I never use my blog to
write about politics or current affairs so I promise that, regardless of the
title and the fact that the charming city I call home is now entering its 5th
day under lockdown, this post is mainly about love and art and all things beautiful
and worth celebrating.
On Saturday morning (21/11/2015) when I woke up
to read that Brussels has been placed under the highest level of alert due to
information pertaining to a terrorist attack similar to the tragedy that hit
Paris last week, my reaction was disbelief. A fellow Brusselonian, who knows a
Belgian detective, and my dad, who claims to have friends in high places, had
been warning me for days and advising me to avoid crowded places.
Scaremongering I thought! So after shock came relief, as I had planned to go to
London and would thus avoid this surreal weekend that seemed to come out of a Hollywood
B-movie. And what a weekend it was! I was reunited with my family that
recently moved back to London after 10 years in LA over dinner at a cosy
Italian restaurant called La Famiglia. Toconoco
with its delicious and reasonably priced Ramen soup and Bread and Butter, for the first flat
white of the day, were our local gems. There was also the fascinating and
politically engaged and enraged exhibition of Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy of Arts
as well as some serious brunching at the elegantly hip Ace Hotel, shopping at A.P.C. and fuelling our vanity at Barber & Parlour in Electric Cinema.
My only experience from Lockdown had thus far
been the empty streets on Saturday morning, how infuriatingly difficult it was
to find a cab (nothing new there snce the taxi mafia of Brussels shut down
Uber!) and that Eurostar allowed me to change my ticket to Brussels free of
charge so I could enjoy an extra day in The City.
However the media was going mental with
images of police and uber sleek army officials roaming the empty streets of
Brussels, twitter was flooded with initially witty and humorous photos of cats
under the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown and my phone kept beeping with Facebook
notifications that all events in Brussels have been cancelled.
The worst was Sunday when the police advised all
Brusselonians to remain indoors and stay away from windows (!) as several
"operations" were taking place across the city. Following the sensationalistic
media coverage, my phone kept ringing as family and friends kept calling or messaging
to check whether I'm safe and sound
5 days after "Lockdown" was declared,
the metro and several schools have partially reopened, people have started
showing up for work and life has started assuming some sense of normality.
However all forms of cultural and artistic activities are prohibited. Cinemas
remain closed, dance performances are cancelled, all concerts have been indefinitely
postponed and I wouldn't count on next weekend's parties to be entertained.
This curfew will last at least 9 days. Under the guise of this threat of terror
some of the most essential elements of our lifestyle, have been put on hold. The
result of this zombification: 21 arrests, but 15 of these suspects have already
been released and Europe's most wanted remains at large whilst rumour has it he
made it across the border to Germany. Don't get me wrong I love Brussels, its
chaos and grime is infinitely charming and does breed creation. Its illogical
and ineffective public services and policies entail a strong element of
surrealism that somehow adds up to a fully functional society. However giving
up so much of my freedom in the name of safety makes me uneasy and I can't help
but wonder how will our beautiful surreal little city get back to what it calls
normal; when no major steps have been taken to address the root causes of this
radicalisation of BELGIAN citizens? When no prime suspects have been caught,
when the ineffective police and judiciary system has not been reformed, and
when Brussels still abides to the rule, as long as something sort of works why
change it? Are we experiencing the end of an era? Has fear permanently entered
our daily life?
Photo from Art Brussels
The answer is no, as long as you remember that all is Love. A friend made the perfect playlist to combat the BrusselsLockdown blues, All of Me Wants All of You, lovesongs to be played at full volume on repeat.
And my first real night under lockdown was spent with 5 beautiful loved ones who came over for dinner, wine, a little dance to the rhythm of Syria's most prolific wedding singer that I had the pleasure of seeing last time in Molenbeek with my mum!!!
And a fantastic movie, Sorrentino's Le conseguenze dell'amore...
PS: a photo of your favourite asylum seekers from Belgistan after their safe arrival in London!
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