Three billion unknowns

#394
Erkenningsnummer P708816
august 26, 2015 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu
current affairs \ p2
politics \ p4
Gunman stopped
BUSiNESS \ p6
Safe cycling
A man who pulled out an
automatic weapon on a highspeed train between Brussels and
Paris was tackled by passengers
Antwerp province has awarded
grants to schools to give kids
lessons in safe cycling and other
road dangers
\2
\9
innovation \ p7
education \ p9
art & living \ p10
Straight
outta Asia
Nature organisations explain
how the Taiwanese rat snake
got into Flanders and how it is
surviving the cold
\ 10
Three billion unknowns
© Mischa Keijser/Corbis
Supercomputers allow Flemish researchers to achieve the unthinkable
Senne Starckx
More articles by Senne \ flanderstoday.eu
The supercomputer Tier-1 has been pushing scientists
in Flanders to new frontiers, from predicting weather
patterns in deep space to solving complex mathematical
equations. But according to analysts, the powerful machine
is underused by industry
F
or much of human history, the scientific method has
been the building block of science. Scientists would
perform experiments in their labs to explore the laws
of the universe and test their hypotheses. But there was only
so much they could do with limited resources and time.
In the 21st century, another way to investigate scientific
phenomena has originated: the computer simulation run
on powerful processing machines called supercomputers.
Supercomputers have allowed scientists to take their
research to the next level, enabling them to carry out
projects that used to be unaffordable because of the huge
computing power and data storage capacity they required.
The machines have been around since the 1960s, but, for a
long time, Flanders neglected its computing infrastructure.
The region had to wait until 2013 to see its first supercomputer installed: Tier-1, housed at Ghent University (UGent).
At the time of its inauguration, Tier-1 ranked 118th in the
global top-500 list of supercomputers. The computer, which,
unlike your PC, is a combination of many processing cores,
has a peak performance of 175 teraflops – that is 175 trillion
calculations per second.
One year after that installation, the region’s computing
capacity was increased with the launch of Tier-2, a network
of local computing clusters from Antwerp University, the
Free University of Brussels (VUB), the University of Leuven
(KU Leuven) and UGent. Now Flanders can boast a total
computing capacity of 613 teraflops.
All of that computing power is managed by the Flemish
Supercomputer Centre (VSC), which allocates “computer
time” to researchers working at the five universities.
“Researchers can submit applications which are then evaluated by a panel of experts,” says Marc Luwel, director of the
Hercules Foundation, which co-ordinates VSC.
If their own software is not sufficient, lecturers and postgraduate students from the associated universities can
request access to the network. But researchers working for
Flemish public institutions, businesses and non-profits are
also encouraged to apply.
Jan Fostier is with the IBCN research group at UGent.
Together with his colleagues, he used Tier-1’s computing
power to study the interaction of electromechanical waves,
such as GSM, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, with large objects like
airplanes, antennas and telescopes.
“We essentially solved Maxwell’s equations for these objects,”
Fostier explains, referring to the set equations that show
how energy and information can be transmitted through
the air. “The bigger the object those waves interact with, the
more unknown variables there are.”
To calculate these unknowns, the team needed processing
power. A lot of it. “We once did a simulation with more than
three billion unknowns, which means you would need at
continued on page 5
\ CURRENT AFFAIRS
Passengers thwart gunman on
Thalys train out of Brussels
Federal police are looking for local accomplices in the attack last week
Alan Hope
Follow Alan on Twitter \ @AlanHopeFT
B
elgian federal police have
begun an investigation
into accomplices in this
country who may have helped
Ayoub el-Khazzani, whose plan
to carry out an attack on a Thalys
train last Friday was stopped by
passengers. El-Khazzani boarded
the train in Brussels and is known
to have spent time in Brussels and
Antwerp.
El-Khazzani was alone when he
was tackled on the train from
Amsterdam to Paris while in
possession of a Kalashnikov-type
rifle, nine ammunition clips, a
Luger pistol and a knife. Police
said he had obtained the weapons
in Belgium and boarded the train
at Brussels South station.
The 25-year-old is of Moroccan
nationality and lived in Spain. He
has family in Brussels but told
police he was sleeping rough and
“found” the weapons in a park.
Police said he had visited Antwerp
© Belga
Police on the scene at Brussels South station last Friday after a man pulled out an automatic
weapon en route to Paris
regularly and was known to them
for his radical sympathies. It is not
known whether he had connections with the radical Islamic
group Sharia4Belgium.
Detectives from the federal police
have travelled to France to consult
with local authorities and possibly interview El-Khazzani.
Like Mehdi Nemmouche, the
man in custody for the shooting deaths of four people at the
Foster parents sought for baby found
on roadside by De Lijn driver
One in three seniors has purchased the €50 annual
pass for public transport authority De Lijn, as
free travel for the over-65s ends at the end of
this month. So far the offer has been taken up by
271,289 of those eligible.
“That is better than expected,” said De Lijn CEO
Roger Kesteloot. “Our goal was to have at least
200,000 pass holders over 65 by the first of September. We’re already ahead of that. That shows that
€50 is a reasonable and acceptable social tariff.”
Previously, De Lijn automatically mailed passes to
everyone in Flanders 65 and over. De Lijn wrote
to all 902,000 over-65s in Flanders explaining that
buses and trams were no longer free for them
and offering the annual pass. By comparison, an
annual pass for an adult costs €294. The sales to
seniors to date have brought in more than €13.5
million for De Lijn, which is faced this year with
having to make savings of €35 million.
The 65+ group is the first to receive passes in the
form of a MOBIB card, the new electronic chip
card being introduced by De Lijn. “An annual pass
© Courtesy De Lijn
is advantageous for anyone who makes more than
35 trips in a year,” explained a de Lijn spokesperson. “Of course a senior is not obliged to buy a
pass. They can also pay per trip.”
Public transport user group TreinTramBus (TTB)
agreed the price is acceptable, but called for
the money to be spent on improving services.
“Following three savings rounds, there’s no more
fat to be trimmed off,” said TTB president Stefan
Stynen. “Cuts are being made to Sunday services
and night buses, and capacity is falling. De Lijn
urgently needs to do something.” \ AH
1,194
27%
cars on the MS Höegh Target, the
world’s largest auto-carrier, which
visited the port of Antwerp last
week. It has a deck area of 71,400
square metres and was delivering
900 cars to the port
\2
ment rules of the Schengen area,
that can continue for a month,
after which an evaluation has to
be carried out.
But Geens stressed the danger
of concentrating too hard on
trains. When airport security
was increased, he pointed out,
the result was attacks on trains
and metro stations. “If we focus
too much on one area, problems
simply turn up in another area,”
he said.
Prime minister Charles Michel
was in Paris on Monday at the
invitation of French president
François Hollande to meet the
three passengers who intervened to stop El-Khazzani – two
US soldiers and their friend. “The
prime minister was happy to
accept the invitation,” a spokesperson said. “This was a train
full of Belgian passengers, so it
would seem that they saved a lot
of Belgian lives.”
One in three seniors buys new De Lijn pass
Chris Matterne, a bus driver for De Lijn who found a newborn baby lying by the
side of the road last week, was at the city hall in Sint-Truiden on Wednesday to
witness as she was signed onto the national register by the social aid agency
OCMW.
“When I opened the door of the bus, I heard a noise. At first I thought it was a cat,”
Matterne told VTM News. “When I came a bit closer I saw a child’s head and felt
that it was warm. I wrapped her up in my fleece.” The baby was lying on a grass
verge adjoining a fruit orchard in the Sint-Truiden area. Doctors said she had been
abandoned shortly after birth.
The OCMW issued an appeal for information and also called for Limburg province to introduce a special hatch for foundlings, such as exists in Antwerp, where
babies can be left safely but anonymously. “I hope we don’t have to go through this
again in the future,” said OCMW chair Pascal Monette.
The baby was in good health, doctors said, and will remain in hospital for a day
or two to allow the city to find a foster family. She has been given the temporary
name Marie Peeters. According to VTM, the hospital has been flooded with gifts
from well-wishers. Matterne brought one to add to the pile on behalf of De Lijn.
The baby was wrapped in blankets but had no clothes on, and investigators have
few clues to work with. The hope is that the mother will come forward of her own
accord in the weeks to come. \ AH
8,500
Jewish Museum in Brussels last
year, El-Khazzani appears to have
bought the guns from someone in
the criminal underworld, police
said. According to security expert
and Ghent University professor
Brice De Ruyver, “Brussels is a hub
for the supply of heavy weaponry.
That’s a simple fact that should set
alarm bells ringing. We have built
up a terrible reputation for illegal
arms trading, and we now need to
do something about it.”
Speaking on TV on Sunday, justice
minister Koen Geens agreed. “It’s
clear that there are far too many
illegal Kalashnikovs coming out
of Eastern Europe – weapons that
are ex-military and coming in our
direction. We have to do something to stop them.”
Meanwhile, police are carrying out extra checks on baggage
belonging
to
international
passengers at South station and
elsewhere. Under the free move-
of rail transports carrying hazardous substances are in breach of
safety rules, according to figures
from the rail safety service DVIS,
much less than the 58% recorded
in 2012
4,437
security cameras registered with
the Privacy Commission in 2014,
85% more than in 2013. The growing number of cameras in the
workplace is explained as a reaction to staff thefts
students enrolled at the University
of Leuven for the new academic
year is from a country other than
Belgium. Students come from
about 100 different countries,
according to rector Rik Torfs
complaints made in 2014 to
the Federal Food Safety Agency,
9% more than in 2013. Hygiene
accounted for the most complaints,
followed by food poisoning and
food storage
august 26, 2015
WEEK in brief
The Belgian Institute for Road
Safety is investigating the growing number of serious accidents
involving lorries, at the request
of the transport industry itself.
So far this year, 10 people have
died in accidents involving lorries
running into the rear of a tailback.
On Thursday last week, two people
were killed in an accident involving a lorry on the Brussels Ring,
and the road was closed for the
rest of the day.
The
extensive
renovations
carried out on runway 25 at
Brussels Airport have been
completed 18 days ahead of schedule. The airport company said fine
weather helped the works advance
rapidly and that “disruption for
passengers was kept to a minimum”. Less satisfied were residents in the north of Brussels, who
were subject to increased noise
from re-routed planes unable to
take off and land on the runway.
Runway 25 will be back in operation after being tested by Belgocontrol.
Former Olympic athletes Kim
Gevaert and Tia Hellebaut have
joined their names to a campaign
to save the Koning Boudewijn
stadium in Brussels, home of the
Memorial Van Damme athletics
meeting. Brussels intends to build
a new national stadium nearby
but without an athletics track.
The Koning Boudewijn stadium is
due to be demolished by 2020. The
two Flemish athletes will be back
in sports gear on 17 October, when
they take part in a relay marathon
in and around the stadium to raise
awareness for the cause.
Alternative taxi service Uber has
denied reports that its cars were
operating in Ghent last week. Drivers who are working in Ghent on
their own initiative will be sacked,
the company said. Last week a
reporter for De Gentenaar newspaper managed to book an Uber
car for a trip, and the driver said
face of flanders
there were four or five cars working in the city.
VLM Airlines is adding a new flight
three times a week from Antwerp
to Birmingham starting on 5
October. The company said the
new route was in response to
demand from both business and
tourist passengers. VLM currently
flies from Antwerp Airport to
Geneva, Hamburg and Southampton.
One of Italy’s most wanted men
was arrested last week in the
village of Geluwe, part of Wervik
in West Flanders. Erjon S had been
living in Flanders for years, posing
as an Albanian refugee, which
allowed him to become naturalised. He is married to a Flemish woman, and the couple have
three children. He was sentenced
to 23 years for the murder of a
prostitute in 2000 and has eluded
capture since then. He is expected
to be handed over to the Italian
authorities.
Rail authority NMBS is ending
sales of its renewable weekly
pass from 1 September, a spokesperson has confirmed. The transport authority said the ticket
accounted for less than 1% of
sales. NMBS also wants to bring
its ticket range into line with
regional transport companies
De Lijn, MIVB and TEC. Holders
can choose between a variety of
options, but the user group TreinTramBus said the decision would
affect part-time or temporary
workers, for whom there was no
other suitable option.
Commercial Flemish TV channels Vier and Vijf are launching
an advertising experiment later
this year. Under the test, each time
a viewer pauses a TV programme
or recording, instead of seeing
a frozen image, a static ad will
appear. Telenet, which owns a
share of parent company SBS, will
take care of the technical aspects,
and SBS is also in talks with Proximus to see if it is interested in the
idea.
Tax-free shops at airports are
deceiving customers by offering
a 20% discount on prices that are
inflated in the first place, according to consumer organisation
Test-Aankoop. In many cases, the
organisation said, prices are just
as high as they would be outside
of the airport. And many passengers are still under the impression
that products are offered without
VAT, although that is now only the
case for travel outside the EU.
A unique energy project on the
Albert canal at Ham in Limburg
is to be extended to other locks
in the area, including at Hasselt
and Diepenbeek. The combined
pumping and hydro-power
installation provides green energy
to 1,000 homes and has worked
so well that all investment costs
have been paid off in seven years,
according to Frieda Brepoels,
chair of the canal management
company De Scheepvaart.
The popular Sunday market in
the Jette commune of Brussels is
to be split in two for renovations
to Koningin Astridplein, known
locally as the Spiegelplein, and the
construction of the new tramline
9. Half of the market will move one
kilometre away to Cardinal Mercierplein, while the Spiegelplein
becomes entirely pedestrianised
and a new car park is built underground.
Eddy Brouckaert, the long-time
director of the Krant van WestVlaanderen, is retiring at the
end of this year at the age of 65.
He will be replaced by Stefaan
Vermeersch, currently acting
director of the free press division for East Flanders within the
Roeselare-based Roularta Media
Group. The paper has 11 local
editions and reaches 354,000 readers a week.
OFFSIDE
Last of the ugly places
The campaign in De Standaard to find the ugliest place
in Belgium was such a hit with the public and the media
that it not only produced two Offside columns, it also
got nicked by French-speaking broadcaster RTBF.
The difference is that RTBF is focusing only on Brussels and hasn’t offered any nominations of its own to
get the ball rolling. So instead, let’s turn to the readers’
comments at brusselnieuws.be.
The readers are quick off the mark. The tunnel under
South station is, as readers E and FDM point out, the
first view many visitors get of the capital of Europe,
and also for many the last. H chooses “the central
avenues and the garbage that’s been put there,” including “tables and benches straight out of some bio-ecolo
garden centre”. Close by, CDLA chooses “the No Man’s
Land of De Brouckère”.
PS is back to the start in choosing the red-light laden
North quarter (pictured), which has been a bone of
contention for at least the last 30 years. SVC suggests
Charles V
Upon receiving the all-clear, the
Imperial Guard, surrounding
Charles V, rode across the SintMichiels bridge towards Gravensteen castle. But something was
wrong. A cry was heard: “Cut!”
and the mass of men and horses
turned around and prepared to
do it all again.
It’s sometime in the latter half
of the 16th century, and the
scene is on the set of the film
Emperor starring Adrien Brody
(The Pianist, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Charles V, Keizer
Karel, King of Spain and Holy
Roman Emperor. As some have
been keen to point out, it might
have been Brody’s chin that got
him the part.
Charles was born in Ghent
in 1500, the son of Philip the
Handsome and the less fortunately named Joanna the Mad (a
condition later attributed to the
actions of Charles). His father
had been born in Bruges and
was Duke of Burgundy and the
Burgundian Netherlands at the
time.
Philip died in 1506, and Charles
came under the guardianship of
his aunt, Margaret of Austria,
Philip’s younger sister, a childless widow. She was named
governor of the Netherlands and
ruled from Mechelen, where her
© Portrait of a young Charles V by Bernard van Orley
palace still stands.
Charles came into his titles at
the age of 15, and the war over
whether he should pay homage
to the French king for the territory of Flanders led in 1528 to
the French giving up their claim
to the county. Charles went on to
extend his Burgundy territories,
from Tournai to Groningen.
Along the way, he picked up the
crown of Castile and Aragon
and became the de facto King
of Spain. In 1519, he succeeded
his grandfather as Holy Roman
Emperor. He was officially
crowned in 1530 by the Pope in
Bologna.
The action in the film takes place
a decade later, when Charles was
forced to put down a rebellion by
the citizens of Ghent against high
taxation used to finance foreign
wars. The uprising’s ringleaders were forced to walk through
town in their nightshirts with a
noose around their necks – an
event marked by a parade every
year during the Gentse Feesten.
It’s also an image adopted by
natives of Ghent to represent
their town; you can find little
nooses in souvenir shops and
hanging from car rear-view
mirrors. Residents are known as
Stroppendragers – noose wearers.
Flanders Today, a weekly English-language newspaper, is an initiative of the Flemish
Region and is financially supported by the Flemish authorities.
The logo and the name Flanders Today belong to the Flemish Region (Benelux Beeldmerk nr
815.088). The editorial team of Flanders Today has full editorial autonomy regarding the content
of the newspaper and is responsible for all content, as stipulated in the agreement between
Corelio Publishing and the Flemish authorities.
the Stevens Tower down from the Zavel, as well as the
Spanjeplein in front of Central station and its “fake old
neighbourhood”.
The most stinging blow comes from FDM: “RTBF
doesn’t have to look far. Their own tower on Meiserplein deserves first prize. What an ugly thing!” \ AH
Editor Lisa Bradshaw
DEPUTY Editor Sally Tipper
CONTRIBUTING Editor Alan Hope
sub Editor Linda A Thompson
Agenda Robyn Boyle, Georgio Valentino
Art director Paul Van Dooren
Prepress Mediahuis AdPro
Contributors Rebecca Benoot, Bartosz
Brzeziński, Derek Blyth, Leo Cendrowicz,
Katy Desmond, Andy Furniere, Diana
Goodwin, Julie Kavanagh, Catherine
Kosters, Toon Lambrechts, Katrien
Lindemans, Ian Mundell, Anja Otte, Tom
Peeters, Daniel Shamaun, Senne Starckx,
Christophe Verbiest, Débora Votquenne,
Denzil Walton
General manager Hans De Loore
Publisher Mediahuis NV
Editorial address
Gossetlaan 30 - 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden
tel 02 373 99 09
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Verantwoordelijke uitgever
Hans De Loore
\3
\ POLITICS
5TH COLUMN
My village, my fortress
N-VA, believes in state reform
not only at the federal level. It
also believes that Flanders can
be better organised. Now that
the nationalists are in power,
they hope to bring about an
“internal state reform”.
One of the plans is to slim down
the provinces. The government
of Flanders thinks that these
intermediate levels of government have become obsolete
– something the provinces
themselves refute. The flipside
of this would be that municipalities become larger, the
smaller ones being invited to
merge.
Flanders has 308 municipalities, several with populations
of around 2,000. Towns already
co-operate for a number of
tasks they cannot handle by
themselves. There are police
and fire service zones, for
example, consisting of several
villages. For utilities such
as energy, water and sewer,
municipalities have joined
forces in so-called intercommunals, which have become
veritable institutions themselves.
Minister of internal affairs
Liesbeth Homans (N-VA) does
not want to force the villages
to merge. Instead, she wants
to reward them with debt
relief of €500 per inhabitant.
That is a major incentive, as
many communes are strapped
for cash, with some even being
forced to close down swimming pools and libraries.
Still, there is little enthusiasm for the plans. So far, not a
single mayor has declared his
or her municipality would be
up for a merger. Smaller towns
fear that the rural or residential character will disappear if
they are absorbed into larger
urban areas.
But mainly the reasons are
emotional. As Mortsel mayor
Eric Broeckx put it in De
Standaard: “Someone from
Mortsel is simply not someone
from Boechout.”
While Flanders may seem like
one suburban area to travellers, its inhabitants see more
differences than similarities
between them and the next
town. In 1976, when a merger
between municipalities was
enforced, some could not
even agree which town would
become the main seat, leading
to names like Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. To this day, many
Flemish identify more with the
pre-’76 town they live in than
the larger town to which it now
belongs.
Homans hopes to finish
the whole operation before
the 2018 elections. CD&V,
however, thinks that Homans’
2016 deadline for voluntary
mergers is too soon. The fact
may be, though, that Flanders
will never be ready for another
merger. \ Anja Otte
\4
Fedasil takes on staff to cope
with asylum applications
Unions protest work conditions as migrants line up outside office
Alan Hope
More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu
F
edasil, the federal agency for the support
of asylum-seekers, is hiring 130 new
staff “as quickly as possible” to help cope
with the stream of new asylum-seekers, a
spokesperson said. The announcement came
on the day staff at the agency staged a protest
against staff shortages.
“Staff at Fedasil are exhausted,” Hilde De Leeuw
of the ACV union said. “There is a shortage of
staff. At dispatch, they have to find a place for
people to stay the same day, but that’s practically impossible. The local centres are also short
of staff because there are always new people
coming in, and we want to give them decent
accommodation.”
Fedasil occupies the same building in the
North Station area in Brussels as the Office for
© Kristof Van Accom/BELGA
Asylum seekers in line outside the Fedasil office in Brussels
Foreigners, which has been inundated with
asylum applications this summer. On several
days this month, the numbers of applicants –
coming mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan
and Somalia – have been too high for the office
IS jihadist makes direct terrorist threats
on Belgium in message to researcher
Abdellah Nouamane, an Antwerp man said
to be a member of radical group Sharia4Belgium and known to have fought in
Syria, sent a threatening message last
week to Montasser AlDe’emeh (pictured), a
researcher on national jihadi movements
who is associated with Antwerp University
and the University of Leuven.
Nouamane said locations in Belgium would
be targeted for terrorist activity, including
“libraries, hospitals, shopping streets and
discotheques. We are no longer concerning ourselves with discussions about innocent victims,” he wrote. “All of the unfaithful
will be killed. We will kill them just as they
kill us.”
The home affairs ministry’s crisis centre said
that, although it is taking the threat seriously, it would not raise the terrorist threat
level at this point. “This message forms part
of a much larger global strategy,” an official
said.
The terrorist threat level currently stands
at two (out of four), having been raised to
three for a few months in the wake of an
anti-terror operation in Verviers in January in which two men were killed. The office
receives threats all the time, the official said,
not all of which reach the media.
According to AlDe’emeh, who originally
received the message, the threat should be
taken “very seriously”. The danger, he said,
came not only from returning Syria fighters.
“It’s also possible that young people here
might pay attention to the IS message,” he
said. “You don’t have to have been to Syria to
carry out an attack. We continue to underestimate the impact IS can have on the minds
of young people and the hate and frustration
lying dormant in our society.” \ AH
to handle, with people sent away to come back
the next day.
Those people – as well as those whose papers
have been processed – then turn to Fedasil to
find them accommodation.
As part of the union’s action, staff handed out
bottles of water and cake to those waiting in line
for their applications for asylum to be submitted. The union welcomed the promise of 130
new staff but warned it was not enough.
“We are doing everything possible,” to hire
new staff, said Fedasil spokesperson Mieke
Candaele. “Three new members of staff have
already joined dispatching in the last few weeks.
But we also need to be realistic. We can’t just
take on someone new from today to tomorrow.
The procedure takes time.”
Francken, other
politicians receive
death threats
Federal minister for work and consumer affairs
Kris Peeters and CD&V party president Wouter
Beke have revealed that they have received
death threats in recent months. The announcements followed news that Theo Francken,
federal minister for asylum and migration,
recently received a death threat.
Francken recently received an email in French
complaining he was giving money to migrants
while there was unemployment in the country. “If I could, I would stick a grenade in your
mouth,” the email read. “I would have no problem doing it. We will see each other again, I
promise you.”
“Migration is a loaded subject that provokes
strong reactions,” Francken said. I’m used to
a bit of trash-talk. It goes with the job. But
there are limits to everything. Keep it polite.”
Francken has filed a complaint with the police.
Peeters followed with news of his own that he
had received death threats, as did Beke. Neither
gave details of the contents of the messages
or how they were delivered. Both politicians
were offered special protection by the security
services but declined. \ AH
Flanders plans to end shocking road safety campaigns
Distressing images aimed at shocking the public
into awareness of road safety could be a thing
of the past, according to the new advertising
agency in charge of the campaigns in Flanders.
“Shocking the Flemish doesn’t work any more,”
said Tom Garcia, creative director of the Brussels-based agency Leo Burnett, which was
recently awarded the contract by Flanders’
mobility minister Ben Weyts. “Studies show
that the shock effect wears off with time, and
you have to keep using more and more severe
images to get people’s attention. We’re going in
another direction. Humour works, and that’s
what we’re working towards.”
Under the most recent set of state reforms, Flanders is responsible for the region’s road safety
campaigns. Weyts announced a grant last week
of €133,000 for the new campaign season, which
starts in October and runs until August.
The issue first came up when it was reported
that the government would put an end to the
long-running BOB campaign against drinkdriving. That turned out to be not the case, and
the Belgian Institute for Road Safety (BIVV)
will continue to work with the regions on that
campaign. The BIVV bid for the contract for
Flanders’ other ads but lost out to Leo Burnett.
The new season will also include ads on wearing seatbelts, using a mobile phone while driving, speeding and lack of attention.
“With 400 deaths, 2014 was a dark year on
Flanders’ roads,” Weyts said. “That’s why I’m
announcing a new campaign offensive, aimed
above all at prevention. In at least 94% of acci-
“Look Dad, no seat belt!” BIVV’s shock campaigns are a thing
of the past
dents, the cause lies in our own driving behaviour. There’s plenty we can do to make the roads
safer. These campaigns will play their part.” \ AH
\ COVER STORY
august 26, 2015
Three billion unknowns
Flanders’ supercomputer makes “unthinkable” research a reality
vscentrum.be
continued from page 1
least 30 terabytes of RAM memory
and more than a year to run it,”
Fostier says. “It’s unthinkable to
perform such simulations on one
machine.”
But one machine proved just
enough. In the end, thanks to
Tier-1 and its powerful processing
brain, Fostier’s team was able to
run the simulation. “And we did it
within 48 hours.”
However fast the supercomputer
may be, it still lacks intuitiveness
and human intelligence. Before
running any kind of simulation, the
researcher needs to write an algorithm that the machine will be able
to read and interpret.
“The final code was a result of 10
years’ work,” he says. “The development and implementation of
these algorithms is so essential to
the process that it has become its
own discipline within computer
science.”
Supercomputers can also be
used for more everyday applications. Consider weather forecasting, which by all standards isn’t
easy, even here on Earth. Now try
to predict if it is going to be windy
tomorrow on a planet in a different
solar system, millions of light years
away.
Postdoctoral researcher Ludmila
Carone works at the astrophysics department at KU Leuven. She
used Tier-1 to simulate weather on
exoplanets that haven’t even been
discovered yet. Exoplanets are
planets that orbit stars other than
the sun.
“They are hot these days,” Carone
Flemish researchers have used supercomputers to simulate the weather on Earth-like planets
ets and put them on a very close
orbit around their star,” she says.
“I then simulated how the weather
patterns changed in relation to the
orbit and the size of the planet.”
We still see hesitation with
a lot of companies when it
comes to supercomputers
says, referring not to their weather
but to their popularity within
the scientific community. “The
current search for exoplanets is
mostly focused on finding ones
that resemble Earth, in the hope of
discovering that one twin capable
of sustaining life.”
These Earth-twins, however, are
not easy to detect and observe
because, as Carone explains,
they are relatively far away from
their stars and thus don’t reflect
much stellar light. Instead, in her
research, Carone focuses on Earthlike planets that revolve in close
proximity to smaller and cooler
stars. “Some of them receive just
enough stellar energy to contain
water,” she explains. “And because
they are so close to a star, they’re
much easier to observe.”
So what kind of calculations did
Carone run on Tier-1? “I built more
than 700 virtual Earth-like plan-
This enabled her to identify climate
features that could make a planet
hospitable, or not.
For every one of her 700 virtual
worlds, Carone built advanced
3D models, each with over 1,000
years of climate history – just long
enough to identify average weather
patterns. “This resulted in simulations that were time-consuming and required a lot of processing power,” she says. “Luckily, I
didn’t have to write the algorithms
myself, as they are freely available.”
Could she have done it without the
help of a supercomputer? “I could
have built maybe a dozen virtual
planets with limited climate
patterns,” she says. “But nowhere
near the 700 I have now.”
Breakthrough scientific research is
not the only domain of computerrun simulations. Large-scale
computing capacity can also act
as an innovation trigger for main-
stream companies looking to
develop new products and services.
The government of Flanders understands this and actively encourages private companies to apply
for computing time at VSC. “Supercomputers are currently used in
highly innovative environments
and industries,” says Marc Luwel
from the Hercules Foundation.
“But we still see hesitation within
a lot of companies.”
At VCS, he says, “our role is to
convince firms that supercomputing can strengthen their competitiveness.”
Some businesses feel no such hesitation and fully embrace the technology. Pharmaceutical giant
Janssen Pharmaceutica, based in
Beerse, Antwerp province, is one
of the first companies to benefit from the Tier-1 infrastructure.
At the moment, the company’s
three supercomputing projects
are focused on the analysis of large
data sets with the hope of improving the development of new medicines.
“As in any other scientific environment, our R&D is facing exponential data growth,” says Jörg Wegner,
senior scientist at the company.
The challenge faced by the
company, and others like it, is that
as the amount of data increases,
so does the need for more computational power to process it. One
of Janssen’s on-going projects
concerns large-scale machine
learning, or the idea that algorithms used in machines can not
only summarise data but also learn
from it and make predictions.
“These
machine-learning
approaches help us understand
and support novel experimental designs and, crucially, estimate potential risks,” Wegner says.
“Consider the failure rate of experimental drugs in the second phase
of a clinical trial. Many potential
drugs don’t survive it. By incorporating sequencing data of the
genomes of the patients, we can
significantly lower the failure rate
during this crucial phase.”
Another firm to collaborate with
the VSC is 3e. Based in Brussels,
the company delivers software
solutions for sustainable energy
projects worldwide, including
wind, solar and hydropower.
The company used Tier-1 to simulate atmospheric conditions over
large geographical areas, including
the Belgian portion of the North
Sea. “We’ve been doing this kind
of work for decades,” says Rory
Donelly, who is responsible for
wind simulations at 3E. “Thanks to
the simulations, we can inform our
clients about the long-term sustenance of wind resources in areas
where they plan to build turbines.”
As result, their clients can easily
predict how much power each
turbine will generate, before it is
even set up.
But in the realm of communications technology, three years is like
eternity. And so, for all its breakthroughs and innovations, the first
Flemish Tier-1 is slowly becoming obsolete. In the latest top-500
list, published two months ago, the
Flemish supercomputer doesn’t
even get a mention.
If it is to keep up with the rest of the
world, VSC knows it needs to step
up its game and update its supercomputing capacity. “That’s why
the Hercules Foundation is making
additional funding available for a
new supercomputer,” Luwel says.
“KU Leuven is already designing a
sophisticated computer room to
house the next generation Tier-1.”
The new machine should become
operational in the second half of
2016.
The Tier-1 supercomputer, at home in Ghent, has simulated atmospheric conditions, provided data on electromechanical waves and determined
potential risks of experimental drugs
\5
\ BUSINESS
week in
business
Banking Van Marcke
The Kortrijk-based bathroom and plumbing group is
launching factoring services
for its clients through its
Malta-based banking affiliate Izola Bank. The company
is confident that it can extend
the financial institution’s
activities beyond consumer
credit and savings accounts to
offer a whole range of banking
services.
Construction
Cordeel
The Temse-based construction group has taken over the
local activities of the bankrupt Dutch building technical
services supplier Imtech and
its 800 workers.
Energy
German Pellets
The producer of bio-fuels and
wood pellets is taking over
the Langerlo coal-fired power
station in Genk from German
energy group E.on. German
Pellets plans to invest €125
million to turn it into Belgium’s
largest bio-fuel energy plant.
Packaging
AR Metallizing
The Genk-based world-leading producer of metallic paper
and packaging solutions, with
affiliates in Italy and the US,
has been taken over by Japan’s
Nissha Printing group for €120
million.
Retail Apple
The long-awaited Brussels
outlet of the US digital products brand is set to open on 19
September at 10.00.
Tourism Train Hostel
A 50-room hostel based on the
concept of railway coaches
opens this week in Brussels.
The entire facility has been
renovated to remind visitors
of trains and travel, and two
suites have been built using
authentic sleeping compartments at the top of the building.
Demand way up for local hops
US market leads way to boom for hop growers in West Flanders
Alan Hope
More articles by Alan \ flanderstoday.eu
T
hings are looking better for the hop
growers of West Flanders, according to the
organisation that represents the industry.
Not only does this year’s harvest promise to be
bountiful, but the growers’ strategy of switching
to aroma hops is also paying dividends.
“The switch is paying off,” said Erik Lagache of
the non-profit Hop. “A great number of small
breweries wanting to brew Belgian-style beer
have started up in the US. For that, they come
looking for Belgian aroma hops. Demand has
gone through the roof.”
The hop industry in Belgium is tiny, about 140
hectares in total, most of it centred around the
town of Poperinge in the west of the province.
Growers have always concentrated on bitter
hops, but the brewing industry of late has moved
Almost 40% of inspections
turn up illegal workers
Mobile operators lay on extra
signal at Pukkelpop
Social fraud inspectors caught undeclared workers in almost four out of
10 inspections carried out across Belgium last year, the service reports.
Last year just over 15,100 inspections were carried out at workplaces,
and infringements found in 37% of cases, involving 10,568 people working undeclared. Five years earlier, according to figures obtained by De
Tijd, there were 11,005 inspections, with 26% involving offences.
The service attributes the higher number of offences to more targeted
inspections, helped by data-mining – the use of various sources of information, including social media, to analyse the most likely sources of
fraud. The social inspection works along with police, magistrates, tax
authorities and other bodies.
By far the most illegal workers are employed by the food and drinks
service industry, which accounted for 32% of the total inspections last
year. The chair of industry federation Horeca Vlaanderen explained that
the sector had different problems from the rest of industry.
The food and drinks business involves irregular work, where good
weather can mean a sudden burst of custom and the need for more staff,
and bad weather the opposite, Filip Vanheusden told VTM News. In any
case, such work in restaurants is likely to become a thing of the past
with the introduction next year of the new “white cash register”, which
records all staff details and makes undeclared working virtually impossible. \ AH
Mobile
phone
operators
increased their capacity in and
around the Pukkelpop festival grounds last week to allow
festival-goers to communicate
with home in the event of an
emergency. Four years ago, a
heavy storm led to the deaths of
five people at the festival, when
stage equipment and tents
collapsed.
The three main operators –
Proximus, Mobistar and Base
– agreed to take the measure, recalling the scenes in
2011 when festival-goers were
unable to get in touch with
friends at the scene or with
family back home.
In the unlikely event of such an
incident being repeated at the
festival, which came to an end
last Saturday, the operators
increased capacity to allow up
to 42,000 text messages to be
sent every minute. If neces-
Limburg company H Essers takes
over German logistics group
Genk-based logistics company
H Essers has taken over German
competitor Kamman Thermologistiek, a subsidiary of Kamman,
which specialises in refrigerated
transport.
“For H Essers, this is a strategic takeover that will further
strengthen our activities in
pharmaceutical logistics,” the
company said in a statement.
“The acquisition will allow the
company to develop its position in the important Frankfurt
region.”
Kamman moved into pharmaceuticals transport in 2002 and
Transport De Lijn
The Flemish public transport
authority plans to invest €26.8
million in 107 new buses to be
built by Van Hool in Antwerp
province and VDL in West
Flanders. First deliveries are
expected at the end of next
year.
© Courtesy madeinlimburg.be
\6
© Milo-profi.be/VisitFlanders
towards aroma hops, which give beer a more
distinctive fruity or floral flavour.
Poperinge growers, now harvesting aroma hops,
are not only struggling to keep up with demand
but are also benefitting from a drought in the US
that severely affected hop crops there.
Here, a combination of warm weather followed
by rain is making the harvest look like a good
one – something that was in doubt just a month
ago when the state of the crop was analysed.
The icing on the cake: the price for Belgian hops
also looks strong this year. “This is the ideal
moment to get started as a hop grower,” Lagache
said. “At least if you’re prepared for the major
investment in planting.”
set up Kamman Thermologistiek
in 2009. The takeover involves the
entire fleet of 24 lorries and 25
refrigerated trailers, as well as all
41 employees and a warehouse in
the Frankenthal area. Founders
Jens Olivier Kamman and Wolfgang Waldow will remain in place.
Last year Kamman recorded
sales of €9 million, compared to
H Essers’ €440 million. The Genk
company has a fleet of 1,250
trucks and 2,700 trailers, making
it one of the largest logistics
providers in Europe. It employs
more than 4,000 workers in 11
European countries. \ AH
sary, they could also cut voicecall capacity to provide more
capacity for texting.
The operators also suggested
festival-goers use a short
message for text or Twitter to
let those at home know they
are all right. Long telephone
conversations, they said, use
up capacity and could prevent
others from contacting friends
and loved ones.
In other Pukkelpop news, the
Hasselt prosecutor’s office
revealed that anyone caught
using soft drugs, such as marijuana, at the festival would be
able to pay their fine immediately using a Bancontact card.
Police were equipped with a
mobile payment terminal to
collect fines of €75 to €150. The
move is part of a larger test
project to begin in the area
in September, the prosecutor
said. \ AH
NMBS to take over management
of Brussels South station
National rail authority NMBS will take over the running of the
commercial concerns at Brussels South station from its own subsidiary Eurostation if the proposal sent to the mobility minister’s office
is approved, as expected. The move follows an audit critical of Eurostation, which led to the sacking of two directors.
In May, an external audit by Ernst & Young uncovered irregularities
at both Eurostation and Euro Immo Star, which is also involved in
handling NMBS buildings and property. Two months prior, NMBS
CEO Jo Cornu sacked Eurostation director-general Herwig Persoons
and 30 other members of staff. Following the audit, two additional
directors were dismissed.
However no mention of that was made in the announcement that
Eurostation would be relieved of the running of Brussels South
concessions, to come under the umbrella of the NMBS proper, as is
the case for all other stations’ concessions in the country.
NMBS said bringing all stations under one roof was “no more than
logical”. It was also in line with the plans for the railways announced
by federal mobility minister Jacqueline Galant last month, which
included rationalisation of the various subsidiaries of the authority.
For the moment, the idea is only a proposal, delivered to Galant’s
office for her consideration. No date has been given as to when a
decision might be made. \ AH
\ INNOVATION
august 26, 2015
What eyes beneath
week in
innovation
Scientists discover brain mechanism that compensates for vision loss
More than 200 animal
species are using the De
Warande ecoduct in Bierbeek, Flemish Brabant, the
oldest of Flanders’ six ecoducts. An ecoduct is a wildlife crossing in the form
of a viaduct in which the
upper layer is reserved to let
animals cross a road safely.
In the past decade, more
than 200 animal species
have been spotted on the De
Warande ecoduct. The bestknown are badgers, stonemartens, squirrels, deer,
boars, polecats and foxes,
but the crossing has also
helped seven species of bat,
51 species of ground beetles
and hundreds of spider
species.
Tom Peeters
More articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu
B
iologists at the University of Leuven (KU
Leuven) investigating how the brain
compensates for vision loss have made
surprising discoveries that may prove crucial
to the success of medical applications such as
cochlear implants and bionic eyes.
Researchers have long known that the brain
responds to sensory loss by combining input
from other senses, like vision or touch. They call
this cross-modal neuroplasticity. “Behavioural
and fMRI experiments have shown that blind
people have enhanced tactile skills or auditory
localisation,” explains biochemist Julie Nys from
KU Leuven’s Lab for Neuroplasticity and Neuroproteomics.
“Subsequent studies have employed deprivation
of one sense from birth in test animals to understand these intriguing flexibilities,” she says.
“However, in the last decade, it has become clear
that the adult brain is also able to express crossmodal changes when deprivation is imposed
later in life.”
Previous experiments with mice revealed two
types of neuroplasticity in response to vision
loss. When a mouse loses sight in one eye, the
remaining eye starts sending additional signals
to the area in the brain that used to be served by
the lost eye. After a while, the mouse’s whiskers
– so its sense of touch – step in as well.
And a couple of weeks later, the researchers
found, the “lost” area in the brain was entirely
reclaimed and brain activity almost as high as it
was before the loss of sight.
The Leuven project, which was helmed by Lut
Arckens and funded by Research Foundation
Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish government’s
agency for innovation through science and
technology (IWT), differs from these previous
experiments in that it examined the brains of
older mice and also studied the molecular level.
“That’s crucial since most medication acts on
specific molecules,” Nys explains.
In their own mice experiments, the team discovered that cross-modal neuroplasticity could be
suppressed with Indiplon, a sedative that affects
communication between brain cells by acting on
effects of the activity-reducing neurotransmitter
GABA – much like an on-off switch in the brain.
When the switch is on, the loss of sight in one
© Mycroyance/Flickr
Leuven scientists are the first to determine that compensation for a lack of certain senses is age-dependent
eye is compensated for by the other eye, but also
by tactile input from the whiskers. When the
switch is off (so after the sedative was administered), the other eye alone takes over.
Another unexpected but important finding was
that these changes were age-dependent. “Most
research indicates that the younger brain is far
more flexible than the adult brain,” says Nys.
“Our study shows that this doesn’t hold true for
every type of plasticity. In adult mice, both the
remaining eye and the whiskers compensate for
the lack of vision in one eye.”
The finding was surprising, she says, “because
we didn’t really expect that the adult mouse
brains would still be so flexible. In adolescent
mice, only the functioning eye took over.”
The researchers also found that the Indiplon
sedative suppressed cross-modal plasticity in
adult mice: the lack of vision in one eye was
compensated by the remaining eye, but not by
the whiskers.
“You could say that we managed to ‘turn off ’ the
whisker influence, similar to what we observe
in adolescent mice,” Nys explains. “We also
discovered that by exposing adult mice to darkness before removing their eye, they recovered
differently. Again, their other senses took over
to a smaller degree, similar to what happens in
adolescent mice.”
According to the researcher, their findings may
help improve patient response to sensory prosthetics. She gives the example of a young child
with ear damage. “If you wait too long with cochlear implants, there is a chance that the child’s
brain has already adapted to the new situation –
meaning auditory areas in the brain have already
been taken over by other senses. As a result, the
implant doesn’t affect the corresponding auditory brain regions adequately.”
Results of the Leuven group’s study was published
in The Journal of Neuroscience, and the team has
received positive feedback from international
colleagues.
One New Yorker, for instance, sent an email
saying that ever since he lost his eye due to
cancer when he was a child, he has been seeing
vivid images in the dark. “Even though he is
not adding any scientific proof, such stories are
always intriguing to hear,” says Nys, who hopes
this new study will motivate scientists to think
outside the box. “Brain plasticity is a dynamic
and diverse process; it’s just not as simple as:
‘Young brains are more flexible than old brains’.”
Nys says that additional research might offer
clues on what’s best – turning the molecular
switch on or off – while experiments with more
visually oriented mammals, like cats, could be
a further step towards finding out whether the
mice findings can be extrapolated to the human
brain.
Q&A
tinyurl.com/forbio
Kris Verheyen is the head of the Forest and Nature Lab at Ghent University and oversees the ForBio project, which is examining the impact of
single- and mutliple-species forests
models and reliable observations
in other older forests to complement the data we gather.
Five years ago, you and your
colleagues planted 90,000
trees over three trial fields.
How are the trees doing?
We planted 10 different species
of trees in combinations of one
to four species. After five years
of growth, we see that some
combinations “perform better”
than others. For instance, if you
combine pine with oak, pest
and pathogen attacks on the
oak decrease. But if you want
to speed up leaf litter decomposition, and hence nutrient recycling, it’s better to mix
pine and birch. Overall, trees
in monocultures face greater
challenges. This is because in
What’s best – a mixed forest
that was planted or a natural
monoculture?
Man-made forests make up 7% of
global forests today but produce
33% of wood needed for industry. Projections estimate that by
2040, 50% of industrial wood will
come from plantations. Hence,
planted forests could ease much
of the pressure on existing, natural forests. So it’s really important
that we create sustainable, resistant and resilient plantations.
More mixed plantations may be
very important in this respect,
especially in the face of the risks
posed by climate change. \ Inter-
a mixed forest, a specific tree
species is less visible, and so
less attractive, to its predators.
Also, there’s more diverse leaf
litter, which improves the fertility of the soil.
Didn’t scientists already know
that mixed forests do better?
It has rarely been quantified with proper experiments.
The debate on whether to mix
or not goes back to the early
19th century, but the discussions have always been based
on field observations or quite
limited experiments that do not
allow general conclusions to be
drawn.
Wildlife crossing
helps 200 species
Studying trees is a timeconsuming endeavour. Can’t
you speed up the process by
using computer simulations?
It’s true: The oldest trees in
TreeDivNet were only planted
in 1999. Given that trees take 50
years or more to mature, it takes a
while to draw conclusions. Therefore, we indeed use simulation
Rivers in Flanders
can clean themselves
Stijn Baken of the University of Leuven has found
that some Flemish rivers
have a natural mechanism that removes phosphate from the water. The
water quality of these rivers
is considerably better than
in those without this filtering system. Baken discovered the reaction through
research in the Kleine Nete
river and tributaries of
the Demer river, all in the
Kempen region of Antwerp
province. “When iron-rich
groundwater streams into a
river, it comes into contact
with oxygen,” he explained.
“Under these conditions, the
iron doesn’t dissolve very
easily, leading to the creation of a brown sludge in the
water.” This sludge absorbs
the phosphate, removing up
to 90% of it.
Researchers plan GM
potato field trial
Researchers at Ghent University, the Flemish Institute for
Agriculture and Fisheries
Research and the Flemish
life sciences research institute VIB hope to start the
first field trials of genetically
modified Bintje potatoes
by 2017 or 2018. The trials
would focus on making the
potatoes resistant against
late blight and follow the
results of similar trials in
Wetteren in 2011 and 2012.
A conclusion drawn from
those trials is that only
a group of several genes
provides a strong resistance
to late blight. Breeders must
therefore use a large combination of natural resistance
genes to develop varieties
that are less susceptible. The
researchers will now try to
develop a resistant Bintje
potato. \ Andy Furniere
view by Senne Starckx
\7
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SUMMER THIS
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xpats.com
\ EDUCATION
august 26, 2015
Beyond bold
week in
education
Researcher wins prestigious Microsoft grant to create a “living” font
Education minister Hilde
Crevits is proposing to
reform
part-time
arts
education in Flanders. The
changes would mean a
first year of music theory
would no longer be obligatory in music academies,
arts academies would have
more freedom in how they
organise study programmes
and there would be a new
diploma for piano or drawing lessons. The purpose
is to increase the number
of youngsters who study at
music, theatre, drawing and
dance academies. Currently,
about 175,000 students
follow part-time arts education, of whom 132,000 are
youngsters. That means
about one in six pupils takes
arts classes after school.
Andy Furniere
More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.eu
A
nn Bessemans, researcher at the
Media, Arts and Design faculty of PXL
University College in association with
Hasselt University, has received a prestigious
grant of $50,000 – about €45,300 – from
software multinational Microsoft for a project
on visual prosody.
Together with two other researchers, hired
with the grant, Bessemans will try to subtly
enrich written language with extra meaning.
“We want to integrate in a font the expression that is added through body language and
intonation in spoken communication,” she
explains.
Embedding another layer of expression can,
for example, avoid certain misunderstandings. “Take the sentence ‘I never said she
stole your money’,” says Bessemans. “That
sentence can be interpreted in seven different
ways, depending on which word is stressed.”
The researchers are also working on ways to
convey emotion through the font.
The font could be used in daily communication – for example in e-mails, chats and social
media posts – but also in more creative texts
like blogs, advertisements, theatre scripts and
We are unique in
combining practical
and creative
expertise with a
scientific approach
novels. An important target group is that of
weak readers, who sometimes have difficulty
understanding the meanings and emotions
conveyed in text.
The 50,000 dollar question is how exactly are
New technique for
swimming lessons
© Sven Dillen
Ann Bessemans impressed Microsoft with her font that helps visually impaired children to read
the researchers going to develop such a magical font? Because of a secrecy clause, Bessemans says there is a lot she cannot disclose.
Instead, she has indicated that the team is
experimenting with forms and not the typical
signs and symbols used today.
“We are not working with colours or emoticons,” she says, “and we are going beyond
underlining, bold or using capital letters.”
An essential task is making sure that the reading process avoids any distracting elements
and advances as smoothly as possible. Much
attention is devoted to the design of the new
font, but that doesn’t mean this is mainly an
“artistic” project. The researchers take into
account eye movement, apply neurological and psychological insights, use statistical
methods and employ data analysis.
The Flemish team cannot rely on much of the
existing research into visual prosody, as this
is still a fairly new domain of science. “The
few other studies we found showed a lack of
understanding of the graphic design of fonts,”
explains Bessemans. “I think we are unique
in combining practical and creative expertise
with a scientific approach.” Bessemans also
calls herself a “designer-researcher”.
The team has already developed prototypes of
innovative fonts, which will now be tested in
trials with groups of readers. In about a year,
the project will be evaluated by the Microsoft’s
Advanced Reading Technologies team based
in Seattle and, if that evaluation is positive,
the research may eventually lead to software
that would be integrated in Microsoft Office
suite.
It’s not the first time Microsoft has supported
Bessemans’ research. In 2008 and 2009, she
received grants from the software giant after a
representative at an international conference
was impressed with the results of her PhD
research. For her PhD, Bessemans designed the
font “Matilda”, which helps visually impaired
children to read. Matilda is currently being
fine-tuned, and there are on-going negotiations for its commercialisation. \ Andy Furniere
Antwerp province awards grants to schools to promote safe cycling
At the end of July, Antwerp province allocated
€22,500 in subsidies to the municipality of
Boechout and 11 primary schools to develop
initiatives that make it safer for children to
cycle to school.
According to a 2014 report commissioned by the
government of Flanders, only about one-quarter of students in the region travel to school by
bike. The numbers have been decreasing steadily: in 2000, about 40% of students cycled to
school. The change is most visible in primary
schools, where the number of children arriving
on bikes is even lower.
One of the main causes of the decrease is
parents being afraid of their children getting
hurt in an accident. The fear is not entirely
ungrounded.
Research from the Belgian Institute for Traffic Safety demonstrates that the risk of an accident is 63 times higher if you ride a bike than if
you’re in a car. However, the older the children
are when they learn to cycle in traffic, the more
insecure they will be on the road.
Antwerp province is trying to get more students
cycling through a project called 10op10 (10 out
Crevits reforms parttime arts education
Kids can learn how to manoeuvre their bikes at school before
hitting the streets alone
of 10). As part of the project, the province allocates subsidies to schools that want to set up
practical lessons, create initiatives around
building a safer school environment and get
more parents involved.
“Antwerp province supports, for example, the
purchase of traffic signs so that children can
become familiar with what they mean by practising on a track at school,” mobility deputy Luk
Lemmens explains in a statement. “Cities can
also benefit from our support and make school
neighbourhoods safer by creating maps of the
best routes.” The maps give an overview of the
safe cycling routes to and from school.
With the subsidies, schools can also buy pedagogical materials, such as the Bokabox Verkeer
(Bokabox Traffic) kits, which provide engaging and playful ways to learn what the different
traffic signs mean. Schools can also get additional money for the purchase of bicycles, bike
racks, pumps and banners.
Apart from financial support, the 10op10 initiative provides individual assistance to schools
and municipalities interested in improving
their own policies on traffic safety. Teachers,
parents, police officers and municipal authorities can take part in free training sessions.
Similar initiatives already exist, such as the
non-profit Voetgangersbeweging (Pedestrians Movement), which has created the Octopus Plan to make routes to schools safer. The
Flemish Traffic Science Foundation provides
support to parents who volunteer for activities concerning cycling to school through its
Verkeersouders (Traffic Parents) project. In
addition, the Fietsersbond cyclist union has
created a website with tips on safe cycling. \ AF
The Flemish community
education network GO! is
the first education network
in Flanders to implement the
new learning technique for
swimming lessons advised
by the Flemish Institute for
Sports Policy and Recreation Management. In a
traditional lesson, children
first learn breaststroke and
get a certificate that proves
they can swim 25 metres.
Few children, however, get
the certificate after the first
or second year in primary
school. Four specialists who
created the organisation
Baan Vier (Lane Four) have
developed a new learning
technique in which water
safety comes first. Last year,
about 1,000 children learned
to swim this way in Dilbeek,
Flemish Brabant.
“Pupils should
stand up in class”
Ghent start-up company
Jaswig has developed a desk
that enables students to
stand up while working in
class, which is healthier and
improves
concentration,
the company said. They have
launched a crowdfunding
campaign to raise €50,000,
collecting €20,000 in the first
week. Jaswig will use the
funds to launch production
of the StandUp desk. It will
be available in three sizes,
with the smallest meant
for pupils in the first years
of primary school. “In the
business world, these desks
are becoming more popular because employers realise it’s important that their
staff move around enough,”
co-founder Samuel Rieder
told De Standaard. \ AF
\9
\ LIVING
week in
activities
Car-free Leuven
The entire city centre of
Leuven is closed to cars for a
day. Activities include a tour
of the city, a bicycle sale,
skate and skateboard demos
and a community picnic. 30
August, 10.00-18.00, Leuven
city centre; free
\ leuven.be/leuvenautovrij
North Sea Beer
Festival
Over 20 breweries will showcase more than 150 brews,
including several limited
editions. Food provided by
some of Ostend’s best restaurants, plus live music. A €10
weekend pass gets you three
tastings and a commemorative glass. 28-30 August,
Leopoldpark, Ostend; €10
\ northseabeerfestival.com
Mineralogical
Museum open house
In honour of its 40th anniversary, the museum is hosting a weekend of free admission and special activities.
See the Florescence Room
(unique in Europe), take
part in a workshop on fossil
preparation and watch gempolishing demonstrations.
28-30 August, 10.00-18.00,
Mineralogical
Museum,
Frans de l’Arbrelaan 12,
Antwerp
\ acam.be
Bouncy castle
festival
Close out the summer
school holidays with a
day of bouncy fun. Lots of
inflatable castles and play
structures, plus drinks for
the grown-ups. 28 August,
13.30-18.00, Grasveld Huize
de Veuster, Pater Damiaanstraat 33b, Tremelo (Flemish
Brabant); €3
\ tremelo.be/
Fiesta Latina
A three-day party with
concerts, Mexican wrestling, samba dancers, food
stands, children’s activities, fire performers and
a mechanical bull. 28-30
August,
Terkamerenbos,
Brussels; free
\ fiesta-latina.be
Skatefest
For all the skate rats out
there: a party and skate jam
with DJs, prizes for the best
trick and most air, outdoor
bar and BBQ. 28-29 August,
Nijdrop, Kloosterstraat 9,
Opwijk (Flemish Brabant);
free
\ nijdrop.be
\ 10
Snakes in a flat
An exotic species from Taiwan makes Flanders its new home
Toon Lambrechts
More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu
A
few weeks ago, a Brussels
resident was surprised by a
snake that had sneaked into
his house. A year earlier, a resident
of Kuringen, part of Hasselt,
found a Taiwanese rat snake in
his bedroom that had somehow
managed to slip in through his
apartment’s terrace.
And these surprise encounters
aren’t isolated incidents. Since
2006, no fewer than 18 Taiwanese
rat snakes have been discovered in
the area around Kuringen and the
vicinity of the Hasselt train station.
“This year, we have already caught
four Taiwanese rat snakes,” says
Michiel Aerts from the Nature
Help Centre in Opglabbeek. Aerts
is responsible for reptiles, which
means he’s the one who has to go
out and catch the snakes. They are
non-venomous and completely
harmless, he says.
“The Taiwanese rat snake preys on
small animals, such as mice and
frogs,” Aerts explains. “But it grows
up to 2.5 metres long and is slim
and fast. I can imagine that people
are pretty scared when they bump
into it.”
The Taiwanese rat snake is a
distinctive looking animal, with
colourful skin markings – an
appearance that has made it a
favourite among reptile enthusiasts.
According to Aerts, a well-known
reptile store in Kuringen is probably behind the many snake
discoveries of late. “We suspect
that something went wrong with
a delivery or something at one
point,” he says, adding that the
exotic species is not at all native to
Belgium.
“This year we found two young
ones. It is not clear whether the
Taiwanese rat snake is breeding
in the wild, but the discovery of
© Michiel Aerts
Taiwanese rat snakes found next to the Kuringen train tracks in Limburg in recent months
these animals may point in that
direction.”
Because of its climate, Flanders
is not an area that cold-blooded
animals like snakes tend to enjoy.
There are only three native snake
species – the grass snake, smooth
snake and viper. Because none
of these is normally found in the
Limburg area, the newcomer
poses no threat to native species.
According to Aerts, the rat snakes
are surviving as there have been
few harsh winters in recent years.
“It is a species that needs a lot of
heat; that is why they are often
found in the underground power
lines of the Hasselt train station,”
he explains. “But so far its habitat
does not extend beyond Kuringen,
the station and its surroundings.”
The question of what to do with
exotic animals and plant species is
not an easy one, says Jorg Lambrechts of nature conservancy organisation Natuurpunt. He points out
that animal species have been
migrating throughout the centuries and that this process still
occurs naturally. “But species
migrating from the other side of
the world to here is new,” he says.
“Still, only a small minority creates
problems – ecologically of course,
but also economically. For example, it costs a lot of money to fight
the Robinia, an alien tree species
whose roots tend to destroy
asphalt. Yet it is often extremely
difficult to eradicate an invasive
species, if not impossible.”
Do invasive species ever survive
long enough to be considered
native? “If it does not harm the
environment and is able to procreate for 10 years, then we call it a
naturalised species,” says Lambrechts.
The rat snake will make a good
candidate in a couple of years’ time,
but, according to Lambrechts,
it will never become a common
species. But that isn’t necessary for
a species to be considered naturalised. “In Flanders, for example,
there are two populations of Siberian chipmunk – one in the Sonian
forest and the other in the Kalmijn
forest in De Panne. They can maintain their population, but their
habitat doesn’t grow. It is possible
that this scenario also will apply to
the Taiwanese rat snake.”
BITE
ONA in Ghent takes the pretence out of wine tasting
Since ONA wine bar opened its
doors in June, it’s been a hit with
Ghent’s wine connoisseurs and
dabblers alike. Don’t worry if your
wine knowledge isn’t up to snuff;
ONA is a laid-back place.
“We want to take the snobbery out
of wine tasting,” says Ona Rombaut,
the 26-year-old owner and aspiring
sommelier, “so we opened a place
where people can come sit, drink
some wine and feel at home. Something like this has been missing in
Ghent”.
ONA’s interior is modern with
vintage touches, including original
marble floors and large windows
that look out on to the busy Nederkouter. You can grab a table or sink
into cushioned window seats to
admire the wall of wine bottles that
dominates the room.
If you’re worried about spending
your hard-earned cash on a bottle
of wine you might not like, fear not,
you can buy per glass, starting at €4.
This encourages guests to try different wines without feeling pressured.
Rombaut (pictured) and her partner, Arne Braeckman, import wine
from all over Europe. Instead of
buying from large wine houses,
they choose to go with small farmers who use more sustainable methods. “We have a wide range of wines,
from bio-dynamic and organic to
sulphate-free,” she explains.
Rombaut, who previously worked
up the street at the Ghent laundrette-cum-coffeehouse Wasbar,
says making the step to a wine bar
was a natural choice for her. “My
passion for wine started when I was
16,” she says. “My parents are into
wine.”
ONA.GENT
ONA also offers titbits and desserts
like cheeses, ham and carrot cake,
all of which can be paired with
certain wines. And if your group
insists on heading in, but you just
don’t like wine, you can have tea or
coffee. “We just want everyone to
relax and enjoy themselves,” says
Rombaut.
If, after a couple of glasses, you’re
ready to brush up your knowledge
on wine, feel free to join one of the
wine tastings. “We have speakers who describe different types of
wine,” she says. Tastings take place
on the first Sunday of the month,
and, if the demand is high enough,
it can be held in English.
The next tasting is on 6 September,
but sign up fast because places are
limited. \ Vanessa Rombaut
august 26, 2015
Slave masters and a drunk well
Our Flanders Secrets series explores the architectural enigmas of West Flanders
Toon Lambrechts
More articles by Toon \ flanderstoday.eu
Flanders’ rich heritage has left
behind many traces, and while
some are touristic highlights,
others are more obscure. This
week we go to West Flanders,
where a skewed water reservoir
offers a disorienting experience
and the floor inside a church is
paved with the graves of slave
masters.
M
iddelkerke is a crowded
coastal
town
of
holidaymakers. But if
you look beyond the sun and sea,
a very special site awaits. Tucked
away in a residential area lies a
structure that the inhabitants of
Middelkerke call the dronkenput
(drunk well). The reason behind
this unusual name becomes
immediately
apparent:
The
building, originally designed as
a water reservoir, is completely
skewed.
A narrow staircase leads you
inside. Instinctively, you focus on
the pillars and the walls, so you
lean down. While you think you
are walking on a flat surface, it
feels as if your feet are climbing
up and down.
There is a small pool of water in
the reservoir, and it seems to be
flowing upwards because the
slanted structure is the only point
of reference. It’s a very disorienting experience; indeed, a bit like
trying to walk after having one
beer too many.
With the expansion of tourism
in Middelkerke during the 19th
century, the need for drinking
water grew rapidly. The city council decided to build a concrete
pipe from the Plassendale-Nieuwpoort canal to a large water tank.
From the start, the contractor
ran into difficulties because the
land was swampy. On the night
of 1 November 1897, when the
reservoir was finally finished but
not yet filled, rising groundwater
pushed the entire structure up.
The building got skewed, and all
attempts to straighten it failed.
Because no one wanted to bear
the costs of demolition, the
tank was preserved, making the
dronkenput one of the oldest reinforced concrete structures in
Belgium. Not long after, the architectural failure became a popular
attraction.
The tombs of the
Slave Masters
The Zwin region, east of Middelkerke, is one of the most beautiful spots in West Flanders. Canals
like the Damse Vaart and Schipdonk, with their banks lined with
rows of old poplars that give the
otherwise flat landscape some
depth, criss-cross through the
empty polders, while sturdy-looking churches stand post nearby.
© Photos: Toon Lambrechts
Despite the name, Flanders’ Slave Masters, entombed in the Lapscheure church, were good guys;
Middelkerke’s dronkenput is a delightful disaster
It is an area of rich, fertile fields,
with small villages but large
farms. You can find gems, such
as the village of Damme, but also
lesser known places, like Hoeke
and Lapscheure.
Lapscheure church is nicely situated, surrounded by a row of knotted lime trees. On the outside, the
building looks rather austere,
but its interior has a warm and
traditional feel. And it contains a
remarkable collection of religious
objects and works of art compiled
over time.
The floor is dotted with tombstones. Burial inside the church
with a headstone was the sort
50 weekends in Flanders: Discovering Flanders Fields
Flanders Today has launched an e-book with
ideas for how to spend a year’s worth of weekends. Visit our website and click the pop-up
to get your free copy of 50 Weekends in Flanders. We’ll also print one of our suggestions
every week here, too.
and a couple of concrete pill boxes left from
the First World War. Begin the walk at the
Menin Gate and follow the walls around
until you come to the station, where the
walls end.
Walk in Flanders Fields
Some interesting walking trails have been
created across the battlefields of the First
World War. They take you through replanted
woods and quiet fields where furious battles
were fought 100 years ago.
Hike in the woods at PALINGBEEK
The Palingbeek nature reserve stands on a
ridge to the south of Ypres that was heavily shelled in the First World War. The landscape has been sensitively restored to create
a beautiful nature reserve. You can follow
trails that lead past military sites and forgotten cemeteries deep in the woods. Begin at
the cafe De Palingbeek.
\ flandersfields.be
Wander around YPRES WALLS
Ypres has been attacked, destroyed and
rebuilt many times, so a walk around the
walls takes you through many layers of
European history. You pass the remains of
15th-century towers, 17th-century bastions
Climb HILL 60
In the Zillebeke district of Ypres, one of the
most interesting walks in Flanders Fields
FLANDERSTODAY.EU
was a popular tourist attraction before the
First World War. It was destroyed in the fighting, but has now been restored. You can walk
around the hill on forest trails with views
across the Heuvelland landscape, ending up
at the old-fashioned Belvedere cafe on the
summit.
\ toerismeieper.be
\ depalingbeek.be
of privilege only those of noble
descent, or with great fortunes,
could expect to enjoy. In 14 of
the many tombs in the church
of Lapscheure rest the so-called
Slavenmeesters, or Slave Masters.
The Slave Masters were part of
the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity. In the 17th and 18th centuries,
they collected money to ransom
Christian slaves from the hands
of the Saracens, the North African
pirates who operated in the Mediterranean.
The village of Lapscheure has
been around for at least 1,000
years, but the church is considerably younger. Its construction
began in 1649. The thick stone
blocks that form the foundation
were recovered from an older
church, which suffered its ultimate fate at the hands of the environment.
A violent storm in 1134 left the
area around Lapscheure largely
under water and the building was
severely damaged. Eventually,
the farmland was drained again
and the original church restored.
Unfortunately, the water came
back, this time by human hands.
In 1583, during the Eighty Years’
War between the provinces of the
Low Countries and the Spanish
rulers, rebels punctured the dykes
to prevent the hostile soldiers
from passing, washing away Lapscheure along with its church.
Only in the early 17th century
was the area furnished with a
dam again. As a precaution,
the church and the village were
rebuilt farther away, at a slightly
higher location. The ruins of the
original church were excavated
and mapped in the 1980s. They are
about two kilometres away at the
end of a promenade, not far from
the border with the Netherlands.
But there’s no trace of them now.
\ heuvelland.be
© Pierre Andre Leclercq/Wikimedia
takes you to the summit of Hill 60, where an
enormous mine was detonated on 17 April
1917. A trail leads from here through a warscarred landscape dotted with huge craters
(pictured).
Follow the CRATERS AND MINES WALK
The signposted Kraters en Mijnen wandelroute takes you through the rolling fields
near Wijtschate, where huge mines were
detonated in 1917. The walk, which begins
in the Wijtschate district of Heuvelland,
follows quiet country lanes past craters and
small military cemeteries, where many Irish
soldiers are buried. \ Derek Blyth
Explore forest trails on KEMMELBERG
The highest hill in the region, Kemmelberg
\ 11
The Gordelfestival is a sports and tourist event staged every year in the Groene Gordel. Come
along on Sunday 6 September to get to know the ‘Groene Gordel’ around Brussels. Tours can
be made on a bicycle, on foot or even on a horse. During the tours you will have the opportunity
to discover various cultural assets, culinary delights and the splendid green environment.
www.gordelfestival.be
Your dailY news
Sign up now for our
daily and weekly
newsletters with local
headlines, events and
features, tailor-made for
expats in Belgium
Subscribe for free at
www.thebulletin.be
\ ARTS
august 26, 2015
Unsolved mysteries
week in arts
& CULTURE
Photographer Jan Rosseel delves into Belgium’s collective nightmare
Tom Peeters
More articles by Tom \ flanderstoday.eu
FOTOMUSEUM.BE
A
nyone who lived in Belgium in the 1980s
knows about the Bende van Nijvel, known
in English as the Brabant Killers. In the
first half of the decade, masked men killed 28
people during attacks on supermarkets, mostly
in Flemish and Walloon Brabant provinces,
seemingly without provocation. Despite a
police dossier of more than a million pages,
including evidence and testimonies, none of the
culprits were ever caught.
Among the victims was Jan Rosseel’s father.
Belgian Autumn: A Confabulated History is an
intriguing book and exhibition by the Flemish photographer, which addresses one of the
biggest traumas in local crime history.
The project criticises the investigation, which –
33 years after the first murder – is still ongoing,
illustrating how surreal Belgium and its rule of
law can be. It is also a testament to the banality of life.
Rosseel’s father was murdered on his way to
his local supermarket, where he intended to
purchase a pack of cigarettes (and a pork cutlet)
just before closing time. The son, only six at
the time and largely unaware of the traumatic
impact of the events, would later occasionally
drop the remark that cigarettes do kill.
The book and the exhibition at Antwerp’s Photo
Museum (FoMu) “are the result of a long fermentation process,” says Rosseel, now 36.
During his youth, the tragedy wasn’t discussed
much. But when he was studying documentary
photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The
Hague, a project about hidden spaces crossed
his path, and he started to think about the
secret spots in his own mind.
“The death of my mother was another catalyst,” he explains. “I wanted to know more about
my family history.” Having a closer look at the
evidence of the case was an important step.
Of course, Rosseel couldn’t take official evidence
home, so he built himself a tiny studio at the
police station in Charleroi where some 1,500
pieces connected to the investigation were
stored. He photographed the objects devoid of
their context. While the reasons for his project
were intimate and personal, the documentary
approach allowed him to maintain a form of
distance.
“I tried to avoid sentiment,” Rosseel says. “Since
the investigation was so absurd, I thought I had
to take a more rational stance. Even a B movie
I did not develop
this project to find
closure. It’s better to
visit a shrink for that
script would not contain so many stupidities, so
I went looking for some structure in the puzzle.”
Back in the darkened exhibition room at FoMu,
a mysterious portrait of an unknown person
wearing a mask of the late French president
François Mitterrand hangs on the wall. During
one of the attacks, a Nijvel gang member was
wearing the same mask.
Rosseel says it’s a self-portrait based on testimonies. “For me, it is also a key image since it
unravels different layers,” he explains. “There’s
politics, and it also represents a certain threat.
Mijn Restaurant
winner to close
Ciccio restaurant
Claudio Dell’Anno, the hottempered winner of the second
series of VTM’s Mijn Restaurant!, is closing his Michelinstarred restaurant Ciccio this
autumn, citing the costs of
running a business in Belgium.
He plans to move abroad to
open another restaurant.
Dell’Anno had to move the
restaurant out of the building in Knokke, in any case, as
it is scheduled for demolition.
“Staff costs are high, and even
when you make a profit, the
state takes half,” the chef told
Het Nieuwsblad. “I understand
how difficult my colleagues in
the same business have it. It’s
not worth it anymore; I’m leaving.” He is considering a move
to Australia, he said.
Pukkelpop 30th
edition one of best
Politics, threat and memory collide in Jan Rosseel’s photograph based on the mask-wearing member of the Brabant Killers
At the same time, it is referring to the anonymity of the perpetrators and to the notion of
memory.”
Memory is an important issue in Rosseel’s
research-based storytelling. His projects not
only reconstruct historical events but also ask
questions about the reliability of our memories and our brains. In psychiatry, “confabulate”
means filling the gaps in one’s memory with
fabrications that one believes to be facts.
“The analogy with the investigation is striking,”
he says. During the investigation all kinds of
theories, not in the least of the conspiracy kind,
were suggested, he says, including the involvement of known criminals, right-wing movements connected to the CIA and death squads.
“You can never be sure of the testimonies,” he
says. “There are holes everywhere. A getaway
car used by the gang even ended up at a scrap
heap. Sometimes I add extra context to a certain
image, but basically, it is up to the reader of the
book or the visitor to the exhibition to decide
whether he or she wants to take over the role
of the investigator in my confabulated history
of the events.”
Rosseel not only displays photos of evidence
and police records, he also visited places related
to the case with his camera, including supermarket car parks and a forest where the gang
members used to hang out. He compiled a list of
items the victims went shopping for when they
were murdered, and there is a curious photograph of the vinyl single “Te voet naar Scherpenheuvel” (Walking to Scherpenheuvel) by the
Marlets.
This Flemish cover of the Neil Sedaka song “Is
This The Way To Amarillo” was requested at the
Aalst community radio station Mi Amigo to be
played at a specific time and was dedicated to
the Brabant Killers. It was half an hour before
the attack on the Delhaize supermarket in
Braine l’Alleud where Rosseel’s father was killed.
Scherpenheuvel is a Flemish pilgrimage town.
“I did not develop this project to find closure,”
Rosseel says. “It’s better to visit a shrink for that.”
Rosseel is now taking the subject of confabulation in other directions. He is about to take part
in an interdisciplinary research project about
memory that brings together some 50 scientists
from all over the world at the Royal Netherlands
Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam.
On a personal level, Rosseel will be looking at
the violent Dutch train hostage crisis of 1977,
another case with political and social dimensions. “Once again, it’s not only about people
getting murdered,” he says. “There are always
different perspectives.”
Until 4 October
Photo Museum
The 30th edition of Pukkelpop ended at the weekend,
one of the festival’s best-ever
editions, according to local
media, organisers and ticketholders. Although music critics had been concerned about
the lack of big names and
programming of repeat bands,
reviews have come back positive across the board, thanks to
the weather, the energy of the
crowd, a handful of unforgettable performances and new
initiatives such as the green
Baraque Futur stage, with its
electricity-producing dance
floor. Pukkelpop programmed
a larger number of bands
this year, including 62 from
Belgium. The festival was sold
out, with 66,000 tickets sold
for each of the four days. One
serious incident was reported,
when a gas cylinder exploded
in the camping area, wounding seven.
World Soundtrack
Awards nominations
announced
Nominations have been
announced for the World
Soundtrack Awards, which
takes place every October in
Ghent during the city’s annual
international film festival.
Film Composer of the year
nominees include Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation
Game, Everything Will be Fine),
Michael Giacchino (Dawn of
the Planet of the Apes, Inside
Out) and Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything,
Sicario). Up for Best Original Film Score are Antonio
Sanchez for Birdman and Hans
Zimmer for Interstellar, among
others, and Best Original Song
nominations include “Carry
Me Home” from the film Insurgent and “Glory” from Selma.
\ filmfestival.be
Waalsekaai 47, Antwerp
\ 13
\ ARTS
The true meaning of taste
Journalist Kathy Mathys blends culinary memories with science in first book
Rebecca Benoot
More articles by Rebecca \ flanderstoday.eu
K
athy Mathys has long
written
reviews
for
De
Standaard’s
book
supplement Letteren and about
food for the Dutch Bouillion
magazine. Now in her first book,
she goes in search of the meaning
of taste – not just what it is in
general, but what it means to each
of us.
Every chapter in her book Smaak:
Een bitterzoete verkenning (Taste:
A Bittersweet Exploration) deals
with a particular taste (sweet, salty,
sour, bitter, pure, spicy, umami
and even greasy) and starts with a
short story to explore what each of
the sensations means using scientific data, personal anecdotes and
cultural references.
thing with this information. After
reading about food for many years,
she was inspired to take things to
the next level.
The result is a book that has
simmered on a low heat for several
years. “I wanted to write about the
sensory aspect of taste,” Mathys
continues, “make it into not just
a scientific work, but a book that
entwines my own culinary memories with cultural and literary
references.”
In Smaak Mathys explores what
taste is. Although certain of its
aspects are determined by biology,
others are influenced by external
factors such as upbringing, experience and emotion, making taste a
subjective and intimate affair.
The book entwines my own
culinary memories with cultural
and literary references
“I’ve been writing about food for
some time, first for the newspaper
De Tijd and then for Bouillion,” the
Flemish writer tells me from her
home in Breda, the Netherlands.
“What especially interests me is
food against a backdrop of culture
and food in literature or philosophy – not just reviews of Michelinstar restaurants.”
Mathys (pictured) has always been
fascinated by scenes of eating in
books and film and used to write
about them in notebooks, thinking
that one day she would do some-
Memories, says Mathys, have a
special impact on the way we think
and feel about food. Simple and
slightly banal dishes, like macaroni and cheese, can become all
important to us simply because
they may have been something we
relished as children.
Comfort food, which we usually
associate with a certain time
or feeling, also becomes heartwarming for that reason. And the
dreaded Brussels sprouts: Childhood traumas involving these
local nasties may linger on despite
© Koen Broos
the fact that you have long grown
up and may have even come to like
them.
Mathys’ personal touch lures you
in. Friends, family and her own
youth form an integral part of
Smaak, making it a very personal
and relatable book that evokes
memories of your own childhood
and the quirky eating habits you
might have had.
“I’m not a scientist,” Mathys says,
“and it was the wide array of
approaches that appealed to me
when I was writing this book. At the
same time, it did take me a while
to let go of my journalistic point of
view and make the story personal.
In the end, it’s this vantage point
that ties it all together.”
The daring and refreshing endeavour, combined with all the quotes
and references, makes Smaak a fun
yet fact-filled treat.
Non-fiction is becoming more and
more narrative-driven in general,
creating a captivating story instead
of a straightforward list of facts. In
Smaak especially, the lines become
blurred as Mathys starts off each
chapter with one of her own short
stories.
“I’ve been writing short stories for
quite some time,” she says, “and I
was urged by my publisher to use
them. Surprisingly, it came quite
easy.”
The stories create a counterbalance to the non-fiction aspect
of the book, which is still usually
cosy and whimsical. “I also deal
with darker aspects of eating,
like eating alone or having a last
supper, but the short stories are
on the whole a lot darker than the
rest of the book,” says Mathys, who
is currently writing her first work
of fiction.
Smaak explores the true meaning
of taste, through both its biological
and psychological aspects. Mathys
illustrates this lavishly with her
autobiographical approach, creating a book that is a genuine joy to
read. Packed with anecdotes and
cultural references, Smaak will
tantalise and surprise readers.
Smaak is published in Dutch by De
)
Bezige Bij (
More new books this month
Verloren brood (French Toast)
Nele Reymen • Vrijdag
Flair columnist Nele Reyman’s third novel
deals with people and luck – both good and
bad. Reno is leading an uneventful life,
occasionally distracted by a prostitute
named Leyla, a woman who is also troubled, making any attempt at a real relationship end abysmally. Then Reno meets
Mayanne, who appears to be his soul mate.
He falls madly in love and drags everything
and everyone with him on an adventure
that will rock their world. Verloren brood is
a novel about searching for and letting go of
ideas, feelings and, often, people.
Veelal (The Usual)
Mark Eyskens • Lannoo
In addition to his autobiography, economist and former prime minister Mark
Eyskens has written several philosophical
works. His new book Veelal: Een theorie van
alles (The Usual: A Theory of Everything) is
\ 14
a story of ideas that combines science,
philosophy and, for the first time, fiction.
An old professor named Mortel and his
genius great-grandson Hyperion are the
two main characters who ponder life’s big
questions, while cutting-edge science and
technology results in the creation of the
“transhuman”, a new kind of human capable of determining their own evolution.
Veelal is a fascinating, surprising and
profound mix of fact and fiction.
Ghost
Luc Vandaele • Manteau
Security guard Luc Vandaele likes to kill
time writing stories. These have now turned
into a novel in which real-life Flemish
novelist Herman Brusselmans gets a ghost
writer. Lacking inspiration and living the
good life, Brusselmans hires Tim Vernieuwen, a literary nobody, to write his biannual novels. One day, however, Vernieuwen
decides he’s had enough. Brusselmans has
to do his darnedest to convince him other-
wise, now that he’s been nominated for the
Nobel Prize. An obvious Brusselmans
admirer, Vandaele has tried his best to
innovate and, although the premise is original, the novel is slightly contrived and
lacks genuine wit.
Drang (Urge)
Yannick Ottoy • Manteau
Former political advisor Yannick Ottoy’s
first book tells the story of Philippe, a young
and ambitious police officer who doesn’t
hesitate when his commissioner asks him
to work an extra shift on a night that would
go down in history as one of the biggest
tragedies in football, the Heizel Stadium
Disaster. During the final of the European
Cup in 1985, 39 people lost their lives when
riots broke out and infrastructure collapsed.
Drang explores the aftermath of this reallife tragedy. When the truth of the fated
night gets twisted, the lives of all those
involved are turned upside down. A promising and captivating debut.
\ AGENDA
august 26, 2015
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s…
CONCERT
International Bat Night
28-29 August
Across Flanders
nachtvandevleermuis.be
B
ats are among the most mysterious and
misunderstood of woodland animals. For
one thing, the popular notion that bats
are blind isn’t true – but as nocturnal animals,
they use echo location to navigate and find food
in the dark.
And, although there are so-called “vampire”
bats that survive by drinking blood, they don’t
come from Transylvania and aren’t found in
Europe at all.
Here are some real facts about bats: They are the
second largest order of mammals, representing about 20% of all mammals worldwide, and
they are the only mammals that can fly. Despite
their numbers, bats face dwindling habitat and
hunting grounds. In Flanders alone, there are
17 species, of which 13 are seriously threatened.
Every year on the last weekend of August,
Europe celebrates International Bat Night. In
© René Janssen
Flanders, Natuurpunt and Agentschap voor
Natuur en Bos co-operate on activities in more
than 40 locations across the region. The goal is
to educate adults and children about bats, their
role in the ecosystem and their habits and to
PERFORMANCE
FESTIVAL
Villanova Festival
123-Piano
27-29 August
Ostend
De Studio, Antwerp
villanovafestival.be
De Studio’s in-house youth
theatre company Villanella
puts on its annual festival to
showcase Flanders’ young
talent. Eight up-and-coming
performers present their
projects during three latenight sessions. One of the
stars is Miet Warlop, a Ghentbased artist whose surreal
brand of contemporary theatre has earned her accolades
across Europe. Villanova’s
focus is squarely on performance, but the programme
also features visual arts,
concerts, the obligatory
dance party and a conference
on the “State of the Youth.”
raise awareness so that people can help protect
the animals in their own backyards and neighbourhoods.
For instance, bats like to nest in the exterior
walls of houses and in the attics of churches
and castles. But formerly hollow walls are being
filled with insulation these days, and more and
more attics are being hermetically sealed against
pigeons and other pests. Property owners can
help bats by installing bat houses and special
roof openings that let them fly in and out.
Most Bat Night events in Flanders involve
an introductory film or lecture, followed by
a nocturnal walk, during which a bat-detector is used to find the animals by converting their sonar signals to audible sounds.
\ Diana Goodwin
Until 20 September
\ Georgio Valentino
Ghent’s 123-Piano is a different kind of festival, somewhere
between music, installation and
community art. Grand pianos
are installed at various sites
across the city. An artist is invited
to dress up each instrument, to
turn it into a work of art. These
art-pianos are then turned over
to the public. Passers-by can
admire them from a distance
or sit down and play them. This
third edition expands to eight
locations, including Sint-Pieters
train station and beloved bookshop Paard van Troje. Guest
artists are scheduled to play, too,
including Ghent city poet David
Troch and street artist Bué the
Warrior. \ GV
FAMILY
EVENT
Every year for the past decade,
the East Flemish town of
Beveren has hosted a street
theatre festival of epic proportions. This year’s 10th anniversary edition promises to be the
biggest and best yet. Performers are invited from around
the world to delight the young
ones with costumed antics,
acrobatics, illusion and just
plain comic weirdness. If
that’s not enough, there’s also
a four-metre tall camel. The
festival unfolds in tandem
with the Spiegelbeeld minifestival, which fills the Boerenmarkt with concerts, food
and drink until the wee morning hours. \ GV
Across Beveren (East Flanders)
straattheaterfestivalbeveren.wordpress.com
29-30 August
EVENT
Antwerp
Cultuurmarkt
Vlaanderen: 20th edition of this
annual showcase of Antwerp’s
cultural landscape. Dozens of
artistic institutions open their
doors or set up street stands
to preview the coming season.
Free performances of music,
circus and theatre. 30 August,
from 11.00
VISUAL ARTS
Across Ghent
123-piano.be
Watou
Kunstenfestival Watou: 35th
anniversary edition of the
summer arts festival with
installations spread across the
small West Flemish town. This
year’s subtitle is “In the Lee of
the In-between”, emphasising
enjoying the journey rather
than rushing from one thing
to the next, as the modern,
multi-media world demands.
Until 30 August
\ kunstenfestivalwatou.be
Zulte (East Flanders)
Karel Dierickx: Voorstelbare Werkelijkheid (Imaginable Reality): Retrospective
dedicated to the late Flemish
artist, whose paintings, drawings and sculptures explored
the abstract. The show is
named after Dierickx’s haunting final work. Until 11 October,
Roger Raveel Museum, Gildestraat 2
\ rogerraveelmuseum.be
MUSIC FESTIVAL
Doornzeledries, Evergem
(East Flanders)
rockabillyday.be
Wesley Willis said it best: “Rock
and roll will never die.” But it
has evolved. The wild mid-‘50s
style pioneered by the likes of
Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis
fell out of fashion after scandals
by the likes of Chuck Berry and
Jerry Lee Lewis. It lay fallow for
decades until appropriated by a
tribe of art-school-bred punks
who pumped its volume levels
(and pompadours) even higher.
The new hybrid rockabilly has
remained a healthy subculture
ever since. This annual Flemish gathering boasts retro fashion, vintage vinyl records and, of
course, plenty of music. \ GV
\ openluchttheateroostende.be
\ cultuurmarkt.be
International Street Theatre Festival Rockabilly Day
28-30 August
Isolde et les Bens: Isolde
Lasoen, one of Flanders’ hardest-working alt-rock drummers, steps into the spotlight to perform songs from
her debut solo album. Her
backing band is comprised
of musicians named Ben. 28
August, 19.00, Openluchttheater Oostende, Maria Hendrikapark
Diksmuide
Ten Vrede Festival (Peace
Festival): Held in the shadow
of an iconic First World
War monument, this annual
festival promotes peace,
diversity
and
tolerance
through music. 28-30 August,
IJzertoren, IJzerdijk 49
\ tenvrede.be
Mechelen
Maanrock: Mechelen’s free
summer music festival features
four open-air stages and artists
from home and abroad, including seminal American hip-hop
DJ Grandmaster Flash. 28-30
August, Grote Markt
\ maanrock.be
© Colm Hogan
\ 15
\ BACKPAGE
august 26, 2015
Talking Dutch
Are you stressed out – or just bored out?
AaRON @AaRONtheband
14000 of you See you tonight Brussel #bsf15 it’s been a long
Time
#wecutthenight #AaRONtheband #blousonnoir #onassis
Derek Blyth
More articles by Derek \ flanderstoday.eu
Y
ou don’t need me to tell you that burnout is
a big talking point in Belgium. It’s so serious
in fact that companies now have to take
measures to stop employees getting over stressed.
But could it be that we are not so much burned out
as bored out of our minds?
Frouke Vermeulen, who describes herself as a boreout coach, believes that boredom is a bigger problem than we think. She has just published a book on
the topic – Vechten tegen verveling – Fighting Against
Boredom.
On her website, she describes the symptoms of boreout. Als je door een bore-out geveld wordt, is je interne
vlam erg verzwakt – If you’re hit by boreout, then your
internal flame is dimmed, she writes.
Sleep je jezelf elke ochtend naar je werk? – Do you
have to drag yourself to work every morning? Voel
je je vaak uitgeput en futloos? – Do you often feel
exhausted and listless? Misschien zit je met bore-out
– then maybe you are suffering from boreout.
Does this sound like you? Mensen die op het werk
onvoldoende uitgedaagd en geprikkeld worden –
people who feel they aren’t challenged or inspired
enough at work – zouden wel eens te maken kunnen
krijgen met een bore-out – can sometimes be struck
down with a boreout.
Doordat de activiteiten op het werk niet genoeg
voldoening, energie en afwisseling bieden – Because
the work you’re doing isn’t challenging, demanding
or varied enough – zal het werk je fysiek en mentaal
gaan vervelen – then the work is going to have a negative impact on your physical and mental wellbeing.
And the problem with a boreout is that people are
CONNECT WITH US
David Barnard @dbtwentytwo
What a performance from Twenty One Pilots at #pkp15 two
guys just owning it. Awesome. #livemusic
In response to: De Standaard readers are ruthless in ugliest place
contest
Alexander Ivantchev
No surprises there
often afraid of mentioning it to the boss. Wat opvalt
zijn de grote schaamte en taboe die nog op het thema
rusten – It’s striking how much shame and taboo is
still attached to this subject, she said in an interview
with VRT. But not everyone was impressed with this theory. Nog
nooit dergelijke onzin gehoord – I’ve never heard such
rubbish, one angry man wrote to her. Bore-out: laat
me niet lachen!!!! – Boreout: don’t make me laugh!!!! U
geeft de mensen die de ziekteverzekering willen melken
de pap in de mond – you’re giving the perfect excuse
to people who want to scrounge off the welfare state.
Er moest hem dringend iets van zijn hart – he must
have had an urgent need to get it off his chest,
Vermeulen wrote on her blog. Zo dringend dat er geen
tijd was voor een ‘Beste Frouke’ – so urgent that he
didn’t have time to write ‘Dear Frouke’.
Maybe he was suffering from boreout.
Tweet us your thoughts @FlandersToday
Poll
a. Yes. A dolphin park is no better than a bear pit. It’s time this exploitation of animals for entertainment
was ended
64%
b. Not really. The animals are well looked-after, and kids get to see them up close. It’s an unforgettable
experience
36%
c. No. It’s summer; shouldn’t kids be having fun? The council needs to lighten up
0%
pupils’ access as an educational
opportunity but closing the parks
down altogether.
The rest are happy as long as the
animals’ health and wellbeing is
a priority. Some would argue that
the tanks are too small and that
it’s unnatural to keep dolphins
in captivity, regardless of how
well they’re treated. Others argue
that an aquarium is one thing,
performing tricks for the crowds
quite another.
That’s the issue that Herent put to
itself. And it ultimately decided
that asking dolphins to jump
through hoops was a step too far.
\ Next week's question:
A Ghent start-up is advising the use of standing desks in classrooms because it’s healthier if kids stand up during
lessons. What do you think?
Log on to the Flanders Today website at www.flanderstoday.eu and click on VOTE!
\ 16
In response to: Hasselt designer enriches written text with extra
meaning
Zizi Bp
Amazing!
In response to: Rivers in Flanders capable of cleaning themselves,
says researcher
Rod Davies
Every time I go in the rivers all I see is pollution.
In response to: Massive fish death first in Roeselare, now in Ypres
Graham Morley
Milena, better tell Chris not to go fishing in the canal.
LIKE US
facebook.com/flanderstoday
the last word
Do you agree with Herent city council’s decision to stop playground visits to
dolphin shows because they are “not educational”?
You might expect resistance to
the idea of a local council keeping schoolkids away from the
Boudewijn Seapark, but the opposite was the case. Nobody at all
took the view that it’s a bit of harmless fun not worth fussing about.
There’s almost a two-thirds majority in favour of not only limiting
VoiceS of
flanders today
Open door policy
Boozy Brits
“There are not enough places in
refugee centres. Why not open
up your own house. Generations
before ours did it, why can’t we?”
“We ask you not to promote the
sale of spirits or strong beer. The
British are not used to much
more than their pint of lager, and
the consumption of our strong
local beers can lead to problems.”
Hooverphonic co-founder and music
producer Frank Duchêne launched a
Facebook page looking for volunteers to house migrants
Laugh and the
world laughs
with you
“The best way to go through life
with an optimistic point of view
is to surround yourself with optimists.”
Leo Borremans, Flemish author of
The World Book of Happiness, backs
up research showing that happiness
can be contagious
The city of Bruges wrote to bar
owners in advance of the home game
against Manchester United this week
Red-light exhibition
“All of a sudden, we were standing
face to face with a naked woman.
The first thing I saw was a closeup of a vagina. Completely inappropriate.”
Andy Wouters from Harelbeke, West
Flanders, took his kids to visit the
Atlantic Wall in Ostend, which at the
moment happens to house a Beaufort art installation
5ELNGFR*bbgbac+[N\P