A NEW FACE AT WORK

A NEW FACE
AT WORK
LIèGE DESIGN BIENNALE
TAKING OFF
CHARLEROI
AEROPOLE
Wallonia’s
champion
cheesemakers
magazine
autumn 2012
RECIPROCITY
CONTENTS
Editor Sarah Crew
Deputy editor Sally Tipper
Reporters Marie Dumont,
Stephanie Duval, Andy Furniere, Ed Morrison
Art director Paul Van Dooren
Managing director Hans De Loore
AWEX/WBI and Ackroyd Publications
Philippe Suinen – AWEX/WBI
Marie-Catherine Duchêne
AWEX, Place Sainctelette 2
1080 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: 00.32(0)2.421.85.76
Fax: 00.32(0)2.421.83.93
email: [email protected]
Cover Design Liège
director Giovanna Massoni
Design City
The buzz word in design today is connection: an object needs to be present
in our daily lives and also tell a story. In the garden shower pictured above,
Danny Venlet reveals his Australian childhood, a freewheeling laidback
spirit that infuses all his work. The Brussels-based designer’s playful object
is one of 60 designs whittled down from 400 proposals for the Memorabilia
exhibition at Liège’s design biennale.
Renamed Reciprocity to reinforce the notion of connectivity by new director
Giovanna Massoni (featured on our cover), the event links with the local
community, school kids and the international design world.
With connectivity the key theme to the ardent city’s bid to host 2017’s international Expo, there is no better time to redefine Liège’s flagship design
event and further propel Wallonia and Brussels on to the global map.
 WWW.DESIGNLIEGE.BE
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
04 THE BIG PICTURE
Namur rolls out the red carpet
06NEWS
Headlines from the region
08BUSINESS
Colingua’s translators spread the word
10INNOVATION
On the ball with Keemotion
12
12PROFILE OF A CITY
A portrait of Charleroi
14INVESTMENT
Sirris shapes the future of prototypes
18
18FILE
Design Liège – new name, new direction
20 HOME AND ABROAD
Two successful expat chefs
24 GASTRONOMY
The best of the region’s cheese
26 PANORAMA
28
Dinh Van’s very special effects
28 DESIGN
coCreationcamp founder Alok Nandi
30 AGENDA
l’air du temps sang hoon degeimbre
Autumn festivals, music and art
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
3
WORK
THE BIG PICTURE
It takes two
4
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
T
ango Libre opened the 27th
edition of the International
Francophone
Film
festival
(FIFF) in Namur to critical and public
acclaim. Directed by Brussels-born
Frédéric Fonteyne, the film completes
the trilogy focused on women and love
following Une liaison pornographique
and La Femme de Gilles. Fonteyne’s
fourth feature was awarded the Special
Orizzonti Jury Prize at the Venice Film
Festival in September.
Argentinean tango is the backdrop to
this beautifully acted drama, the story
of a prison guard, two inmates and
Alice, the woman they all desire, played
mesmerizingly by Anne Paulicevich,
who shares credit for adaptation and
the excellent dialogue with Philippe
Blasband. The increasingly tangled web
of relationships advances to its climatic
end to the cadence of this sultry dance.
Tango Libre goes on general release in
Belgium on November 7.
FIFF’s annual celebration of Frenchlanguage cinema from around the
world is a premier platform for
francophone film-making. With 160
films, international competitions, a
spotlight on Belgian films and stellar
guests from the silver screen, it lives up
to its reputation as Wallonia’s eminent
movie extravaganza.

WWW.FIFF.BE
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
5
WORK
NEWS
Colsaerts helps
Europe to Ryder
Cup triumph
In one of the most remarkable comebacks in
the history of golf’s most prestigious tournament, Europe narrowly defeated their
American rivals at Medinah Country Club in
Chicago. Rookie Nicolas Colsaerts tweeted
to his thousands of followers that it was “the
most amazing week of my life”.
IGRETEC
The 29-year-old from Brussels produced the
finest opening round by a rookie in European
Ryder Cup play when he almost singlehandedly beat Americans Tiger Woods and Steve
Stricker. But the home side took the lead and
maintained it until the final day of the 39th
competition, on September 30. Colsaerts
was unable to repeat his remarkable opening performance but his team under captain
José María Olazábal pulled off what is now
known as the Miracle of Medinah as Europe
won by the narrowest of margins: 14.5-13.5.
Charleroi airport valued at €520m
The company that manages Charleroi airport, BSCA, has been valued at €300 million plus
€220 million for its investments in infrastructure, according to a study by BNP Paribas bank.
The bank based its figures on past, present and predicted future results. It has taken into
account the airport’s development plans until 2024, when BNP forecasts that 14 million passengers will use the airport, as well as expected growth in the European and global aviation
market. But, it said, to achieve this growth, the airport, currently at saturation point, would
need continual investment. An extension to the terminal and parking for additional aircraft
is already planned, and car parks have been extended. The airport, which specialises in lowcost flights, is forecast to attract a record 6.4 million passengers by the end of the year, up
from 5.9 million last year.
Colsaerts has risen from the country’s small
but tight-knit golfing community: with an
Olympian great-grandfather and a top-level
hockey-playing father, it was not surprising
that he became an athlete, but it was less
predictable that he would turn out to be a
prodigious golfer, turning professional on
his 18th birthday. His career stumbled in his
mid-20s, but since 2009 he has re-emerged
as one of Europe’s top players.
Francophone film chosen for Oscars
The film was inspired by the case of Geneviève Lhermitte, who killed her five children in
Nivelles in 2007. It was produced in Belgium by Versus Production, in co-production with
Prime Time. The Oscar academy will announce on January 15 its shortlist of films for the
85th ceremony, due to take place in Hollywood on February 24.
6
wallonia and brussels magazine
Autumn 2012
Corbis
The French-language film A perdre la raison
(Our Children) has been selected to represent Belgium at the Oscars. The drama, directed by Brussels-born Joachim Lafosse, is
entered in the Best Foreign Language Film
category. It stars Hainaut-born actress Emilie Dequenne, who won the Best Actress
award at the Cannes film festival in May.
The film was chosen by a national committee of film professionals who said they were
“seduced by the quality of the direction, the strength of the subject matter, the precision of
the writing and the quality of the actors, all remarkable in their performances”.
Pharma company opens Braine l’Alleud plant
Brussels-based pharmaceutical giant UCB has opened a pilot biotechnology plant at its Braine
l’Alleud site, in Brabant Walloon. The €65 million investment, supported by the Walloon
Region, is the culmination of an expansion project launched in 2004. The 5,000m2 facility
contains four multiple fermentation reactors and employs about 100 people. It provides a
link between the company’s research needs and industrial production of medicines. UCB
specialises in the treatment of people with severe diseases of the immune system and central
nervous system.
New-look Liège Royal
Theatre unveiled
Liège’s renovated Théâtre Royal reopened
on September 19 with a world premiere
of the opera Stradella by Liège-born César
Franck in the presence of Prince Philippe
and Princess Mathilde. It was performed by
the Royal Opera of Wallonia and directed by
Jaco Van Dormael, and was a first staging for
the work written in the composer’s youth. It
was also the first opera for the Belgian film
director, famous for his features Toto le Héros and Mr Nobody. In addition to the detailed restoration of period features, the opera house was extended to enlarge the stage
and create a rehearsal room and reception
area. A new contemporary wing, painted in
white and covered with aluminium strips, is
a striking addition to the listed Neoclassical
building, which also provides a panoramic
view of the historic heart of the city.
CEO Roch Doliveux said that by reinforcing its presence in biotechnology, UCB was equipping
itself for the future. “Braine l’Alleud is at the heart of UCB’s innovation strategy. In 2011
UCB was the largest Belgian investor in research and development across all industries. The
proactive policy followed by Belgium and its regions to stimulate pharmaceutical activity,
coupled with the presence of a highly skilled workforce, is creating a favourable climate for
such investments.” The plant was officially opened by Doliveux and Jean-Claude Marcourt,
the Walloon minister for the economy.
The early 19th-century building was closed
for more than three years during the renovation project, which cost €30 million. Half the
investment was provided by the European
Regional Development Fund, 40 percent by
the Walloon Region and 10 percent by the
City of Liège. The Royal Opera of Wallonia is
the theatre’s resident company.
 www.operaliege.be
BELGA
Creche opens at Liège-Guillemins station
A pilot childcare project has been launched at Liège’s railway station, a first in Europe. An
initial 25 beds have been made available, principally for the children of commuters and secondly for station staff. Locals in the Guillemins area have also been given priority to use Les
Petits Voyageurs, which is open from 6.15 until 19.00. The creche, in the ‘Kiss & Ride’ zone, is
already full, and an extension would be necessary to increase the number of beds. The creche
is a result of a partnership between the City of Liège, the Office de la Naissance et de l’Enfance
and SNCB Holding. A similar project is being considered at Charleroi.
wallonia and brussels magazine
Autumn 2012
7
WORK
BUSINESS
Choosing the
right words
Translation company Colingua is working with
the Liège Expo 2017 bid and its high-profile
clients include the Tour de France and jewellery
chain Tiffany & Co.
By Andy Furniere
Colingua founder Joachim Colaris
8
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
J
oachim Colaris is a busy man. The
founder and project manager of
translation company Colingua
is preparing to lead the interpreting
at a conference for the Lions Club in
Brussels. At the same time, his team
is active at conferences in La Hulpe,
Brussels, and in Nancy, France. And
in a few weeks’ time, Colingua will
be covering the final opportunity
to convince representatives of 160
countries that their vote for the host
city of the International Expo in 2017
should go to Liège.
With only three senior partners,
Colingua may seem like a small firm, but
in addition to its Liège headquarters, it
also has an office in Brussels. Its network
of around 50 interpreters and translators
means it can offer services in almost all
European languages, and through close
partnerships with other companies it
can work for clients all over the world.
It provides written translations and
specialises in simultaneous interpreting
at large conferences, seminars and
meetings. The team also offers guided
interpreting for smaller groups, for
example at museums.
You can even call in Colingua for ‘liaison
interpreting’ and ‘whispering’. Colaris
is quick to translate these technical
terms: “Liaison interpreting means we
translate for two parties of two or three
people. French or German MPs often ask
us to interpret when they lobby at the
European Commission. Sometimes we
also ‘whisper’ translations in a client’s
ear at conferences, when the organiser
doesn’t provide interpreting services.”
Interpreters translate body language
as well, Colaris explains. “Speakers,
especially Italians, use their hands a lot
to emphasise a point. You have to convey
the same message by adjusting the tone
of your voice; it’s very delicate work.”
Interpreters also need considerable
background knowledge. For example,
Colaris had to study specific religious
terms to interpret during the wedding
of Prince William and Kate Middleton
last year. Other challenges include
communicating
via
technology,
such as video conferences with poor
sound quality and unstable internet
connections.
Colingua recently covered the Belgian
presidency of the Council of the
European Union, a milestone for the
company. The prestigious assignment
posed a serious challenge. “We really
had to push ourselves to the limit, but
we succeeded in delivering a high quality
service during the full six months,” says
Colaris.
Choosing the right
words for Colingua
this year 2012
The team has had the honour – and
the responsibility – of providing the
translation services for Liège’s bid to host
the International Expo in 2017. Colingua
translates all the communication
into European languages, as well as
Russian, Chinese, Korean and Arabic.
At a crucial meeting in November with
representatives from 160 countries,
Colingua will translate the speeches that
have to convince them to vote for Liège.
Also in its home town, Colingua cherishes
its special partnership with Nomacorc,
a manufacturer of synthetic corks.
Cooperating since 2000 when both
companies were set up, the two have
been growing together in stature and in
reputation. Today, Nomacorc’s products
are the most widely used alternative
wine closures in the world.
Colingua translators work for a diverse
group of clients, such as multinationals,
institutions, NGOs and the press. But they
have two specialised branches: cultural
exhibitions and sport. Topping their
resume for the former are the Golden
Sixties and SOS Planet exhibitions, both
in Liège’s Guillemins railway station.
Cycling is an important part of Colaris’s
life – he’s a passionate cyclist and coorganiser of the Romsée-StavelotRomsée race. This summer, for the
seventh year in a row, Colingua managed
the translation at the Tour de France.
This edition was particularly special for
the company, as the Tour started with a
prologue in Liège.
Colingua has a close relationship with
the organiser of the Tour de France,
Amaury Sport Organisation. The team
works on most of its cycling events, such
as Dauphiné, Paris-Nice, Paris-Tours,
Paris-Roubaix and the Walloon classics
Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Flèche
Wallonne. Colingua also translates for
golf’s French Open, the Paris Marathon
and the Dakar Rally.
Why does the French giant prefer the
services of the Walloon company?
Colaris says, “Seven years ago, we stood
in for their previous partner, which had
cancelled only two weeks before the start
of the Tour. We succeeded in preparing
ourselves in record time and have never
disappointed them.” Colingua is now also
targeting the football and motorsport
sectors.
In his youth, Colaris often had contact
with Americans via his family, and
he studied in the US for a year. His
fascination with the country extends
to his professional life, and he says
his career highlight was translating
President Obama’s inaugural speech
live on television four years ago. “I felt
part of history,” he says. His knowledge
of American culture has also earned
Colingua assignments for the New York
headquarters and the Paris branch of
iconic jewellery chain Tiffany & Co.

www.colingua.be
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
9
WORK
INNOVATION
Slam dunk
A spin-off from the Catholic University of
Louvain is the rising star in the world of
sports video production with visionary
technology for coaches and fans
By Andy Furniere
Pitchside with Keemotion’s Georges Caron
Our system seemed
like science fiction
to them
georges caron
10
wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
K
eemotion, a new spin-off from
the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), is scoring big points
with its unique sports video technology. With just three small cameras, the
Keemotion team can deliver enriched
videos in real time with all relevant information on a game ready to be used
by both coaches and fans. Focusing
first on basketball, they have successfully tested their devices in the Spiroudome arena of multiple Belgian champions Spirou Charleroi and are gaining
a foothold in the Mecca of basketball:
the United States.
technological knowledge of Damien
Delannay, doctor in engineering and
researcher at UCL, was and remains
influential in the development of the
core technology used in Keemotion’s
products – named Keecore.
The revolutionary technology is the
result of a love affair between a scientist and sports. Christophe De Vleeschouwer, who developed the original
mathematical concept with support
from the EU, is not only a professor at
UCL but also an enthusiastic basketball
fan and former amateur player. When
in 2009 he met Georges Caron, a man
at home in the telecommunications
industry, the design of a commercial
product was started. The scientific and
Three investors quickly saw the potential: the Walloon region, the Vives
investment fund and investment company Nivelinvest. The Walloon region
invested €450,000, while Vives and
Nivelinvest contributed €500,000
each. The founders also invested
€50,000, bringing the total budget to
€1.5 million. Sopartec, a company that
helps to transfer the technology to the
market, offers important support in
creating the commercial products.
Georges Caron, now CEO of the Keemotion team, clarifies that the beginnings
of Keemotion also partly lie in the US:
“With our crude ideas in mind, I visited
a prestigious sports product fair in Las
Vegas. There, I realised that no one yet
had come up with the solutions for enriched sports videos that we had.”
The current flagship product of
Keemotion is Keecoach, technology
that provides coaches with immediate
access to all the key facts about the game
and players on a mobile device such as
a tablet or a smartphone. “With simple
selections, coaches can instantaneously
retrieve, for example, the number of
three-pointers a certain player has
scored and missed,” explains Caron.
“They can easily use it during games
or training to correct situations, and
also afterwards, to review particular
game actions and follow players’
performances over time.”
To increase their chances of winning,
basketball clubs don’t have to hire
an expensive production team with
cameramen. Two Keemotion employees
install in four hours the three small
cameras, and an internet connection if
necessary. This package assures realtime access to the video production of
the event, without human intervention.
The images are of high definition
quality.
This technology for automated
production is also used for Keecast,
the production of video streaming
for television and internet viewers.
Although Caron admits this production
has its limitations, the advantage is
that it’s much cheaper. “The input of a
cameraman remains valuable, because
he can respond to the actions of the
crowd, for example. On the other hand,
our Keecast technology lowers the cost
of a production by twenty-five percent.
It’s an ideal tool to stream matches in
lower divisions.”
Keemotion is now preparing new
dynamic video features: Keeweb
and Keemobile. These will make it
possible for fans to find game plays and
highlights through a search engine;
for example, a particular player’s most
spectacular dunks. The streaming will
be accessible online or via a mobile
device, and viewers can add comments
through links with Facebook and
Twitter.
Keecast lowers the
cost of a production
by 25%
time to present its finished products.
Harvard University’s basketball team
has bought the technology, while there
are close contacts with an NBA team:
the San Antonio Spurs from Texas.
In France, Keemotion sealed a deal
with the club of Antibes. Caron is also
targeting the Spanish market in the
near future. “Our goal is to equip at
least twenty sports fields in Europe and
the US next year,” he declares.
Although the focus remains on
basketball, Keemotion is looking to
other sports, with conquering the
football market as the next aim. Club
Brugge, the runner-up in last year’s
Belgian championship, is an influential
first client. Other sport sectors with
promising prospects are handball,
tennis and volleyball.
georges caron
When it comes to reliability and userfriendliness, Keecoach has passed the
test with flying colours, as it was used
last season by the coaches of multiple
Belgian basketball champions Spirou
Charleroi. Keemotion had to overcome
some scepticism. “They first thought
that our system without expensive
material and camera teams was too
good to be true,” says Caron. “It seemed
like science fiction to them.”
In brief
Established: March 2012
Headquarters: Louvain-la-Neuve
Product: automated and enriched sports
video production
Team members: seven
Budget: €1.5 million
After convincing the Walloon team,
Keemotion went back to the US, this

www.keemotion.com
wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
11
WORK
PROFILE OF A CITY
IGRETEC
Charleroi reborn
Innovation, investment and local determination are
all part of Charleroi’s economic recovery
By Sarah Crew
N
We can be proud
of what we have
achieved and we
can now seriously
start to attract Belgian
scientists working
abroad, back to
Belgium
Dominique Demonte
12
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
o city in Wallonia has been so
crushed by industrial decline as
Charleroi. The once prosperous
economy of the central region crumbled
with the postwar loss of the coal and
steel industries. But economically,
socially and culturally, Wallonia
is becoming another country. And
nowhere is this more evident than in
Charleroi, where a meticulous strategy
of investment and development has
resulted in booming business and
science parks.
The Aeropole is one of Wallonia’s most
successful science parks and business
incubators. It was set up nearly 20 years
ago to steer the region’s economy in a
new direction. Kickstarted by regional
European funding in 1997, four initial
areas of activity were targeted –
biotechnological, aeronautical, graphic
and information, communication and
technology, says Eric De Clercq, who
heads the Charleroi office of Wallonia’s
Foreign Trade and Investment Agency,
AWEX.
Charleroi Aeropole, as the name
suggests, is alongside Brussels South
Charleroi Airport, Belgium’s secondlargest airport and a flourishing lowcost hub. It is a key base for Ryanair,
with almost 100 destinations, and
has been named by passengers as the
world’s third-best low-cost airport
behind England’s Stansted and Luton.
With a record number of passengers
forecast for this year (6.4 million), the
airport is busy expanding to cope with
further predicted increases in traffic.
Biopark,
encompassing
the
biotechnology sector, was created by
moving academic research from the
Brussels Free University to Charleroi
at the end of the 1990s, explains De
Clercq. The first research institute was
the trailblazing Institute of Biology
and Molecular Medicine (IBMM).
More institutes followed, including
the Institute for Medical Immunology
(IMI) and more recently the Centre
for Microscopy and Molecular Imaging
(CMMI). They have resulted in some
15 spinoff companies and have helped
Charleroi become Wallonia’s premier
biotechnology region. The Biopark
has around 600 employees and comes
under the Wallonia competivity cluster
BioWin. Pioneering research into
immunology functional imaging is
among the many fields of excellence
on an international level. For Biopark
director Dominique Demonte, “the
strength of the centre is in its long
tradition of collaboration between
universities and private and public
partners, combined with integrated
training programmes”. As a Carolo
himself, Demonte’s job satisfaction and
motivation comes from the Biopark’s
potential in the global science world.
“We can be proud of what we have
achieved and we can now seriously start
to attract Belgian scientists working
abroad, back to Belgium,” he adds.
Another competitive cluster, SkyWin,
encompasses aeronautical activity
spearheaded by Sabca and Sonaca.
The Sonaca group is a world leader in
the design and production of aircraft
structures and has partnerships with
major manufacturers including Airbus.
Sabca designs and makes metallic
structures and flight control systems
for aircraft and space launchers. The
final assembly, repair and upgrade are
carried out in Charleroi.
Providing commercial aviation training
in the aeronautics sector is Wallonie
Aerotraining Network (WAN). Two
other noteworthy players are Thales
Alenia Space, involved in the Ariane
rocket programmes, and Alstom
Transport, a world leader in transport
infrastructure and train signalling.
Building on Charleroi’s history as the
birthplace of many of Belgium’s most
colourful comic-strip characters, the
third sector is the graphic industry.
Dreamwall is one example, an
animation and graphic design company
and subsidiary of the Dupuis publishing
empire (responsible for Cédric and
Spirou et Fantasio and celebrating its
75th anniversary in 2013). Another is
Europrinter, a Spanish company that
prints major news titles for the northern
European market, including The Times
and Daily Telegraph.
“They are more and more reliant on
each other.”
Hainaut is the internet backbone
of Wallonia, and the presence of so
many ICT companies has transformed
the region into the area’s own Silicon
Valley. Gateway Communications
specialises in telecommunications
to Africa, Belgian mobile operators
such as Mobistar are based here, and
Technofutur TIC organises training
programmes.
While the Aeropole is almost full,
adjacent land is being prepared for
expansion in a sustainable way. One of
the area’s strongest selling points is its
geographical situation. As well as the
airport, it has a multimodal waterway
system and excellent motorway and
rail connections serving Luxembourg,
France and Germany in particular.
Foreign companies such as Johnson &
Johnson have decided to locate two of
their European distribution centres in
this area.
The close link
between the airport
and the Aeropole
should also not be
underestimated
Marc Arno
Many telecoms companies specialise
in training, explains Marc Arno of
IGRETEC, the regional development
agency of Charleroi and South
Hainaut. It provides a one-stop shop
for Belgian and foreign companies
looking to invest in the area, with the
collaboration of AWEX. The tightknit relationship between research,
training and the local authorities is key
for creating jobs for workers of all skill
levels, he adds. As Charleroi has no
university, it works closely with those
of Namur, Mons, Liège and Brussels.
The Aeropole’s force is in having
a complete chain on one site, says
Arno: “There are five distinct stages:
academic research, applied research,
transfer to technology, incubators
and spinoffs with parallel training at
each level.” The close link between the
airport and the Aeropole should also
not be underestimated, adds Arno.
The range of activities is diverse and the
low-density space and flexible facilities
offer an attractive package for fledgling
and established businesses in all sorts
of industries, from aerospace and
innovation (see Sirris profile on page
14) to Chimay Abbey’s traditional beer
and cheese production in the south.
Another established business, and
Wallonia’s number one foreign investor,
is Caterpillar. The manufacturer of
mechanical diggers, bulldozers and other
heavy equipment is the largest employer
in the region after the City of Charleroi,
with more than 4,000 workers.
While the success of these businesses
cannot be disputed, the challenge for
the wider metropolis lies in improving
all aspects of its citizens’ lives. Yes, more
jobs, particularly manual and semiskilled, need to be created, but the city
centre’s ongoing regeneration project
must be a priority and the city’s image
requires a major overhaul. Life here
may not be as grim as the media make
out, but Charleroi still faces an uphill
battle in persuading both its Wallonia
neighbours and potential foreign
investors that it is a place worth visiting
and settling in.
Bolstering this endeavour is the
collective belief of individuals and
organisation that the city can succeed.
By playing to their strengths – force of
character and irrepressible pride in
their city – Carolos are coming together
to meet the challenge in all areas of life –
economic, cultural, political and social.
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
13
WORK
INVESTMENT
Cutting edge
Hi-tech company Sirris opens a new office at the
booming Charleroi Aeropole business park
By Ed Morrison
14
wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
T
he chances are that just today
your life has been affected by
something connected with the
work of Sirris. You may have driven
a car, been treated for an illness,
watched an aeroplane fly across the
night sky, or noticed a crane swinging into action above a building site.
These are everyday activities, but behind them lies the most complex of
technology. Technology that one of
Wallonia’s leading companies, Sirris,
has had a hand in.
The sheer variety of industries that
have used Sirris’s expertise is mindblowing. It is one of the region’s bestkept secrets – and biggest success stories. The many firms, small businesses
and entrepreneurs across Wallonia
that have benefitted for many years
from Sirris’s know-how are testament
to that.
Which is why the inauguration earlier this year of new laboratories and
offices at Gosselies, near Charleroi,
right next to the Maison de l’Industrie,
is not just an important milestone for
the company itself but also a feather
in the cap for the Walloon economy as
a whole.
Sirris has many strings to its bow but
the impressive new base is dedicated
to an innovative and exciting new
technology called ‘additive manufacturing’, or 3D printing, which is revolutionising the way that prototypes
are made.
It is a crucial technological development that has been credited with
boosting innovation and the economy in general because it makes it far
cheaper for companies and entrepreneurs to get prototypes manufactured. The process allows models to
be ‘printed’ out of materials such as
plastic, metal or ceramic rather than
having to be put together in a factory
– a process that takes time and money.
The stunning results have meant that
Sirris’s expertise in this field has already been used in areas as diverse
as biomedicine, motorsport and aerospace.
To survive, we need
top products and top
technologists
jos pinte
Some of the activities carried out by
the equipment installed in the labs at
the attractive brown, black and glass
building in the Composite Plastics
Village at Charleroi Aeropole sound,
terrifyingly, like something out of a
futuristic science-fiction movie: high-
resolution stereolithography, 3D-polymer printing, electron beam melting, 3D thermojet printing. These
concepts sound baffling but they are
making complex prototype designs
much simpler to put together. Take
stereolithography. This involves using ultraviolet light beams to solidify
a layer of liquid plastic; the ‘printer’
then adds layer after layer on top of
each other until the model takes shape
to the design drawn up on computer.
The process is genuinely transforming
the way new products are developed.
These techniques go to the heart of
what Sirris is all about. If one word
can sum up everything that the company touches, it is ‘innovation’. The
complex nature of the work is such
that it is in close contact on a constant basis with universities and leading research centres in Wallonia and
beyond, sharing knowledge, working
practices and even the workforce in
order, the company says “to stay one
step ahead of technological evolution”.
“With rapidly growing and changing
technologies and new technologies
coming up, our role becomes more
and more important,” says Jos Pinte,
the director-general of Sirris. “In order to survive we need top products
and top products need top technologists.”
It is doing a good job of providing
them so far. The presence of such a
wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
15
WORK
INVESTMENT
leading company as Sirris at Gosselies
is a coup for Wallonia. From here,
the company will be able to help designers with technical advice – from
the type of technology they should
choose, to the material they should
employ, or simply to work out the way
they should go about developing their
product. The company says it prides
itself on finding “concrete solutions
to the real challenges facing Belgian
entrepreneurs”.
Sirris helps out at every step along
the way of a company’s technological innovation – from the germ of
an idea on the draughtsman’s table
to the final product ready to hit the
market. Often Sirris is engaged with
companies or involved in co-operative
research projects for many years. This
is no fly-by-night enterprise and its
reputation depends on producing results year after year.
As its €20 million turnover testifies,
Sirris – which under its less catchy
previous name of CRIF-WTCM has
been going since 1949 – is something
of a success story. And, although the
technology sounds confusing and
complex, the answers its experts provide meet some of the most common
of technological challenges facing industry today.
Other areas of Sirris’s work are no less
fascinating. The field of mechatronics is involved in putting sensors or
automatic controls into machines
and other products to help them perform faster and more accurately, to
control noise and vibrations and to
be more compact, more flexible and
more environmentally friendly. Sirris
has brought its expertise in this area
to sectors including the automotive
industry, machine building and electronics.
So next time you get in a car or plane
or use what on the surface might seem
like a another simple piece of technology, spare a thought for the experts in
the labs at Gosselies, the painstaking
research that has gone into the latest innovative developments, and the
wonderfully complex world of additive manufacturing.
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wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
Revolutionising prototypes
It is like a radical vision of the future
that would have scarcely seemed possible just a few years ago. Printers
whirring into action – not spitting
out flat pages of ink but actual threedimensional models. 3D printing – or
‘additive manufacturing’ – is now revolutionising the way new products are
modelled and made.
The process allows the building of prototypes in a much more efficient way
than in days gone by. Traditionally
making one-off models of new stuff to
a high specification has been very expensive, almost prohibitively so. But
3D printing has changed all that and
brought down the costs dramatically.
It works much like printing a document in the good old-fashioned sense.
Designers send their computer-aided
designs to a printer and the machine
goes to work. But instead of one layer
of ink being deposited on to a page,
the 3D printer squeezes out layer upon
layer of material – in Sirris’s case usually plastic, metal or ceramic – until
something that is solid and three-dimensional emerges.
One of the reasons why 3D printing is
so efficient is that it uses only the exact amount of material needed. And
whereas with traditional prototypemaking methods in factories things
have to be made with all sorts of nuts
and screws and different parts bolted
or welded together, 3D printed models are often built as one completely
moulded item.
The results are impressive. Making
prototypes in this way not only cuts
costs but it is also quicker. Whereas
in the past manufacturers had to wait
weeks or months for a prototype to be
ready, now it is there in a matter of
hours. And the beauty of 3D printing
is that the prototype can be altered
and reprinted quickly and cheaply.
As Sirris says, this helps companies
“shorten the time-to-market, providing a considerable competitive advantage”. There is evidence that inventors
are much more ready to experiment
these days because they know they
can get a prototype made much more
cheaply.
Sirris now boasts the most complete
machine park in Europe for additive
manufacturing, with 14 machines that
can provide accurate prototypes in a
period of between one and five days.
As 3D printing technology gets even
more sophisticated and developers
work out ways to use more types of
material, its uses appear limitless. Already the technology has moved on
from just making prototypes to manufacturing the actual products people
use, such as tools, food, shoes and
watches. And work is under way to invent machines to 3D-print body parts.
In figures
■ Every year, Sirris works with more
than 1,800 companies, of which
four-fifths are small or medium-sized
enterprises. In total, it carries out on
average 4,000 different pieces of work
with those companies every year.
■ More than 120 experts of technology
are employed by Sirris. They work in
six locations in Belgium including at
Gosselies and the Liège Science Park.
Its headquarters are in Brussels.
■ The company has a turnover of €20
million per year.
■It is involved with businesses in more
than 100 European projects and has
more than 2,400 member companies.
Innovative industry for
more than half a century
Sirris was set up in 1949 when Fabrimetal (now called Agoria, the
technological industry federation)
established CRIF-WTCM. It took until 2007 before this became known
as Sirris, a name which, the company says, “symbolises the drive with
which we… want to continue fulfilling our mission for the Belgian technological industry”. Seventeen years
after the company was set up it put
into service its first digitally operated machine –only the second in
Belgium.
World politics affected the company’s
work in 1974. The Oil Crisis prompted it to devote more time to the re-
Sirris’s 3D printing
is revolutionising the
way new products
are made
cycling of polymers (this can produce
oil), and less than a decade later it
took on a pioneering role in the introduction of computer-aided design
systems in the technical drawing departments of the Belgian metal-processing industry – work connected to
the additive manufacturing seen in
Gosselies today.
By 1985 the company was working on its first European projects, in
the area of production of work tools
and recycling as part of the Brite
Programme. The same year it developed a technique which enabled
wear-resistant coatings to be put on
tools, extending their life by between
three and five times. In 1990, with
industrial partners, the company
bought the first prototyping machine
in Belgium. At that time, fewer than
20 such machines existed worldwide
and in 1997 it inaugurated a highspeed milling machine, one of the
few in Belgium with a speed exceeding 20,000 revolutions a minute.
 www.sirris.be
wallonia and brussels magazine
aUTUMN 2012
17
FILE
DESIGN
Reciprocity
Design Liège has a new name – and a
new director taking it in new directions
By Stephanie Duval
A
large number of internationally
renowned designers are making
sure Belgium has an excellent
reputation in the world of design. And
Brussels and Wallonia offer no small
number of interesting opportunities to
discover new talent or stay updated on
the latest innovations: the capital has
Design September, while numerous
other cities host smaller events to boost
their local creative scene. With a recent
name change – to the zippy Reciprocity – and a new art director in Giovanna
Massoni, the Design Liège biennial is
sure to put the spotlight on this city and
its unique role in design.
Massoni was born and raised in Milan,
but came to live in Brussels 20 years
ago. She works as an independent art
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
and design journalist and consultant,
and has collaborated with numerous
Belgian organisations and institutions
to help them promote local talent. Massoni co-created ‘les belges’ for Wallonie-Bruxelles Design/Mode to form an
umbrella label for Belgian design, for
example, and she regularly curates expositions on the subject of design.
As well as her comprehensive experience in the field, Massoni brings an interesting point of view to the table: that
of an outsider. “I am a stranger in Belgium, so I see things from the outside,”
she explains. “That is why to me, the
biennial should be an opportunity to
attract people from different countries:
to meet them and experience different
cultures.”
When Massoni joined Design Liège, she
was faced with the challenge of putting
the city on the map for its creativity. “I
entered a company with problems. So
our aim was first to redefine the identity of this biennial,” she says when asked
why Design Liège changed its name.
“It’s been there since 2002 but it is
relatively unknown on an international
level. However, Liège has an interesting
geographical situation. It sits at the border of three other cultures – Germany,
the Netherlands and Flanders.
“Maybe the city and its biennial are
secondary on the official map of the
design world, but it is very interesting in terms of development of design
history. Crossing these borders is important for networking in a way that
Michaël Bihain’s Diaphragm stool
is not empowering for just one area or
region, but that is creating more opportunities in the vicinity. There are many
more stakeholders and organisers involved. Our aim certainly is to include
as many as possible. Also, these are
areas that are doing beautiful projects
themselves, so it is important for us to
have them on board. I like to work on
existing systems. We’re not inventing
anything new, but we’re creating links
between existing platforms, areas and
organisations.”
The name Reciprocity seems appropriate in this context of interacting regions, but it was chosen for another reason, too, she explains. “I want to change
the way in which we speak about design
and create a new definition. I am very
interested in the social field, and I think
design is developing very successfully
in that direction. I’m fed up with the descriptions of design that see it as product design, as an artwork or a nice work
to be published somewhere and that’s
it. There’s a lot of meaning behind an
object, too, but it is not sufficiently explained.”
That is why the next Design Liège was
construed as a platform to form bonds,
make connections, participate in debates and discussions: moments that
Massoni found to be missing in other
design events. “We put this new message in the new title,” explains Massoni;
“on the one hand, Reciprocity has the
word ‘city’ in there as a nice reference
to Liège, and on the other hand it is a
way to suggest our intention: to create a
relation and exchange something.”
Contrary to many design manifestations, Reciprocity does not put one curator or star designer to the forefront.
Instead it strives to create as much diversity within its group of organisers,
speakers and visitors as possible. “We
want to create a multiple view: a combination of many different points of view
and backgrounds,” says Massoni. “It’s
not about me and my view of things, after all. And in the end I think it worked
out very well. All the curators I invited
are expressing their personal point of
view in a very meaningful and critical
way, while the totality is still coherent.”
Evidently, the four main exhibitions
of the event are also fairly different in
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FILE
DESIGN
their take on design, and the field on
which they focus.
Memorabilia started as an open call
for entries: artists and designers were
asked to create an object that evokes
memories. “It was a very broad brief: it
could be something from the day before,
or something that their grandmother
used to do or a memory of someone’s
home town,” describes Massoni. “It’s
a way to address the emotional aspect
of design, and an emotional meaning
renders design durable.” The organisation received a whopping 400 proposals – clearly having struck a chord with
designers from more than 30 countries.
An international selection committee chose 60 designs, which will be on
show at the biennial in a scenography
by Kaspar Hamacher and Matylda Krzykowski.
Passive Amplifier for Iphone by en&is
Another exposition addresses an even
more sensitive issue in the design
world: that of the juxtaposition of craft
and industry. For this, Massoni invited
Gabriele Pezzini, former design director and current consultant for Hermès.
“He has very strong ideas and is very
independent in that he doesn’t follow
trends,” explains Massoni. “He has created a very provocative exposition that
explores the separation between crafts
and industry, by showcasing the making process of very different design
companies.” By putting the industrial
production of Edra side by side with
Hermès’ artisan creation, then switching the roles and showing how craftsmanship plays an important role in
industrial production, and how large
machines can produce the infamous
Hermès carré scarves, Pezzini aims to
refresh the ideas of visitors who have
preconceived notions about both means
of production.
Alain-Gilles Nomad’s portable solar lamps
Part of the KKD project targeting
the creativity of children
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
I want to change
the way we speak
about design
giovanna massoni
The Welcome to Saint-Gilles exposition
took more than one academic year to
complete and will showcase the research done by eight schools in Liège,
Tournai, Brussels, Aachen, Maastricht
and Hasselt. “Social design is taught
at all these schools,” explains Massoni.
“We asked them to work together to analyse a problematic neighbourhood in
Liège, meet its inhabitants and propose
micro-solutions.”
A still from Germain Ozer’s film project
By creating a creative community that
uses innovation to address its own
problems, Massoni wants to go beyond
what people call ‘urban design’ and go
as far as to create social cohesion between inhabitants. The neighbourhood
in question is a student and school
area that turns into a ghost town during summer, creating security concerns
and disrupting regular daily life. “We
are going to show the first projects, but
the aim of this exposition is to convince
people to continue their efforts. We are
organising a private pre-viewing for a
few ministers, too. Involving public administration is vital to make these concepts come to life.”
The fourth exhibition takes design to
even younger people, targeting kids and
their unlimited imagination. “During a
workshop at the beginning of the year,
we met children at the glass museum
of the historic Grand Curtius. We cocreated new containers for water with
these kids aged nine to twelve, led by
designer Michaël Bihain and journalist
Emma Firmin. It was a nice experience:
we didn’t expect children to think of
such clever designs, but they did,” says
Massoni. She intends to make this into a
continuing effort to teach design at primary school: “Not to turn them all into
designers, but because it is such a great
methodology to form children.”
Reciprocity invites…
Wallonie-Bruxelles Design/Mode will showcase
the talent that has participated in their international
exhibitions during 2012 at Salon Maison & Objet in
Paris, and at Salone Internazionale del Mobile and
As well as the four main expositions
and the many side projects and events,
Reciprocity invites its visitors to attend
conferences related to the exhibitions
and to participate in the debates. “We
don’t just want to invite and meet new
international visitors, we want to discuss with locals as well,” says Massoni.
“We’ve set the debates and talks up as
round tables, so that companies won’t
treat them as a platform to promote
themselves, but as a chance to really
discuss these important issues.” One of
the debates will centre on public and
collaborative design, another will be
linked to Memorabilia and will discuss
memory from a philosophical and scientific point of view. Furthermore, visitors will be welcomed to the Meeting
Point: a casual space where impromptu
discussions and conversations will take
place.
the Triennial in Milan
Design Vlaanderen presents an exposition that
made its debut in Helsinki in September for its World
Design Capital 2012 festivities, and which will see
different designers interpret nostalgia and heimat
Design innovation/Wallonie Design invites you to take
a peek inside design, presenting a series of 10 films
showing the design process of different creators,
juxtaposed to the actual final object
 www.designliege.be
wallonia and brussels magazine
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21
LIFE
HOME AND ABROAD
Shane
Blackdragon
Kiwi Shane Blackdragon runs a New Zealand and Italian fish and seafood
restaurant in Brussels, close to Bois de la Cambre, with his Italian wife
www.alombredubois.be
Where are you from and how did you end up in Brussels?
My family is from the far north of New Zealand and my mother is of Maori descent.
I spent my youth in Auckland and later moved back north to the Bay of Islands
where I started cooking 20 years ago. This is where my passion for the sea and
seafood grew. I met my wife, who is Italian, while cooking in Piemonte, and moved
to Paris where she was based. We then moved to the family home in Uccle after my
wife fell pregnant.
How do you fuse Italian, Australian and New Zealand cuisine?
I try to combine what I have learnt in Italy, such as seafood risotto or Italian-style
lobster and homemade filled pasta with mushrooms, with my knowledge from
New Zealand and Australia. So you can find meats and venison from the Antipodes
– New Zealand lamb, kangaroo, ostrich or crocodile – with sauces like mint and
basil pesto and traditional pavlova with mascarpone and marsala mousse. And, of
course, you can choose Italian Piemontese, Australian or New Zealand wines.
Do you have any difficulty sourcing ingredients?
I have some very good contacts in Italy so whatever we can’t get here we order
directly there, such as special cheese or tasty olive oil for focaccia. There are some
things that are a little trickier like venison and green-lipped mussels, so I rely on
outside suppliers and family contacts in New Zealand.
Do Belgians appreciate the Antipodean touch?
We have found that the people around Brussels are very happily surprised when
they come to eat here: they enjoy the exotic meats and our seafood chowder and
fresh seafood and, when available, fresh oysters.
If you have visitors from abroad, what are your favourite places to visit in
Brussels and Wallonia?
My favourite places to visit are the Sablon, with its awesome weekend antique market and the Notre-Dame church that just takes the breath away. We also like Bois de
la Cambre and the Forêt de Soignes for walks with the family. I enjoy living here;
Brussels is a beautiful city and the mixture of cultures and people is amazing.
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
Brussels is a
beautiful city and
the mixture of
cultures and
people is amazing
shane blackdragon
Stéphane
Rondoz
Stéphane Rondoz is a Walloon chef cooking up a seafood storm in a beachside
chalet in Poole, on England’s south coast
www.parkstonebay.com/cafe
British cuisine
has improved
enormously over
the past 10 years
stéphane rondoz
Where are you from and how did you end up in the south of England?
I am from Verviers, although I was born in Malmedy, both in Liège province. My
sister lives in Poole and I started visiting her about 25 years ago. I did the big move
12 years ago when I realised that I was crossing the English Channel more than
once a month.
How do you incorporate Belgium and Wallonia’s cuisine into the menu?
The south of England is really amazing from a cuisine point of view. In fact it’s easy
to add some influences, as the English love Belgium and its food. I do a mix of traditional English dishes with a French touch and some real Belgian dishes. On the
menu you can find crispy haddock fishcakes, a smoked, peppery mackerel niçoise
salad and a casserole of Scottish mussels cooked Belgian style. Among the lunchtime sandwich choices there are dagoberts and dessert includes chocolate moelleux
as well as lots of English favourites.
Do you regularly return to Belgium and what do you miss about Wallonia?
I don’t go back often, maybe twice a year. But I still miss some close friends, the
way we serve Belgian beer, the huge choice of chocolate, small local pubs and, of
course, the Ardennes.
Are there any local ingredients you bring back from Wallonia?
A few kilos of sirop de Liège as that of course is impossible to find in the UK. I use it
in our recipe for boulets de Liège and to accompany some cheeses. I cannot get any
Walloon varieties here, but there are some excellent English cheeses.
Belgians are frequently critical of British cuisine. Do you agree or do you
consider it underrated?
British cuisine has improved enormously over the past 10 years. Gastro pubs, for
example, are really good value. Many run by owner chefs are top quality, but some
are still tourist traps. They may look like a local restaurant but do not offer homemade cooking. It’s easy to spot when you are local but not when you are over from
the continent for the weekend. And unfortunately they can give the country a bad
reputation.
wallonia and brussels magazine
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23
Life
GASTRONOMY
HERVE
Say cheese
The third part of our series on the region’s culinary
heritage explores the maturing of Wallonia’s cheese
industry
BY Sarah Crew
T
Herve is the leading brand, made to a
traditional recipe that has been made in
local farms for centuries. Its inimitable
character derives from the micro-climate of the region that yields rich milk
and a precise method of production.
In the factory the milk is now always
pasteurised. After being separated, reblended and heated, rennet is added.
This coagulates the milk and the separates the curds from the whey. The vats
are then mixed and sliced before being
poured into perforated moulds where
they remain for 24 hours.
he art of cheese-making is flourishing across the country. From
artisan affairs in rural farms to
ambitious factory operations, Wallonia is now making some of the best
cheeses in the country.
of choice is now likely to be an equally
regional beer. With the Wallonia tourist office continuing to promote local
food and drink until the end of next
year, now is a good time to taste the
full range of Wallonia’s cheese platter.
When dairy farmers faced a sour
economy and falling milk prices,
many found a renewed purpose as
makers of handcrafted cheese. Drawing on a tradition that originates from
the Middle Ages, there are now some
250 cheeses and the number is growing. There are now as many varieties
gracing the cheeseboards of the country’s top gastronomic restaurants as
there are choices for filling your daily
sandwich. And among the full range
of cream, blue, goat’s and soft cheeses, at least 125 are organic.
 www.lawalloniedessaveurs.be
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
On removal, the squares are placed in a
salted bath before the delicate stage of
ripening in ageing cellars begins. There
are three: one for Herve cheeses, the
other two for hard and bloomy rinds.
Each is carefully regulated for humidity and ambient temperature.
Traditionally, it is eaten with coffee and
Liège syrup, a relic of the days when
farm cheeses had a more bitter flavour,
but today an Abbey beer is a more suitable accompaniment. New lines are
continually being developed, such as
Herve ripened with beer.
 wWw.herve-societe.be
■
■
■
■
■
One common factor is the use of regional products such as beer, fruit,
herbs and mustard in the ripening
process – and the accompanying drink
The standard-bearer among Wallonia’s
dairy products is Herve, made in the
lush pastures of the Herve plateau. The
distinctive pungent-flavoured square
cheese is Belgium’s only Product of
Designated Origin, a coveted European
label that confirms regional authenticity. The majority is made by the familyrun Herve Société in the village of the
same name. It also makes cheeses for
the local Val Dieu Abbey and a range of
speciality products.
■
■
■
www.bioferme.be
www.groschene.be
www.chimay.com
www.produitsfermiers.be
www.lebailli.be
www.orval.be
www.fromagebio.be
www.apaqw.be
Photo credits:
Bottom right: OPT Emmanuel Mathez
All other photos: Herve Société
Liège
Taking advantage of the extensive grazing grassland in the province is La Fromagerie des Ardennes. It includes the
reputed Bioferme range and Doré de
Lathuy, an organic, soft cheese made
from non-pasteurised cow’s milk that
has a subtle nutty flavour. The same
dairy also produces Maquée de Werbomont, a popular cream cheese, in addition to natural and organic fromage
frais and Cru des Fagnes, a Brie-like
soft cheese that has picked up numerous awards for its unctuous texture.
Namur
In the gentle valleys of the Condroz region lies the Route du Fromage, an annual event that wends its way around
dairies every September. Fromagerie du
Gros Chêne is one, an artisan cheese cooperative. Although it produces some
30 types of cheese (using cow, goat and
ewe’s milk) its star product is Calendroz, a soft-rind cheese with moulded
crust. Although inspired by the French
Camembert, it differs in technique as
well as taste due to Wallonia milk, according to Gros Chêne’s master cheesemaker Daniel Cloots, who has 35 years
of experience. He believes the region’s
artisan producers benefit from the lack
of cheese-making tradition. “What is
typical is that we can create our own
cheeses and are not restricted by producing a local product, as is the case in
France.”
Another artisan cooperative on the
cheese trail is La Fermière de Méan. Its
organic range includes Li Vî Cinsy, an
award-winning hard-rind cheese that
undergoes a long maturing period to
achieve its powerful fruity flavour. The
farm’s goat’s cheeses and Charmoix
(tartiflette) are also popular. Two other
cheeses of note are the semi-hard Le
Molignard (natural, nettle, garlic and
herbs and paprika flavours) by Ferme
Fromagerie de Chertin, and Petit Gabriel by Ferme de Jambjoule, which is
soft, creamy, mould-crusted, salted by
hand and ripened for 10 days in the cellar.
Hainaut
In a southern corner of the province lies
Chimay, famous first for its Trappist beer
and secondly for its abbey cheese. One
of the most revered is Vieux Chimay,
a firm and fruity, orange-hued cheese,
whose tangy flavour perfectly accompanies a beer of the same providence. Also
grazing the rich pastures of the Chimay
region are beef and dairy herds at Ferme
du Mouligneau. The latter provide but-
ter, yoghurt and cheese, including the
prized soft-rind Oscar, of which there is
also a péket-refined variety.
Underlining the importance of quality
and rich milk is the Ferme du Bailli,
which has introduced special feed for
its cows, helping to create cheeses naturally fortified in Omega 3. The semihard Bailli exists in numerous guises,
including white wine, herbs, cumin and
a lower-fat variety.
Luxembourg
The Fromagerie d’Orval operates from
the famous Trappist abbey of the same
name, making cheese from full-fat
pasteurised milk supplied by neighbouring Gaume farms. Using an 1816
recipe from Trappist monks living and
working at the Abbey of Port-du-Salut
in France, the Orval dairy produces a
rich firm cheese that is washed by hand
to produce a natural rind and aromatic
taste.
Bordering the Liège province is the
Fromagerie Biologique de Vielsalm. Its
Ardenner cheese is made from pasteurised organic milk and comes in young
or aged varieties as well as basil and
garlic and ginger and green pepper.
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
25
Create
panorama
Under the skin
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wallonia and brussels magazine
autumn 2012
D
on’t be alarmed: this is a creation
by Dinh Van FX, a young special
effects company from Liège. It
was set up this year by Lionel Lê, 35, who
branched out from working alone and
now works with wig-makers, mouldmakers and other make-up artists to
create eye-catching effects for, among
others, the hit US series Being Human
(pictured here), for which he worked
alongside Quebec company Lifemaker.
Using silicone, urethane, fibreglass and
latex, the team can produce lifelike and
fantastic scars, ageing effects, weapons,
prosthetic limbs and teeth.
“First, I studied art and comics at SaintLuc in Liège,” Lê explains. “We worked
in different places, in Belgium, France,
the Netherlands, Denmark and Canada.
We worked recently on the US series
Bullet in the Face and on the sequel to
the film The Chronicles of Riddick.”
Lê describes one of his favourite
projects: “I really enjoy working on
old age make-up or monster make-up.
For a Turkish production, I’m working
on old age make-up: we follow the
actress through her entire life. She
was twenty-five years old and we’ll see
her at thirty-five, forty-five, fifty-five
and seventy-five. It’s a very exciting
and very difficult project, because
we have to be able to recognise her at
each age. The most difficult thing is to
make audiences believe it’s real and
not a mask, so we needed to study
the actress’s morphology and facial
expressions.”
Lê’s work can also be seen on stage
in Copenhagen early next year, in a
performance of Shrek the Musical. In the
meantime, he’s busy making a name for
himself and his company in the heart of
Europe, working with stage and screen
companies in need of spectacular make-up.
 www.dinhvanfx.com
wallonia and brussels magazine
autumn 2012
27
Create
design
Designing together
A Brussels-based innovator wants us to break the rules
By Stephanie Duval
M
ake no mistake: design is
much more than just the nicelooking objects on show at
design fairs. In fact, Alok Nandi argues
there is currently “a confusion between
design and decoration”, and it’s a misconception he would like us all to break
free from, so we can grasp the possibilities of ‘design thinking’.
To help society realise this potential,
Nandi launched the coCreationcamp
platform last year, and since then has
presented a series of get-togethers,
seminars and workshops all over Europe. This autumn, coCreationcamp
was invited by Creative Wallonia to be
a part of the Semaine de la Créativité
which will take place in November. He
explains what the platform is all about.
What is the goal of coCreationcamp?
Our goal is to identify how we can work
together to generate new ideas and new
ways of making things. One of the challenges in this is that each of us has our
own paradigm and framing, and our
aim is to try and break some of these
frameworks.
Who is Alok Nandi?
Born and raised in DRC and based in
Brussels, Alok Nandi is no stranger to
the creative innovation scene. He is the
founder of Creativity*Conversation, the
so-called Pecha Kucha nights that take
place in cities all over Europe, including
Brussels. The idea of these events is to
have speakers give a presentation of 400
seconds that is short, to the point and
inspiring.
 www.aloknandi.com
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wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
l’air du temps gaetan miclotte
Could you give an example of an
actual coCreationcamp?
I’ll use the example of food making.
What I tested is the fact that by setting
certain constraints for making food,
people are obliged to step outside
their comfort zone. Specifically, we
organised a session with 35 people
who had to make dinner together
in a certain time frame, using only
the ingredients and tools we made
available. The question we asked
them was: ‘How are we going to make
something that looks nice on a plate
and tastes great?’ It puts pressure on
people, because they know they have to
talk to each other, try and understand
and use tools they have never used in
order to deliver. People have to work
from experiential knowledge. So it’s
not intellectualisation but concrete
stuff.
Afterwards, we try to understand if this
kind of design journey can be helpful in
other practices: in terms of designing
furniture or services and so on. Putting
people outside their comfort zone and
breaking some assumptions will lead
to new ways of doing and connecting.
For example, if you’re given the
ingredients for a salad, you’ll be
tempted to make a salad like you are
used to, using olive oil and so on. But
if someone says, ‘We’re going to use
a mixer,’ we completely disturb that
idea. Then we make a kind of pesto: we
break the notion of what a salad is in
the perception of the person who will
be eating it. It will be a liquid salad.
What do we do with it? How can we
make sure that it can be presented on
a plate?
Who participates in these events,
and how are they chosen?
The projects are basically on invitation.
We try to include people from very
different backgrounds with varied
expertise. Then we make the events as
participatory as possible, which is why
we aim for smaller groups, so no one
gets lost in the group’s dynamic. There
is talking, sharing, discussing and
general critical thinking – so we choose
people who have interesting ideas that
can shake up existing frameworks. But
sometimes we do attract the attention
of people who email us to ask to be a
part of it. Then we look at what they
could bring to the conversation.
Why is co-creation so important today?
There’s a certain inertia, a certain
‘stiffness’ in society, systems and people
that we have to break. Traffic jams are a
symptom of that, for example. How can
we solve that? We need to intervene.
And then there’s been a lot of talking
and discussing climate change: we
know it’s a big issue, but nothing has
changed. That is why action research
is so important: prototypes of things
that might actually change things. Cocreation is aiming to share examples
with others. It’s a difficult journey,
perceived as abstract, but the goal is
not to do research that only reaches
other researchers, but to hand the ideas
to a lot of people, many of whom are
perhaps critical or pessimistic.
coCreationcamp
Creative Wallonia
November 14, Liège
There’s a certain
inertia in society that
we have to break
“We are going to invite two Michelinstarred chefs and combine their
expertise. Together, they will invent new
dishes – it will be an interesting chemistry
of cuisine, creating dishes that wouldn’t
have existed if these two chefs hadn’t
had a dialogue.”
 www.cocreationcamp.com
wallonia and brussels magazine
AUTUMN 2012
29
CREATE
AGENDA
The new cultural season
dazzles with eclectic
festivals, innovative art
and music of various
stripes
life story by Lars Norén, and multimedia
project Constellation 1961.
WHAT? FESTIVAL DES LIBERTÉS
WHEN? OCTOBER 18-27
WHERE? THEATRE NATIONAL & KVS,
BRUSSELS
www.festivaldeslibertes.be
CHARLEROI BIS-ARTS
Banish half-term boredom at Charleroi’s
annual autumn festival of international
street theatre and arts. Darkening nights
cannot dampen the high spirits of cabaret,
clowns
and
children’s
entertainers
performing in big tops and city venues. The
programme extends to acts from Australia,
Alaska, France and Morocco as well as
home-grown talents.
FESTIVALS
FESTIVAL DU RIRE
WHAT? FESTIVAL DU RIRE
WHEN? OCTOBER 14-21
WHERE? LIÈGE
www.pba-eden.be
charif benhelima
Francophone comedy takes centre stage in
this week-long international festival with a
televised gala and street activities among
the highlights. Local comedians among the
45 artists include Bruno Coppens, Jérôme
de Warzée, Shirley & Dino, La Framboise
Frivole, Olivier Leborgne (pictured) and
Nicolas Canteloup.
WHAT? CHARLEROI BIS-ARTS
WHEN? OCTOBER 26-NOVEMBER 3
WHERE? PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS &
L’EDEN
CLAUDE AÏELLO
ET LES DESIGNERS
Italian-born ceramic artist Aïello is the third
generation of his family to make pottery. He
is also part of the revitalisation of Vallauris,
the Provence town made famous by Picasso.
He and a group of designers have created
a series of original and utilitarian objects
that are transformed into conceptual and
designer art. Grand-Hornu, the Unesco
former mining site, offers a rare opportunity
to view the works which have propelled
ceramic art in an entirely new direction.
WHAT? CLAUDE AÏELLO
ET LES DESIGNERS
WHEN? UNTIL DECEMBER 16
WHERE? GRAND-HORNU IMAGES
www.grand-hornu-images.be
www.voorire.be
FESTIVAL DES LIBERTÉS
The annual freedom festival returns with
a timely interrogation of the global crisis,
with arts, debates and an international
documentary competition of 30 films
that touch on human rights. Musical
entertainment is guaranteed with a series
of world music concerts: Balkan and
gypsy beats from Taraf de Haïdouks &
Kocani Orkestar, hip-hop by De La Soul,
rap from influential Americans Public
Enemy and electro-swing-jazz by Caravan
Palace (pictured) and Ogres de Barback.
Theatre takes the form of a German
drama, 20 November, based on a real-
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wallonia and brussels magazine
autumn 2012
EXHIBITIONS
DAVE ANDERSON,
CHARLEROI
INTRANQUILITÉS
Dave Anderson, one of the shooting stars
of the American photo scene, casts his
unsentimental eye over the people of
Charleroi. The works at Wallonia’s temple to
photography are the result of his wanderings
around the once-prosperous industrial
city, which is patiently awaiting the end of
the urban regeneration programme that
is set to transform the city. Anderson’s
portraits go beyond the clichés and hard
facts to convey real lives; the joy, humour
and inextinguishable spirit that defines the
Caroloregion.
Charleroi’s flagship contemporary art
space kicks off the season with three artists
originating from Morocco: Charif Benhelima
(pictured), Mohamed El Baz and Mounir
Fatmi. Part of DABA Maroc (a BrusselsWallonia Federation artistic programme),
the exhibition of photographs, videos and
installations explores cultural identity
via the notion of curiosity and freedom of
expression.
WHAT? INTRANQUILITÉS
WHEN? UNTIL DECEMBER 16
WHERE? B.P.S.22, CHARLEROI
www.bps22.hainaut.be
WHAT? DAVE ANDERSON, CHARLEROI
WHEN? UNTIL JANUARY 20
WHERE? PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUM,
CHARLEROI
www.museephoto.be
willem de leeuw photography
MUSIC
CONSERVAMUS GALA
CONCERT
A gorgeous 19th-century music school-cumconcert hall right in Brussels’ Sablon area,
the Royal Conservatory would be one of
country’s finest cultural hotspots if it wasn’t,
literally, falling to pieces: pigeons have taken
up residence in the roof, the heating system
stopped working aeons ago and one practice
room has a huge hole in the floor where a
grand piano once fell through. This concert
is organised by Conservamus, a non-profit
association that pushes for the necessary
renovations to be done before it is too late.
Soprano Marie-Noëlle de Callataÿ will be
joined by the Odysseia Ensemble (pictured)
and the Amôn Quartet in music by Mozart,
Schubert and Debussy.
WHAT? CONSERVAMUS GALA CONCERT
WHEN? OCTOBER 24
WHERE? BRUSSELS CONSERVATORY
www.conservatoire.be
Infinite Bach
ALEXANDER GURNING
ALEXANDER GURNING
Bach allegedly composed his Goldberg
Variations, a cycle of 30 miniatures framed
by the same artless and haunting theme,
as a cure for a patron who suffered from
insomnia. It is hard, however, to think
of music that is less soporific, especially
since Glenn Gould delivered his two earthshattering and now mythical recordings.
Alexander Gurning, a Belgian pianist with
mixed origins and an equally eclectic musical
background, follows in his footsteps.
JS Bach could never have predicted that his music would one day be played by a halfPolish, half-Indonesian pianist living in Brussels. But the chances are he would have
loved Alexander Gurning’s searching, swinging and utterly ravishing take on his Goldberg
Variations. Gurning, 39, recorded the piece last year to great acclaim. He describes it as a
“universe” of which he never tires. “Normally, when you approach a new work, you start
out wanting to explore it, to learn all about it. Here, it’s the other way round: you first
want to play it, and as you do you discover more and more to it. The angle widens the
further you immerse yourself into the piece. It becomes almost infinite. There’s always
something new to see or hear. It is incredible.” A former Brussels Conservatory student
who went on to hone his skills in Moscow, Gurning has more strings to his bow: he is
also the pianist in the soulful Ensemble Soledad, a Belgian outfit that plays tango with a
contemporary twist and will be heard in Ottignies and Brussels as part of the Skoda Jazz
festival. A fan has hailed their “rare intensity” that combines “intelligence, know-how and
sex appeal”. Her name? Martha Argerich.
WHAT? ALEXANDER GURNING
WHEN? OCTOBER 14
WHERE? LIÈGE SALLE PHILHARMONIQUE
www.opl.be
wallonia and brussels magazine
autumn 2012
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