BRUSSELSBELGIUMEUROPE

BUSINESS

Exki’s savoury plans to conquer the Big Apple

CULTURE

Europalia.Brasil comes to Brussels

MONEY

How to make your financial plan disaster proof

POLITICS

Portrait of a lobbyist

OCT 7-20 2011ISSUE 3 €4.95

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“ Music saved me”

Belgium’s brightest star Selah Sue speaks

The intractable political stalemate between Flanders and the francophone part of the country seems to be headed for a solution after nearly 500 days of negotiations.

Agreements have been finalised and many feel that Belgium may have a government in the next couple of weeks. Parties on both sides of the linguistic barrier have shown ‘five minutes of political courage’, and Belgium’s famed culture of compromise has won the day again.

Achieving a compromise is in many ways what lobbyists seek to do in their work with the European institutions in Brussels. Lobbying is thriving, with the number of professionals in the business estimated to be between 500 and 15,000 depending on the source. Indeed, the city is said to be home to the world’s second largest lobbying community after Washington, DC. Yet it’s not always plain sailing for the profession: it has its own sets of rules, tricks and surprises, as Kristof Dams explains in these pages.

We also take a look at Europalia, the biennial cultural feast that this year is bringing the diversity of Brazil to the heart of Europe. From music to exhibitions, to design, films and literature, we run you through the festival’s main events to encourage you to discover this vibrant culture. Meanwhile, the high-quality fast food chain Exki is celebrating its 10th anniversary. From its very first restaurant in Brussels, it spread to the four corners of Belgium and Europe and is now hoping to conquer the Big Apple with its unique brand of delicious, healthy meals. Frédéric Rouvez, one of the founders, gives the recipe to Exki’s success.

And Tamara Gausi talks to Selah Sue, the Leuven-born soul singer who has become a world sensation with her smoky voice and stage charisma. We’ll find out if success has changed this fragile 22-year-old, who is nominated for the coveted Prix Constantin in Paris and will present her new songs in concert in Brussels on October 31.

There’s much more in this issue, including a trip to Redu, the Village of Books, and the essential community pages that tell you everything you need to know about local clubs and associations.

Have a good read.

3 THE BULLETIN

Parties on both sides of the linguistic barrier have shown ‘five minutes of political courage’ and Belgium’s famed culture of compromise has won the day again

Foreword

John StuyckPublisher

Cover: Selah Sue Photographed by Koen Bauters

General Manager Joske PlasManaging Editor Deborah ForsythSection Editors Sarah McFadden (Culture), Sarah Crew (Events), Kathleen Cagney (Film & TV), Tamara Gausi (Lifestyle & Features), Sally Tipper (Community), Deborah Forsyth (Politics & Business)News Leo Cendrowicz (Belgium),Martin Banks (Brussels), Jennifer Baker (Europe)Contributing Editor Thomas BuytaertArt Director Patricia Brossel

Contributors Paul Ames, Martin Banks, Emma Beddington, Joel Blocker, Leo Cendrowicz, Sabine Clappaert, Marcel Croës, Kristof Dams, Claire Davenport, Pierre-Michel Doutreligne, Oonagh Duckworth, Marie Dumont, Philip Ebels, Nicholas Hirst, Alan Hope, Shada Islam, Harlan Levey, Patrice Lieberman, Katrien Lindemans, Cleveland Moffett, Ian Mundell, Nikolaj Nielsen, Georgio Valentino, Emily von Sydow

Founder Monique Ackroyd OBEPublisher John StuyckAdvertising Paul Thyssens (Sales Executive), Helena Vreedenburgh (Sales Executive), Evelyne Frégonèse (Account Executive), Ros Burnaby-Atkins (Real estate ads & classifieds) advertising@ackroyd.be

Accounts Patricia BanzaEvents and distribution Annika Strasser

UK representatives Stuart Smith, SSM Global Media Ltd, First floor, SSM House, 1 Cobden Court, Wimpole Close, Bromley, Kent BR2 9JF, tel 0044/208.464.55.77 oremail stuart.smith@ssm.co.uk

Subscriptions Belgium 1 year €90 / 2 years €165. You can pay by bank transfer (ING 310-0883533-46 or KBC 432-2012231-12), or by sending a cheque or your Visa/Eurocard number and expiry date to Ackroyd Publications sa/nv.Contact us for details.Ackroyd Publications, A. Gossetlaan 30, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden,fax 02.375.98.22 subscriptions@ackroyd.be

5 THE BULLETIN

Editeur Responsable /Verantwoordelijke uitgever: John Stuyck, A. Gossetlaan 30, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden. Opinions expressed in The Bulletin are those of the authors alone. For reasons of space, street names in Brussels are given only in their French version.

7 News In Brief

12 Portrait – LobbyistsWe talk to three leading players in Brussels’ lobbying community and hear about some of the common misunderstand-ings about the business

17 Your Money

18 Focus – EU OmbudsmanCleveland Moffett talks to the European Ombudsman about his postbag, the power of persuasion and how to pen a complaint

21 Know-howOur guide to computer repair shops in Brussels

22 The Brand – ExkiOn its 10th anniversary, the healthy fast food restaurant welcomes the Bulletin into its Porte de Namur outlet to tell us its plans for the next decade

26 DigitalWhat’s new in the virtual world

27 Events In Brief

28 14 DaysThe Bulletin’s cultural highlights for the fortnight ahead – in Brussels and beyond

33 Readers’ offers

36 FilmReviews of the latest films to hit the big screen, plus cinema highlights not to miss

39 TVEssential viewing on the small screen

40 Focus – Europalia.BrasilThe gigantic cultural extravaganza Europalia returns to Belgium, this time showcasing the best dance, theatre and arts of Brazil. Ana Santi looks at the history behind the Latin American country’s diverse artistic offerings; Sarah McFadden selects exhibitions and shows not to miss

47 Lifestyle In Brief

54 Focus – Selah SueThe fragile Flemish soul sensation Selah Sue talks to Tamara Gausi about fame and family and how to beat the blues

57 Behind the Scenes

58 Food – Love at First BiteLouise Baterna, owner of Les Trouvailles de Louise and l’Estaminet, gives us the inside scoop on her foodie favourites

60 Up My Street

62 TravelKaty Desmond heads to Redu, a tiny village in Wallonia that’s home to more than 20 bookstores

64 Community

69 Property75 Classifieds78 Jobs

82 Capital LifeA member of the international community opens up his diary for the Bulletin

Contents

Politics & Business

Culture & Events

Lifestyle & Community

1 2 3

p22 - Exki’s Frédéric Rouvez p40 - Europalia.Brasil p48 - Oumou Sy, 8 + Goals

OCTOBER 7 - 20 20117 THE BULLETIN

Politics& Business

HANGING ON THE TELEPHONE. When he was named the EU’s first Council President two years ago, Herman Van Rompuy was supposed to be the answer to top US diplomat Henry Kissinger’s famous query, “If I want to phone Europe, who do I call?” Despite Van Rompuy’s grand title, the question is still asked. Nevertheless, while on a recent trip to New York, the former prime minister made a showy gesture of exchanging phone numbers with Kissinger (pictured left with Van Rompuy), who was also in town. Van Rompuy then posted the image on his Twitter feed in a nod to more modern forms of communication.

Call me…

1

THE BULLETIN8 POLITICS & BUSINESS

BELGIUM In Brief

Business

‘Yves Leterme’s appointment to the OECD, yes, you could say that’s also thanks to me’ Deputy Prime Minister Joëlle Milquet’s comment on radio station Bel RTL sparked a #CestJoelle Twitter craze

The hottest September 29 in Belgium

The amount Belgium will need to save in 2012 to keep within its 2.8% of GDP deficit limitIn Numbers

27.3°C€10 billion

Fluxys buys Eni gas stakes

Gas transmission group Fluxys G has signed an agreement to buy stakes in two gas transport pipelines from Italian oil and gas group Eni for €860 million. The agreement calls for a payment of 974.7 million Swiss francs for Eni’s stake in the Transitgas pipeline and €60 million for its stake in the TENP pipeline.

BASF sells Belgian fertiliser biz

BASF, the world’s biggest chemicals maker, has agreed to sell its Belgian and French fertiliser business to Russian group EuroChem for around €700 million. The deal, which is subject to approval by antitrust authorities, would be completed by March next year. It will affect 330 em-ployees at BASF’s Antwerp plant.

Belgacom’s Phone House bid blocked?

The College of Competition Prosecutors has recommended Belgacom’s proposed acquisition of retail chain The Phone House be blocked, warning the deal could lead to competition disruptions on the market. Belgacom made a €22 million bid for the retailer’s 114 stores in April. The College advises the country’s competition watchdog, which will decide after a hear-ing in November.

Bond sale goes well

Belgium paid lower yields as it sold the maximum targeted €3.5 billion in four gov-ernment bonds at an auction on September 26 amid the improved political prospects. The Belgian Debt Agency received a total of €6.467 billion in bids, implying a bid-to-cover ratio, or gauge of investor demand, of 1.85 for the amount sold.

IN COURT

Ronald Janssen trial starts

The trial has begun in Tongeren of Ronald Janssen (above), over the killing of a couple last year and an 18-year-old girl in 2007. Janssen, from Loksbergen, is accused of the double murder of his 18-year-old neighbour, Shana Appeltans, and her boyfriend Kevin Paulus, 22, in Halen on New Year’s Day 2010. He has admitted he was behind the 2007 murder of the 18-year-old Diest girl Annick Van Uytsel whose body was later found in a canal. Janssen, an engineer turned technical drawing teacher, has also confessed to a number of earlier rapes, which will be treated in a separate trial later. During the trial, police revealed that they had put Janssen on their list of possible suspects soon after Van Uytsel went missing in 2007, but they failed to follow it up.

GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATIONS ADVANCE

The end in sight?

Coalition ne-gotiators have secured a new breakthrough in their talks, with an agreement on financing between the regions, rais-ing the prospect that Belgium’s 15-month political limbo might be drawing to a close. The eight parties involved in the talks agreed to overhaul the rules governing the distribution of tax revenue and give the country’s three regional governments the power to collect about 30 percent of personal income taxes and apply limited discounts to national tax rates. The pace of negotiations has quickened since caretaker Prime Minister Yves Le-terme announced he was leaving the political stage later this year to take a job in Paris at the OECD. Leterme has now handed over responsibility

for the draft 2012 budget to the leader of the French-speaking Socialist

Party Elio Di Rupo, who has been chairing the recent coalition talks.

Quoted

9 POLITICS & BUSINESS OCTOBER 7 - 20 2011

The innocuous-sounding Brussels Summer University is a citizens’ movement that wants a revolution. It is a follow-up act to the Etats Généraux de Bruxelles of 2009, which was

expressly named after the general assembly whose actions started off the French Revolution. “It can’t hurt to scare them a little,” Alain Deneef, the driving force behind the group meetings, declared at the time to The Bulletin. Organised by a platform of think-tanks, action committees, universities, trade unions and employers, the Etats Généraux consisted of a string of lively public hearings that resulted in urgent de-mands presented to all major parties’ political leaders, in a brimful Kaaitheater.

The demands included community pow-ers for Brussels, urgent educational reform, and major housing projects to deal with the population boom. Philosopher Philippe Van Parijs commented: “This could be the start of something enormous.”

There was an uplifting feel about the whole exercise – the feeling of something – finally – about to happen to break the city’s political deadlock. And what happened next? Well, nothing happened... The new Brussels government was seen to pay only lip service to the demands of the Etats Généraux. A group of ‘wise men’ was set up to look into the question of the communes. Its conclusions did not drive for their abolition, but for status quo. One of its most drastic suggestions was to make the ‘fight against doves and foxes’ a regional instead of communal competency. The laughter this provoked was of the bitter kind – and even Brussels Minister-President Charles Picqué declared that the conclusions were rather too “timid”.

At the Summer University the same demands were repeated to a smaller audience. The analyses of the organisation are solid and thor-ough, but their philosophy of change-through-networking and through inspiring creativity doesn’t seem to cut much ice. Evidently, the dirty work of politics can no longer be avoided. True, the example of the one party focusing on Brus-sels’ interests (Pro Bruxsel) is not encouraging: less than two percent of the votes at the 2009 election and no seats. Deneef figures the Etats Généraux group could do better and could get four to five seats. Not bad for starters, though it might tarnish the mystique of speaking in the name of ‘the people of Brussels’....

Back to the barricades, Brusseleers!Thinkers and activists gathered for the Brussels Summer University last month. Who are they and what do they want? By Kristof Dams

Kristof Dams is a Ghent-based journalist and historian

What happened next? Well, the new Brussels government was seen to pay only lip service to the demands of the Etats Généraux

On Belgium

The legal retirement age in BelgiumThe average age at which Belgians retire from the job market

6559The average monthly income of a retired couple in Belgium

€2,600

RESPECT ON THE PITCH

Football tackles racist chants

Football officials have joined up with the Belgian government to launch Respect United, a campaign to counter racism in the game. It comes after a series of ugly incidents of fans chanting crude insults at players and other supporters. Last month, a game be-tween Lierse and Beerschot was suspended when fans taunted Lierse’s Japanese goal-keeper Eiji Kawashima (below) with cries of “Fukushima, Fukushima” – referring to the disaster at the nuclear power plant follow-ing the tsunami in March (the chairman of Beerschot football club has since apologised to the Japanese ambassador). “If you attend a football match, it should be like going to the movies: you shouldn’t have to worry about people shouting all kinds of inappropriate things,” said Interior Minister Annemie Turtelboom.

BELGIAN IN THE HAGUE

Brammertz reappointed as UN’s Yugoslav prosecutor

The UN Security Council has reappointed Serge Brammertz as prosecutor for the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. Bram-mertz’s term as prosecutor was due to expire at the end of this year, but will now be extended until December 31, 2014.

CHANGE OF GAME

Antwerp tops new Monopoly board

Antwerp has replaced Brus-sels as the most expensive place on the Belgian Mo-nopoly board in a new version of the game. The latest update of the Has-bro board game features towns and cities rather than streets, and was drawn up on the basis of an internet poll of players. The cheapest town on the board is Lier, near Antwerp.

BURQA BAN

Man hits officer questioning his veiled wife

A man attacked a policeman in Brussels after the officer asked for the identity papers of his wife, who was wearing a full Islamic veil. Police said the 37-year-old man was detained in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode for injuring the officer and his wife would be issued with a fine for wearing the veil, now banned under Belgian law. They said the man also issued death threats against the officers if they tried to approach his wife again. People who ignore the new law face a fine of €137.50 and up to seven days behind bars.

22 POLITICS & BUSINESS THE BULLETIN

23 POLITICS & BUSINESS OCTOBER 7 - 20 2011

The Brand - Exki

Baby carrot takes on the Big Apple Ten years ago The Bulletin told the story of how

Exki began. On the occasion of the company’s tenth anniversary, Frédéric Rouvez, one of the food chain’s

three founders, sat down with us to talk about the restaurant’s new plan to conquer the US

by claire davenportphotos by dieter telemans

“Finance is not an issue, we have enough, for now,” says Frédéric Rouvez, calmly. At the head of a long table, upstairs in the Exki outlet on the corner of Chaussée

d’Ixelles, Rouvez clasps two hands confidently together as he lays out the preparation of the company’s expan-sion to New York in late 2012.

Looking around the company’s first ever shop with its pine interior and leafy green decor, customers would be forgiven for thinking that its business was organic farming. But, actually, in the beginning, it was all about women. Apparently, the demanding female diner wants food that is healthy, organic, guilt-free, wholegrain and green all at the same time. So Exki made that hap-pen. “We decided we would do everything to satisfy the active woman,” says Rouvez, recalling the three founders’ original aim.

Right from the start there was little doubt in his and his business partners’ minds that Exki would make money. The three men, Rouvez, Nicolas Steisel and Arnaud de Meeûs, flew to cities around the world, from Chicago to Barcelona to Rome, to see why women were often left frowning after eating calorific and greasy lunches. “Fast food was rough and wet. It came in big quantities, which was okay for men,” Rouvez says of his early research work.

The first shop got off to a good start with a wealthy backer, the GIB retail conglomerate, which is also

credited for financing successful businesses like the multi-brand store Inno and fast-food chain Quick. It opened on January 9, 2001, here, at Porte de Namur. In November that year a second restaurant opened in Brus-sels on the city’s busiest shopping street, Rue Neuve. In January 2002, the third Exki opened in Antwerp. Then Exki hit Italy in 2004, Wallonia in 2005, Paris in 2006 and Luxembourg in 2007. The expansion to Wallonia turned out to be a very good move as francophones spend more on lunch than their Dutch-speaking counterparts, who just grab and go. In Paris as well as in parts of Wallonia, a customer’s average lunch usually comprises a starter, main course, a dessert and a coffee to wash it all down. Parisian women tend to eat smaller portions and more salads; Exki tailored its menu ac-cordingly.

These days the company is no longer just catering for the female lunch customer but also for a growing male clientele who are becoming more health-conscious. “It’s about

sixty percent women and forty percent men,” says Rouvez, comparing the gender breakdown to similar percentages in the cosmetics industry. In Brussels, the chain is rivalled by cheaper outfits like Pulp and The Foodmaker, which are not nearly as successful but are less expensive. “With us you get more for less,” Rouvez insists. “It’s not tuna mayonnaise we are selling.”

We’ll take Manhatten: Frédéric Rouvez, one of the three co-founders of Exki

24 POLITICS & BUSINESS THE BULLETIN

And their belief that customers will spend more on quality paid off. In 2001, Exki’s unique combination of fresh ingredients and fast service quickly found a foot-hold. Rouvez calls those days “a fantastic adventure”, as the company gradually grew from one shop to a total of 59 restaurants in Europe. Now, like any food chain worth their salt, they want to capture hungry American lunchers. But they are taking their time, in spite of media reports to the contrary.

This year the Belgian press jumped the gun when it announced the company’s move stateside was already underway. “The press distorts reality from time to time,” claims Rouvez. Nevertheless, for the last two years the company’s general man-ager, Laurent Kahn, has been quietly sniff-ing out the US market for intel on tastes, services, costs and produce. Along the way he has found that American consumers are more demanding than their European counterparts.

While Exki will probably stay loyal to its European menu in the US, the service will be better: Americans will

not have to queue for their lunch and they won’t be asked to reheat pasta in microwaves dotted around the store. At the American Exki, food will be brought piping hot on a plate right to the customer’s ta-ble. Though this means more staff than in the European restaurants, Kahn believes that American expectations of smiley service and subsequent tipping will make no exceptions for a Belgian upstart. They also plan to cater for evening diners with sit-down meals from a dinner menu.

Rouvez is excited about opening up in the US be-cause the company will be sourcing its products from the Garden State, New Jersey, and its expansive green belt. New Jersey farms are well known for their prize-winning tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries, spinach, bell peppers and head lettuce. These products could feature in the shops’ flagship ‘vegetable of the month’ promotion where a selection of soups and sandwiches are made using a product that is currently in season. (It was just bad luck that Exki chose to use cucumbers in May, the same month the news of the cucumber E.coli scare broke).

The first two Exki shops will open in downtown Manhattan in late 2012. If they take off, the company

aims to have at least 30 shops in New York altogether. Rouvez has been closely watching rival companies’ failures in the US market. Their mistake, it seems, was to go in all guns blazing.

Four years ago, Pret a Manger, the British sandwich retail chain, had to close up to 50 new shops in New York as the restaurant’s products were criticised for looking sloppy. Nevertheless, today Pret is the biggest lunchtime retailer with over 200 stores in the UK, US and Hong Kong. It is opening a further 30 shops this year and has a projected annual growth rate of 15 percent. In 2011, Pret’s sales in the US increased by 40 percent and global profits globally rose by 37 percent. But the company has also had the luck of a £50 million buyout which buried its losses. Exki may need to go the same way. Though Rouvez insists that money is no object right now, the company may have to secure more financial

backing to make it all the way to 30 stores. And Exki is not completely unknown

to the American business community. In 2010, it won the Ernst & Young prize for Enterprise of the Year. However, the com-pany wants to market itself as an export of Europe, not Belgium, providing a hearty, fresh and varied diet.

This is perhaps wise. In the US, the European stamp means quality. We make good cars, kitchens and clothes. And re-

cent TV history shows that Belgian food, though it is one of Europe’s finest, is not well represented in America. Jon Stewart from the American hit The Daily Show said it best when he joked: “Why did I hit you with a waffle joke? Well, because we re-ally don’t know anything else about you.”

Joking aside, these days Exki is a bona fide European company. So far, the restaurant’s most successful prod-uct is its Italian Liguria salad with linguine, homemade cooked ham, Grana cheese and rocket.

But expansion is hard work and Rouvez, wary of “media misrepresentation”, says a lot has yet to be done, including convincing the company’s board members next month about the plan’s viability and negotiating New York’s very high property rents. “When you have to pay rent, the first thing you have to do is open, and to open you have to do a lot of other things first.”

STATS

€52.7 MILLIONTotal annual revenue worldwide

€28 MILLIONAnnual turnover in Belgium

500Number of employees worldwide  59Shops worldwide 28 - Belgium18 - France9 - Italy3 - Luxembourg1 - The Netherlands

ADVICEFollow the carrot

“We decided we would do everything to satisfy the active woman”

Opposite: inside Exki’s Porte de Namur outlet, Brussels

25 POLITICS & BUSINESS OCTOBER 7 - 20 2011

THE BULLETIN34 CULTURE & EVENTS

BEYOND BRUSSELS Belgium-wide highlights

UNTIL OCTOBER 15

Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny

Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s final collaboration, a satirical jazz opera, in a jaw-dropping new production by Span-ish director Calixto Bieito. Anything goes in the pleasure-driven city of Mahagonny,

and this Mahagonny is rife with full-frontal nudity, necrophilia and other forms

of sex and violence (murder by electric drill in the first scene). British tenor John Daszak is the hapless Jim; Noëmi Nadelmann

his girlfriend Jenny; and Leandra Overmann is

Begbick. The work cre-ated a scan-

dal when it premièred in

Leipzig in 1930; 81 years on it hasn’t lost

its edge. Vlaamse Opera, Antwerp

www.vlaamseopera.be

OCTOBER 8

Tribute to Glenn Miller

Pianist extraordinaire Renaud Patigny and his swing jazz band perform a one-off concert of big-band legend Miller’s major hits and lesser-known composi-tions. Includes In the Mood and Tuxedo Junction plus rarely-played tunes Miller wrote when jamming with the best.Swing Jazz Festival, Baudouin Hall, 79 Ch de Tir-lemont, Jodoigne, www.88boogie.com

OCTOBER 17

Tim Jackson

Sustainable Development professor at the University of Surrey and author of the influ-ential Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet (just out in Dutch translation), Tim Jackson speaks about his book’s central thesis: the chal-lenge of confronting simultane-ously the current financial and environmental crises. The talk will be followed by a debate on the impact of Jackson’s theory on developing countries. Vooruit, Ghent http://vooruit.be/en

OCTOBER 7 & 8

Contes Africains d’après Shakespeare

Cutting-edge Polish theatre director Krzysztof Warlikowski has a thing for Shakespeare: he has put on a dozen of the plays, directed Verdi’s opera Macbeth (at Brussels’ La Monnaie) and threaded the Bard’s themes and words through many of his works. War-likowski also has a thing for the Théâtre de la Place in Liège, where his (A)pollonia and Fin were staged, respectively, in 2009 and in May this year. Now he’s honouring Liège with the world première of his Contes Africains, which examines the tragic falls of three Shakespeare protagonists (Othello, Shylock and Lear) in the light of writings by Nobel laureate JM Coetzee and Canadian writer Wajdi Mouawad. This is the first time Warlikowski has staged a theatre première away from his own base, Warsaw’s Nowy Teatr. In Polish, surtitles in French and Dutch. Le Manège (Caserne Fonck), Liège, www.theatredelaplace.be

Events

Music

Performance

Warlikowski’s Contes Africains d’après Shakespeare

Weill-Brecht jazz opera Mahagonny

Scenes from the last Hops Festival in

35 CULTURE & EVENTS OCTOBER 7 - 20 2011

BOOK NOWOur future favourites

UNTIL DECEMBER 18

Focus Nathalie Dewez

La Cambre graduate Nathalie Dewez has been named Belgian Designer of the Year, and one of the institutions that awarded her the honour is hosting this small but intriguing show of her work. Her speciality is lighting, and her innovative creations embrace bold shapes and simple lines that tick the boxes of both form and function. Site du Grand-Hornu, Hornu www.grand-hornu-images.be

UNTIL JANUARY 22

A Rua

The first survey ever of Rio de Janeiro’s art from the 1960s to now focuses on the street, the place where the city’s most dynamic artists have found inspiration and create work, much of it in the form of urban interventions and performanc-es that are experiential rather than object-oriented. Two generations are represented by 20-some artists: legendary (Lygia Clark, Helio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, Artur Barrio), well known (Ernesto Neto, Dias & Riedweg) and hardly known (Ricardo Basbaum, left). Rio’s urban structure and prospects as home to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics are part of the show’s larger context. M_HKA, Antwerp, www.muhka.be, www.europalia.eu

UNTIL NOVEMBER 13

Sleeping Beauties

Daydreams, nightmares and the subconscious are evoked in works by a veritable Who’s Who of contemporary artists (Michael Borremans, Sophie Calle, David Claerbout, Jan Fabre, Andres Serrano, etc) in this group show, which made news long before it opened thanks to Spencer Tunick. Tunick, who has cornered the market in nude-crowd photography, sent out an appeal for volun-teers willing to pose lying about in their birthday suits cushioned by pillows and one another’s flesh. He succeeded in recruiting more than even a wide-angle lens could take in. The show’s venue, a romantic castle, is itself a veritable dream machine.Gaasbeek Castle, Gaasbeek, www.kasteelvangaasbeek.be

Exhibitions

OCTOBER 21Hélène Grimaud The National Orchestra of Belgium’s year-long 75th an-niversary celebrations begin in earnest and in perfect pitch with this concert led by chief conductor Walter Weller. The main draw is French pianist Hélène Grimaud, a superb mu-sician and great beauty whose passion for wolves has added to her fame and extended it far beyond the music world. The centerpiece of the programme, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 1, is a perfect foil for the talents of both Weller and Grimaud. The concert will be repeated on October 22 in Liège. Bozar, Brussels, www.bozar.beSalle Philharmonique, Liège www.opl.be

OCTOBER 26, 28 & 29Vivarium StudioTwo works from Philippe Quesne’s theatre lab Vivarium Studio in Paris arrive in the capital after wowing interna-tional audiences. L’Effet de Serge is a comic performance on the necessity of art; Big Bang is an absurd musical version of the theory of evolution (minimal dialogue). L’Effet de Serge, Oct 26; Big Bang, Oct 28 & 29Kaaitheater, Brussels www.kaaitheater.be

NOVEMBER 30Indie folk and rockSince winning Virgin’s ‘Rock to V’ competition in 2006, London goup Bombay Bicycle Club have recorded three albums and notched up numerous gongs. The boys return to Brussels (following previous appearance at Vk*) with newly-released A Different Kind of Fix. Sup-port from fellow Brit singer-songwriter and occasional BBC backing vocalist Lucy Rose.Le Botanique , Brussels www.botanique.be

DECEMBER 9Piano manHis minimalist works have graced many a film score and TV trailer, but Italian classical pianist Ludovico Einaudi is so much more than a purveyor of soundtracks. His melodies are fragile and stirring, sparse and moving, but always resolutely contemporary. Hear him live.Ancienne Belgique, Brussels www.abconcerts.be

More on www.thebulletin.be

Scenes from the last Hops Festival in

Vivarium Studio’s Big Bang

Scenes from the last Hops Festival in Art as experience in A Rua

THE BULLETIN60 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY

ESSENTIAL INFORMATIONPROPERTY

The cost of renting a two-bedroom appartment in the area ranges from €850 to €1,050. Demand for property to buy is extremely high, with the average cost per square metre coming in at €2,200

TRANSPORT

The 92 tram and buses 59 and 66 stop at the top and bottom of the road. There is metered parking throughout the street, but some restaurants have a valet parking service

MEET THE NEIGHBOURS

Schaerbeek is home to a large Turkish and Albanian community, but on Avenue Louis Bertrand you’ll hear some French, Italian, Spanish, English and Dutch spoken as well

Up my Street

Blue-sky thinkingCommunications expert Dominique Poncin shows the Bulletin around one of Brussels’ most stunning arterial roads: Avenue Louis Bertrand in Schaerbeekby katrien lindemans photos by dieter telemans

In the maze of tiny streets around the busy Chaussée de Haecht, you will find the prestigious Avenue Louis Bertrand. Constructed in 1905, it’s a wide, long street that connects the Saint-Servais church

with Parc Josaphat, the commune’s green lung. As well as the Art Nouveau houses that line the avenue, it’s also home to Belgium’s tallest residential building: the Brusilia Tower. Standing at 100 metres high, it’s home to 39-year-old Dominique Poncin, a communication strategist who lives on the 33rd floor with his wife and two sons. “After six years in the city centre, we moved to Schaerbeek in 2003 and were lucky enough to find a spacious apartment in Brusilia. The neighbourhood was said to be up-and-coming, and the regular opening of new shops and eateries shows we made the right decision.”

Schaerbeek may seem paved with snack bars, but Avenue Louis Bertrand is the place to go if you want to eat well. “The Italian restaurant La Buca di Bacco (number 65) has a lovely decor,” Dominique says. “It was taken over a while ago, and the new chef took the menu to another level. His predecessor had a better wine choice, though.” Another famous Italian eatery is award-winning Le Stelle (53-57), known for its use of regional Italian products and impressive wine cellar. “Al Doppio A (62) is a trendy pizzeria, run by two men from Kosovo,” Dominique says. “Among a few typical classics, they also serve some unusual pizza combina-tions including boar and béarnaise sauce.”

While there are a few cafés around the Josaphat park, Avenue Louis Bertrand does not have a great number of bars. “L’Espérance (48) used to be the bar in the street where people would come for a drink,” Dominique says. “That changed last year when Bar du Gaspi opened next to the Saint-Servais church. Besides the nice terrace and a good food and drinks menu, the bar regularly organises all sorts of events such as jogging in the park or bike tours outside Brussels.” If you’re more interested in beer (drinking), and the history of the breweries in

Schaerbeek (back in the 19th century there were 10 of them), visit the Beer Museum (33-35) and enjoy a real Schaerbeekoise beer afterwards. Interesting fact: did you know that people who live in Schaerbeek are called donkeys, because back in the commune’s beer-brewing heyday, the animals used to transport cherries for the production of kriek beer? In fact, there are still two donkeys living in Parc Josaphat: Gribouille and Camille.

So how about places to shop? “We have a large supermarket at the foot of the Brusilia tower, where my oldest son learned to ride his bike in the empty car park,” Dominique says. “But what the area needs is a good bakery – the last one in the street closed down. Luckily I can get some delicious bread at organic tea shop/grocery shop Namasthé (25). Unfortunately, they don’t sell croissants.” For sweet cravings, the neigh-bourhood hides a little gem. Les Trouvailles de Louise is a tearoom at 290 Rue Josaphat that sells homemade cakes and muffins. At the beginning of September, a new bookshop opened too. 100papiers (23) plans to be a hub for people to share their love for books, magazines and music.

With two sons, Dominique knows what to do during the weekend. “Swimming pool Neptunium is just down the road, and obviously there is the recently reno-

vated Parc Josaphat. A great tip if you get thirsty during a walk; find the chalet of the archers of Saint-Sebastian. You can join them for a cold beer and some folkloristic tales. One of my son’s favourite places to go is Cocozza (8 Avenue des Azalées), where they sell delicious and cheap ice-cream. A great hidden playground is to be found behind the wharf of the Schaerbeek Crossing football stadium. There’s a fountain and some sand, and it’s usually fairly quiet. That will change once the stadium is renovated, so we make the most of it.”

OCTOBER 7 - 20 201161 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY

Avenue Louis Bertrand

1.PARC JOSAPHAT

Spread over 20 hectares and three separate zones, Parc Josphat features a mini golf course, several ponds, a playground and an archery lawn

2.NAMASTHE

Popular tearoom and organic grocery store with outside seating when the weather permits. 25 Avenue Louis Bertrand

3.BEER MUSEUM

A shrine to Belgium’s gift to humanity, featuring more than 1,000 bottles of beer and paraphernalia.33-35 Avenue Louis Bertrand http://users.skynet.be/museedelabiere

4.100 PAPIERS

Recently opened general bookstore sells everything from jazz CDs to hard-to-find San Pellegrino Chinotto and Italian cooking bible The Silver Spoon. 23 Avenue Louis Bertrand

5.BRUSILIA TOWER

Architect Jacques Cuisinier’s 34-storey building opened in 1974. On a clear day you can see as far as Antwerp (40km away) and the Doel nuclear power plant (52km away).www.brusilia.be

Dominique says: “It’s a very underestimated area, therefore it is still affordable. The neighbourhood has a lively atmosphere, and despite whatever assumptions outsiders may have, it’s very livable too. A bit more respect for the parking rules and the highway code would be welcome, though, as cars seem to be parked wherever.”

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THE BULLETIN82 LIFESTYLE & COMMUNITY

CAPITAL LIFE Your city, your agenda

Cartoonist Ian Elders, 34, left Dublin for Brussels 10 years ago

My diary

Why did you come to Brus-sels? I came here for an old girlfriend, a Belgian girl I was with in Dublin. Since I got here, I’ve worked in lots of Irish bars around the city and now I work in a bookshop. I like Brussels because you can live well on comparatively little, and as an expat you end up rubbing shoul-ders with all sorts of people, ambassadors and everyone else.

What do you do with your free time? I don’t have a lot of free time! I’m a cartoonist, mainly caricatures, and I’ve always loved drawing. I sing in a covers band called The Men in Blue with some other expats, and I run a quiz at the Old Oak in Schuman. I love art, music and books, so you might find me in a record shop on Boulevard Anspach. One of my favourite bars is Churchill’s, behind Grand’Place – it’s a great pub to sing in. I’ve always sung – I can be loud and I know a lot of songs, which helps. We also play at Sounds jazz bar in Ixelles from time to time.

I was involved in the DAPht art fair in May and sold some of my work there. I love any kind of visual art; Bozar in particular has some great photo exhibitions, plus it’s a beautiful building.

Will you stay in Brussels?Brussels can be tough in winter – though the weather’s not so different from Ireland – but in summer, you remember why you love the place. I can’t see myself leaving any time soon: I’ve got lots of reasons to stay and, apart from family and friends, not too many reasons to go back home.

WEDNESDAYOCTOBER 19

TINARIWEN Touareg musicians from the

Sahara region of Mali Ancienne Belgique

110 Boulevard Anspach www.abconcerts.be

TUESDAYOCTOBER 18

POTEMKINE A fairly new bar near Porte

de Hal that occasionally shows movies

2 Avenue de la Porte de Hal

MONDAYOCTOBER 17

NEW ORDER The influential 1980s band return for a sold-out show

Ancienne Belgique110 Boulevard Anspach

www.abconcerts.be

THURSDAYOCTOBER 13

LE MURMURE A popular bar that’s good for live music and a beer, just behind Place Flagey 18 Rue du Belvédère

SATURDAYOCTOBER 15

CAROLINE MUSIC This is a great record shop; you can often find me browsing here 20 Passage Saint-Honoré

Châtelain market

SATURDAYOCTOBER 8

ART IN BRAZIL A showcase of the evolution and revolution in Brazilian art from the 1950s until now Bozar, 23 Rue Ravenstein www.bozar.be

MONDAYOCTOBER 10

OLD OAK I MC the pub quiz here every Monday evening; it’s always a good night 26 Rue Franklin

WEDNESDAYOCTOBER 12

MUSÉE D’ART FANTASTIQUE Strange, surreal and fantastic art; they do a great Hallowe’en festival, too 7 Rue Américaine www.maisonbizarre.eu

Tinariwen play at Ancienne Belgique this month