Belgicum - Stephan Vanfleteren (Fotomuseum, Antwerp,16-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This exhibit has been such a success already that it has been prolonged un till February the 10th 2008. So you still have some time to visit it and you should visit it if you have a chance!

These pictures show you Belgium in all it's uniqueness, beauty, ugliness, weirdness, sadness. They show you (part of) the soul of Belgium.
Every-one should just go and watch them! Or buy the book and enjoy them at home ;-)

http://www.fotomuseum.be/

In The Name of God (Leuven, 8-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

An exhibit about 1000 years of monastic tradition in Europe.
Several (former) convents in Europe have joined hands to make this exhibit and I think it will still travel to other countries. Here in Belgium it ends tomorrow.

It's a fun exhibit, especially for people who don't know much about convents. Expect a lot of easy to read information and interactive "games" but not a lot of art and objects.
I especially loved the animation movie of a day in the live of a medieval novice.

You can still enjoy the site even if you won't be able to see the exhibit here: http://www.ingodsnaam.com/EN/ingodsnaam.html

National Genever Museum (Hasselt, 7-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

A must see in Hasselt! Not only is this a great old industrial building but it's also an interesting museum ànd the only steam distillery in Europe which is still in use!

We were mainly here to see the exhibit "The wise man and the fool" about Alchemism. There are always small exhibits in this museum that have something to do with the (history of) genever or distilling. This was a pretty cool exhibit with some great pictures of alchemistic laboratories and such.
The museum itself is of course very cool if you like old industrial buildings. And we love them so we totally enjoyed it ;-)

It's not a very expensive museum and the best thing: you get to taste one free genever. You can of course also buy whole bottles of this elixir here ;-)
Check the site: http://www.hasselt.be/index.php?lang=en&rO=1

The Hedgehog (De Egel)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Restaurants
Cuisine:	Irish
Location:	Hasselt (Zuivelmarkt, opposite z33)

Best sandwiches ever! And quite cheap too! And their scones are delicious as well ;-)

http://www.kaffee-de-egel.be/

SLOW (Z33, Hasselt, 7-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

If you are in Hasselt or close to it this is a real must see. The exhibit is called "SLOW" because it's about looking differently and "slower" at art. That may sound a bit conceptual but the works are really a very visually exciting kind of meditation.
Our favourite is a mirror-room (yes walls ànd ceiling ànd floor) with a "relaxing" video with flower-like colourful images and different sounds and noises. It's great to be surrounded by yourself and all these colours!

Check it out: http://www.z33.be/#page=home

Pears on Beeches (Stadsmus, Hasselt, 7-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Or the original title in Dutch: Peren op de Beuken. An exhibit about the Dutch/Belgian/German writer Hendrik van Veldeke and his time (1130-1230).
The 12th century was a great time for European art and literature and in this exhibit you can see a nice part of that.

Veldeke translated and rewrote several classic stories in the language of the region (Diets). He also wrote a lot of songs. Sadly not many of his original manuscripts have survived. Most of his work has survived as German translations.
If you can read Dutch and/or German it's really worthwhile to read some of his texts because they are really well written and also quite funny.

The exhibit is fabulous and exciting. It's not very big but it looks exquisite, the information is interesting and you get to see some unique objects. Our favourite is a German translation of the Story of Aeneas which looks just like a medieval comic.

There are several exhibits and other events around the person of Veldeke this year in the region (Limburg) because he used to live and work here. If you are interested in (Dutch) literature and Middle Ages you should celebrate Veldeke
Visit http://www.vivaveldeke.eu/ (site available in Dutch, French and German).

P.S. if you want to know what "Pears on Beeches" means you should visit the exhibit ;-p
Or ask me nicely of course ;-)

The Hives (Brussels, AB, 2-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

The Hives are brilliant! Ten stars easily! Wow they are so great! And so good-looking! There are not enough words in this world to describe their greatness!!
Am I overreacting? No never! I just wouldn't dare to say anything else or the band might come round and make me dance and clap un till I die ;-p

Ok seriously: The Hives are indeed a great live band with very enjoyable songs and terrific stamina. I've never seen a singer with more energy so I'm really wondering what his secret is...
If you like their music you should definitely see them some time!

The Hives were supported by two bands one of which was boring (and I forgot the name) and the other (Quit your dayjob) was pretty good, really weird and also Swedish.

The city and its fine surroundings (Brussels, 2-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

(Van 't stadt en schoone buytens/De la ville et ses plaisantes campagnes)
A look at Brussels and the surrounding areas in the 18th century.

A nice small exhibit with great drawings in the town hall. It's a great exhibit for every-one who knows Brussels and it's surroundings.

With the same ticket you can also visit the Museum of the City (just opposite the town-hall). That particular museum has all the outfits for Manneken Pis so it's a must see for tourists but it's good fun for any-one else too ;-)

Brilliant Europe (Brussels, 2-12-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Another Europalia Europa exhibit!

800 years of jewellery history in Europe. Definitely brilliant!
Almost all pieces are exquisite. Ok, some are a bit over the top but most are masterpieces of craftsmanship. And they often have an interesting history too.
The information is worth reading so it's a great exhibit for the eye and the mind.

You really don't have to like jewellery much to enjoy this exhibit so check it out!
It ends 17-2-2008 so you still have some time ;-)

Cornelis Kiliaan (Fabiolazaal, Antwerp, 25-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Cornelis Kiliaan (1530-1607) was a Humanist who wrote the first Dutch dictionary. He came from a city quite near Antwerp and Mechelen called Duffel (also known from the Duffel coat; check your dictionary if you don't know what that is!). He used to work for the famous Antwerp printer Plantin-Moretus.


If you are interested in words, (Dutch) language, books, dictionaries and the 16th century this a great exhibit for you! It's quite interesting and looks beautiful.
Oh and if you show your library-card you get a reduction on the entrance fee ;-)


Info at: http://www.corneliskiliaan.be/?q=node/15 and http://www.provant.be/kalender/vrije_tijd/cultuur/cultuurhuizen/koningin_fabiolazaal/kalenderitem_kon_fabiolazaal_k.jsp

Samson & Delilah (Rockox-house, Antwerp, 25-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

The painting of Samson&Delilah (see pic) was made for Nicolaas Rockox, major of Antwerp, by Rubens and now it has finally returned to it's original place!
The painting is the possession of the National Gallery in London but they have kindly loaned it to this museum for their 30th anniversary.
It's one of Rubens' greatest works and it's definitely more at place in Rockox's room.
I think we should just keep it ;-)

If you want to see this painting live check: http://www.rockoxhuis.be/html/rockox_e1.html
You can visit un till 10-2-2008.

Flemish Primitives in Reflection (Antwerp, 25-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Small interactive exhibit about David Hockney's theory on the use of optical aids in 15th century art.

It has ended already but it may travel to other locations. Check out http://www.ha.be.

Read about the theory: http://www.davidhockney.com/

Dez mona + support: Kris Dane (24-11-2007, Mechelen)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

http://www.krisdane.com/
http://www.dezmona.com/

Two brilliant performances in a perfect setting. If you want to have an idea of the music and how it looked on the stage you'd better check the sites. The images will tell you everything I cannot put into words.

Interpol (Vorst National, Brussels, 23-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

Mmm this is not any easy one to give stars: I love this band, I love their songs, I love their sound so they would easily get 6 stars or more. But sound was just THE problem this time: the sound is never really good at Vorst but this time it really sucked! Which is weird because the sound was ok during Arcade Fire and they have ten people with many instruments on the stage which must be more difficult to mix into a decent sound....

Interpol gave a really good performance, the set was great and I've had many shivers running down my spine but because of the bad sound it was never as good as Werchter.

Their special guest Blonde Redhead is pretty great too but they also didn't sound as good as they could've because of the sound.

Ah well, we did have a great time but I don't think I'll ever go to another Interpol concert in Vorst National. I'll just wait un till they play somewhere with a more decent sound ;-)

Formatting Europe (Royal Library, Brussels, 23-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Another Europalia Europa exhibit.

This one shows 10 centuries of maps of Europe from the collections of the Royal Library of Belgium. And it's free!
If you are interested in maps this is a definite must see because there are some real beauties in the exhibit. You can visit un till 8-2-2008.

When we we're there there was also another free exhibit about critical hagiography (=> stories about the lives of saints) which was very interesting. There were some really beautiful illuminated books there. This exhibit has ended but there may be a new one soon.
Check out the site of the library: http://www.kbr.be/ (Dutch and French!)

There are also some really interesting virtual exhibits on the site: http://www.kbr.be/actualites/expos/virtuelles/virtuelles_nl.html

Municipal Archive Brussels (23-11-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

For every-one who doesn't know or remember: I work in the municipal archive of Antwerp.... and I took this day off from work to visit: another archive! Please don' tell my colleagues ;-p

We had never been to this archive yet so the exhibit about city lights (Du Halo au Reseau / Zicht op Licht) was a great excuse to check it out.
The outside building doesn't look that impressive but the entrance looks terrific. Lots of old wood and ironwork; nice and dusty looking.

The exhibit was great too: nice old pictures, posters, drawings, etc. etc.
For me it's always fun to see the kind of documents I see at work on a daily basis in another context. A nice thing for every-one who doesn't work in an archive are the old drawings of streetlights which look so much nicer than most do nowadays!
And after all: the lights are just what a makes a city a great city. But maybe I'm biased because my granddad used to work for Philips (see pic) and used to show me the many lights of his city with much pride ;-)

Check out the archive (in French and Dutch): http://www.brucity.be/artdet.cfm?nLanguage=2&id=4610

The Stranglers (22-11-2007, Mechelen, Stadsschouwburg)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

I'm pretty sure most of us know The Stranglers even-though not every-one may be aware of it. They've made some very well-known classics in the (late) 70's / 80's like "Always the Sun", "No more Heroes", "Strange little Girl" and of-course "Golden Brown".
They were actually considered punk in those days even-though you can here more blues/jazz/classical influences in their songs than in most punk-bands I've ever heard.

We've always loved their songs so it was a great opportunity to see them so close to home. As the concert was in a playhouse with seats we kind of expected a playhouse-audience: quiet, older, well-dressed and frankly a bit boring. But we were surprisingly mistaken!
The playhouse-audience was there all-right but the band had also attracted their own very drunk British Stranglers fan-club. They were standing and shouting even before the band began playing. During the show they tried to sing along with most songs, especially one guy (the most pissed one) and to which one of the Stranglers remarked: "Many people who follow us around tell us they could be in a band too but YOU bloody well couldn't!".

The friendly banter between the band and their drunk but good-natured fans made this a very funny and special performance. The band was clearly having a lot of fun also joking about the fact that Belgium doesn't have a government and things like that. They played extremely well too (even-though the percussionist had the "shits" as another band-member kindly told us, hehe).

So if you ever have a chance to see this band live you should just try it because I'm sure you'll have a great time!
Check out who they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranglers
Their official site: http://www.stranglers.net/

Oh and for all the native English speakers: try to pronounce Stadsschouwburg. The band tried it and it was very funny for us Dutch speakers ;-)