around the grassy area outside the wonderful Ter Doest Abbey outside Lissewege and continues outside the church in Lissewege and inside. An astonishing number of artists take part and always there is originality and wit on offer. This year is no exception and I particularly liked a splendid dog pulling on a leash hooked up to a spindly metallic walker. The dog is especially endearing and the linear sculpture manages to convey the canine excitement and eagerness awoken in countless homes and gardens on the command of Walkies!!
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| Nico Blontrok |
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| Carillonneur and composer Stefano Colletti |
It is astonishing to realise just how many events there are on in
Brugge during the summer months. I was asking Nico Blontrok, the
Schepen in charge of civic cultural events in Brugge, to try to avoid
the awful timing of a carillon concert by Stefano Colletti during
August while a simultaneous rock concert was belting out on the
nearby Burg. For the carillon audience in the Binnenkort of the
Belfort, it was impossible to disregard the insistent thumping of the
drums less than a hundred metres away; for the carillonneur in his
lofty perch, it must have been hell to concentrate on producing his
delicate music while sitting almost on top of the rock stridency. I
don’t disapprove at all of outdoor rock concerts [there are many in
the town, much enjoyed by visitors and younger residents]. It was the
timing of the simultaneous performances about one hundred metres
apart, which one would want avoided. The answer was that he couldn’t
promise as there are so many events on in Brugge; I suspect he didn’t really
understand the impossibility of a carillon concert being heard and
enjoyed in the conditions imposed. Apparently, the great Zandfest,
the third and final Rommelmarkt of the summer on ‘t Zand and
beyond, on today, Sunday, Sept 22, was one of seven
events taking place in Brugge on this one day.
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| Ishtar |
I attended the final concert in the Binnenkort last evening, of the
season’s carillon concerts which featured Wim Bertelot, the town
carillonneur performing on the portable carillon which is such a
delight. He book-ended the performance by Ishtar, a Belgian group [to my surprise] with a persistent gypsy inheritance playing chiefly Eastern European
music, sometimes hypnotic, sometimes softly seductive, sometimes
plaintive, sometimes with a flamenco verve. It was thoroughly
entertaining and skilful and the large crowd loved it all. Perhaps no
one enjoyed it more than a little family group from Mexico, sitting
near me. The tiny daughter, perhaps 18-22 months old, was totally
fired up by the music, jigging and dancing, swaying and clapping
non-stop and with enormous gusto and joy. Her complete absorption in
the rhythm and the sound, was a wonderful illustration of childhood’s
ability to seize the moment and lose oneself in it. It was the purest
delight I have ever witnessed and I now wish I had asked permission to photograph her!.
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| NOT the little Mexican toddler but the total absorption in the joy of the moment is the same. |
The Sunday previous to the Rommelmarkt was Autoloze Zondag and there
were so many activities in the petrol-free streets and squares. Quite
my favourite of the morning was a trip to Langestraat to the street
flea market there AND finding Madame Wong’s Bar which I had
intended to visit before now. A few months ago, I was chatting to
James, a young waiter in Martin’s Relais in Oude Burg when he told
me it was his last day there prior to starting his own bar. Madame
Wong’s indeed. I came across James and his family helpers selling
Korean street food outside the bar and I enjoyed sampling some for my
lunch, sitting out in style on the street and chatting to a Belgian
lady doing the same. As I paid, a young woman waiting to be served,
recommended Madame Wong’s for James’s wonderful
cocktails. I marvelled again at the ingenuity, imagination and energy of young immigrants and at the extra dimension they can bring to other lives. There is a lesson here, somewhere!
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| James in Madame Wong's bar |
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