May 31, 2011

Galerie d'Art Win in rue Darwin


The two large photographs attracted my attention in the gallery with the perfect name to match the street in which it is located: rue DARWIN in Ixelles, Brussels.
Photos by Eric Ceccarini

May 30, 2011

Look for the differences


After posting yesterday's entry on resemblances, I went to the Sunday market on Place Flagey (Ixelles, Brussels). Impossible not to photograph and post two more pictures on the same subject. It can not be denied that Brussels is a dog loving city.

May 29, 2011

Dogs in the city


The resemblances are striking, aren't they?

May 28, 2011

Bourla 2


All right, since Jérôme asked yesterday, here are the pictures of the restaurant on the first floor.

May 26, 2011

Bourla part 1





This Antwerp theater building was constructed by French architect Pierre Bourla in 1834. A sober, neo-classicist building, the Bourla houses the Toneelhuis, Antwerp's theater company. The photo's show the entrance hall built in the shape of a semi circle. 
http://www.aviewoncities.com/antwerp/bourla.htm

May 25, 2011

Wiels, inside

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The restoration of the old brewery turned the building into an inviting center of contemporary art with several levels of exhibition space, room for annual exhibitions and extra activities such as cinema, conferences. Three original copper beer kettles are on display in the cafetaria on the ground floor and a permanent reminder of Wiels' industrial past.

May 24, 2011

Wiels, outside

























For some reason, I refer again to the Finnish au-pairs. On April 29 I wrote about Anna and her friend from Finland who stayed in Belgium 10 years ago as au-pairs and returned recently for a touristic visit. Readers asked what they thought and whether things had changed or rather remained more or less the same. Anna answered : 

"I must say that the best parts of our trip were the art exhibitions, especially the newly(?) opened Wiels centre (http://www.wiels.org/site2/home.php). I recommend it to everyone! The whole building itself is very interesting too. I just love seeing the love for artistic experiments all around Brussels. I didn't notice that in 2000, so maybe things have really changed!"
Wiels used to be the home to an old brewery, Wielemans-Ceuppens.
Brewer Léon Wielemans asked a friend, architect Adrien Blomme, to design and build the buildings of his brewery in Forest. The buildings date from 1931. 
A center of contemporay arts opened in the brewery's building a few years ago.

The remnants of the old times are still to be seen in surrounding buildings. 
http://www.beercapital.be/otherstuffDetail_EN.aspx?id=1017

Tomorrow: posting about the inside of this magnificent example of industrial Brussels Art Deco. 

May 22, 2011

Church Place Brugmann


On a warm day about a week ago, the doors of the chruch,  "Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation"on Place Burgmann, Ixelles (Brussels) were wide open during mass. The church is built in the form of a Latin cross, an up to date roman style with influences of Art Deco for which the neighborhood is well known. It was built by architect Camille Damman in 1934.


May 20, 2011

Away from the rest

Photo taken at end of the school year festivities. These two succeeded in creating their own little world and managed to get away from the crowds, the fun, the food stands, from the rest of the world.....

May 19, 2011

Up and under

The South Train Station in Brussels, Bruxelles-Midi - Brussel-Zuid, is an important "local" station but also the place where most international train travelers arrive, sort of a "hub" for the Eurostar, the Thalys and for other international trains as well.
The first picture shows the Subway station, the second is the view the traveler gets leaving Brussels.

May 18, 2011

Kunstenfestivaldesarts


The month of May is synonymous to "Kunstenfestivaldesarts" in Brussels. The name is a combination of  Festival des Arts (French) and Kunstenfestival (Dutch).
The Festivals website http://www.kfda.be/en/about describes it as follows:  "conceived as a bilingual undertaking, it contributes to encouraging dialogue between the communities living in the city. We are part of a complex network of communities that makes territorial, linguistic and cultural divides increasingly porous".
I did not get a chance to go down to the festivities yet. The man in the picture dates from last year's edition, he was enjoying street theater and happy to be in the picture.

May 17, 2011

Japanese woman wearing Wouters & Hendrix

Charming Japanese lady wearing Wouters & Hendrix jewelry. I was delighted that she agreed to the idea of appearing on a blog about Belgium.
Recently, a new shop of the famous duo Karen Hendrix and Katrin Wouters, graduates from the Antwerp Fine Arts Academy,  opened in the neighborhood - topic for a post in the coming days. 

May 16, 2011

Philippine festivities


Philippine family celebrating in Brussels. I am not sure whether the happy occasion was a baptism or a communion.  A very important part of the custom are the cakes with the little dots all around.

May 14, 2011

On the way home

This photo opportunity was hard to ignore.  The link with Belgium is that I was in the Paris metro on the way to Gare du Nord to take the Thalys back to Brussels. Just like the "sisters" on the way to the theater (April 5 posting) were too good to pass up, these two were oblivious to other passengers and to a photo camera. They just kept on dozing and did not react at the stops. I was wondering whether they were not going anywhere, whether they had decided that wherever they would end up it would suit them just fine or whether they had an end in mind. Pure bliss.

May 11, 2011

Dog and baby in the city




















Now here is a baby who definitely got a right start in life and certainly did not mind being unattended for a moment to enjoy and admire at her own pace the exhibition "Art in Brussels" about which I wrote yesterday. 

May 10, 2011

Art in the city

Nadia Naveau, Into the wild



Joris Van de Moortel, Travailler sur l'herbe



Markus Karstiess, Public Sling 


Sven’t Jolle, (Casse-toi alors) pauvre canard!


These pieces are part of the event and competition,  Art in the City.  One of the participating artists's work is selected to be on permanent public display.  The event took place in the Egmont Park during Brussels Art week, which ended May 1.
I was lucky to be there at the right time to also take pictures of the Finnish au pairs (photo posted April 29)  and the high school kids on assignment. (posted May 3) 
And the winner is                 Sven 't Jolle


May 09, 2011

Photography

As was the case with my previous post, it is still story time... again, I have no idea what this window is about... no indication, nothing on the doorbell... 
Maybe someone lives there, someone who loves photography,  maybe it is a shop,  a plant store? 
One thing though, the reflection gives an indication as to where this photo was taken, not in Belgium, but in Paris, near République. I just liked this window presentation, it is that simple.

May 07, 2011

Story time

 
Setting up shop in the park and I have no idea where this construction was going to lead....therefore,  a perfect opportunity to give your imagination a free run. 

May 06, 2011

Street blue


Not sure what was so interesting to this photographer, I photographed what he was aiming at, a blue restaurant, le Touareg, Moroccan cuisine.
While Genie, author of the great blog "Paris and Beyond", was capturing blue doors in Paris, this man was looking for blue restaurants in Brussels.

May 04, 2011

On school assignment in the park




A group of high school kids took over the park on an assignment; they had teacher's instructions on how to identify certain old trees.
Some thought it was fun,  some were even very enthusiastic, others relatively bored. 
It looks as if the last group decided to take it easy. This group did not see the need to put in effort or energy. Did they bet on getting by or rather on sharing by their younger peers? 
Also, they might not have liked the idea of being photographed while on the job.... and just for this once, I did not ask!

May 03, 2011

Two sides of the same street


Prime property in the center of the uptown (also upscale!) shopping area in Brussels, Avenue de la Toison d'or.

May 02, 2011

The lady in red

The lady in red caught my eye because, with the exception of her pants, everything she was wearing, shoes, bag, hat, earrings, computer bag was red. 
She looked totally lost and I could not help but try to figure out what her story might be.
The story behind this might be that she arrived in Belgium by train at the Midi station, managed to take the subway to what she thought was going to be downtown- she is standing near the metro entrance at Place Louise-  and felt lost. 
She had no idea either on how to go about getting a cab but she finally managed because a kind  taxi driver pointed out the way to the taxi stand.... that is as far as the story goes... 
But, as stories go, my interpretation might be totally farfetched and she might be a "habituée", going to a weekly Socialist Party meeting at the Brussels headquarters.