pierre Marco-lini. Contemporary artist Jean-Luc Moerman also joined the celebrations by taking part in a live performance at the com-pany’s stand at Milan’s Salone del Mobile in April, and will repeat the experience at Inter-ieur in October. Interieur is an ideal place for Manutti to come face to face with customers and geographically significant for

the company. As De Winter explains, “the south of West Flanders is an interesting re-gion because it’s an industrial area, you are in the heart of the textile business and there are also a lot of enterprising people. Unfor-tunately, the textile market has collapsed in the last couple of years and therefore they are looking for different markets. The outdoor market is one of them.”

FACTS & FIGURES• 2011 turnover: €15 million (up 25 percent on 2010)

• Four production sites: Belgium, Indonesia, Poland and Czech Republic

• 400 points of sale in 50 countries

• 400 employees

• 53 collections

www.manutti.com

Above left

One of Jean-Luc Moerman's special 10th anniversary designs for ManuttiAbove right

Manutti founder Stephane De Winter

J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

Lifestyle & Community

2

LES MIDINETTES Have you always wanted to make your own clothes, but don’t really know how to get started? Join Les Midinettes, near Place Boniface in Ixelles. This new couture cafe recently opened its doors, and has a couple of sewing machines available for anyone who’d like to give making their own clothes a go. From sewing a hem to creating a whole new outfit, everything is possible. Or if pret-a-porter is more your thing, Les Midinettes also sells hand-made clothing. In terms of design format, think cyber cafe, but with sewing machines in a retro-inspired interior instead of computers. Tempted? An hour behind one of the machines costs €8 to €10. Check website for avail-ability. 30 Rue Ernest Solvay, open from Monday to Friday, noon to 20.00; Saturday, 10.00 to 18.00. www.lesmidinettes.be

In stitches

27 THE BULLETIN

32 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY THE BULLETIN

LOVE AT FIRST BITEThe inside scoop on foodie favourites

Aline de Gottal In March, two years of hard work paid off for Aline de Gottal when she opened her picture-perfect shop Pimpinelle

on Brussels’ foodiest of all streets, Rue de Flandre. Former architect De Gottal has combined her eye for design with her sweet tooth, creating a three-in-one kitchen shop, cafe and culinary workshop. Her products are carefully selected following a few ground rules: no electronic gadgets; food books are fine, but no cookbooks. What you’ll find is unique, handcrafted kitchenware and tools that take traditional, durable materials and design them in some new way. When she’s not selling or serving, she brings in experts to hold workshops on art, photography and, of course, cooking.Pimpinelle, 57 Rue de Flandre 1000 Brussels, www.pimpinelle.be

“In the film, Peau d’Ane prepares a cake for her Prince Charming into which she slips a ring to let him know that his love is returned”

BAR

Les Pénates is a small bar near Place Flagey in Ixelles. I discovered it with two of my friends who live on the square. I love to stop by and sample one of their wide selection of wines out on the terrace or in the backyard. They also serve small meals to eat between drinks.

LES PÉNATES

42 Rue de Vergnies 1050 Ixelles www.lespenates.blogspot.com

33 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

RESTAURANT

La Caneva. It’s a small Italian restaurant in the centre of Brussels on Rue des Grands Carmes. There are only a few tables and it’s often fully booked, so you should really reserve. My favourite dish, hands down, is the ravioli with truffles. My boyfriend has been known to dream about this dish after a night there.

We say: This authentic Italian spot, tucked away behind the Grand’Place, might be less exotic than its neighbours Kokob and La Cantina Cubana, but it doesn’t want for cosiness. Picturesquely situated on a corner, with outside seating along an old cobblestoned alley, it’s a perfect place for a romantic evening of candlelight and great wine

LA CANEVA

9 Rue des Grands Carmes 1000 Brussels Tel 02.512.34.47

DRINK 

I have a lot of favourite beverages, but for the moment my favourite thing to drink during the day is Elixia organic lemonade with rose. It’s an artisanal lemonade sweetened with agave syrup and produced in France. We sell it at Pimpinelle. It comes in three flavours: rose, natural and orange blossom.

We say: Elixia is made by Faustin Girardet, a family-run French company that has been making lemonade since 1856. This carbonated drink is perfect for a sunny barbecue. For those looking for more of a kick, they also make a Faustin lemonade with wine

INGREDIENT

That is a difficult question! I would probably mention one product: the Alvenat colza oils produced in Wallonia by a group of people who are serious about making good products. There are many dif-ferent kinds, but my favourite is called Fleur de Serpes. It’s an infusion of thyme, cori-ander, paprika, shallots and juniper berries in colza oil. Drizzled over a salad or used to marinate fish, it is divine!

SHOP

Cuisinophilie in Paris is a tiny shop in the Marais where you can find plenty of vintage kitchen utensils. It’s a bit pricey, but the boutique is adorable. They sell egg beat-ers, coffee mills, old storage boxes, books, dishes, coffee pots, milk jugs, scales, old cake pans... the list goes on. And only manual utensils, which I love, of course!

CUISINOPHILIE

28 Rue du Bourg Tibourg 75004 Paris Tel +33.1.40.29.07.32

RECIPE

This would be the recipe for the ‘Cake of Love’ from the film ad-aptation of Peau d’Ane [known in English as The Magic Donkey or Once Upon a Time] with Catherine Deneuve. In the film, Peau d’Ane [the story’s princess heroine, beautifully named Donkey Skin] prepares a cake for her Prince Charming into which she slips a ring to let him know that his love is returned. It was my favourite film as a child. I must have watched it at least 100 times!

CAKE OF LOVE • 170g flour• 4 eggs• 200ml creamy milk• 100g sugar• 70g butter• ½ sachet yeast or sourdough yeast • 1 tsp honey• A pinch of salt• A ring for your true loveHeat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the flour in a mixing bowl, make a well and crack in the eggs. Mix in the milk and sugar. Add the butter, yeast, honey and salt. Knead and let it rest for 30 minutes. Grease a cake tin and add the dough. Bake for 40 minutes to one hour. Optional: While kneading the dough, you can add a ring to let your Prince or Princess Charming know that their love is returned

46 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY THE BULLETIN

DIGITAL Top technology

2

4

www.brusselskitchen.com Beautiful guide to eating and drinking around Brussels, in French and English www.brusselslife.be Trilingual guide on where to go and what to do in Brussels www.tebiki.be Advice on sustainable living, in Brussels, in English

Bookmarks the best of the web

1

3

2. EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

Western Digital My Passport Studio 2TB

Multiple terabytes of storage memory, for which you would have needed an entire bay of hard drives just five years ago, can now rest inside a single portable hard drive. Ameri-can manufacturer Western Digital delivers this incredible portable volume with its My Passport Studio 2TB, which also houses two FireWire ports for quick exchange of data with any computer or device, and has password protection. Price €420.www.wdc.com

4. DESKTOP PC

Toshiba LX830

Japanese computer maker Toshiba moved out of the desk-top PC market a decade ago, in favour of laptops. But now that tablets and smartphones have conquered the mobile space, the company is returning to stationary computers. Their new aim is to produce sleek high-quality home entertain-ment computers, like their new LX830: a desktop PC, televi-sion set, games console, video recorder and digital media library all in one box. Price €999.www.toshiba.com

3. HEADPHONES

Parrot Zik

French hardware maker Parrot embraced the design genius of Philippe Starck for a line of dig-ital picture frames and stereo speakers, and now the French designer has worked his magic on a set of headphones. The Parrot Zik boasts many recent technological innovations, with active noise cancelling and a touch-sensitive panel that enables you to switch tracks, adjust the volume and pause your tunes. Price €350.www.parrot.com/zik

1. DOCKING STATION

Samsung DA-E750

Every hardware maker is jumping on the sound-system bandwagon these days, and Korean manufacturer Sam-sung is no exception. Their new series of docking stations boasts a set of fibre-optic speakers, a built-in subwoofer and Samsung’s own Tube Amp technology, which ampli-fies your sound by throwing it into a tube-like echo chamber. Their flagship product is the DA-E750, built into a sleek wooden retro design. Price €699.www.samsung.com

52 CULTURE & EVENTS THE BULLETIN

Cathedral to industry: the Waterschei mining complex in Genk

53 CULTURE & EVENTS J UNE 29 - J ULY 12 2012

It’s a busy summer for those with a pas-sion for contemporary art. Across the region, events such as TRACK, Beaufort and Middleheim Museum 2012 (all un-

der the Visual Arts Flanders umbrella) offer stimulating snapshots of art today. The most prestigious event is Manifesta 9, as for the first time Europe’s only nomadic art exhibition comes to Belgium. Not to Brussels, Antwerp or Ghent, but to the little-known city of Genk, the Limburg community that had to reinvent itself following the closure of its coal mines at the end of the 1980s. The former mining complex, a frequently overlooked yet majestic site, was a deliberate choice for the event that changes location every two years. Manifesta is about reviving economic wastelands through cutting-edge culture. Pursuing the notion of coal as a source of cultural energy is typical of its vocation, which extends beyond Europe to the Far East and Africa.

The multicultural community of Genk has undergone a massive reorientation. Its industrial past centred on the black stuff, and tough, dirty underground work. It’s now looking towards an uncertain future that’s intrinsically linked to the past, something that struck Manifesta’s chief curator, the Mexican art historian Cuauhtémoc Medina, when exploring the region. In the surviving skeleton of the Art Deco main building of the Waterschei mine, Medina has initiated a complex dialogue between contemporary art, heritage and history. The exhibition is divided into these three sections, following

different paths, yet eventually entwining and coming together.

At first it is a confusing experience, but when the stories of the selected artists start to intermingle, common themes arise about society and social progress in a world re-ferred to as post-industrial – but is it really post-industrial? Manifesta 9 confronts its central narrative, ‘the Deep of the Modern’, by digging deep to answer questions about the need to constantly revolutionise in this period of industrial modernity.

“Those were the days,” says Freddy Machiels, 70, a former miner at the neigh-bouring site in Winterslag, now converted into the cultural centre C-mine. He is our host as we jump on the Subjective Bus Line, one of the many parallel events that recall the indus-trial heritage and everyday lives of miners. The old bus with vintage orange seats adds to the notion of taking a trip back in time, and Machiels provides colourful insights full of spirited nostalgia. He was one of the many locals interviewed by Grzegorz Klaman, a Polish visual artist keen to preserve the mine’s ‘hidden voices’. He runs a similar bus line in the grounds of the former Gdansk shipyard in Poland which gave rise to the Solidarity move-ment in 1980 under Lech Walesa. At another ‘bus stop’ is the visual art platform FLACC, where Klaman’s interviews with residents are broadcast on small television screens attached to the workers’ old lockers, symbolising the coming together of private and work lives.

It explains why the massive wall of old

tin boxes covered with photos and miners’ registration numbers is so effective and haunt-ing, even for Machiels. The boxes, selected by Medina, originate from another cathedral of industry, the former mining site of Grand Hornu in Wallonia, which now houses art museums. “The work of the French artist Christian Boltanski not only addresses the end of coal mining,” says Medina, “but also the end of industry as such.” Of course, that is a fake thesis if you look at what’s happening in China nowadays. “The idea of living in a post-industrial world is indeed very regional,” admits the curator. “This Eurocentric world-view is easily dispelled once you step out of the European zone.”

Medina has a special interest in artists who comment on the geographical displace-ment of industry. Photos of

large-scale Chinese urban development projects, credited to the Toronto-based artist Edward Burtynsky, are one exam-ple. The Chinafrica photo series by Paolo Woods, featuring a Chinese businessman with a black gardener cleaning a swimming pool and a Chinese businessman with black construction workers, illustrates better the socio-economic shifts in a globalised world and, above all, the human relationships they create.

In addition to exploring the history of min-ing coal, Manifesta 9 is concerned with the fragile relationships between people in a

Focus - Visual art

Digging deepAs the contemporary art biennial Manifesta 9 settles in the former mining site of Waterschei in Genk, we explore its new take on the confrontation between industry past and presentby tom peeters

54 CULTURE & EVENTS THE BULLETIN

social, economical and political context: those above ground, below ground, giving orders and obeying orders. One of the first artists Medina approached was fellow countryman Carlos Amorales. His Coal Drawing Machine, a plotter printer producing charcoal drawings, shows how manual labour has been replaced by machines. The drawings are deliberately devoid of human expression.

In the historical section of the exhibition there is an intriguing segment showing Russian communist propaganda about Russian miner Alexey Stakhanov, who

set an ‘all-union record’ in 1935 by digging 102 tons of coal in five hours and 45 minutes, when 6.5 tons was the norm. “Don’t forget, the most important working-class hero in the twentieth century was the coal miner,” explains Medina. “I wanted to incorporate images of personal cases and symbols, along with the statistics that were used by the gov-ernment to increase production.”

Oh!m1gas is an audiovisual installation by Ecuadorian artist Kuai Shen in which the frantic movement within a fire ant colony — including one gigantic hidden queen, some

large and bossy ant soldiers and a mass of small but busy worker ants cutting and trans-porting leaves — are registered via a needle and played on two record players. “There’s a reason I have put this installation in the former director’s office,” Medina explains. “It could be a metaphor for the social system. Ants live in a self-regulating structure that doesn’t depend on a central command. The reason the artist wants to crack that is precisely because of the almost utopian character of a system based on solidarity.”

Retired miner Machiels couldn’t quite un-derstand it; the noise hurt his ears, he said. But maybe that’s exactly who Medina is trying to reach. “There has to be a certain friction. We wanted visitors to leave their comfort zone. For the international audience, more at ease with the contemporary art section and less familiar with local history and heritage, it probably works the opposite way: they will be comfortable looking at the installation by the French collective artist Claire Fontaine, but the one about the Italian immigrant singer Rocco Granata, the son of a coal miner who worked in the Waterschei mine, is probably beyond their space of thinking.”

ESSENTIAL INFO

MANIFESTA 9Contemporary art (recent work by 39 artists), historical section and heritage section

Waterschei mine André Dumontlaan, Genk Until September 30 www.manifesta9.org

CURATORCuauhtémoc Medina CO-CURATORSKaterina Gregos, Dawn Ades

MORE ABOUT GENK AND LIMBURGwww.toerismelimburg.be

China Man by Edward Burtynsky

Installation by Claire Fontaine

Oh!m1gas by Kuai Shen

Coal Drawing Machine by Carlos Amorales

82 CULTURE & EVENTS THE BULLETIN

CAPITAL LIFE Your city, your agenda

My diary

Maria Palatine, 51, is a German harpist“Home is where my harp is,” you say on your website – what attracted you to Brus-sels? It was my love for Belgian glass artist and writer Bernard Tirtiaux. After having lived for two years in the countryside I thought it would be more useful for professional and social networking if I moved to Brussels. It’s true that this city vibrates with a multicultural and cosmopolitan atmosphere, and the people are friendly.

Is the success of harp-play-ing ‘new folk’ artists such as Joanna Newsom good publicity? Every harp player who finds means of expression beyond classical or folk music helps to make the instrument more accessible. I belong to the generation who have ‘freed’ the harp – one of the most feminine and sensual instruments – from the nostalgic clichés. I have al-ways felt this urge to stretch the stylistic limits of the harp. On my latest CD, I mix electronic with acoustic sounds; I oscillate between pop, folk and classical.

You teach the harp – do you dream of discovering young mini-Maria Palatines? Of course, through my harp les-sons I pass on the fruits of my own work history. Pupils from a professional background, especially, benefit from my openness towards different styles of music.

She by Maria Palatine is out nowwww.mariapalatine.com

THURSDAY JULY 12

HARP CENTRE BRUSSELS Never seen or touched a harp?

It’s time to visit this place – with no obligation to become a

harp player!188 Rue Théodore

Verhaegentel, tel 0495.27.83.65 www.harpcenterbrussels.com

WEDNESDAY JULY 11

L’IDIOT DU VILLAGE If you want to mark the middle

of the week with a romantic dinner, this is the place to go

19 Rue Notre-Seigneur

SUNDAY JULY 8

CATHEDRAL OF SAINT-MICHEL AND GUDULE Whether or not

you’re a Catholic, it’s a must to experience Mass here, if only

for the sound of the organParvis Sainte-Gudule, www.

cathedralestmichel.be

THURSDAY JULY 5

SAINT-GILLES MARKET This very cosy market takes place in the afternoon and, on Thurs-day afternoons, it has a stall with organic seasonal produceParvis de Saint-Gilleswww.bioguide.be/marches

SATURDAY JULY 7

CHÂTEAU DE SENEFFE Always worth a trip, with the opportu-nity to see outdoor exhibitions in noble surroundings7-9 Rue Lucien Plasma, Seneffe www.chateaudeseneffe.be

FRIDAYJUNE 29

COULEUR CAFÉ Two acts in particular interest me this year, among the many artists play-ing at the festival: Imany and Erykah BaduTour & Taxiswww.couleurcafe.be

SATURDAYJUNE 30

PLACE DE BETHLEHEM A good tip for a sunny day, with its beach-party atmosphere, playgrounds and open-air restaurants serving good food at reasonable prices.

TUESDAY JULY 3

WATER FOR ALL Exhibition about water, which has become one of my passions; it is a beau-tiful and inspiring elementAtomium, Square de l’Atomium www.atomium.be/eau

There will be no Brussels International on TV Brussel over the summer break. But don’t forget to tune in again at 18.15 on September 2 for the next programme, and you can watch previous episodes online at www.tvbrussel.be

The Water for All exhibition at the Atomium