Brugge Streetart Festival 2020

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Detail from the Mary of Burgundy mural
showing O.L.V where her memorial lies.

This festival would have been planned in the confident expectation of thousands of tourists visiting Brugge in the summer, as usual. I imagine the idea of huge images on gable ends would have also been expected to appeal to the young in particular but, it was also suggested, they would help older people remember. There were two distinct subject areas for the artists to consider: Legendz and Nature. Having now seen examples of both I prefer the murals depicting Legendz perhaps because of my interest in history though the objective is to re-shape and re-connect  the old and the new within the city. The most dazzling mural for me is of Mary of Burgundy; a huge presence on Houwersstraat.

Mary of Burgundy, Houwersstraat.

There are many symbols in her portrait to be found; the euro and dollar signs signal her wealth; the French lily in her dress represents the French king and the rich Flemish citizens, merchants and nobility supporting him. The falcon refers to her death outside Brugge when she was hunting; the Gothic window stands for the church of Onze Lieve Vrouw where her tomb is situated; her enormous hands are the hands of Jesus treating men and women equally, symbols for giving, creating, forgiving and sharing. The Brugse Zot and the swan refer to Maximilian of Austria, Mary’s husband, while the coins are a symbol of Brugge's economic status which produced, effectively, the world’s first Stock Exchange.

Jeremiah Persyn, Jamz.

The artist of this mural is Jeremiah Persyn, nicknamed Jamz, a native of Brugge who worked for years as an art director,
draughtsman, graphic artist and painter, creating textiles, décor, storyboarding. He recently started a multi-media creative company, Sarazon, with his wife, Sarah Van Dale. He has worked with the aerosol which he sees, and uses, as a brush, since 1988.

Dans der Zotten.

Dans der Zotten, the Dance of the Fools, dominates the space at the side of the Concertgebouw. It commemorates the occasion in 1488 when Maximilian of Austria banished the annual market. The inhabitants of the city set up a grand fair and reputedly asked him for a madhouse to which he replied, “ Close all the gates of Brugge and that’s your madhouse.” Zot, at that time, meant a willful person with a strange sense of humour. The four different zotten also represent individual seasons and the artist chose lighter colours to merge into the shades surrounding the graffiti wall. The artist, Stan Slabbinck, began his career as a graffiti artist in the late 1980s and has created for festivals and amusement parks, drawing his inspiration from a wide range of contemporary subjects, often critical of society, always evolving, discussing the themes of nature versus people.

Stan Slabbinck

Stefaan de Croock, Strook.

Strook's Mysterious Woman
looking into town.
Perhaps this is my favourite.

The third artist is Stefaan de Croock, nicknamed Strook, born in Sint Lucas in Ghent and thus an incomer to Brugge. He always uses second-hand wood obtained from various sources like old houses, collecting wood from old beams, doors, window frames, floors, some of which may be three hundred years old but using the wood exactly as he finds it, only cutting and sawing where necessary. This philosophy implicitly criticises Society where much of what we use, is designed not to last. He has been involved for six years on the Strook Art Project and in 2014 The Huffington Post placed his work, Wood and Paint, in the top 20 most influential murals. He recently made a large work for The Crystal Ship in Ostende, using wood reclaimed from the Mercator. He has exhibited in the U.S., Denmark, Canada and Sweden and had been due to hold an exhibition in Ghent in October 2020. His exhibit in this festival, on a large, bare wall near ‘t Zand, of a mysterious woman looking into town, is accomplished in his trademark strips of wood, which he suggests, are able to bring order from chaos and, through the old wood, tell a new story.

The most extraordinary feature of all the murals to this aged writer, is that they are created by aerosol cans obviously wielded by very creative hands. And secondly, painted large on outdoor walls. Talent and ingenuity combined.

Mary of Burgundy emerging.

The information for this week’s blog is entirely provided by Leen Ryckaert, professeur extraordinaire!

Graffiti.

 

Graffiti in Bethlehem

The Bruges Street Art Festival was apparently launched in August but such is my unconscious power of resistance to publicity that I have only now discovered this city-wide exhibition of works of art sprayed chiefly on large gable ends, accomplished only by spray can and marker pen. I have now visited some of the various sites with friends to guide, and can see that these paintings come under the umbrella heading of Graffiti.

So I have delved into graffiti and found it unexpectedly interesting!

Graffiti in Melbourne.

Wikipedia defines graffiti [= Scratch. Singular: graffito, rarely used] as writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission, and within public view. It has, in fact, existed since ancient times in Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire and is now treasured as both art form and information channel which has conveyed small details of then current lives, to posterity. Au contraire, modern graffiti is usually considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism. It became a growing urban problem for New York City subway, on cars and walls, where it started in the ‘70s before spreading to other parts of the U.S. and eventually to Europe and beyond. It was closely associated with gangs who used graffiti for a variety of purposes: for identifying or claiming territory; as informal obituaries to dead gang members; to challenge rival gangs and to chronicle various ‘achievements’.

Crusader graffiti in Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

I have noticed in Britain, that it often appears adjacent to railway tracks approaching cities [relatively easy access for the young and agile] and in run-down urban areas. When I worked in secondary education, it was a golden rule when some graffiti appeared on the outside of school buildings to have it removed as soon as possible. We never wasted time on trying to find the culprit who might, and might not, have been a pupil. Quick removal meant less chance of additional artistic efforts alongside the original; a plethora of wall-sprayed signs would somehow suggest a place with a lack of order and community, an absence of caring and a want of intellectual activity!

In spite of this, [or perhaps, because of this] it is now a rapidly-growing art form which inspires both

Subway car, New York City.

fervent admirers and detractors world-wide. To some, it is an authentic form of public art, continuing in the U.S. the tradition of the Government-commissioned murals done during the Great Depression. And also in the Diego Rivera mode; this famous Mexican artist returned to live in Mexico in 1921 and became involved in the government-sponsored Mexican Mural Programme which effectively launched his career [when he was already a famous artist] as a muralist. Of course, the amateur graffiti artists of today are not always so talented though they are profuse. But one does notice, particularly with historic examples, that graffiti is often political and sends a message more pithy than words.

And I haven't even mentioned Banksy in Britain, an anonymous street artist and political agitator whose satirical street art and subversive epigrams have inspired millions of admirers and whose work fetches huge sums of money.

Girl with Red Balloon
Probably a universal favourite by Banksy.

Tel Aviv, Israel.

Budapest.

Inside the ruins of the German
Reichstag Building.

One World.
Modern example.

And now for a Post Script added after

first publication!

Werregarenstraat, Ghent.
Graffiti Street.

A friend rang me as I was writing the above and then sent me several links about graffiti in Portugal and in Ghent. I was amazed at the Ghent Graffiti Situation. In the Mail Online of June 26th 2018 there is a major article entitled The World is Your Mural. It gives pictures and information on the zones in Ghent, founded in 650 A,D, where graffiti is legal and any artist with a spray paint can, may venture. The centre for graffiti in Ghent is Werregarenstraat, a tiny, curving street now nicknamed Graffiti Street and an established graffiti centre for more than twenty years. There are maps freely available, to help visitors find works of art on the sides of buildings in the four zones in the city where graffiti is legal.

New Vhils mural in Berlin.

Perhaps the most famous Portuguese graffiti artist is Alexandre Farto known as Vhils. He has developed his own unique visual language based on the removal of the surface of the building he is working on, using power and manual tools. His introduction to graffiti was in the early 2000s since when his extraordinary works have appeared in Paris, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Cape Verde, Cincinatti and no doubt many more cities. His portraits on walls are astonishing.

 

Vhils in action.

L'Amerique Fracturee

 

The above title was on the cover of Paris Match on November 7^th. I had been thinking of entitling this blog, Disharmony, which beautifully describes the state of America at the moment. That is until I spotted the cover of Paris Match this morning and thought, YES!! Only now do I see, "Quatre Ans De Folie a La Maison Blanche." Another Yes!

Rudy Giuliani whom I used to admire, hugely.
A long time ago.

Like millions of other Europeans, I have become obsessed with the American election and currently, with the incredibly drawn out Counting of the Votes. As one might expect, Trump is behaving badly; refusing to accept the increasing Biden leap ahead as the count continues. He wants to stop the counting where the ongoing figures favour Biden but continue the count where he is in the lead. He is crying Foul though the seemingly endless tally of postal votes currently being enacted mirrors exactly what he brought about. Strong advice to Republicans to vote in person on the day because postal votes were suspect, brought about early, commanding leads for Trump because millions of Democrats chose the postal vote route. As these are laboriously counted, so the tally for the Democrats mounts and the Trump leads leaks away inexorably. Trump and his family continue to inhabit an alternate universe shared still by some Republicans, though fewer and fewer. Only a desperate man could send in Giuliani as front man for defence while the older Trump sons seem frankly unhinged. The thought of the White House cash cow being removed is clearly threatening to family sanity.

Joe Biden, now President-Elect.

It looks increasingly like a Biden win but sadly, the expected moral revulsion of millions at Trump’s behaviour, has not translated into the Blue surge expected. So the Democrats need to do some soul-searching. The Senate looks likely to remain in Republican hands though not decided until January, which will make Biden’s presidency difficult because Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham will focus on destructive reaction to any Biden initiative particularly over tax reform. The one outstanding feature of the Trump campaign and current entr’acte period of waiting, is the stunning fact that despite all the ghastliness of the Trump presidency, in spite of the almost surreal depths of his ignorance and vindictive incompetence, he polled five million more votes this time than in 2016! And his followers seem genuinely besotted. There appear to be distinct but sometimes overlapping groups of devotees: less-educated whites particularly men; nationalists, fascist and far right Republicans; inhabitants of the so-called ‘fly-over states’ with small rural communities, conservative, separate, and people in the Southern states plus evangelicals who thread through all these various categories. All respond to the dog-whistle racism in particular and appear to look back longingly to Earlier Times; Trump’s thinly-veiled Make America White Again points to a nostalgia for the golden past when the blacks knew their place and Life was predictable. And many of these people are Standing By for when Biden is finally acknowledged as President-Elect and a proportion of them, at least, will be out on the streets, guns and fists at the ready, awaiting the Chief’s disgruntled fact-free grouses and Proud Boy complaints.

Trump people on one side; Biden supporters, opposite.
Austin, Texas, after announcement of Biden's win.

WHAT a happy day on November 8^th. Biden and Harris now President and Vice-President Elect. No counter-offensive as dreaded, just millions of people across the U.S.in the streets celebrating. And here, I have received so many messages of joy and relief often accompanied with celebratory videos. In the meantime, Trump continues to throw his toys out of the pram while his lawyers insist it is not yet decided who will be President. It has been an amazing few days and we hold our breath while awaiting Biden taking the oath in January. It seems odd, not to say unwise, that the departing President has around two months before he actually goes, in which he can legislate. I guess we can only predict fireworks!

Trump venting on T.V. after announcement of Biden win.

Police in Austin, Texas, keeping watch over 
competing protests after Biden win.

Here's our man again, displaying sensible behaviour.

Windows to the World

This one is very typical of numerous Brugge windows 
decorated in sentimental style as long ago as 
last March.

On my ubiquitous daily walks this week, I suddenly noticed Windows or at least, certain windows adorned with highly individualised decoration. Once one had caught my eye, I started to look and found several with delightful features dreamed up by whoever lived behind the glass!! In truth, there weren’t SO many but it gave me a little extra task as I wandered along seeking the hazy goal of sustaining health. It’s good to have a transparent purpose!!

A beautiful example on the building
of the Guild of Sint Sebastien.

I noticed again how many bricked-up windows there are on old houses in Brugge. And I was sensitised to bricked-up windows at Waingroves Hall where I lived with my family when the children were growing up, from 1968. Waingroves had two bricked-up windows which had undoubtedly been accomplished sometime during the years of the Window Tax in Britain. The Window Tax was a property-based tax based on the number of windows in a house and introduced during the reign of William 111 as an alternative to income tax the mere suggestion of which aroused considerable controversy. It was a significant social, cultural and architectural force in England, France, Scotland and Ireland during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Presumably it must also have covered the area which is now Belgium or at the very least, Bruges. To avoid the tax, based on the number of windows above a base level specified by the Government, property owners had certain windows bricked up presumably with the intention of having the space re-glazed at a later date. It was introduced into England and Wales in 1696 and not repealed for 155 years in 1851 when popular discontent forced its removal. In France, it was established in 1798 and unbelievably, not repealed until 1926! Scotland’s Window Tax covered the much shorter period, 1748-1798. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith observed that the window tax was inoffensive and easy to collect; it had originally been designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the tax payer, although it was eventually recognised as penalising the poor disproportionately.

A bricked-off window
with elegant decoration.

This blog now transmogrifies into a scrapbook

rather than a blog. One or two  images used before!

Images are beautifully self-arranged as I post BUT

experience shows the arrangement shifts according

to mysterious laws of unknown physics!

My favourite, one of several in
the same house. Beautiful.

Rather more terrifying!

A lovely Meet My Neighbours on Carmersstraat.

This is a glass door rather than a window.
But beautiful for all that!

This is for publicity for a recently-opened gallery
and doesn't QUITE count!

An empty pharmacie on corner
of Langerei and Goudenhandrei.

Blocked-off window used as a 
canvas to great effect.
Vervesdijk.

Beautiful stained glass set into a window
on a lovely old house on Potterierei.
In a different league from the others 
displayed here.

The same house, as above, one of three
stained glass insets into windows
on the front of the building.

Echoes of Lockdown in Brugge.

 

A dramatic handwave from a window
on the corner of Langerei 
and Goudenhandrei.

 Looking at my phone pictures I have realised that there are a number of images, never used, which amused, or entertained, or delighted me at the time of capture. A common  thread, generally, is that they were all taken during the early morning, or sometimes, The Very Early Morning, walks when I

One of the many delectable rewards 
of an early morning walk in Brugge!

plod onwards, pursuing the vague goal of reasonable health, with the image in the head of coffee and a compensatory read at the end. It virtually never fails. An early morning walk is not Quite The Same as the former early swim. The latter saw me happily, lazily, ensconced in tepid water, head below deck, joints moving slowly but rhythmically, for the half hour designated, while the mind wandered luxuriously and freely. The Walk is different. It involves more effort and much more concentration. I have to take a great deal of care over the gorgeous cobblestones which threaten to trip the unwary octogenarian, so my movements are generally slow and plodding accompanied with downcast eyes, scanning the ground ahead like searchlights. However, the aesthetic rewards of sun-dappled water; the canopy of trees above giving shade in summer and arboreal architecture in Winter, are many, There is a deep satisfaction to an early walk; a dearth of fellow walkers- cyclists though there are some; opportunities to discover little sights unnoticed before; the chance to take photographs when something small catches the eye; the never-ending pleasure of seeing familiar canals and cobblestones in different weathers and lights, and absorbing their beauties. There is the peace of the endeavour and the undoubted pleasure at the end when, almost exhausted, one happily acknowledges accomplishing a good deed in a naughty world.

My favourite photograph taken during these daily wanderings, is definitely of the words displayed
on a front door at one end of the Coupure: Attention. Chien de tres mauvaise humeur. This must be the most effective anti-burglar device ever and a similar deterrent for the door-to-door salesman if such still exist. It would be even better if the naughty dog turned out to be a peaceable Peke for example. A touch of bonne humeur goes a long way. It reminds me of a time when we had a Golden Labrador, an eminently good-natured breed of dog. Our Shandy was at the extreme end of the continuum, Mauvais\Bon; she was sweet and saintly. Once, long ago, a group of red-faced, apparently hungover, Irishmen looking for work drew up outside the gate to our rather isolated house and approached. Shandy raced to the gate to welcome them and I said, “Don’t open the gate till I’ve got her collar. She can’t be trusted.” [as my husband had suggested I do when I judged it necessary.] As they opened the gate, she broke free, such was her enthusiasm to meet and greet, and threw herself at their feet, on her back, paws raised, waiting for her tummy to be tickled. They looked both relieved and emboldened!! " Why, she's SOFT," accused the leader.

Moment of grace outside Sint Salvator

I also love the April photo taken during an early Lockdown walk; it is of a momentary shaft of light streaming through just one of the windows of Sint Salvator. It was stunning at the time, an illuminating moment of early sun and conveniently-angled stained glass in an unexpected conjunction of light and space. Dramatic and beautiful in the grey exterior.

Last week I noticed that the Coupure was full, presumably all boats parked up for the Winter when harbour fees in Brugge are more reasonable. I can’t now remember all the names though Esme was still there, for my sister, and Hilde, too, for my mother. There were others like Uit de Maelstrom and Grace a Dieu which spoke of stormy seas and safe harbours. I rather liked the regal Victoria, Victor and Imperial but loved the flirtatious, feminine Chouette! I didn’t know the meaning but it turns out to be great or very nice. Etre chouette a quelqu’un is to be really nice to someone. Think I will now remember that!!

And while being more of a dog person than a cat person, I enjoyed the notice in a window quite near

Chouette on the Coupure.

to where I live. “My cat is not a pet; my pet is family.”

Heartfelt. It is a long, long time since I had a dog but I do remember the strength of that feeling. My daughter in California and her family had a much-loved black Labrador, Charlie, who almost reached the splendid 14 years lifespan when, with so many things wrong with his system, he had to be put down. Family council decided to wait a while before replacing him but her nine year old daughter whose best friend had been Charlie for all of her life, remained sad and listless. Worried parents decided on action and the three of them went to an animal sanctuary and found Luna, a German Shepherd who is now, months later, pretty well in charge of the happy 

Part of that Forever Family.

household. I particularly liked the remark of the woman from the sanctuary who said, as they took Luna away, how delightful it was to see a lovely dog leave to go home with his Forever Family.

Not taken during the early morning walks, but  
 from the Carmerbrug in August, en route home
early evening.

Privilegie de Visscherie

Present Grand Hotel Casselbergh Brugge,
was the Court building for Charles Stuart
during his exile 1659 to 1600.
Commemorative plaque on side of hotel.

An interesting tiny subset of the Brexit negotiations reveals a link back to the days of Charles 11, before he became King of England. In 1651 he was driven from Britain by Oliver Cromwell and initially 

Charles in exile, 1653, painted  by
Peter Lely.

sought refuge in Paris and then Cologne but when he attempted to reach Brussels, he was barred by Philip of Spain who wished to avoid war with Cromwell. However, Charles and Philip secretly agreed to collaborate to win back Charles’s throne and Charles was allowed to settle in Bruges ‘anonymously’. During his three years in Brugge, Charles became an active member of civil society and a member of the Sint Joris Guild through which he was able to make useful strategic friendships. After Cromwell’s death with his son Richard as Protector, Charles was able to regain his throne, returning in June 1660. In 1666 Charles’s guide and friend while he lived in Bruges, the aristocrat, Arrazola de Onate, was appointed exceptional ambassador to Charles by Philip of Spain with the intention of negotiating a trade treaty. The treaty itself has disappeared but the City of Brugge still retains an associated charter granting “eternal rights” to the fishermen of Bruges to fish in the coastal waters of Britain. In fact, there are two Privilegie, one of England and one for Scotland.

Jan d'Hondt, Chief Archivist of Bruges,
holding a Privilegie, Oct. 13th 2020

Sylvain Van de Weyer 

The charter was never really tested until 1851. In 1849 Britain initiated the first negotiation with the newly-founded Kingdom of Belgium. The aim for Britain was to keep exclusive fishing rights fos-a-vis its fishermen for up to three nautical miles from the coast. Belgium sent ex-prime minister Sylvain Van de Weyer as special envoy to London with the aim of preserving Belgium’s status quo vis-a-vis the Privilegie. The strength of the Belgian case was reinforced by the head of the Bruges Chamber of Commerce who introduced to London the Fisheries Privilege of 1666, the existence of which the British Government had been totally unaware. H.J.Temple, the British Foreign Minister replied suggesting that the Belgian Government pursue a legal route in the Law Courts of England and Scotland [ there being, in fact, two documents conferring the privileges on each of the two countries’ fishermen.] The Belgian Government decided not to take matters to the British courts but prioritised a fishing convention covering all Belgian fishermen and proceeded with establishing a treaty with the U.K. [March 1852] but making clear that the Fishing Privilege of 1666 was not affected by any subsequent treaty.

“ ..[la convention] attribue aux pecheurs des deux Etats le traitement de la nation la plus favorisee pour l’exercise de la peche sur les cotes de chaque pays, sans prejudice de droits que les pecheurs belge pourraient tirer des chartes du roi Charles 11.”

Victor dePaepe 1963 [centre]

It looks likely that no firm conclusion was reached and the matter lay dormant until 1963 when a Belgian owner of a fishing fleet, Victor dePaepe, wrote to Harold MacMillan the Prime Minister, and to the Queen, saying that he wished to avail himself of the rights conferred under the 1666 Charter. He informed them of his sailing date so that he could be arrested at sea and thus, he believed, empowered to press his claim in the British courts. He was duly arrested on his re-named boat, King Charles the Second, on July 8^th, by the Royal Navy off the coast of East Sussex, near Seaford. The case never came to court but it was revealed in papers released in 1993 that the British legal team had advised the Agriculture Minister to avoid a court case because if was possible that the Charter was still legally 

enforceable.

Hilde Crevits, Minister of Economy
and Agriculture.

This year, 2020, under the never-ending Brexit negotiations, the Belgian Ambassador Extraordinaire to the E.U. Willem Van De Voorde cited the treaty and the Privilegie during a discussion of the future access of E.U. fishing fleets to British coastal waters. The Minister of Economy and Agriculture, Hilde Crevits, confirmed during a Radio One interview that a legal team was looking into the treaty as a back-up plan although the E..U. would prefer an agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

This is a most entertaining story which shows how a 1666 comet can have a Very Long Tail. Let us hope that the generosity of Charles 11 can be seen to be effective for the Belgians today during Brexit negotiations.

Post Script

Below is a current announcement of a lecture by Paul dePaepe, son of Victor:

Lectures are currently free. Reservation and wearing of a mouth mask is mandatory. Best to arrive 15 minutes earlier. The entrance for the lecture is on the playground of GBS Het Anker. 

Lecture on Sunday November 22, 2020 by Paul Depaepe

Unfortunately the 10 o'clock lecture is fully booked.

A second session was organized at 1.30 pm on the same day. Reservation is mandatory, reserve your place on 050 530 730.

AND here is the man who effectively started this whole saga.

The famous 1653 portrait of Oliver Cromwell
by Peter Lely who was instructed by the sitter
to paint a true likeness, "warts and all".