Haiku revisited

I was recently in de Reyghere, the bookshop in the Markt, when my eye was caught by a slim The Narrow Road to the North and Other Travel Sketches, containing some of the writings of Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet and diarist born near Kyoto in Japan in 1644. Reputedly the son of a samurai and confirmed as a scholar, he became both a wanderer and a teacher as well as a writer. He shared his reflections and truths obtained through meditation on his long walks. In his writing he was strongly influenced by the Zen sect of Buddhism. I think the book [published in 1966] was in a Reduced display which is probably why it caught my eye, but when I eventually opened it to read, I was charmed to discover that the Introduction by Nobuyuki Yuasa was entirely on Haiku, tracing an accessible history of its development and its form as well as telling the story of Matsuo himself. Matsuo Basho was one of the most famed traditional Japanese poets, one of a group known as The Great Four and their work remains as a model for today’s budding Haiku poets. Basho himself is still revered for his wisdom and for his writing.

A particular word can have a similar effect on the consciousness to a fragrance in its potency to trigger recall. I hadn’t thought of Haiku for years but memories flooded back of my using Haiku in the English language classroom to interest, even inspire, reluctant teenage poets!! But first, a word or two about Haiku.

What is a haiku? It is a three line, beautifully descriptive form of Japanese poetry, intended to be read in one breath. It does not rhyme but traditionally has five syllables in line one; seven syllables in line two and five in line three; punctuation and the use of capital letters is left to the writer. It can include repetition of words or sounds but it tries to feature an emotional or intuitive leap on the second and third lines where there may be a gap; something deliberately left out. The last line is often used to make an observation on the first two lines. Often, haiku subjects are based on a celebration of Nature or perhaps abstract subjects like happiness, although Basho insisted that the emotion of a haiku was not written but was only the emotion aroused in the reader. Modern haiku focus on simple yet sensory language, trying to create a brief moment in time and a sense of illumination, the structures can be looser and traditional rules ignored.

 Matsuo Basho
by Yosa Buson
1716-1764

This sounds complicated and though examples appear simple, Haiku IS more complex. My pupils enjoyed the basics simply because they could count syllables and it was, mostly, for them, the ingenious finding and grouping of words/syllables to fit the subject and the 5-7-5 structure, crucially [for them] without rhyme. In the hands of a Master, of course, it is much more. Interestingly in the little Basho book, many, many of the examples do not fit the exact traditional structure; many are of four lines length but this may well be because of the translation from Japanese to English. The actual word, Haiku, for instance, has two syllables in English but three in Japanese!

Two examples of Basho’s most famous poems are the ' silent pond' above and:

On a withered branch

A crow has alighted
Nightfall in Autumn.
                                   

 An early twentieth century haiku by Japanese 

poet, Natsume Soseki

Over the wintry forest

winds howl in rage

with no leaves to blow.

A modern Western haiku from The New Haiku edited by John Barlow and Martin Lewis:

empty cafe

he hangs a spoon

on the waitress’s nose. (Sounds as if they are getting friendly! AND no 5-7-5 here.)

And one of my inexpert attempts, just written:

Wait! I will show you

Warm brick wall with flowers wreathed.

My terrace; my pride!

Criticism of my effort above is undoubtedly centred on the rampant emotion in line 3. Oh dear. Basho's whole existence and practice exuded humility!

Part of the terrace in June

Tap Toe Returns!

On the evening of Saturday July 6^th, the wonderful Tap Toe returned to the Burg to a delighted audience both on the square itself and looking down from the comforts of the upper room of the Tom Pouce restaurant.

 Consummate performers all!

It provided a splendid spectacle, with a total of five participating groups: the Trompetterkorps Van De Federale Politie; Drumspirit; Drum & Showfanfare, Advendo from the Netherlands; Reading Scottish Pipe Band and the K.H. Het GildeMuziek. As the announcements remained oblique and garbled from where we sat at an upper window, I am only fairly certain as to which name belonged to which organisation except, of course, for the highly obvious and impressive Police group on horseback and the particularly distinctive, be-kilted Scottish pipe band. The super-energetic finalists of the TV Belgium’s Got Talent, appropriately called Drumspirit, were incredibly youthful and full of high spirits, exuding high velocity energy and enthusiasm from first footing! In addition to the accredited groups, great support music was provided by KF Hoger Op Aartrijke.  

The youthful energetic Drumspirit

Not that any group lacked energy, creativity or verve; this was an exciting, action-packed, bagpipe, drum and trumpet-filled evening with musicians marching in formation and ever-changing choreography while playing martial music to a high standard. It would be invidious to rank the five groups-- all were first class in their different ways -- but I was particularly impressed with the extraordinary patience and responses of the horses which were superbly trained. They tolerated constant large-scale,

often unpredictable movement close by; huge noise from cymbals and drums clashing; outbursts of clapping and cheering; a bright array of lamps projecting changing colours on to the facade of the mediaeval Stad Huis to great effect. Just before the end, the arena was plunged entirely into darkness as a signal for Wim Berthelot, the Bruges carillonneur to play from the Belfort.

 Possibly the most adept footwork and choreography of the
entire Tap Toe evening.
World champions Drum & Show FanFare, Advendo.

The Bruges Tap Toe is a highly individual Belgian, perhaps Flemish, perhaps Dutch version of military tattoos which very, very occasionally are presented in the U.K. But Tap Toe isn’t military save for the quasi-military Police group; it seems to consist of interested groups of brass musicians emerging and developing in response to, and as part of, a national/regional  custom. Apparently the term Tap Toe is from the 1680s and described the action of officials who commonly visited taverns to turn off the ale taps to signal to patrons to return home. Though how that relates to the modern Tap Toe is a mystery to me; it definitely has nothing to do with switching off the ale taps!

 Reading Scottish Pipe Band

 KH Het GildeMuziek, Roeselaere.

Over-tourism

 Tourists visiting the beautiful Bonifacius Bridge in Brugge

 Visitors to Brugge on New Year's Eve 2018

Read an item on my Ipad, on CNN, about Over-tourism in various parts of the world, including Brugge and I was reminded about a recent speech by Dirk de fauw, the local Burgomeester which rather shook up the news in Belgium. He was saying that there were now too many day tourists coming to Brugge, more than could be comfortably contained even though this category of visitor stayed only between one and three hours and spent little.

Statue of Hans Memling
in Woensdagmarkt.
Occasionally visited by small art groups.

Normally in Woensdagmarkt where I live, there are relatively few tourists though we are within metres of Jan Van Eyckplein which attracts thousands; Jan Van Eyckplein seems to be the turning point where the tide turns, as it were and visitors perhaps sit to drink or eat there, spending an hour or two before retracing steps towards the centre. But the very centre does seem awash with strolling, happy tourists especially at weekends and on Feast Days. Interestingly, there are sites online advising tourists to Brugge, "this small, exquisite town", how to avoid the crowds!

I have just checked the figures and am amazed to discover that there were 2.5 million people who stayed overnight in 2018 while the record number of day tourists brought the figure of visitors to Bruges in 2018 to 8.3 million. No wonder it feels crowded in Katelijnestraat!! In just two years, numbers have increased by 28.5%. Day visitors, not included in tourist totals, here for shopping and culture, and coming from 17 surrounding municipalities, numbered 1.25 million. Day tourists in 2018 were almost 700,000 more than in the previous year and are often from cruise ships docking briefly in Zeebrugge or on tours combining visits to other cities like Brussels, Ghent, Amsterdam. Numbers of overnight tourists are led by the British with Germany, Spain and Italy closely behind.

 View of visitors from the Rozen Hoed Kai

The ever-popular tour boats increased by 10.3% in popularity over 2017 while the tourist mini-buses were up by 21.2%. An astonishing 848,000 people visited the urban museums and 721,000 went to private musea in Bruges. I could find no figures for the also popular carriage rides pulled by horses whose trotting over the cobbles gives me an enduring delight in this resonant Brugge sound.

Over-tourism, one of the words of the year for the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018, is defined as an excessive number of visitors heading to famous locations, damaging the environment and having a detrimental effect on residents’ lives. Such magnet locations are in the throes of an identity crisis with city fathers world-wide wondering if they can consider turning away such important sources of income.The World Tourism and Travel Council notes that 1.4 billion international tourist trips in 2018 involved visits to the planet’s 300 most popular cities.

 Cruise ships in Zeebrugge terminal

Individual cities need to respond to the developing crisis; Dirk de fauw, Brugge burgomeester notes that visitors outnumber locals by three to one and he proposes limiting the number of cruise ships which can dock at Zeebrugge to two at any one time, rather than the present five ships per day. The local tourist board will also cease to promote day trips perhaps both to reduce visitor numbers and to increase hotel bookings. These measures come in addition to the 1996 ban on building new hotels in the historic centre and the similar 2002 ban on holiday homes.

Taking a break in Jan Van Eyckplein.

 Resting in the Markt.

Plus est en vous

 The controversial modern ticket office of
the newly-reopened Gruuthuse Museum

Five years after its closure for architectural renovation and a virtually new museum installation, the wonderful Gruuthuse Museum has recently re-opened. It is now a first class facility, architecturally perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing building in this little city of stunning mediaeval structures.

 Gruuthuse Museum

 Part of the Bidkapel, the only true
original feature remaining.

Originally built in 1425 and later expanded by the enormously wealthy Lodewijk van Gruuthuse, a high-ranking official of the Burgundian court. His personal motto, Plus est en vous ... there is more in you, often displayed decoratively on roof beams, serves as an inspiration and theme for the new museum. Adapted to the museum, the idea is that there are layers of meaning and significance in the exhibits for the visitor to discover. . So the exhibits are beautiful to see but also have historical art importance and suggest additional meanings for the people of Brugge who made the objects, those who owned the objects and, no doubt, the lowlier denizens who cleaned and moved the objects. As the visitor moves through the museum, he is following a clear narrative of Brugge through the centuries.

The building has intricate stonework, decorative roof gables and a belvedere tower. There is one surviving feature of the original palace; the first floor chapel [now restored to its original state], the bidkapel. It has windows which allowed the Gruuthuse family to worship privately while looking directly into the adjacent church of Onze Lieve Vrouw; their servants, meanwhile, could pray in the rather more austere service chapel below. The family and its retinue were thus spared the indignity of having to mix with lesser aristocrats and the common herd at prayer. The privilege and power of the mediaeval Gruuthuse family is thus eloquently illustrated still.

 Lodewijk van Gruuthuse wearing the
Order of the Golden Fleece.

One important element of the family’s wealth came from its monopoly of gruut, a mixture of flowers and herbs added in the preparation of beer. This was granted in 1200 allowing a tax to be levied on the sale of gruut to brewers. Eventually, this also included the facility to levy taxes on the sale of all brewed beer, a source of huge wealth to the Gruuthuse family over the centuries.

Lodewijk van Gruuthuse himself, was an accomplished diplomat in the service, first, of Philip the Good [1391-1467]. In 1468 he presided over the preparations for the illustrious marriage of Duke Charles to Margaret of York. He hosted Edward 1V of England when the king fled the Wars of the Roses and was granted, in gratitude, the hereditary title of Earl of Winchelsea, a rare honour for a non-Englishman, As owner of an extensive library he commissioned many prestigious works and was a friend and patron of Colard Mansion, godfather to whose son he became. Lodewijk was an international figure and a powerful man in his own society; his power was based not only on wealth but on achievement, culture, influence and character. His eminence and persona convey to the contemporary mind, the enormous power and success of mediaeval Brugge itself of which he was an eminently worthy representative.

 Edward 1V of England

On a personal note, I was sad to hear that there is no disabled access to the museum though great efforts have been made to accommodate the hard of hearing and the visually challenged. It was not until I had actually visited the entire museum that I could see the almost impossibility of circumventing the dozens and dozens of steps and stairs without perhaps, adding an elongated extension solely to accommodate disabled access. I hear that without disabled access, in the U.S.A and the U.K. no finance could have been granted to begin renovation for renewal or re-opening. Interesting.

 Small, beautiful detail from the Bidkapel

 The Belvedere with its commanding views.

Giacometti Exhibition

 L'Homme Qui Marche at
the Galerie Maeght also
appeared at the LAM exhibition

I first became enchanted by the works of Alberto Giacometti when I visited friends in Vence, near Nice, in 2002. They took me to the famous Galerie Maeght which has a major Giacometti collection of 35 major sculptures, 30 drawings and nearly 100 lithographs. [The Kunsthaus in Zurich and the Giacometti Foundation in Paris also have significant collections of the artist’s work.] SO, great excitement that there has been a major exhibition of Giacometti’s work in Villeneuve d’Ascq near Lille which I was able to visit last week at L.A.M. a superb modern art gallery set in rural wooded parkland.

La Galerie Maeght

This major exhibition set his work in context with examples of work by Joan Miro and Picasso among others, and traced his artistic development from his early beginnings in Borgonuovo, Switzerland as the youngest son of Giovanni, a well-known post-Impressionist painter. He, Alberto, moved to Paris in 1922, to study under the sculptor, Antoine Bourdelle, an associate of Rodin. While there, he also experimented with Cubism and Surrealism, and was eventually regarded as one of the leading Surrealist painters. Among his associates were Miro, Picasso, Max Ernst, Hjorth and Balthus. Between 1936 and 1940 his sculpting concentrated on heads, often preferring familiar models like his sister and Isabel Delmer, a close friend. It was around this stage of his development that he began to elongate the statues of Isabel, often small, carving and reducing them to almost paper-thin proportions.

 Giacometti 

 Annette Giacometti 1954

 L'Homme  Qui Pointe  1951

In the fifties, after his marriage in Switzerland to Annette Arm, his sculptures grew larger and even thinner, but always now based on Annette, his model for the rest of his life. Perhaps his largest sculptures, were Grande Femme Debout, 1-1V, [1960] created for a major project for the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York in 1958 but he was dissatisfied with the relationship between sculptures and site and finally withdrew from the commission. His worldwide fame was firmly established in 1962 when he was awarded the Grand Prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale and he finally visited New York in 1965 for a major exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art. During the prolific fifties and sixties, in addition to his wonderful sculptures, he Paris Sans Fin, published in 1965 and for which he wrote the text as the final flourish to his artistic life.
continued to produce many, many lithographs; indeed his final work was of 150 lithographs containing memories of all the places where he had lived, all in a book,

 Roland Dumas

The Fondation Giacometti was established in 1993 by the French state after the death of Annette who had been the sole holder of his property rights. She had worked vigorously to collect a full listing of his authenticated works, gathering documentation and location of all his manufactures to counteract the rising number of counterfeited works. In a sad and scandalous coda, in 2007, Roland Dumas, former French foreign minister and executor of Annette Giacometti’s estate, was convicted, with Jacques Tajan, a leading auctioneer, of illegally selling Giacometti’s works and both had to pay the Fondation 850,000 euros.

Giacometti's art flourished despite the scandal and today his exceptional and highly individual works, particularly the famous, pared-down sculptures, are universally recognised as great art and continue to intrigue and delight new generations of admirers. 

Heilig Bloed Processie

 The Chapel of the Holy Blood built 1134-1157, to
house the Holy Relic.

Thursday last, Ascension Day, is BIG in Brugge! As I had dear old friend Derek staying, we decided to buy a seat on the Dijver where the Holy Blood Procession starts. I have never seen the whole length of the procession before, [around two hours to pass] contenting myself once just walking along with it, taking photos from time to time. Last year with a visiting friend, we sat on the ground near the Stadstheater to watch. But the seat on a bench gave the best experience I think.

Brugge residents, 1700 of them this year, perform the historical re-enactments.

 1887 statue in Brugse Markt of
Jan Breydel & Pieter de Coninck

The parade is roughly divided into two halves; the first, Religious with stories from the Old Testament, the Creation to the prophets, followed by the New Testament, the Birth to Pentecost; the second, Historical. The historical half tells the narrative of the journey of the Relic to Brugge and then representatives of the Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood guard the priests who carry the Relic with great attendant ceremony. The centrepiece of the Procession is the Holy Relic, a cloth with allegedly the blood of Christ on it, brought to Brugge by Thierry, Count of Flanders after the 12^th century Second Crusade. The actual procession was instituted in 1303 to celebrate the deliverance of Brugge from French tyranny by the folk heroes, Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck in the previous year.

The costumes this year were amazing, colourful, creative, extravagant, reputedly obtained at a cost of 1 million euros funded by the National Lottery. And then there were the animals, as usual though unexpected to the casual tourists. Two flocks of sheep; a large bull, dromedaries; donkeys including a baby; hawks; rabbits; many, many horses with knights, ladies, emissaries, mounted, or the heavy Flemish horses pulling huge carts with static scenes on board including trees, thrones, courtly theatre, and a convincing [but artificial] serpent writhing realistically. There were marching bands, choirs, dancers, jesters, messengers announcing; peasants sweeping up the detritus from the animals [and receiving enthusiastic support from the watching crowd], choreographed scenes galore with at least four representations of Jesus. A cornucopia indeed much enjoyed by around 100,000 people densely packing the pavements around the city.

In the morning, the Holy Relic was collected from its safe-keeping in the Chapel of the Holy Blood in the Burg, and taken to the Cathedral for its veneration and a celebration of Mass. The Procession eventually finished in the Burg with a Benediction of the Relic.

 The hexagonal golden shrine was
created in 1617.

As we sat and marvelled at the passing spectacle, I was astonished that everyone on the many benches all stood up to venerate the Holy Blood as it passed. It underlined the awe with which, so many centuries later, the Relic still arouses deep belief and reverence in so many. The whole Procession is still loved and respected by both the townspeople of Brugge and visitors who live in a world so far apart from the life of its mediaeval beginnings. Indeed, to be a performer in the procession is a matter of some pride to Bruggelingen; surely a strong element in creating a cohesive society.

 The Holy Relic housed in a glass-fronted gold case closed
at each end with gold coronets decorated with angels.
Bears the date May 3 1388.

 Many small children took part alongside parents

 ... but all age groups were fully represented.

Creative interference!

 Mansfield market place with the nineteenth century
Bentinck Memorial in the centre.

I never imagined that there would be a mention in this blog, of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, U.K., a fairly unlovely East Midlands town and my birthplace, the town where I lived for the first 34 years of my life. I went to King Edward’s Primary School there and then the Brunts Grammar School. I taught there, danced and socialised, lived and loved there. Oh, mostly happy far-off days!

I bought a copy of The Times on Saturday 18^th May and was totally bemused and pretty incredulous to read in it an item headed ‘Rees-Mogg’s sister is the star in Brexitland’. There is a picture of Annunziata Rees-Mogg in Mansfield market place, described as ‘surrounded by a gaggle of middle-aged admirers’. The article claims the crowd, queuing to see her, was anxious to shake her hand and have selfies with her! I pinched myself. Ms Rees-Mogg, sister of the Right Hon. Member for the 18^th Century, and high profile recruit to the Brexit Party, attracting adoring interest from Mansfield inhabitants! And,

 Annunziata in Mansfield with supporters

standing for the Brexit Party in the East Midlands, virtually guarantees a seat in the European Parliament. Which is the secret to this public adoration and unlikely pairing of former mining town with member of an old, important family definitely situated in the upper crust!!

There is quite an excerpt in the item on 63 year old Laurence Caunt, ex-Labour and ex-NUM [National Union of Mineworkers] who accuses the Labour Party of deserting the working class and decries the fact that Brexit constituencies have Remain MPs. Mansfield and its ilk are now driving Corbyn’s policy of ‘Look both ways’ for Brexit in an endeavour for Labour to reclaim these lost, traditional strongholds. The poignant pity of it all is that the stratum in which the Rees-Moggs reside will simply enjoy the luxury of nostalgia restored and dreams of latter day Empire revived. While the chiefly working class of the Midlands and the North will bear the brunt of the anticipated economic turbulence and austerity. The more I see of Brexit and its destructive social and economic effects, the more inclined I am to wring David Cameron’s neck for his ill-judged, arrogant and careless attempts at Party management.

 Boris Johnson

And now, late to post the above, I hear that Theresa will be pushed from her post on June 7. Which means that the fifteen or so eager candidates to replace her will all be jostling for media attention with the focus reliably on Boris. If he can persuade M.P.s that he can out-Farage Farage, then political considerations may well cause Members to swallow pride and ethics and place him on their list of two. And then the 130,000 elderly Tory Party members, Boris-adorers apparently, will assuredly vote him in as Prime Minister, the least qualified, most ill-equipped ever. As Martin Fletcher of The New Statesman online, suggests., “He is a congenital liar, serially disloyal, untrustworthy, irresponsible and hopelessly chaotic”. One could add his lack of the work ethic, inability/ unwillingness to properly prepare for important public occasions,; disrespect for business, for Northern Ireland, for any complexity in almost any situation, for truth. Boris does have many gifts, not least his way with words, his oratory. If only the rest of him lived up to those standards. As it is, or may well be, impending catastrophe is approaching. A little postscript to add this Saturday morning; I heard on Radio 4, one contender for the leadership, Rory Stewart, an immensely able and honourable man, saying he would not serve in a Boris-led government. SO interesting!!

 Rory Stewart

 Theresa May's resignation speech.

 Nigel Farage at the launch of his new Brexit Party.