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Last weekend, the Brussels Jazz Marathon kicked off a new season of Belgian jazz festivals. Here’s my shortlist:
6-7 June 2008: Jazz à Liège- You certainly should go see Abdullah Ibrahim perform on Saturday. I think of him as a landscape artist, using his sound to picture the most imposing sceneries. And he does all this with the ever gentle resoluteness of a down-to-earth tai chi master.
10-13 and 17-20 July 2008: Gent Jazz Festival- Top of the bill in the pure jazz section are Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Diane Krall and Wayne Shorter. In the fusion confusing section you’ll find Erykah Badu, The Neville Brothers, CocoRosie and many others.
14-17 August 2008: Jazz Middelheim – My personal favorite (see How to Spell Belgium – Part I). I’m looking forward to hearing Jef Neve perform with his Groove Thing. And it’s always a pleasure seeing Belgium’s only living jazz legend Toots Thielemans (he’s 86!) on stage again.
2-5 October 2008: Jazz Brugge - It focuses on European jazz, offering a colourful cocktail of styles and influences, ranging from free jazz to Hungarian folk music. Not all of it my cup of tea, but when consumed in moderation it proves to be highly enjoyable.
Have a jazzy summer!
I’m currently working on a public access policy for the Mechelen archaeology service: sharing information about what we do, why we do it, where you can find us… and where we all come from.
I guess you could say, why bother? Does archaeology really need a public? Shouldn’t we just focus on our scientific duties. Every minute spent dealing with them visitors -be it nose picking kids on a school trip or know-it-all seniors with too much time on their hands- is a minute lost. Or isn’t it?
When archaeological research is financed with public money, it’s no surprise that archaeologists are franticly looking for public support to justify their work. This certainly would explain why exhibitions are held showing the latest finds, why archaeological sites are open to the public and why once in a while we all dress up as cave dwellers, Roman legionaries or medieval monks.
But now in Flanders, the northern (Dutch-speaking) part of Belgium where Mechelen is situated, an increasing part of the archaeological research is being financed by private partners, as a result of the principles of the Valletta Convention slowly seeping into the Flemish heritage policy. These guys in suits aren’t paying us because they’re interested in the protection of our heritage. No, they pay us because the government says so. Their only concern is to sell as much as possible of whatever they’re selling: shoes, cars, vacuum cleaners… anything. They just had the misfortune of planning their new factory or distribution centre on top of an archaeological site nobody even knew about… except for them pain-in-the-*ss archaeologists.
So, I repeat the question. Why bother? Well… in my opinion archaeological research, heritage policy and public access are all interconnected, inseparable, even in the case of privately funded research. In fact, the one is fueling the other. Public access provides the necessary broad basis for a heritage policy. In its turn, this policy -when put into effect by the government- creates a steady stream of new research opportunities. And at the end of the line (and the beginning of a new one) the results of this research are eagerly absorbed by an ever growing crowd of archaeology aficionados. And who knows, among them may even be some guys in suits.
This is a follow-up to Culture Morte.
The Fond des Trottes trail (n° 34) follows the banks of the Ourthe river. Heading in western direction and hearing the low murmuring sound of the river at our left, we found ourselves walking at the foot of a steep cliff. The cliff is in fact one side of a rather narrow promontory overlooking the Ourthe valley. At one point the cliff became less steep. Here we left the Fond des Trottes trail and followed the trail called Porte Aïve (n° 23) uphill towards the triangular plateau.
The place is called Ti-Château. It used to be an Iron Age hill fort/Roman campsite, on two sides protected by the steep cliffs of the promontory and cut of from the rest of the plateau by an earthwork. As we explored the plateau, I immediately recognised the remains of the earthwork consisting of two parallel ditches. Traces of human activity on this site even go back as far as the Neolithic. The site is protected by law since 1962.
In Belgium and France this type of hill fort is called an “éperon barré”. They are common in the south of Belgium and in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, but as far as I know there’s only one example of this type of Iron Age fortification in the north (Dutch-speaking part) of Belgium: the Kesselberg, just a few km/mi west from where I live. It’s situated on the far end of a fossilized sandbank (see Home Sweet Home). Here also a part of the earthwork still exists.
Remains of the Iron Age defensive earthwork at Kesselberg, Belgium
Presenting my mum and dad’s specialty! They own a butcher’s shop and produce a wide range of traditional meat products, one of them being the famous blood sausage. It’s known all over the world, especially in Europe: in France they call it boudin noir, in Germany it’s Blutwurst, in the U.K. and Ireland you can have black pudding for breakfast… Its origins lie in traditional slaughter, utilizing every single part of the animal and certainly not wasting its very nutritious (lots of proteins, minerals and vitamins) but perishable blood.
What’s really astonishing is the vast variety of recipes for making blood sausage. It seems every country, every little region has its own traditional recipe. The basic recipe for blood sausage uses only blood, seasoning and a filler. Most often pig’s blood is used. Bread, barley, rice, oatmeal, buckwheat or even sweet potato can serve as a filler. In Western Europe the seasoning is rather limited, but in both Southern and Eastern Europe some very typical spices are used, e.g. in Hungary I once tasted a delicious little sausage made with blood, rice and lots of sweet paprika powder. Sometimes even ingredients like raisins, onions or pine nuts are added.
My dad’s recipe is fairly simple. The recipe was passed on by his grandparents, so it really has been in the family for quite some time now. It contains fresh pig’s blood, cooked pork and rind, stale bread and some spices. The cooked meat is minced and then mixed with the other ingredients into a dough. The natural sausage casings (outer lining of the pigs intestines) are stuffed with this dough and finally the sausages are slowly cooked at low heat.
In Belgium and France, the traditional way of eating blood sausages is gently browned in butter and served with applesauce. Instead of using applesauce, my mum serves them with baked apples. She cores the apples and cuts them in half, bakes them in a pan with some lard and finally adds a few tablespoons of brown sugar and a cup of coffee, creating a sweet caramel sauce. It’s the balance between the mineral flavour of the sausage (because of the blood’s high iron content) and the sweet and sour taste of the apples that makes this dish so great.
Although by many regarded as a rather dull and old fashion product, the blood sausage is making its comeback in Belgian cuisine, e.g. I ate it once in a Michelin star restaurant where it accompanied a fillet of rabbit and a well seasoned pumpkin mash. Heavenly! The sweet and sour of the pumpkin worked perfectly with the sausage and the blood sausage in its turn gave the rabbit a little taste of the wild. A part of our culinary heritage restored! Bon appétit to you all!
1st Edition, May 2008
N – Neuhaus: Inventor of the Praline (1912), the famous Belgian chocolate delight with its creamy filling and thin chocolate coating. I must confess, I’m a bit of a chocoholic myself.
O – Olympic Games, 2008 Beijing: To boycott or not to boycott, that’s the question. While our politicians are still making up their minds, our athletes are busy doing their warm-ups.
P – Pastry, on Sunday: In Belgium most bakeries are open on Sunday morning, selling fresh pastries, sweet pies and crispy rolls. Hmm… very tempting! And the bakery is right next door.
Q – Quote: Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003), Belgian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize Chemistry 1977: “The future is uncertain… but this uncertainty is the very heart of human creativity”.
R – Rock Werchter: Music festival, held every year in the little village of Werchter (Belgium), received in 2008 the ILMC Arthur Award for Best Festival for the fourth time in five years.
S – Surrealism: Painter René Magritte is Belgium’s best know surrealist (Ceci n’est pas une pipe), but I’m convinced that all Belgians by nature carry a chunk of surrealism within themselves.
T – Tintin: Comic book hero Tintin (a young Belgian reporter who’s adventures started in 1929) and his creator Hergé are known all over the world. Their albums are translated in over 50 languages.
U – UFO Sightings: On several occasions in 1989 and 1990 all across Belgium people reported having seen a UFO. The sightings where confirmed by radar stations and chased after by F-16s.
V – Vineyards: As a result of global warming, Belgian wine making is now a growing business. The Hageland and the Hesbaye region are producing mostly white wines, some even with AOC label.
W – War: Many battles were fought on Belgian soil: Napoleon’s Waterloo in 1815, the Ypres Salient during WW I (In Flanders Fields…), the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Offensive) during WW II… probably making Belgium Europe’s number one battlefield.
X – Xenophobia: The success of the extreme right-wing anti-immigrant Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party resulted in the widespread idea that Belgians are inhospitable and xenophobic.
Y – Youth delinquency: We’ve seen an increase in juvenile delinquency, from throwing rocks to even stabbing a student for his MP3 player. Why the f*ck are all these kids so f*cked up?
Z – Zaventem: Village where Brussels Airport is situated, which in the past few years was proclaimed several times as Best Airport in Europe. My number one gateway to the rest of the world.
1st Edition, May 2008
A – Africa: King Leopold II and the Belgian Government colonised the Congo until 1960. That’s why many Belgians still feel somehow connected to Central Africa, e.g. through a relative who worked there as a missionary or an entrepreneur.
B – Beer: It’s not the amount being consumed but the large variety of beers (1000+) that makes Belgium a top beer country. My personal favourite: Orval, brewed in a Trappist monastery.
C - Caterpillar: In summer the poisonous hairs of the Oak Processionary Caterpillar are causing a new and growing public health problem. Should have something to do with climate change.
D – Damien, Father: Was voted De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian) in 2005. Since the Vatican in 2008 attributed two miracles to him, he’s just one step away from canonization.
E – Expo 58, 50th Anniversary: The first major world’s fair after WW II was held in Brussels (Belgium) in 1958 and ushered in a new and promising era of progress, wealth and comfort.
F – Fashion: Since the 1980s, Belgium plays a distinctive roll in the international world of fashion, with designers as Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons and Véronique Branquinho.
G – Government: Due to major disagreements between the Dutch- and the French-speaking parties after the latest general election (June 10, 2007), Belgium was left without a Federal Government. The situation continued for months, until December 23 (2007) when an interim Government was formed. A new Federal Government came into office on March 20, 2008.
H – Health care: While struggling to meet the future demands of an ageing society, Belgium still has one of the best health care systems in the world. To me, there’s no better place to fall ill.
I – Iguanodon: Skeletons of this dinosaur genus are on display at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Discovered in 1878 in a coal mine near the village of Bernissart, Belgium.
J – Jazz Middelheim: This open air jazz festival is set in a beautiful park near the Antwerp city centre. Lots of (inter)national artists, a lush green backdrop and a super relaxed atmosphere!
K – Kermis: Originally the feast of the patron saint of the local church, now a travelling funfair with a merry-go-round, air rifle shooting, fishing rubber ducks and lost of French Belgian fries.
L – Lighting, Street: No country has as much street lighting per sq km as Belgium. Astronauts are reporting a bright Belgium shaped spot when they look at earth through their spacecraft window.
M – Mechelen: Situated between Brussels and Antwerp. The city where I currently work and one of Belgium’s best kept secrets. The historic city centre with its St. Rumbold Cathedral, 16th century city palaces and lots of cosy corners is certainly worth a visit.
I’m still recovering from surgery (now four weeks ago). About ten years have passed since I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. At that time I was graduating university with a dissertation on the topography of Roman rural settlement in the Campine and the Hesbaye region, Belgium. It was pretty hectic, feeling sick or tired most of the time and having to cope with the pressure of finishing my dissertation. But I made it! I got my master’s degree in 1998. In the summer of 1999 I ended up being hospitalised for a week with bowel (sub)obstruction. As a result, my doctor began treating my Crohn’s with immunosuppressives. With very good results! I was feeling better than ever. That is, until November 2007 when I was hospitalised for a second time with the same problem as before. After a third stay in the hospital, only three months later, the doctors decided that surgery was the best option for me. They performed a right hemicolectomy, removing part of my colon.
So here I am, still feeling a bit weak, but getting stronger day by day. The wound is healing nicely, although leaving a bit of a nasty scar. But I don’t mind. I’ll carry it with pride!
This postcard dates from the 1920′s. It shows the little village of Holsbeek, Belgium. Marked with a red circle is the house I currently call my home. Amazing how much history got packed together in this one picture. In the middle you see the church of St. Maurus. The church was destroyed on December 28, 1944 (during World War II) by a German V1 flying bomb, but was soon after rebuilt. The five cent stamp shows a picture of King Albert I (1875-1934) who died in a climbing accident in Marche-les-Dames, Belgium (Ardennes region). The hilly terrain you see appearing in the distance, as well as the hill the photographer was standing on when he took this picture, are in fact the remains of a series of sandbanks left here by a prehistoric sea arond five million years ago. In between lies the Winge valley, known for its Early Mesolithic sites dating from about 9500 BP. The house you see in front, the one with the little dormer, used to be a corn mill. The mill also produced electricity for street lighting. The house I’m living in used to be a pigsty… and honestly, from time to time it still looks like one.
While studying historical landscapes, it’s fascinating to see how man succeeded in taming the natural forces that surround us. During the Middle Ages in Europe man built large dikes to defend his village or city from devastating floods. He planted trees and hedges in order to prevent sand dunes from shifting and swallowing his arable land. Not only was he able to protect himself from these forces, he also learned to use them for his own benefit, e.g. constructing water- and windmills and later also hydro-electric stations, solar panel fields… Nowadays, man has even gained control over the weather, shooting silver iodide and dry ice into our atmosphere for cloud seeding. However, the only natural force he never learned to tame is the one we call TIME. Although rarely regarded as a force (certainly not in physics), this photo clearly shows the real potential of time.
It was taken on a day trip in March 2007 in the village of Hotton, situated in the south of Belgium. We followed the trails called Fond des Trottes n° 34 and Porte Aïve n° 23, and stumbled upon this old signpost. The sign indicated that the trail we were following lead to the Voie des Morts, or in English: the Trail of the Dead. Spooky! Anyway, I’m lucky to be alive to tell the story. To be continued…
