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Summer may be over (if it was ever really here) but there is plenty to look forward to in the Autumn. I’ll be heading to the 2011 Biennial Art Nouveau event, taking place over the final four weekends of October, and this year with a special focus on Victor Horta (born 150 years ago). Visitors sign up for guided tours of Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings: this appeals to my interest in the architecture of this period, but also to my incurable nosiness, as many of the places featured are private houses not usually open to the public! Each weekend covers a different area of the city. You can either book a passport for a particular weekend, or buy a pass for the whole event. The website helpfully lists some Art Nouveau bars and restaurants to try as well.
The event is organised by voir et dire Bruxelles: a roundtable group of tourism associations – each with their own specialism and offering a variety of bus, cycle or walking tours in French, Dutch or English. If you miss the biennial event, keep an eye out for their themed tours taking place at other times of the year.
www.voiretdirebruxelles.be/biennale
www.voiretdirebruxelles.be/
2-4 Rue Royale, 1000 Bruxelles
+32 (0)2 563 61 51
Google map: bit.ly/obSjyQ
* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels
“It’s not really a museum – or it was, or might have been”, muses Jan Bucquoy. I allow my eyes to flit around the room and take in his collection of wall collages. I see Napoleon, Michael Jackson,
Lenin, Hitler - all with brazen red lips and lacy fabric on their heads. Only Magritte’s head has an apple instead, “I thought that surrealism was already strange enough!” Chuckles Bucquoy. Moving over to take a closer look at one of the exhibits, I read the solemn notice:
“Please complete the aforementioned coupon and return it together with your pants.”
So here I am in Brussels’ anti-Museum of underpants, which has persisted in various locations since its creation in 1990, fanning the infamous reputation of its already infamous creator. Of course it’s an anti-museum because it doesn’t just represent dead things: the owners of some of the pants are very much alive! And for Bucquoy this is not art for art’s sake, it is reminding us that we all wear underpants, that we are all ... equal! Giggling aside, perhaps there’s some truth in the juxtaposition
of power and lace: stern portraits of Sarkozy, Clinton and de Gaulle all seem less intimidating with a pair of frilly ladies’ smalls on their head. And what of Bucquoy? “No, the Director doesn’t wear pants”, he says, mischievously.
This small sample of Bucquoy’s extensive collection is displayed in De Dolle Mol, a weathered Flemish bar re-opened after rising rents forced it to close; and now supported by the Flemish community, sometimes hosting musicians and cultural events. Linked to the liberation of women, the birth of the Flemish Amnesty International movement and the B-generation, this place has always been the home of dreamy revolutionaries and self-styled outlaws, and seems to be attracting fans from the school-age generation as well. On Thursday or Friday evenings you may even bump into Bucquoy.
21 May in Belgium used to be the day for Bucquoy’s mock “Coup d’état”. There’s no need for that at the moment, as Belgium has no elected government, no mandate for raising taxes, and for Bucquoy, things are working rather well. So his focus is on future projects: touring the Musée du Slip to New York or London; sending out another 1000 letters to solicit new exhibits; directing the second part
of his film “Camping Cosmos” (which will again feature Noël Godin, perhaps the original and most successful “entarteur” ever – cream pie throwing tormenter of public figures such as Bill Gates and Bernard-Henri Lévy). But, Bucquoy grins, “I always come back to the pants.”
De Dolle Mol is open Wednesday to Sunday from 16:00
Rue des Eperonniers 52, 1000 Brussels
Google map: bit.ly/p96Qus
* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels
This airy former textile warehouse designed by Victor Horta was saved from sad decline and converted into an exhibition space and research centre. Adult enthusiasts of the bande dessinée will enjoy a couple of hours studying the various displays, showcasing different illustration techniques derived from etching, photography and pastel and acrylic painting. Pick up a folder at the ticket desk with information in English on the artists and exhibits.
There’s a series of pictureboards from the museum archives and a study library, reading room, brasserie and well-stocked bookshop. The centre organises themed guided tours, workshops and temporary exhibitions; but if, like me, you didn't grow up with bande dessinée on your shelves, you could probably do with some more interactive illustrator demonstrations or Tintins to clamber over. Currently it’s not really a place for young children or those of us with limited attention spans!
www.comicscenter.net/en/home
20 rue des Sables (Zandstraat), 1000 Brussels
+ 32 (0)2 219 19 80
Google map: bit.ly/qsUJSN
Rebecca is our Been there local for Brussels. You can read her page and tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp.
She has her own blog at: www.becinbrussels.blogspot.com
I would like to recommend an Art Nouveau bus tour operated by ARAU (Atelier de Recherche et d'Action Urbaines), a non-profit local resident's group of architects, designers and interested citizens. The tour takes you to the most extravangant houses of the time around 1900, explaining not only who built it, but also who lived in it and what happened to the building throughout the century. The tour includes visits to the interiors of some Art Nouveau buildings, some of which are not open to the public.
The tour guide we were lucky to join was a very entertaining man, who also told us a lot about city developement and the way Brussels deals with its historical monuments.
The tour takes 3 hours, price is 17 Euro, online reservation possible. For details see: www.arau.org
Google map: tinyurl.com/nmfoha
DVD devotees should ascend to the top floor of the Inno department store on the pedestrianised Rue Neuve, for the Media Markt store.
This major European chain sells general electronic devices plus a fair selection of CDs but excels with its choice of DVDs at competitive prices.
Art-house and world cinema titles which would be hard or impossible to find in the UK are well represented though remember to check that foreign language films have English sub-titles!
(There is also a branch of Media Markt in Antwerp on De Keyserlei close to the Central Station.)
Brussels makes a great weekend trip with children.
Not so big and overwhelming, with so many "must sees," as Paris, but more than enough to keep you busy.
And there is loads of great chocolate - need I say more?
Don't miss MIM, with more than 1,000 ancient and rare instruments from around the world.
There is a lovely cafe overlooking the city on the top floor.
The best place we've found to stay with kids: Novotel Centre/Tour Noire. It has a cool hammam/indoor swimming pool surrounded by rocks which creates a very cool atmosphere. It is walking distance to Grand Place, also to many waterside restaurants and off-the-beaten path neighborhood places and playgrounds, good ethnic restaurants nearby, easy access to train station.
If you have more than a weekend, take a day trip to Bruges, Antwerp, or any other place in Belgium: distances are short!
Take your first drink - a coffee or a trappsit beer at the magnificent art nouveau Le Cirio just around the corner from the Bourse metro ( 4 stops from the Gare du Midi).
Have your last drink at Au Laboureur close to the Gare du Midi.
And in between use the CAMRA Good Beer Guide to Belgium by Tim Webb to find your way round Brussels.
Day trip? You’ve time for architecture and shopping if you take tram 55 towards Bordet, to Beurs, walk past the roman remains and into Grand Place.
Ten minutes from here via the Place des Martyrs, have lunch and marvel at the Art Nouveau masterpiece by Victor Horta the Center of the Comic Strip on Zandstraat.
For a great late night jazz bar go to Archiduc at 6 rue Antoine-Dansaert, Bruxelles.
It'll be a hit with anyone who loves Art Deco, cozy drinking holes, live jazz, fab cocktails and an eclectic mix of people enjoying themselves.
Visiting Magritte's house gives you a little insight into a surrealist mind.
A tram-ride from central Brussels, the suburban house is packed with glimpses of the banal, everyday things that inspired Magritte’s extraordinary, warped images: the fireplace (empty without its emerging steam train); the pipe (that is in fact not a pipe); the lamp post (that actually works like any other). The domestic details of this historic house are probably no different from a thousand others in Brussels.
But in the context of wonderful Magritte originals and the fascinating story of his life (displayed upstairs), they take on a new significance.
To see the best in art nouveau or deco architecture take a tour organised by ARAU.
What they lack in guiding skills (on your left on your right) they more than make up for in enthusiasm and knowledge; plus you will visit places the public don’t usually have access to.
Should you need more Nouveau visit the Horta House, and if after all those curves you crave as I did straight lines, stand outside the wonder that is the Palais Stoclet in the Avenue de Tervurenlaan.
The KVS Bol theatre is dazzling. It’s an impressive example of how well Brussels can occasionally weave together traditional and modern design and produce something uniquely memorable.
Following extensive refurbishment, it reopened in 2006 to reveal a stage that sits inside a vast ball encased within the walls of its 19th Century building.
Most performances support the Flemish language, and shows in French or English are not uncommon. But if you can’t attend one of these, try having a drink in the gorgeous second floor bar.
Going to Brussels you must try the Gueuze Museum, its a museum, brewery and bar all rolled into one.
If you are in Brussels and are feeling torn between sight-seeing and cafe relaxation then head to the terrace bar at the Museum of Instruments where you can do both at the same time.
The view is truly extrodinary: one of the best in Europe. The museum, I should add is, is also worth seeing and inexpensive.
But if museums are not your thing then don't worry – you don't have to pay for entry to get to the terrace-bar. Just tell reception where you are heading and hop into the elevator.
Catch Tram 44 to the Royal Museum of Central Africa. Great tram ride, challenging museum.
Tintin addicts have no excuse not to make the pilgrimage to Brussels. First stop is the Musée de la Bande Dessinée where you’ll feel 10 years old again and have to be dragged away by the non-believers in your party.
There are souvenirs aplenty at the Museum shop, with even more at the dedicated Tintin emporium just off the Grande Place.
There’s even something for fans at the Africa Museum, a short tram ride from the town centre, where Hergé got his inspiration for the controversial but formative Tintin in Congo.
Chinese & Japanese Towers.These beautiful oriental buildings are pretty close to each other in the eastern part of Heysel.
From the Atomium you can go there by foot through a big park and passing some nice sights like Monument Leopold I, Chapelle Ste. Anne, and Chateau Royal.
The frontage of the Chinese Pavilion was made in Shanghai in ctr. 17th – 19th.
The Japanese Tower was brought here from Paris.
In the Rue du boucher there is a very small side road named the Schuddeveldgang.
If you walk that through you will see a very small alley at your left.
Walk it right till the end and you will come to one of the two entrances of Theatre Toone. This place consists out of several rooms and one is the theatre room where you can enjoy a traditional local puppet show.
If there are no plays performed then the whole establishment is open as pub.
Make the effort and head out to the Musee van Buuren on Avenue Leo Errera. This delightful art deco residence was owned by a prominent banker and is full of art treasures from around the world. The gardens are breathtaking and you can claim to have visited half of the Belgian mazes open to the public ... not sure where the other one is!
The Atomium is a must to see in Brussels. Since 2006, the Atomium has entirely been renovated and gives now to its visitors new esthetical emotions with an original journey through its spheres.
Exibitions and a restaurant situated at he top of the Atomium enrich the visit to one of the most fantastic architectural creations of the fifties.
A sphere dedicated to school groups makes it possible to organize pedagogical stays for children, too.
Designed by engineer Andre Waterkyn for the International Exibition of Brussels in 1958, the Atomium represents an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. Made entirely of steel and from its height of 102 metres, the structure stands on three enormous biponds and dominates the Heysel plateau.
Its nine large spheres connected by 20 tubes are arranged in the configuration of a central cubic system. The Atomium was not intended to survive the Exibition of 1958. Its popularity and success, however, ensured its place as a major landmark on the Brussels skyline.
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