Belgian culture involves both the aspects shared by all Belgians regardless of the language they speak and the differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Belgians (Flemish) and the French-speaking Belgians (mostly Brusselsian and Walloon people). Most Belgians view their culture as an integral part of European culture.
The territory corresponding to present-day Belgium having always been located at the meeting point of Germanic and Latin Europe, it benefited from a rich cross-fertilization of cultures for centuries. Due to its strategic position in the heart of Europe, Belgium has been at the origin of many European artistic and cultural movements.
Since modern culture is more than ever related to languages (theatres, media, literature, etc), the modern Belgian cultural life has tended to develop in each linguistic community (with common elements however). Members of each of the two main linguistic groups generally make their cultural choices from within their own language community, and then, when going beyond, the Flemish draw intensively from both the English-speaking culture (which dominates sciences, professional life and most news media) and the Netherlands, whereas French-speakers tend to focus more on cultural life in France and elsewhere in the French-speaking world even though the English-speaking culture is more present in French-speaking Belgium than in France.
Minorities, such as the Jews who have formed a component of Flemish culture — in particular that of Antwerp — for over five hundred years, have specific cultures.
Belgium is home to some of the most important European comics magazines and publishers, with Dupuis (Spirou magazine), Le Lombard (Tintin magazine) and Casterman.
Furthermore, the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, a world heritage site, is the complete factory of the largest publishing house of the 17th century.
Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style in Belgium and abroad.[10][11]
Belgian literature was more cohesive in the past but is now divided based on linguistic lines. Until the mid-20th century, Belgian writers more often wrote in French even if they were Flemish, due both to the then-dominant position of that language in worldwide culture as well as within Belgium itself (e.g. Suzanne Lilar, Emile Verhaeren, and Maurice Maeterlinck). As the Flemish movement grew in importance, Dutch-penned authors became increasingly prominent in Flanders and even played an important role in the said movement (e.g. Hendrik Conscience). Important contemporary Flemish authors are Tom Lanoye or Dimitri Verhulst.
Belgian francophone literature is sometimes difficult to distinguish from French literature as a whole, because several great French authors went to Belgium for refuge (e.g. Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, and more recently Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt) and conversely, top French-speaking writers sometimes settle in Paris (e.g. Simenon and Amélie Nothomb). Belgian francophone literature is characterised by authors who achieved a nationwide success in Belgium while being little known in France, and shares traits that are perceived as typically Belgian: use of black humour, self-derision, surrealism and absurdism (in a similar vein as Belgian painters such as René Magritte), as well as references to Belgian history and society (such as Belgian royalty, language conflicts, former colony of the Congo, Belgian beers and gastronomy, and whatever is typically Belgian) and they are often active in Belgian medias as columnists or entertainers. Such authors include Thomas Gunzig, Juan d'Oultremont, and Jacques Mercier.
Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen. Notable examples include De Witte (1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem, 1980); De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (1965); Mira (1971); Malpertuis (1971); De loteling (1974); Dood van een non (1975); Pallieter (1976); De komst van Joachim Stiller (1976); De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (1985); and Daens (1992).
Belgian films have been awarded several times at the Cannes Film Festival and in other less-known festivals. They are generally made with a small budget, and are mostly funded by the regional governments (the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, and Wallimage, among others) and private corporations by means of sponsorship and product placement.
Belgium is also home to a number of successful fashion designers. For instance, in the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts produced important fashion trendsetters, known as the Antwerp Six.[15]
Although Belgian gastronomy is connected to French cuisine, some recipes were reputedly invented there, such as French fries (despite the name, although their exact place of origin is uncertain), Flemish Stew (a beef stew with beer, mustard and bay laurel), speculaas (or speculoos in French, a sort of cinnamon and ginger-flavoured shortcrustbiscuit), Brussels waffles (and their variant, Liège waffles), waterzooi (a broth made with chicken or fish, cream and vegetables), endive with bechamel sauce, Brussels sprouts, Belgian pralines (Belgium has some of the most renowned chocolate houses), charcuterie (deli meats) and Paling in 't groen (river eels in a sauce of green herbs).
Other examples are the three-day Carnival of Aalst in February or March; the still very religious processions of the Holy Blood taking place in Bruges in May, the Virga Jesse procession held every seven years in Hasselt, the annual procession of Hanswijk in Mechelen, the 15 August festivities in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten (a music and theatre festival organised in Ghent around Belgian National Day, on 21 July) have become a modern tradition. Several of these festivals include sporting competitions, such as cycling, and many fall under the category of kermesses.
A major non-official holiday (which is however not an official public holiday) is Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas, French: la Saint-Nicolas), a festivity for children, and in Liège, for students.[28] It takes place each year on 6 December and is a sort of early Christmas. On the evening of 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes by the hearth with water or wine and a carrot for Saint Nicholas's horse or donkey. According to tradition, Saint Nicholas comes at night and travels down the chimney. He then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course. He also knows whether children have been good or bad. This holiday is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch immigrants imported the tradition into the United States, where Saint Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus.
↑ Contrarily to what the text suggests, the season starts as early as July and lasts through April.
↑ The Dutch word ommegang is here used in the sense of an entirely or mainly non-religious procession, or the non-religious part thereof—see also its article on the Dutch-language Wikipedia; the Processional Giants of Brussels, Dendermonde and Mechelen mentioned in this paragraph are part of each city's ommegang. The French word ducasse refers also to a procession; the mentioned Processional Giants of Ath and Mons are part of each city's ducasse.
Related Research Articles
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region, located less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the south.
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish, which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education.
Wallonia, officially the Walloon Region, is one of the three regions of Belgium—along with Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the country, Wallonia is primarily French-speaking. It accounts for 55% of Belgium's territory, but only a third of its population. The Walloon Region and the French Community of Belgium, which is the political entity responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education, are independent concepts, because the French Community of Belgium encompasses both Wallonia and the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province and nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.
Mechelen is a city and municipality in the province of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Mechelen proper, some quarters at its outskirts, the hamlets of Nekkerspoel (adjacent) and Battel, as well as the villages of Walem, Heffen, Leest, Hombeek, and Muizen. The river Dyle (Dijle) flows through the city, hence it is often referred to as the Dijlestad.
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as the "Capital of Taste", owing to its local distilleries of Jenever, the Hasselt Jenever Festival, and Hasselt speculaas.
A waffle is a dish made from leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially cooked and frozen.
Belgian cuisine is widely varied with significant regional variations, while also reflecting the cuisines of neighbouring France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is sometimes said that Belgian food is served in the quantity of German cuisine but with the quality of French food. Outside the country, Belgium is best known for its chocolate, waffles, fries and beer.
Processional giants are costumed figures in European folklore, particularly present in Belgian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English folkloric processions. The main feature of these figures is typically their papier maché head, whilst bodies are covered in clothing matching the costume's theme.
A medieval pageant is a form of procession traditionally associated with both secular and religious rituals, often with a narrative structure. Pageantry was an important aspect of medieval European seasonal festivals, in particular around the celebration of Corpus Christi, which began after the thirteenth century. This festival reenacted the entire history of the world, in processional performance, from Bible's Genesis to the Apocalypse, employing hundreds of performers and mobile scenic elements. Plays were performed on mobile stages, called waggons, that traveled through towns so plays could be watched consecutively. Each waggon was sponsored by a guild who wrote, designed, and acted in the plays.
Duvel Moortgat Brewery is a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871 in Antwerp Province, Belgium. Its strong golden pale ale, Duvel, is exported to more than forty countries. Duvel is Brabantian, Ghent and Antwerp dialect for devil, the standard Dutch word being duivel. Other popular beers include Maredsous and Vedett.
Beer in Belgium includes pale ales, lambics, Flemish red ales, sour brown ales, strong ales and stouts. In 2018, there were 304 breweries in Belgium, including international companies, such as AB InBev, and traditional breweries, such as Trappist monasteries. On average, Belgians drink 68 litres of beer each year, down from around 200 each year in 1900. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every beer has its own branded, sometimes uniquely shaped, glass. In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Ommegang or Ommeganck is the generic name for various medieval pageants celebrated in the Low Countries.
Despite its size, Belgium has a long and distinguished artistic tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, considerably pre-dating the foundation of the current state in 1830. Art from the areas making up modern Belgium is called in English Netherlandish up to the separation with the Netherlands from 1570 on, and Flemish until the 18th century.
The Folklore of Belgium is extremely diverse and reflects the rich legacy of cultural and religious influences which have acted on the region throughout its history, even before the establishment of the nation of Belgium in 1830. Much of Belgian folklore is unique to the region in which it is commemorated. Many aspects of folklore are manifested in public processions and parades in Belgian cities; traditions which are kept alive for the amusement of locals and tourists alike.
Erasmus de Bie (1629–1675) was a Flemish Baroque painter known for his city views and genre scenes. He depicted several lively scenes of large public celebrations in his hometown of Antwerp. It is not clear whether the views of Italianate cities and landscapes attributed to him are the work of Adriaen de Bie, a Flemish painter from Lier who worked in Italy for a while.
Peter van Aelst, Peeter van Aelst or Pieter van Aelst was a Flemish genre painter and draughtsman active in Antwerp from 1644 to 1654.
The Meyboom plantation is the oldest tradition in Brussels, Belgium, attested since 1308. It is held every year on 9 August, the eve of St Lawrence's Day, and consists mainly in planting a beech at the intersection of the Rue des Sables/Zandstraat and the Rue du Marais/Broekstraat in the City of Brussels' Marais–Jacqmain District. It is accompanied by processions and various folk activities during the day.
↑ "Low Countries, 1400–1600AD". Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2007. Archived from the original on 29 April 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
↑ Hendrick, Jacques (1987). La peinture au pays de Liège (in French). Liège: Editions du Perron. p.24. ISBN978-2-87114-026-9.
↑ Guratzsch, Herwig (1979). Die große Zeit der niederländische Malerei (in German). Freiburg im Beisgau: Verlag Herder. p.7.
↑ "Low Countries, 1600–1800AD". Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2007. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
↑ Baudson, Michel (1996). "Panamarenko". Flammarion (Paris), quoted at presentation of the XXIII Bienal Internacional de São Paulo. Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2007.
↑ Grove, Laurence (2010). Comics in French: the European bande dessinée in context. Berghahn Books. ISBN978-1-84545-588-0.
↑ "Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)". UNESCO's World Heritage List. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2007. The appearance of Art Nouveau in the closing years of the 19th century marked a decisive stage in the evolution of architecture, making possible subsequent developments, and the Town Houses of Victor Horta in Brussels bear exceptional witness to its radical new approach.
↑ A review of the Belgian cinema till about 2000 can be found at "History of Cinema in Belgium". Film Birth. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
↑ "Western music, the Franco-Flemish school". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2007. Most significant musically was the pervasive influence of musicians from the Low Countries, whose domination of the music scene during the last half of the 15th century is reflected in the period designations the Netherlands school and the Franco-Flemish school.
↑ Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the 1950s: "The Timeline—A brief history of Belgian Pop Music". The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives. Flanders Music Centre, Brussels. March 2007. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007. "Belgian Culture—Rock". Vanberg & DeWulf Importing. 2006. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
↑ "Steak-frites". Epicurious. 20 August 2004. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2007. Republished fromVan Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN978-1-56305-411-2.
↑ "Belgium". Global Gourmet. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2007. Republished fromVan Waerebeek, Ruth; Robbins, Maria (October 1996). Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Workman Publishing. ISBN978-1-56305-411-2.
↑ "Mussels". Visit Belgium. Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas. 2005. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2007.
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