Life under Lockdown in Belgistan

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! 

As sweet as it gets

I was blown away by Belgium's very own Mr Michael Borremans whose work is currently exhibited at Bozar. Rarely has a contemporary painter made such a strong impression on me! At first glance you see a realistic representation of beauty yet Mr Borremans subtly burns little holes into logic, whilst ensuring that  an underlying sense of menace is present in every canvas. The sarcasm with which he represents the telekinetic powers of The German, the jet black face of the otherwise romantic and breathtaking in size Angel and the playful, red, one-size-fits-all Devil's Dress are examples of how emptiness invites manipulation. Simplicity is deceptive and a touch of humour inserts some lightness in to characters that appear to be at the mercy of their creator. 

"My work has to be very lavish, very charged and, at the same time, light, nothing."

"I like being sharply dressed while I am working. Like when  you're going out or, in the past, going to mass. Out of respect for the work. I have noticed that my attitude and concentration improved as a result...You don't want to get dirty, so you paint a bit like a peintre seigneur. It has really brought about a change pf style in my work and technique. Suddenly, you feel like an aristocrat who is doing some painting, whereas previously you rooted around in the paint like a Jackson Pollock."

"I realise that my work both attracts and repels, but no, I don't do that deliberately...Lovely but peculiar. That is my character. I subscribe to the idea that the painter depicts nature and in doing so shows his own soul; but I don't depict nature, I just paint culture. So, actually I'm a bit of a no-romantic as well. I paint in the way that is the right way for me to present a particular image. Why, I don't know. Intuition, instinct, necessity...Why does a dog piss against a wall? An instinct, that's all it is."

Lovely people of Brussels and visiting friends this is definitely not to be missed! Enjoy a selection of my favourite pieces (out of the 100 pieces that are currently on display!).

The Angel

The Ear

 

The Devil's Dress 

 

The Wind  

 

Eating the beard 
 

We have art in order not to die from the truth

NIETZSCHE  

And a taste of the best gigs I've been to lately!

Blown Away by Planningtorock

 

Summertime in Greeceland

Enjoy some photos of what summer looks like in paradise (Greeceland) with some tunes and quotes to go along. Hope you are all busy being lazy sunbathers on an island not so far away..

The only sign worth following all summer long.

Quintessential Greek Summer: FIGS

SEAHORSE

Look what I found in the middle of nowhere on a Greek island: A Rubik's cube transformer!

On the road

Greek Summer 

Boat Rides and Life Jackets 

A home with a view. Meet me between the music and the castle 

 Glitter in the Gutter in the sand dunes.

Sand Dune Love

Dry salt lake 

Greek Delight 

Absolute Summertime Essentials

 

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air 

 Sunset snack 

Dinner 

Scary sponge thingy 

Anchors Away

 Fisherman Blues

Summertime Essentials #2

Essentials #3

And given the beating my beautiful country has been receiving recently I must admit it was rather refreshing to read some praise from the master himself Mr Henry Miller in "The Colossus of Maroussi" (a definite must read for all you wandering romantic souls.) Miller spent 5 months in Greeceland just before the onset of the the second World War in the company of our hommes des letters such as Seferis, Katsimbalis and Ghikas. He speaks of the time just before we started getting it all wrong by buying into the American Dream. Enjoy...

"That conversation taught me immediately that the Greeks are an enthusiastic, curious-minded, passionate people. Passion-it was something I had long missed in France. Not only passion, but contradictoriness, confusion, chaos-all these sterling human qualities I rediscovered and cherished again in the person of my new-found friend. And generosity. I had almost thought it had perished from the earth."

Funny that Miller takes note of the glass of water that is automatically served the moment you sit down at any restaurant or bar throughout Greece. A lover from the North that visited my country several times was also rather taken by the way water is our constant companion throughout the day.

"The glass of water...everywhere I saw the glass of water. It became obsessional. I began to think of water as a new thing, a new vital element of life. Earth, air, fire, water. Right now water had become the cardinal element. Seeing lovers sitting there in the dark drinking water, sitting there in peace and quiet and talking in low tones, gave me a wonderful feeling about the Greek character. The dust, the heat, the poverty, the bareness, the containedness  of the people, and the water everywhere in little tumblers standing between the quiet, peaceful couples, gave me the feeling that there was something holy about the place, something nourishing and sustaining."

 

"There are so many ways of walking about and the best, in my opinion, is the Greek way, because it is aimless, anarchic, thoroughly and discordantly human."

"I liked the way they begged too. They weren't shamefaced about it. They would hold you up openly and ask for money or cigarettes as if they were entitled to it. It's a good sign when people beg that way: it means that they know how to give. The French, for example, know neither how to give nor how to ask for favors-either way they feel uneasy. They make a virtue of not molesting you. It's the wall again. A Greek has no walls around him: he gives and takes without stint."

"...the city of Athens. It is still in the throes of birth: it is awkward, confused, clumsy, unsure of itself; it has all the diseases of childhood and some of the melancholy and desolation of adolescence. But is has chosen a magnificent site in which to rear itself; in the sunlight it gleams like a jewel; at night it sparkles with a million twinkling lights which seem to be switching on and off with lightning-like speed. It is a city of startling atmospheric effects: it has not dug itself into the earth-it floats in a constantly changing light, beats with a chromatic rhythm." 

And to close a part from the introduction by none other than Mr Will Self:

"...if you believe in the brand of sympathetic literary magic that Henry Miller purveys, perhaps you will take his existential leap, go there yourself- and feel it anew. That's what he would have wanted. True avant-garde still had torsion. Delphi. The rest is noise."      

And since this post is all about summer enjoy an alternative version of  The summer hit that I am sure you have all danced to until the morning light it may lack some of the funky rhythm of Daft Punk and Pharrell but it is a personal favorite

And my favorite tune from the latest funktastic Daft Punk album

And one last one cause summer is tropical

One last one cause I want to see you HIGH