Culture beat – December 10

Brussels’ newest museum opened its doors this past weekend. The Fin-de-Siècle Museum is dedicated to the period between 1865 and 1914. During these years Brussels became an artistic as well as political capital, thanks to so many indefatigably modernist young Belgians. Among them were visual artists like James Ensor, Constantin Meunier and Felicien Rops; architects like Victor Horta and Henry Van de Velde; and men of letters like Maurice Maeterlinck and Emile Verhaeren. The museum also celebrates functional art in the form of furniture and the myriad other household objects that make up the bulk of the famous, formerly private Gillion-Crowet collection.

 The Italian community in Brussels is coming together to help the people of Sardinia, who were devastated last month by Cyclone Cleopatra. So this long-scheduled food and wine tasting has been spontaneously repurposed into a fundraiser for disaster relief. The products come from the Emilia-Romagna region; the proceeds go to flood victims in Sardinia.

 The commune of Saint-Josse invites you on an all-day gastronomic tour of the neighbourhood. Six locations and a full eighteen culinary artists participate to bring you tastes from around the world. Between mouthfuls you’ll enjoy visual art, performances and other cultural treats.

 Angela Laurier has been around the block. The French-Canadian performer has been tumbling, contorting, acting, dancing, singing and in general entertaining the public as far back as 1984, when she starred in the very first Cirque du Soleil. Her life story would make an interesting novel but she opted instead to present it in cabaret form, under the title L’Angela Bête.

 UK fusion quartet Sons of Kemet released their debut album Burn earlier this year to rave reviews. The quartet, led by British-Barbadian clarinet virtuoso Shabaka Hutchings, wraps up a mini-tour of the Benelux this Sunday at Brussels’ art-deco landmark Archiduc (the only other Belgian date is 13 December at Antwerp’s Arenberg Theatre).

British director Justin Chadwick unveiled his biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year. Adapted from Nelson Mandela’s own memoir, Long Walk is an intimate look at the South African leader (portrayed on screen by Idris Elba) and his wife Winne (Naomie Harris). Chadwick follows the young Mandela from a bucolic youth to his early law career in Johannesburg to his arrest and lengthy incarceration and finally to his release and landmark election as the first democratically elected president of the Republic of South Africa. The upcoming Belgian premiere is especially poignant in light of Mandela’s death last week at age 95.

The Brussels Bookswappers Club throws its annual yuletide party next week. The volunteer Club’s monthly meet-up is a good place for expats to meet and share books and DVDs in any season. Its holiday edition is fun for the whole family, with a toy swap and visit from Santa Claus himself in addition to the book swap, charity raffle, Christmas carols and optional dinner.