TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

11:24 AM
Posted by jodi rose

Brussels for Beginners

Part 2 Things to Do in Brussels published on Viator.com travelblog


Brussels is a beautiful city. Unexpectedly chaotic, hilly and fragmented, it mixes sumptuously decorative architecture with seedy waterfront districts, fancy chocolate emporiums, stylish shopping streets, urban decay and myriad creative expressions of design, arts & performance.

You may have suffered from the stereotypical misperception that Belgium is not the most interesting of places, and Brussels has nothing much going on beyond the European Parliament and museums filled with Old Flemish Masters. Well, like me, you'd be wrong. According to a Dutch friend, Belgium is 'The Spain of the North,' and after my three short visits there, I can say that Brussels is the city I was dreaming of when I moved to Berlin.

It's grittier, cooler, curvier, and full of stylish and diversely interesting looking people with a gregarious and highly sophisticated cultural life. The spectrum of dance, music, electronic media and performing arts is astounding. Whatever your taste, in ultra-creative Brussels you can find something to indulge and inspire. Like any intriguing metropolis, the city contains a lively and distinct mix of neighborhoods, with contrasts and complexities that feel as though you could live there for years and still uncover something new around the corner.

Look out for the colored lights that are installed on various landmarks, my favorite is the telecommunications tower next to the national tv/radio building. So I was happy to begin my latest trip there, with a visit to the studios and meeting various producers.

The cultural activities of the city go far beyond the International Affairs and European Centre of Management, and let's face it, I am unlikely to end up in the European Union Parliament, although it could be a worthwhile destination for the contrast. There is plenty of underground, alternative and spontaneously happening culture, if you know where to look.

I return to Brussels to sample the diverse musical offerings of the Kraakfestival

Held at Recyclart, a lively cultural venue rehabilitated from an abandoned railway station, Chappele-Kapellekerg. The dark bar is a great place to while away the afternoon in between concerts. Strolling through the neighborhood, my local guides took me to another cosy cafe (the Fontainas bar - on jardin des olives), with chilled out music and a decadent vibe, excellent soup and fresh mint tea. The alternative street name 'Tigress Blanche/White Tigress' is part of a public art project transposing Belgian comic book culture onto the streets.

We dropped into q-o2, a dedicated sound art workspace and performance venue to talk with their lovely director Julia Eckhardt about a residency project in spring.

I felt like a truly trans-cultural ambassador after meeting ebulliently charming Philippe Franck, director and curator of Transcultures (centre interdisciplinaire des cultures électroniques et sonores)

Producers of City Sonics sound art festival in Mons

and les Transnumeriques festival across Paris, Mons, Lille & Bruxelles, with a nomadic philosophy of exploring diverse digital cultures and emergencies.

On my next trip I will definitely make it to iMal where the recent exhibition: 'Stock Overflow: Recontextualising the Crisis' examined alternative economic strategies, disasters and interpretations in exhibition and conference,

Bains Connective multidisciplinary international art laboratory located in an ancient swimming pool in the forest, with their fabulously named Plankton Bar,

and Nadine, which promises research into trans-disciplinary experiments in media and live arts, and an international tree climbing day.


It's thrilling that there is still more of this fantastic metropolis to discover, I think that's what makes it so captivating, the sense of being many different cities in one, containing a vibrant diversity of cultures, people and lifestyles. Of course, my perceptions are necessarily fragmented, each time I visit gives a shift of the kaleidoscope and uncovers a new perspective with unexpected secrets. I trust you will have a fantastic time in Brussels, whichever side of town you start from or end up in!