Opus Latino

Where the accordeon player of day before yesterday was doing what he does normally, that is play his instrument, these two gentlemen are participants in the "Airbag" festival. And, in contrast to the first player, who knew the music he was playing, these two are having a constant look at their music sheets.

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Not "Matten Pie" (a specialty of the Geeraardsbergen area, as all pastry lovers know), but the original Bruges Metten Pie can be savoured here, on this "Bruges Metten Walk" commemoration day. Yes, French-speaking people can have a bite too, since we are all a lot less violent than we were 704 years ago. It is no longer necessary to be so : the French have stopp4ed bothering us and our Lion of Flanders is now as tame as a lamb. 

This if the fifth edition of the "Mettenwalk" organized by the July 11th Committee of Bruges City. Actually, you can do the walk on foot or you can use your bicycle, as the length of the walk varies between 6 and 42 kilometers. You can even choose at what time you want to start your walk as departures are scheduled anywhere from 8 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. The walk is a commemoration of the famous "Brugse Metten" a rebellion which started in the morning of May 18, 1302. On that day, under the commandment of Jacques de Chatillon, the French were set to invade Bruges. However, rebels who, very early that same morning,  had managed to slip out of the city, paid the French army a surprise visit and got them out of their beds in a most disagreeable manner (at the precise hour of the "Metten", that is, the first part of the daily breviary prayer, which was divided into three nocturnes, being mostly psalms and lessons, and the first past of the night office.) All who failed to pronounce "Schild en Vriend" properly - and this, the French could not - was sure to find no pity and was massacred. The "Brugse Metten" rang, in fact, the beginning of the "Guldensporenslag" (The Battle of the Golden Spurs). Which is why it is so fitting that the start- and arrival points of the walk should be here, at the city halls in the centre of  Old Bruges.

Yesterday, I went to the "New Territories" exhibition, in the upper halls of the Belfort. I had no idea what the exhibition realy was about.  I saw the entrance was free and the exhibition would be open till May 29th. I discovered the exhibition was the work of video-artists who tackled the Palestine-Israel question and learned that right at the opening ceremony there was an incident because, in  the printed program, there was an Israeli logo to be seen (the Israeli administration had given two air-travel tickets) and several Palestinian participants wanted to take their work away from the exhibition.  In any event, the exhibition is going on and it is well worth a visit. Most of the videos, I find, might be compared to the movie Powaqqatsi and its two sequels, the difference being that while Powaqqatsi did not really have a message to convey, these videos did. In one instance, for example, Donna Conlon from Panama shows a movie showing ants busily dragging tree-leaves over the ground but here and there, those leaves are really leaf-sized pieces of cardboard depicting the flag of several countries and of the peace logo. In another instance, Lisa Abdul from Afghanistan shows a video wherein people are painting what remains standing of their destroyed houses, just so to put a bit of colour in their lives.  In the last one of the exhibition halls I found photos such as those we get to see in the newspapers and on television : heart-rending scenes in war-torn areas, photos which are usually found on the "Photo of the Year" lists.

Eleven more days.
This scene depicts a few of Jesus' pupils who, seeing how tired he is, try to keep the children away from him. However, Jesus told them "Let the children come to me!" and he picked up one of them. Here is the photo foto.

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I started my blog about Bruges a little more than two months ago and I have not shown you a photo of a lacemaker yet. Here is a nice one. Most all lace-boutiques have a lacemaker, working either on the sidewalk, in front of the store, or inside, to attract buyers. One could compare them with the Indians on some Reserve, who will don their traditional garb and execute a Rain dance to attract tourists and their money. However, contrary to so many traditions, as well as traditional occupations, lacemaking is still widely practised in Flanders, albeit often as a very popular hobby, with positively superb results. Have a look here Claudette   or here Gisela. It still is mainly women's work. There are boys and men who do lacework, but they are a minority.

In the past, lacemaking in Flanders, and certainly in Bruges, was synonymous with earning one's daily bread. It meant an additional income, needed so families would not go hungry. The work was boring because it was generally an endless repetition of the same pattern. Most people actually would work 10 to 12 hours a day.
 
There were several Bruges lacemaker songs, named "tellers", because, as well as telling a story, they would also be a means of counting the movements of the bobbins, as well as setting a working rythm. In the lacemaking schools and workshops, the fastest lacemaker would be the one in charge of singing and, in this manner, impose a working rythm. Here is one such song, which gives a slight idea of the difficult life people had :

"Wandering towards a poor cottage
I have to go through streets where there are knives and swords.
I have to cross a bridge of glass
And ring a bell of flame and fire.
There is a witch who opens the door
And asks what I am looking for.
'T is here that I have to live."

The same words were repeated ten times.

Here, at one of the entrances to the Minnewater Park, another one of those decorative posts with the elegant letter "B" and the small crown.

Bruges is a paradise for artists. Whether it's painting or drawing, artists love to work in the numerous picturesque spots in this city. Sometimes, you see a whole group of them working in the same spot. It's too bad, though, that most artists seem to prefer the Rozenhoedkaai (the Rose-hat quai) and the Wijngaard square. Of course, here is where the greatest number of tourists will spend some time and thus, where the artists multiply their chances of selling their work.  Which, after all, isone of  their aims.

It does not matter, it is beautiful. Cynical but funny. Notice the details. Five to twelve, long live grandpa, the bawling child, etc...

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You will find him in the Wijngaard street (the Vineyard street). Keramiek Kasper (or Ceramic Casper, in English).

Johannes de Doper was door Herodes gevangen genomen omdat hij kritiek had geuit op diens levenswijze: hij had Herodias, de vrouw van zijn broer tot zich genomen.  Op een feest danste de dochter van Herodias zo bevallig dat Herodes zwoer haar alles te geven wat zij vroeg.  Zij vroeg het hoofd van Johannes de Doper en zo geschiedde.

Next Sunday, May 21st, at 1:00 p.m., another protest demonstration will be held against violence in our community.  Participants will meet on the Market. Violence MUST stop. Whatever aspect violence may take, it has to stop.

The Maalse Roadway, one of the most important access or exit roads of Bruges. This evening, quarter past six. Hundreds of people are holding a protest sit-in on this road where, otherwise, at this time, hundreds of cars would be speeding by. The protest is aimed at the violence in our community. Saturday night, at exactly this spot,  skinheads attacked two people who had subsequently to be hospitalized. One of the victims, a coloured person from Paris, is still in a coma. The skinheads had come out of an ill-famed café a bit farther up. The recent numerous acts of senseless violence against foreigners is just too much for all these people here. They will not stand by and remain silent. Our society does not tolerate such behaviour. All levels of government need to take strong measures to prevent such hateful acts.
Is this a coincidence? In the middle of the photo we do recognize the man with the sunglasses : our alderman for Culture, Yves Roose.

This city's second "airbag-festival" is in full swing, in an attempt to restore the accrdeon to its proper glory. I wonder whether this man is aware of the festival, and I presume he is not. Festival or no festival, he is playing here in any event, hoping to earn euro-money. Preferably as fast as possible.

 This, now, is how schools organize a trip to Bruges : they give their students a list of questions about what they will see, along the streets they will be taken through. Nowadays, when you are in the most popular tourist sections, it won't take you more than five minutes before you notice one or more of these groups. The whole pack runs from one spot to the next one, paper and pen in hands.  The questions they have to answer might be, for example, what kind of animals live in the ancient ice-cellar next to the Minne-bridge (bats - as I explained with a previous photo). Or,  what is the slogan used by the city to make its population aware of its responsibility for the dog-poop problem (No dog-poop on the stoop). Seldom does one see such a group remain more than five minutes in any one spot. No time, it all has to go very fast. Modern teaching method? Did they really "see" bruges? I often wonder. The answer is No. Did they have fun? Yes, they probably did.

The church is in the Karthuizerinnen street. At first, this order of nuns lived in a convent in Sint-Andries, barely a few kilometers from here, but outside the city walls. In 1578 the nuns had to abandon their convent and take refuge in Bruges because of the troubles caused by the religious wars. Do take a closer look at the facial expressions on these heads.

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This church, who became a military chapel more than a century ago (in 1893) has, in contrast with most churches who are quite heavily adorned,  a very sober decor.

The church, as seen from the corner of the Oude Burg. On the wall are the lists of the war victims, people of Bruges who were killed.

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For three days, the parents of Jesus had beent rying to find their son. They hadn't known he had remained behind, in the temple.