Cultural Policy
Strolling through Flanders, Past and Present
‘I have good news from Ghent. And better news still from Antwerp.’ In the second edition of his Flemish Cities Explored, Derek Blyth is enthusiastic about the successful restorations of neighbourhoods and buildings in the notable cities of Flanders. According to the author, many positive changes took place in the period between the appearance of the book's first edition in 1990 and the second updated edition in 1996. Care and attention for the ancestral legacy is growing; the cities of Flanders are becoming increasingly fashionable.
This opinion is at odds with the criticism of urban policy often voiced in Flanders itself, but Blyth's enthusiasm is contagious. One quickly develops enormous respect for his knowledge of a wide range of art forms and the wealth of information that he has up his sleeve about the six Flemish cities of Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Mechelen, Brussels and Louvain (Leuven). The author, who lives in the Brussels area, takes the reader along on a series of walks that are clearly marked on handy maps. In fact, there are several walks provided for each city, making it possible for visitors to reach remote and less familiar points of interest. Blyth does not limit himself to the traditional cathedrals, churches, castles and museums. A rustic beguinage on the edge of the city, a narrow, fashionable little alley or a jolly modern café all make their appearance. The medieval ambience from the age when most of the great Flemish cities were in their heyday is effortlessly evoked, but the Flanders of the 1990s is also aptly described.
Many will be surprised to see that Brussels is included in
Flemish Cities Explored. Outside Belgium, the Belgian capital is chiefly known as a French-speaking
Jacques François Joseph Carabain, The Grand' Place in Brussels c. 1900. La Maison du Cygne, Brussels.
locality. But it should not be forgotten that Brussels was originally Flemish and did not become heavily gallicised until the nineteenth century. With its more than 100,000 Dutch-speaking inhabitants, it remains, paradoxically enough, one of the larger ‘Flemish’ cities.
Derek Blyth has also provided an introductory general historical sketch of Flanders, from the Roman conquest in the first century bc to the present. This enables him to place the information about the six cities within a broader framework. There are several notable points of contact with Anglo-Saxon history. Military cemeteries close to the old First World War Front in West Flanders attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. A fascinating but confusing period was the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: the Flemish aristocracy had feudal ties with France, but the city guilds, influential associations of craftsmen, reacted against the local rulers and chose the side of England. Only after several battles had been fought did the French succeed in settling the dispute in their own favour. It is a great pity that the author makes an unfortunate linguistic excursion in this introduction. In a few sentences he attempts to describe the current language situation in Belgium, which he expresses in such oversimplified statements as ‘the Dutch spoken by the Flemings is old-fashioned compared to the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands’, and ‘the French spoken by the Walloons is archaic and quaint’.
One happy discovery is the supplement ‘Flanders for Children’. Young people who don't care to be dragged along from museum to museum or from cathedral to belfry can take a bit of solace here. The author directs their attention to fun boat rides through old city centres, a zoo, splendid parks and child-sized museums. The other supplement contains mostly practical information such as museum opening hours, addresses of hotels, and tips concerning restaurants and cafés. The literary-minded are made aware of places that play