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ACTIONZOOMING IN ON FILM IN WALLONIA & BRUSSELS

Wallonia welcomes Chinese businesses

An inspiring rebrandfor the region

Urban art in Charleroi

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2 wallonia and brussels magazineWINTER 2013/2014

CONTENTS

EditorialThe depth of film talent in Wallonia is breathtaking, from students shooting their first shorts to actors juggling stage performances and self-productions with minor and lead roles in local productions. Directors and writers pursue their own craft, whether it be documentary, comedy or realistic drama. It is remarkable that this talent pool remains largely home-based, and that is due to the region’s raft of investment initiatives. These actions extend to encouraging foreign productions – such as The Fifth Estate, pictured above – to film in Brussels and Wallonia; overseas producers are equally attracted by the region’s natural beauty and authentic charm. The flourishing state of the seventh art is underpinned by the robust technological expertise now evident in sound, image and post-production film techniques. In this issue we look at the state of cinema in the region, glance back at the past 20 years and profile two young actors who are committed to their chosen – albeit precarious – careers.

The increasingly international flavour of films on location in the south of Belgium is echoed in the launch of Wallonia’s cutting-edge branding campaign, designed to reach out to the rest of the world. A new logo for a new era in which again creativity and technology are indelibly entwined is also explained in the following pages.

www.cinemawallonia.be

Editor Sarah CrewDeputy editor Sally Tipper

Reporters Renée Cordes, Andy FurniereIan Graham, Alan Hope, Karen McHugh

Tom Peeters, Senne Starckx, Georgio ValentinoArt director Paul Van Dooren

Managing director Hans De Loore

AWEX/WBI and Ackroyd PublicationsPhilippe Suinen – AWEX/WBI

Marie-Catherine DuchêneAWEX, Place Sainctelette 2

1080 Brussels, BelgiumTel: 00.32(0)2.421.85.76

Fax: 00.32(0)2.421.83.93email: [email protected]

Cover photo Benoît Mariage directing Les Rayures du Zèbre (release date February 5, 2014)

Image François Musy

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3wallonia and brussels magazineWINTER 2013/2014

04 BIG PICTuREA new image for Wallonia

06 nEWSHeadlines from across the region

08 CoMMunICATIonDiscover Wallonia’s innovative new branding campaign

10 BuSInESSCosucra harnesses the natural power of the pea

12 InVESTMEnTLouvain-la-Neuve prepares to welcome Chinese businesses

14 InnoVATIonClinical biologists in Wallonia open US office

16 FILEOn location with Wallonia’s film industry

20 HoME AnD ABRoADActors Julie Bernard and Fabrice Adde

22 CuLTuREThe Charleroi urban outfit projecting 3D images

24 GASTRonoMySpice kingdom Va doux vent joins Michelin elite

26 PAnoRAMAHome-blown perfume and cosmetic bottles

28 DESIGnLocal artists and architects in Hong Kong for Belgian Spirit

30 AGEnDAGypsy jazz, modern museums and Christmas cheer

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WORK THE BIG PICTURE

W is for Wallonia

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The fi ve points of the letter W form the focal point of Wallonia’s new international marketing

campaign. These fi ve dots, black and in specifi c colour schemes, are replicated in four graphic mood images along with the tagline Feel Inspired. Together they create a brand that symbolises the region’s attributes: quality of life (green fl ower), accessibility (multi-coloured crossroad), sharing (red heart) and

technological know-how (blue brain). The fi ve dots of the logo have been designed to evoke pixels, thereby underlining the region’s technology network. Now the brand is being broadcast around the world: in the international press, airport and railway stations, such as Gare du Midi in Brussels (below), and on the region’s website. The rebranding rejuvenates Wallonia

and positions it as a region that is ready for international business. From the end of 2013 the new marketing strategy will feature in all tools promoting Wallonia abroad, including investment, research and tourism. With the websiteWallonia.be, a positive link with Belgium is maintained. Wallonia is ready to take on the world.

WWW.WALLONIA.BE

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WORK NEWS

New Michelin stars for Brussels and WalloniaArabelle Meirlaen, chef of the restaurant in Marchin near Liège that bears her name, had her accolade of being named Chef of the Year by Gault & Millau in November doubled, when she received her first Michelin star from the famous red guide. Meirlaen (pictured) was not the only new female arrival in Wallonia. Stéphanie Thunus of Au Grez in Seneffe also received her first star, barely a year after opening the restaurant in a renovated barn on the farm where she grew up. Another star went to La Menuiserie de Waimes in Waimes, owned by Marie-Charlotte Portois, with chef Thomas Troupin. “We weren’t going for a star,” Portois said. “We never expected this.” Meanwhile, Michelin’s international director declared that Brussels now has more Michelin stars than Rome, Milan and Berlin and can take its place at the top table of international gastronomy. The capital has 12 starred restau-rants, including four with two stars: Sea Grill, Comme Chez Soi, Le Chalet de la Forêt and newcomer Bon-Bon, whose chef Christophe Hardiquest received his second star.

Green business district plan launchedThe Walloon region, the city of Liège and property company Fedimmo have launched an appeal for project proposals for the creation of a green business and residential district close to the Liège Guillemins railway station. The 12,500-square metre site between the station and the future Tour de Finances – also owned by Fedimmo – will be open to private -sector projects comprising offices, housing and shops. “It’s rare to come across a carte blanche site like this,” said Walloon minister for town planning Philippe Henry. “The site is of strategic importance and will attract major names, achieving the goal of making Liège the economic capital of Wallonia.” A jury from Fedimmo and the public authorities will choose a shortlist of candidates in January, with a view to selecting a winner by the summer.

Agri-food for the future in LuxembourgThe agri-food industry offers valuable growth opportunities for the province of Luxembourg, according to a report from REAL, the Luxembourg Research and Analysis Network. Luxem-bourg province has 2,429 farms, currently falling by about 100 a year in numbers but still equivalent to 18 percent of all of Wallonia’s agriculture, including more than 28 percent of the region’s cattle herd. The province also accounts for 28.2 percent of the region’s organic farms. According to the study, the agri-food sector offers particular employment opportuni-ties for those with low skills, although skilled employment is on the increase.

Bush brewery opens brewhouse to mark 80th birthdayBrasserie Dubuisson, brewer of Bush and Wallonia’s oldest brewery, has opened a new brewhouse to help it face the challenge of growth, the company said. Dubuisson claims to be bucking the downward trend of beer consumption, with annual growth of 20 to 25 percent with its Bush beers as well as the highly regarded Cuvée des Trolls. Pro-duction has gone up from 22,000 hectolitres in 2007 to more than 50,000 hectolitres in 2013. That has given the company, led by Hugues Dubuisson, the opportunity to begin a €5 million investment programme which has allowed the renovation of the brewery’s equipment, of which the new solar-powered brewhouse is the most striking result. “By in-stalling solar panels, the structure will be 20 percent self-sufficient in energy,” Dubuisson said. “In the end, we should save about €1 per hectolitre.”

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Science briefsGlaxoSmithKline Vaccines has won this year’s Economic Diplomacy Forum Award. The prize, newly inaugurated this year, is awarded to leading companies in their sector who are particularly active in export markets and who distinguish themselves by their participation in economic diplomacy – for example, by taking part in national or regional trade missions. The award is given by a jury made up of members of the board of the International Diplomatic and Consular Circle, who particularly praised GSK Vaccines’ “contribution to the development of the Belgian economy and Belgium’s international image”.

Rad4Med.Be, the first Belgian network for radiation applications in healthcare, now offers a one-stop service for international partners. It has been set up by a consortium of agencies, representing the full nuclear medical sector, and offers direct access for foreign entities to the available infrastructure in Belgium. The network was brought together by the Walloon region’s health competitiveness office BioWin, with the Centre for Nuclear Energy Research, the National Institute for Radio-Elements and Ion Beam Applications, and has as its aim the promotion of Belgian expertise in nuclear medicine.

Spacebel has celebrated its 25th anniversary, after a quarter of a century in which the company, with facilities in Liège, Hoeilaart and Toulouse, has become one of Europe’s leading small and medium-sized enterprises in the space research sector. Spacebel has developed and built space infrastructure – satellites, launchers and orbital stations – for the European Space Agency and the French National Space Centre. It also recently strengthened its international presence with the development and marketing of small Earth observation satellites.

Namur citadel cable-car project approvedWalloon heritage minister Carlo Di Antonio has approved a plan to renovate Namur’s citadel, with agreed funding of €1 million a year for 10 years. Namur mayor Maxime Prevot’s plan in-volves the reconstruction of the cable-car that once joined the citadel with the city below and was closed in 1997. An existing crèche will be turned into a hotel adjoining the base station. The station at the summit has not yet been fixed. Prevot said the project had been a personal priority since taking office and thanked Di Antonio “for having listened to our requests, and understanding the importance of this heritage treasure”.

New look for Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel

Renovation work has started on the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, to double the capacity of the premises to make room for more students. The music school’s success has led to demand exceeding capacity; the new annex will increase the size of the Chapel’s premises from 1,800 to 3,500 square metres. The Chapel welcomes some of the world’s most prominent young musicians for residential music teaching by internationally renowned teachers, providing them with the means to perfect their art, as well as gain experience in performing, with some 250 concerts a year. The renovation has been designed by architects Olivier Bastin and Sébastien Cruyt and will cost €9 million, half to be paid by the Chapel itself and the rest by donations, including €1 million from the province of Walloon Brabant. Work is due to be completed by December 2014, in time for the celebration of the Chapel’s 75th anniversary in 2015.

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WORK COMMUNICATION

Today everything is about market-ing: a brand, an image. The word ‘brand’ comes from the old prac-

tice of burning a symbol on to livestock as a means of identifi cation from other animals. Customs changed, and we now associate branding less with fi re and more with the infl uence that the fl ow-ing cursive of Coca-Cola or the slightly chomped Apple icon have on consumers. In today’s commercial culture, it’s vital to have an identity to promote. Wallonia is getting in on the act and endeavouring to make its own stamp on the world.

Territorial branding

Some cities’ fame has grown organically, such as Paris, New York

or Jerusalem. Others built their reputation in a more strategic way – Las Vegas’s Sin City image springs to mind. The concept of place branding has become popular in Europe, with such initiatives as the cleverly quirky Only Lyon and the Dutch capital’s logo, I amsterdam. In 2011 the government of Wallonia decided it was time to market their region on a world scale. But how do you brand Wallonia? This was where the professionals stepped in. McKinsey, specialists in marketing, were entrusted with the task.

Strategy

Place branding is focused on the concept of places competing with each

Open for businesswallonia launches its new marketing brandBY KAREN MCHUGH

We’re open: tolerant, friendly. A modern region open by tradition as signifi ed through historyJACQUES JADOUL

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other and, in doing so, ascertaining their own identity. “We had to find something different,” says Jacques Jadoul, communications director of the Walloon export agency, AWEX. “We’re not like Amsterdam; we need to focus on what sets us apart, what differentiates us from other regions.” McKinsey did a study into what constituted Wallonia’s identity. “The main position is openness. This is how we’re different. Open to the world, from an exportation sense but also in the way of being welcoming and multicultural.” Four additional features, though not specific to Wallonia, were also identified to be used in the campaign: accessibility, a sense of sharing, technical know-how and quality of life.

Who is Wallonia hoping to attract?

Wallonia has chosen to first apply the branding policy abroad and then at a domestic level. Its targets are therefore an international audience – investors, tourists, buyers, students and foreign residents. But it’s also aimed at Walloons. “This initiative has to be supported by the people themselves,” says Jadoul. “They have to be proud of their region for this to work.” The aim is to attract more tourists, to generate more business, more international conferences and conventions. “It’s about creating a reputation that the region has a talent for supporting these events.”

Feel inspired

Every brand needs a strategy and at the forefront of this is a tagline. Wallonia has chosen Feel Inspired to translate its

openness to the world: “It’s suggestive, subtle,” says Jadoul. “We want it to be open to people, for them to be able to understand it in their own way, and not to shove a concept down their throats.” By inviting people to be freely inspired, Wallonia leaves itself open to different interpretations, which may in itself be telling of the region’s tolerance and acceptance. The tagline’s use of English is worth noting, but not surprising. Was that a problem, given the ever-present undercurrent of linguistic tension in this small country? “No, there was no struggle. Everything is in English, there was never any question of that. For exportation, it had to be. This is business.”

Logo

There’s a new logo, too. It’s the letter W, represented in its simplest visual form, by five dots – representing also the five parts of the world linked together. Wallonia’s four assets are also given the emblem treatment, symbolised by four ‘auras’, each incorporating the W. Accessibility shows a crossroads, the sense of sharing is illustrated by a heart, technical know-how in blue represents technology while quality of life radiates in green.

On a tangible level, how can we interpret these images? “We’re open: tolerant, friendly. A modern region open by tradition as signified through history. After England, it was the second to be industrialised,” says Jadoul. Digging a little deeper: take a company like GSK, which employs 5,000 people. That’s technical know-how in practice. Wallonia’s quality of life can also be translated by the amount of countryside

and space it has: one-third of the region is covered by green space. Access means its geographic position. “We really are at the heart of Europe. And the sense of sharing can be easily explained – 150 nationalities living together.”

Branding is not all about image; it must have substance, too. “A brand – it’s a promise. If there’s nothing behind the logo, the brand will crumble. There needs to be meaning and trust.” This is reinforced by a poster campaign of people endorsing Wallonia; among them computer giant Google and Italian-Belgian director Franco Dragone.

And so the long-awaited media campaign is unleashed this winter, at home and abroad. Posters adorned with the logos and the tagline will be on display at airports and at Gare du Midi in Brussels; a new internet portal has been set up and there are also adverts being broadcast on the BBC, Euronews and CNN, as well as in the Financial Times, The Economist and expat publications.

They say it takes five years to establish a brand and 15 to capitalise on that recognition. So now starts the mission. As you arrive or depart from Brussels airport, London calls from the Eurostar or you travel to Paris from the Thalys desks at Midi, cast an eye over the posters for Wallonia. One day, Feel Inspired may be as ubiquitous as I Love New York. One thing is for sure: Wallonia is open for business.

www.wALLONIA.BE

SENSE OF SHARING ACCESIBILTY TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW QUALITY OF LIFE

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WORK BUSINESS

Confronted with a market that’s becoming less and less friendly towards sugar, the food indus-

try is desperately looking for substi-tutes. Natural proteins derived from plants are a popular alternative these days, with soy beans topping the list of the most commonly used protein sources. But that’s about to change with the comeback of one of the old-est crops in the world: the pea.

Peas were already being cultivated in Asia 10,000 years ago, and they featured heavily in the diet of Europe’s peasants during the Middle Ages. The nutritional and environmental benefits of the pea have largely been

forgotten in our modern world, but in recent years, the vegetable seems to have been regaining popularity. In their quest for the perfect protein additive, food companies have focused again on the pea. The smallest of all vegetables has proteins with numerous desired properties: they lack common allergens like gluten and lactose, they have a very high tolerance, they’re naturally sourced and – importantly for many customers, especially in Europe – they’re not genetically modified. According to experts in the US – currently the most important consumer market for protein-rich foods – the market is ready to explode.

The power of the peaThe most popular food additives are experiencing competition from an unexpected source

BY sENNE sTarcKX

It’s only recentlythat additive sugars have gained such a bad name in food and drinkMICHEL DEWAEL

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A booming pea market is of course good news for the companies that produce pea proteins. You might not have heard of it, but the world leader in this booming business is based in Wallonia, in the little town of Warcoing, Hainaut province. Cosucra is a family business that has a long history as a sugar refinery dating back to 1852. Its main activity was always the production of sugar from sugar beets – until 2006, when they stopped sugar production to concentrate on exploring the market of natural ingredients, which they had begun doing several years previously. It led to an annual turnover increase of 25 percent since 2006, and due to the rising demand of pea proteins in the US, the company has announced that it is investing €30 million in building a new production facility in Warcoing.

In September, Cosucra announced that it was to expand its activities on the Warcoing site – near the river Escaut – with a large second plant, exclusively for extracting protein from peas and conditioning and storing the dry substance until it’s ready to be shipped. The product that made Cosucra a world leader in the production of food supplements is called Pisane, a food additive that consists of more than 90 percent pea proteins: specifically those of the yellow pea (Pisum sativum). It can be used in numerous protein-rich foods and drinks – like sports drinks and energy bars – but also in soups, biscuits and ready meals.

Why have pea proteins never been used before? “Firstly, it’s only recently that additive sugars have gained such a bad name in food and drink,” says Michel Dewael, Cosucra’s commercial director. “Secondly, food companies didn’t like pea proteins because they had a typical taste of vegetables – a taste you don’t want in your cereals,

chocolate biscuits or soft drinks. This was really a handicap, but thanks to our extensive R&D, we have been able to overcome this handicap by turning Pisane into a more or less tasteless additive.”

Dewael illustrates the success of pea proteins using two examples of applications: sports nutrition and so-called anti-ageing foods. “Apart from its high protein composition (more than 90 percent), Pisane also contains small amounts of glucose and fatty acids. In particular, it contains nine essential amino acids that are essential for adult metabolism. One of these is leucine, which helps increase the muscle mass. And because it is digested rather slowly, Pisane is also a good alternative for traditional nutritional supplements in sports that are derived from animals, like casein.”

But Pisane could also be beneficial for elderly people. Dewael says: “Recent studies have pointed out that almost half of people older than seventy exhibit some kind of malnutrition – especially because they don’t have enough variety in their diet. Pisane contains leucine, an amino acid that helps stimulate the muscle mass, while two other amino acids – lysine and arginine – stimulate the absorption of calcium. This helps prevent osteoporosis, a common disease in elderly people.”

Today, the most frequently used plant protein in food production comes from soya, followed closely by proteins derived from starch. Pea proteins are currently in third place. But, according to Cosucra CEO Jacques Crahay, pea proteins have everything they need to become the new number one. “The nutritional value is more or less the same,” says Crahay, “except for the fact that peas lack most of the allergenic substances like gluten and lactose that are present in soya and starch. Furthermore, we produce the dry substance without using any chemical solvent.”

Using proteins from peas instead of from soya could also stimulate agriculture in Wallonia and the north of France – Warcoing lies close to the border. “For our new production facility, we need to extend pea cultivation by at least 10,000 hectares,” says Crahay. “For the farmers in this region, we can offer an attractive opportunity to diversify their activities. Peas are very small and were already being produced in the Middle Ages, so it’s really easy to grow large amounts of them.”

The new production facility will welcome 70 extra employees next year, who will join the company’s current 240- strong workforce.

www.cosucra.com

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WOrK iNVesTMeNT

From China to WalloniaA centre due to open in Louvain-la-Neuve in 2016 aims to attract upto 100 innovative high-tech companies from AsiaBY RENÉE CORDES

China is not only a big country, but it’s also a culture different to the European one, with other rulesPHILIPPE BARRAS

For 25 years, the Wuhan East-Lake Hi-Tech Innovation Center has supported nearly 1,200 high-

tech start-ups in central China to ex-pand within the country through its network of nine business incubators. The companies, mainly in ICT, opto-electronics, biomedical and new ma-terials, have created about 70,000 jobs since 1987.

Now eyeing the European market, the centre, known as Whibi, has teamed up with Walloon export agency AWEX and the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) to set up one large business incubator in Louvain-la-Neuve as part of the China-Belgium Technology Center (CBTC). It is due

to open in early 2016 at the city’s science park.

Organisers hope the site will be fi lled with at least 60% Chinese companies, large and small – mainly subsidiaries of established fi rms – focused on high technology and innovation and interested in gaining a foothold in Europe, through partnerships with local fi rms and laboratories.

“Our main focus will be to promote contacts between companies,” explains Philippe Barras (pictured), managing director of Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park. “We will help facilitate the introduction of Chinese companies into Europe through technological

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agreements with our companies, and help Belgian companies tap into the Chinese market.”

The incubators will occupy an 8.5-hectare site at the science park, which is home to firms specialising in biotechnology and nanotechnology, ICT, electronics and optoelectronics and sustainable development (specifically green engineering and new materials). They will provide jobs for at least 2,000 people, with half coming from China.

Within the incubator, firms will have access to offices, laboratories and a conference and service centre with rooms for seminars and dining. There will also be a 160-room hotel for Chinese visitors here on short assignments as well as the general public. Companies that choose to set up in the incubators will also receive business support and advice, including help with paperwork and finding housing. “It’s an all-inclusive approach,” says Barras. “Of course, UCL will also provide local resources and facilities.”

He says the location was chosen for three main reasons: its proximity to Brussels; UCL’s status as one of the world’s top universities; and the fact that there is already a science park with about 4,000 researchers active in new technologies, life sciences and ICT. The CBTC will also complement a small community of about 80 Chinese students currently studying in Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve and work closely with the China Welcome Office in nearby Mons, which helps foreign companies set up business in Wallonia.

Besides helping Chinese companies into Europe, the CBTC will also

provide a gateway for start-ups from Wallonia and elsewhere in Europe to expand into China. China is the EU’s second-largest trading partner behind the United States, but it can be a tough market for new enterprises to break into without outside help.

“China is not only a big country,” Barras says, “but it’s also a culture different to the European one and with other rules, so it’s difficult especially for small companies to tap into this market. The CBTC will offer the possibility to meet Chinese people who are highly educated, from high-tech companies, who speak English, without the costs and hassles of travelling far.” The Chinese firms that come to Wallonia will also all be familiar with EU commercial law and intellectual property rules, which should reassure prospective European business partners.

The CBTC will also boost the local economy, by creating jobs and a spillover effect when the Chinese firms enlist subcontractors or partners as their businesses develop.

Whibi is providing 50 percent of the €200 million investment needed for

the project and is promoting the centre throughout China, starting in the southeastern city of Suzhou where it has an incubator. Once the incubators are up and running, Barras says success will be measured in several ways. “Our goal is to maximise the number of agreements and partnerships between Chinese and Belgian tech companies, as well as with Belgian laboratories and research centres,” he says. “The co-operation can be operational in Belgium but also in China. It’s a win-win formula.”

The facTsWhat? The Belgium-China Technology Center (CBTC) will house four business incubators to promote cross-innovation between the two countriesWhere? An 8.5-hectare-site at Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park near the N4 Who? Juxing International Technology Investment Co Ltd with major shareholder Whibi. The project is the result of the combined effort of Whibi, Wuhan Dongfeng Design Institute and HuaYong When? The CBTC is scheduled to open in early 2016

The figures8.5 hectares Size of the CBTC€200 million The investment needed. Whibi will provide 50 percent, with the Wuhan Dongfeng Design Institute, Beijing Hua Yong International Holdings. Additional funding will go towards three residential buildings in Louvain-la-Neuve for Chinese nationals moving to Belgium4 Number of business incubators3 years Approximate time needed for construction1,500 Jobs to be created

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WoRK InnoVAtIon

From its foundation in Brussels in 1991, the International Drug Development Institute (IDDI)

had global ambitions to improve the effi ciency of clinical trials during the development of drugs and biomarkers. After convincing various pharmaceuti-cal companies and institutions abroad, IDDI opened a subsidiary in the US. And with the support of the Walloon government, last year it established the enterprise CluePoints.

The founder of IDDI is biostatistician Marc Buyse, one of the 100 most inspiring people in the fi eld of health science, according to American magazine PharmaVoice. Buyse is still IDDI’s chairman and works as a consultant for the company, while the

management is in the hands of CEO Damien Trémolet (pictured right with Buyse). The location of the headquarters has also changed since 2006, when IDDI moved to a beautiful manor house in Louvain-la-Neuve (above).

“This move has not just provided us with more space and life quality, but also with co-operation possibilities in the region,” says Trémolet. One of the results was the development of the Smart software engine that detects errors and patterns in clinical data during new drug development. For Smart, IDDI worked with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, the Catholic University of Louvain and the Free University of Brussels (ULB). A total of €1.3 million in fi nancial support was made available by BioWin,

Whatever happens, IDDI and CluePoints will not be leaving WalloniaDAMIEN TRÉMOLET

Give us a clueWalloon-based experts in assessing clinical data are realisingtheir American dream

BY ANDY FURNIERE

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Wallonia’s health competitiveness cluster, part of the Marshall Plan that boosts the Walloon economy. In 2012, IDDI launched a subsidiary called CluePoints, dedicated to statistical monitoring using the Smart engine. CluePoints has offices in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Walloon Brabant, and Cambridge in the US.

With their unique statistical methods and algorithms, the team at CluePoints can assess the quality of clinical trial data both during and after studies. Their technology has the ability to spot mistakes, patterns or fraud, allowing the team to effectively evaluate and submit new medicine or biomarkers, natural substances that indicate the cause of a condition.

This methodology has been praised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which also refers to the publications of CluePoints and IDDI in its guidance. The FDA is the agency responsible for ensuring the safety of pharmaceutical, biological and medical products. “The trust of the FDA is the perfect way to gain credibility overseas,” says Trémolet. “Their confidence has much more effect than an advertisement could ever have.”

With more than 20 years of experience, IDDI has since long won hearts abroad; about 95 percent of its clients are outside Belgium. Asia is an important market, but because the majority of the global pharmaceutical business is in the US, IDDI has an important American

dream. And this dream is coming true. To get a foot in the door in the US, IDDI set up a branch in Cambridge, Massachusetts, more than a decade ago. In 2011, another was established in Houston, Texas.

The next step is to take over a company in the US, probably on the east coast. “We are investigating the possibilities at the moment,” says Trémolet, “but it’s too soon to give details.” Whatever happens, IDDI and CluePoints will not be leaving their home bases in Wallonia.

Among IDDI’s staff are more than 20 statisticians, whose expertise gives the Walloon company the edge over their competitors. “Mostly, we start off with a co-operation as consultants,” explains Trémolet. “When companies notice that our approach works, they get interested in our eClinical solutions.”

EClinical is a term used in the biopharmaceutical industry to refer to electronic systems for automating the management or conduct of clinical trials with the aim of replacing manual or paper-driven methods. The web-based technology provides researchers with easy, real-time access to the main data and online reports of the statistical analysis, enriched with practical visualisations like graphs.

IDDI’s main experience lies in cancer clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises. It has also developed academic collaborations with oncology groups all over the world like the Japanese Nagoya University and the American NSABP project. Over the past 10 years, IDDI has offered seminars, lectures and classes on statistical issues in clinical development.

Apart from oncology, IDDI is active in other domains like cardiovascular diseases and ophthalmology – the branch of medicine that deals with the eye. “In 2003, we helped a US company save a year in the development of an

ophthalmic drug against age-related macular degeneration, which for a while gave them a huge lead on the market,” says Trémolet. The condition usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the centre of the visual field.

Currently, IDDI is active in a European programme funded by the EuroTransBio organisation, with Dutch company PamGene, the Dutch VU University Medical Center and the Interuniversity Institute for Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics in Hasselt. For this research project, entitled Bravo (Biomarker Retrospective Analysis for Validation Optimisation), the collaborators are improving the diagnostic accuracy of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers.

IDDIWhat? Innovative enterprise specialising in the clinical development of drugs and biomarkersHow? Using a unique combination of advanced biostatistics and innovative data management technologyWhere? Headquarters in Louvain-la-Neuve and subsidiary offices in Houston and Cambridge When? Founded in 1991, the branch in Cambridge was set up in 2001, Houston in 2011Who? Founder is Marc Buyse, CEO is Damien Trémolet

CluePoIntsWhat? Unique statistical monitoring tool based on the Smart engineHow? Employs statistical algorithms to identify anomalous data Where? Based in Cambridge in the US and Mont-Saint-Guibert in WalloniaWhen? Founded in 2012Who? Founder is Marc Buyse, CEO is François Torche

WWW.CLUEpOINTS.COM

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fiLe waLLoNia’s fiLm iNDustRy

At the beginning of the new millennium, the Walloon authorities targeted the fi lm

industry as a key component in the rejuvenation of the region’s economy. More than 10 years later, it’s not just local directors making feature fi lms and television series here, but international companies are increasingly seeing the territory as a viable option for fi lm projects. Witness The Fifth Estate, the American thriller about WikiLeaks by Bill Condon, which spent a week fi lming in Liège. The Guillemins railway station is featured in the fi lm’s trailer and poster.

“You can rightly say local employment and revenues are getting a boost from this evolution,” says Philippe Reynaert (pictured), director of regional

investment fund Wallimage. “But it’s larger than that. It also appeals to the pride of the population.”

This hasn’t always been the case, though the choice to invest specifi cally in this industry, combining cultural and economic assets, was a golden move, propped up by a talented generation of fi lm-makers. Cinephiles remember it well: the 1990s had only just begun when, unfettered by Hollywood block-busters or the absence of a local fi lm industry, some brilliant motion pictures came out of Wallonia. Toto le héros (Toto the Hero, 1991) and C’est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog, 1992) took the world by surprise. The fi rst, the feature debut of one-time circus clown Jaco Van Dormael, was a poetic drama

Sound and vision Creative movie-makers have transformed the region’s fi lm scene into a thriving industry with a growing reputation across Europe

BY TOM PEETERS

I always said the main objective of Wallimage was to build refi neries; the oil – the talent – was already herePhIlIPPe ReynaeRt

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about childhood memories and trau-mas, smartly displayed by a kaleido-scope of flashbacks and flash-forwards. It collected prizes at festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Ghent and Locarno.

The contrast with the second, an influential cult movie, couldn’t be greater: melancholy was totally absent in this raw and cynical debut by young film students Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde. Their fake documentary about a serial killer was filmed with a 16mm black and white camera in the streets of Namur as a harsh commentary on the growing importance the media was attaching to news about crime and accidents.

The release of those two ground-break-ing films came in the wake of the Oscar nomination (for Best Foreign Language Film) of the costume drama Le maître de musique (The Music Teacher, 1989), by Brussels director Gérard Corbiau, a stunt he repeated with Farinelli in 1995. It may not have been intentional, as these directors were each unique, but the francophone movie scene in Belgium could finally be seen moving away from the more academic and for-mal approach of film-makers such as Chantal Akerman and André Delvaux to something engaging and personal with an appeal beyond a niche audience.

Van Dormael confirmed his talent with the even more successful Le huitième jour (The Eighth Day, 1996), whose two leading actors, Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne, were jointly named best actor at Cannes. And the

best was yet to come: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, brothers born and raised in the working-class suburban Liège district of Seraing, made their debut with La Promesse (The Promise, 1996), a scathingly honest story that examined socio-economic inequality – and proved to be just the beginning. It launched their status as the most feted directorial duo in Cannes; their first Palme d’Or came with Rosetta in 1999.

By the beginning of this century the artistic scene was poised to blossom. But it was still waiting for backing from the local industry. That’s where this story really starts. “In the 1990s there was a lot of talent,” says Reynaert. “But if we hadn’t done anything, it would

have disappeared to Paris or Brussels. Maybe we were lucky with the first Palme d’Or for the Dardennes, which caused a shockwave, even in politics; there were regional elections and every politician wanted to do something to support the scene. This led to the foundation of Wallimage in January 2000.

“The Walloon government has no cultural authority, so we concentrated on the economic aspect,” he adds. “We wanted to create new businesses in the film industry on a long-term basis, and decided to pump money into local projects. The only commitment film producers had to make was to reinvest the money in the local economy. In our third year the first new businesses appeared and now, after thirteen years, having received about 1,000 applications for financing film projects of which almost 200 have been approved, we can conclude that our long-term approach was efficient.”

In those 13 years, Wallimage has injected €30 million into the industry, generating a total revenue of €95

New ways of commuNicatiNgFinanced by Creative Wallonia, Wallimages CrossMedia promotes digital aspects of the smartphone society. Producers can ask for subsidies to publicise their projects using iPhone or Android applications or new approaches to transmedia, social networking and the experience economy.

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fiLe waLLoNia’s fiLm iNDustRy

million for the region. “Noticing the success of their neighbours in Wallonia, the Brussels region started to collaborate with us,” Reynaert says. “Instead of creating their own film fund, they decided to give us €1 million each year so we expanded our working area to Brussels.”

At the same time, foreign producers discovered the region, equally attracted by the fiscally favourable tax shelter law created by the federal government in 2004. “Sixty percent of the film

projects we support are Belgian, often in co-production with France or Luxembourg,” Reynaert says. “Forty percent are foreign, with a local co-producer. But more interestingly: those forty percent generate sixty percent of the total expenses of the film industry in Wallonia.

“An extra incentive for foreigners is the know-how of our technicians,” Reynaert explains. “For the past thirty years we have had excellent film schools such as in Louvain-la-Neuve. I know all the European film regions quite well, and I can assure you that the combination of beautiful rural locations and know-how is hard to find. Take Rhône-Alpes in France: it has wonderful landscapes, but a lack

of good technicians – they all left for Paris. By working with those foreign companies, our local workers will only gather more skills.”

Enter Wallimage Entreprises, an organisation under the Wallimage umbrella, created by the Société Régionale d’Investissement de Wallonie. “It operates mainly as a traditional bank and is complementary to our other activities, Wallimage Coproductions and Wallimage Entreprises,” says Reynaert.

As a result, during the past decade about 100 new companies have been founded or strengthened, among them cutting-edge technology businesses such as I-MOVIX, Flying Cam and IntoPix. The latest tendency is the geographical regrouping around three poles, one in Liège, one in Marcinelle close to Charleroi, and one in Genval. “In Liège we took the initiative to renovate an old tobacco factory,” Reynaert explains. “Now it houses twenty-nine businesses, all under the Pôle Image de Liège. It’s very appealing for foreign producers to have one address where they can find all the facilities they need for postproduction, image and sound, special effects, props, etc.”

In Marcinelle they’re building a similar pole at publisher Dupuis, widely known for its Spirou comic series. “They used to have large rooms where they stocked their comic books before they were distributed,” says Reynaert. “Since 2007 there’s been a digital graphics and animation studio (Dreamwall), and now we are installing another studio for special effects. This pole is not yet as big as the one in Liège, but it has a lot of potential.”

Reynaert is particularly satisfied that this reconversion from old to new

It appeals to the pride of the population

PhIlIPPe ReynaeRt

coNNectiNg taLeNtA theory about business clusters, developed by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, indicates that bringing together players from the same fields in the same territory increases productivity. Over the past six years this theory has been implemented in Wallonia’s audiovisual industry. “For a sector so small and specific, networking is essential,” says Pierre Collin. He started the business network Twist (Technologies Wallonnes de l’Image, du Son et du Texte), to bring together local emerging companies who work with screens: cinema, television, tablets and other devices. “We are an accelerator of economic development,” he says, citing a recent audit in which 75 percent of their clients confirmed that membership of the cluster had had a positive impact on their business. “It is our goal to serve as a gateway to the sector and expand internationally, as locally we have already reached eighty percent of our target audience.”

A €2 million subsidy from the European Regions of Knowledge initiative is a significant step forward. This initiative aims to strengthen the research potential of European regions, by encouraging and supporting the development, across Europe, of regional research-driven clusters, associating universities, research centres, enterprises and regional authorities. Twist will use the money to establish a European agenda in the research for transmedia technologies, and will work with Île-de-France, Catalonia, Sweden, Estonia and Quebec. “The project started in September,” says Collin, “and will compare the strengths and weaknesses from these regions in the development of transmedia, which hopefully will allow us to stimulate competitiveness.”

WWW.TWIST-CluSTER.COM

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Namur skills: Following a series of award-winning shorts, Namur director Xavier Dis-keuve filmed his first feature, Jacques à vu, in his home province last summer. Star Nicolas Buysse describes it as “an alternative look at a typical Catholic Ardennes village” and a “surrealistic, rural and picturesque comedy”. Diskeuve and his crew are not the first talents to have emerged from Namur. It was during a movie shot by Benoît Mariage with Benoît Poelvoorde, leaders of the local scene, that

Diskeuve, at the time a film journalist, decided he wanted to be behind the camera. Mariage and Poelvoorde have just joined forces again for a new movie, provisionally called Les Rayures du Zèbre, which follows a Belgian football manager searching for promising African players. It was filmed in Ivory Coast and Wallonia, and both films are scheduled for release in 2014. The two projects received funding from Wallimage, and the tax shelter scheme.

industries has taken place in areas where the economic crisis was most acute following the closure of coal mines and steel factories. “I’m moved when I see how our educational centres now teach the basics of animation and special effects to locals, who can work in their own backyard again, so we don’t have to lose our talents to Paris anymore. I always said the main objective of Wallimage was to build refineries, whereas the oil – the talent – was already here.”

The objective is not to finance more films, but to improve quality and attract producers from more diverse countries. “Compared to the American market, there are still some weaknesses in our scenarios,” Reynaert explains. “And nowadays ninety percent of our projects are co-productions with France. Germany is closer to our sound and vision pole in Liège, but they haven’t yet arrived.

“Recently I went to Copenhagen to speak to Scandinavian producers and

they were surprised by the interesting mix of economic, cultural and fiscal support we provide here. Letting the world know what we do is another important goal.”

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LIFE HOME AND ABROAD

Julie BernardOriginally from Walloon Brabant, actress Julie Bernard lives in Paris where she com-bines theatre and cinema work. Her film credits include Rien à declarer by French comedian Dany Boon

Why the decision to move to Paris?After studying theatre in Brussels, I decided to settle in Paris where I continued my training at the Lecocq school. Even if I adore my home country, it has always been obvious that I would not live there. And there were developments in my personal life that encouraged me to move to Paris!

What are you currently working on?At the moment I’m on cinema screens in Marc Esposito’s film Le Coeur des hommes 3 and this winter I’m working on a theatre project.

How are Belgian actors viewed in France?Belgian actors are highly regarded in Paris. We are appreciated for our professionalism, simplicity, friendliness and an attitude that is more creative than competitive. The preconceptions that Belgians have of Parisians are actually far from the reality. Parisians love Belgium, our actors and our cinema.

How easy has it been to adapt to the performing arts scene in Belgium?Having never worked professionally in Belgium, I must admit that I am not familiar with the acting world in Belgium. From what I hear, it seems to be quite different. As France is culturally close, I do not think it is difficult to adapt to the French way of working. On the other hand, the film world struck me as a real jungle in the beginning, but gradually I learnt that the jungle is fairly small, because it’s a small world. You also understand that the performing arts consist of separate worlds and there are few bridges. This appears to be typically French. If you advance in the theatre world, you do not necessarily further your career in cinema, and vice versa. If you do popular comedy, it is difficult to enter other spheres. I think that is a shame and frustrating. But fortunately there are examples of careers that break these codes.

What do you miss about your home region?I return two or three times a year to visit my family and I love to see my home country, but I admit that I appreciate returning to Paris. I’ve been living in Paris for more than ten years now, so all my life is there. The Parisian rhythm of life suits me better. There is a lot of energy and I like the teeming city. It’s true that it’s a bit hectic and tiring, but it suits me. I appreciate the gentle way of life in Belgium during the weekend, but I could no longer live at the Belgian rhythm.

Parisians love Belgium, our actors and our cinemaJulie Bernard

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Fabrice AddeLiège-based French actor Fabrice Adde performs on stage and screen. His film cred-its include Eldorado by Walloon actor and director Bouli Lanners

How did you end up in Liège?I arrived here rejected by drama schools in France, and it appeared no one was trying to get into Liège Conservatory at the time, so they were ‘obliged’ to accept me! Maybe they needed more men, I don’t know, but I do know that I needed a school with a free structure in order to act every day for four years. It remains one of the best periods of my life.

What are you currently working on?I’m able to please myself, which at the moment means a cruel and ferocious attack on the theatrical world and the plight of an actor abandoned by everyone because he does not know what to say about the world. It’s called 14 Juillet, because it’s a firework of a play, and I’ll perform it in France, near Rouen. A friend and I are working on a text by Koltès, Dans la solitude des champs de coton, which we’ll start rehearsing at Théâtre des Bosons in Brussels in January. It’s a monster of a work, about desire, loss, violence and many other things. I’m also going to appear in a film by Xavier Séron, Je me tue à le dire.

How easy, or difficult, has it been to adapt to theatre here?It may appear surprising, but there is something universal about performing. Deep down there is a common bond between everyone who performs, be it Elvis Presley, traditional Japanese theatre, jazz or dance. It’s easy to adjust if you give a little of yourself, if you have a certain sense of humour. As for work, well, I’m adaptable. There are ups and downs as there is in the lives of everyone, everywhere.

How is the economic crisis affecting actors?When you propose an ambitious project, the reply is “There is an economic crisis”. But in Liège, an extraordinary theatre has just opened in the former Théâtre de la Place that appears to have a promising future. I work every day and that is something both beautiful and unjust. You need to remain creative, whatever your domain, and follow your instinct. “In the school of poetry, you don’t learn, you fight,” said Léo Ferret. It’s easier to say than do, maybe, but the opportunities are there.

What are your favourite local cultural spots?I visit the Shamrock pub in Rue Saint-Gilles from time to time as there are concerts and you eat well; all you need for a good evening. I like to walk around Liège at the weekend and I go to a place friends have invested in, Talp, in Place de l’Yser.

it’s easy to adjust if you give a little of yourself, if you have a certain sense of humourFaBrice adde

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Life CULTURe

A new perspectiveDigital collective are spearheading Charleroi’s rebirth as a home of impressive urban art

By GeorGio VAlentino

Post-industrial Charleroi is to Wallonia as Detroit is to the US and Glasgow to the UK. Once

shorthand for industry and wealth, it is now more readily associated with economic blight and all its attendant woes. But the city is set for a renaissance, with the entire urban centre one giant building site as Charleroi undergoes a facelift for the 21st century. What’s more, its long-active underground arts scene is bubbling up to the surface.

The digital artists of Dirty Monitor are among the pioneers of Charleroi’s rebirth. For over a decade the collective

has represented its home town in ever wider circles: first Wallonia, then Belgium and finally Europe and the world. Their unique 3D projections have been exhibited from Brussels to Beijing. And, despite this global success, the company and its artists remain rooted in Charleroi. Administrator and communications officer Antoine Minalda invited us to the office to talk Dirty (Monitor).

The company’s spacious digs in Charleroi’s Vector Centre are a far cry from the basement in which the idea was conceived. It all started, Minalda

Charleroi is a small city full of artists. this is where they want to beAntoine MinAldA

Dirty Monitor’s work at the opening of the 2013 Beijing international Film Festival

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says, at the turn of the millennium with Mauro Cataldo and Denis Van Cauteren, two friends who shared both a passion for digital media and a complete lack of expertise and experience. “They were amateurs in the classic sense,” Minalda says. “They did it because they were passionate about it, because they loved it.” And they were determined to do it well. The duo invested in the latest hardware and cut their teeth as video jockeys at local parties.

It was at one such soiree, in the neighbouring city of La Louvière, that the boys were discovered by producer Franco Dragone. The Cirque du Soleil director opened all kinds of doors for Dirty Monitor, which was evolving beyond the founding partnership into a loose collective of artists. They began appearing at corporate events in addition to alternative happenings. More importantly, they progressively diversified their portfolio, incorporated new influences and forged their own distinctive style of multimedia performance art. As the commissions started rolling in, Dirty Monitor became a serious job. “Now they could really go pro,” says Minalda.

Everything was in place. Almost. But Dirty Monitor wouldn’t really hit its stride until 2008, when Cataldo’s brother Orphée joined the team. The architect-by-trade brought with him the technical know-how to tackle the new art of 3D mapping, and if there’s one thing to which Dirty Monitor owes its global reputation today, it’s their pioneering mappings.

If you’ve not heard of 3D mapping, you’re not alone. This new art form is only just breaking out of its professional ghetto, where it is used as a drafting tool for architects. The concept is straightforward: create a two-dimensional image using three-dimensional perspective, project it on a screen or otherwise flat surface and voilà, the illusion of depth. In truth, this is the same principle behind perspective painting and the same rules apply: the more precise the technique, the more convincing the 3D effect.

The process gets all the more interesting – and intricate – when the canvas is not a mere rectangular plane, when it has its own textures and features, and when it’s really, really big. Dirty Monitor’s first 3D work, for example, was tailor-made to fit the facade of the European Parliament. This kind of mapping is a painstaking process that requires the artisan’s precision as well as the artist’s vision. (Specialised software helps, too.)

Dirty Monitor takes the concept even further by introducing animation to the mix. The complexity of the final product

is mind-boggling. It requires skill, co-operation and patience to get every line and every angle just right. The gang’s most demanding commission was a recent production of Peter Pan in Brussels. Cataldo and co were tasked with designing and displaying two hours of fluid, digital sets for an immense stage with several geographic features (pictured). From start to finish, the job took an augmented 10-person team a full year to complete.

They’re not all this intensive, though. “Each piece is different,” Minalda says, “and each requires its own conditions.” He says the average commission takes about a month to prepare, though there are no hard and fast rules. The Cataldo brothers employ a core team of five, leaving enough flexibility to engage additional personnel as circumstances warrant. Founder Van Cauteren is now part of this adjunct expert pool, having left the full-time fold to focus on other activities.

The future looks bright for Dirty Monitor, who are set to kick off the new year with an original 3D mapping commissioned by a Swiss luxury watchmaker. The sky’s the limit from there. One thing is for certain: Dirty Monitor are staying in Charleroi. “The creators of the company have received propositions to move our offices to Brussels,” Minalda confides, “but they’re not interested. Charleroi is a small city full of artists. Everyone knows one another. This is where they want to be.”

www.DirtyMonitor.CoM

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Life GASTRONOMY

Star of spiceVa doux vent in Brussels is a Michelin-starred spice emporiumBy Sarah Crew

Chef Stefan Jacobs is a kitchen alchemist, forever in pursuit of another fragrant seasoning to

enliven his favourite ingredients. Not only has his mastery of spice helped him win a first Michelin star at the age of 24, he is also about to launch his own range of homemade and original spices.

Starting with the raw product, Jacobs dries, scorches and blends spices to create new flavours. “I work intuitively, with the starting point always the ingredient,” he explains. “I’m looking for freshness and interesting combinations, however subtle, that respect the taste and texture of the original ingredient.” Favourites include green aniseed, turmeric and Tasmanian

red pepper, for its hint of red fruit. “I’m rather like an oenologist, or someone who makes cocktails, working with spice instead of alcohol,” he says.

Jacobs’ kitchen is a spice emporium. He eagerly opens a series of plastic boxes containing his latest concoctions, releasing a series of tantalising aromas. The majority of his blends are far removed from most people’s idea about spice and curry. Blends include pungent lime, smoky Earl Grey tea, a surprising malt extract mixture that injects a hint of acidity. From December his spices are going on sale and one client is former boss Yves Mattagne at the acclaimed Sea Grill restaurant in Brussels, who has requested an original blend.

I didn’t expect the Michelin star, but it means I can advance in my career as a chefStefan JacobS

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His restaurant’s name, Va doux vent, is a tribute to the French colonial spice vadouvan, which originated in the Indian city of Pondicherry. Jacobs’ passion for spice was fi rst aroused while working under French spice master Olivier Roellinger, and it appears to be unrelenting. It certainly helped him win the coveted Michelin star so early in his career. The announcement was met with disbelief. “I didn’t expect it, but it means I can advance in my career as a chef.” As for the future, he says, “I’ve no other objective than to improve the quality of our work here.”

Va doux vent is a partnership between Jacobs (pictured centre) and fellow Namur-born and -trained chef Romain Mouton (right), and former Comme Chez Soi sommelier Gontran Buysse (left), from Brussels. The trio moved into this Uccle corner townhouse two-and-a-half years ago following the Michelin-starred Bon-Bon’s relocation to larger premises in the city. The trio reduced the seating to 25 to ensure attentive service, retained the original and cosy interior woodwork but refreshed the paint for a retro-chic look. A second refurbishment is planned at the end of the year.

The menu is changed four times a year, to refl ect the passing seasons. Jacobs admits to a preference for meat, despite his two years at the two-starred Sea Grill. “Fish holds less excitement for me. I fi nd meat more of a challenge and I enjoy

working with it,” he says. So menus at Va doux vent are likely to feature fi sh as a starter and meat as a main. As for the top-end trend of presenting multiple preparations of one ingredient, Jacobs says: “I like to prepare meat two ways and then use the third element in an appetiser, for example.” He is particularly inspired by traditional recipes, including offal such as andouillette, stews and casseroles. “It may be unusual to prepare such dishes in gastronomic restaurants, but it is a question of adapting them,” he explains. And, of course, spicing them up.

While Jacobs professes to less interest in top-end ingredients such as lobster, the menu does offer oysters, both warm (with chicory and vadouvan) and cold (natural, pepper and lemon). Current menus (€60, €80, à la carte or three-course lunch for €35) offer fresh anchovies scented with hops, served with smoked bacon mousse, vitelotte blue-violet potatoes and salsify; grilled scallops and baked beetroot cooked with

coffee; young boar, the fi llet roasted and the shoulder served as boudin with powdered leek; and citrus fruits and quince fl avoured with spiced orange.

The cheeseboard is all-Belgian and desserts vary from classic poached pears to a revisited Brussels waffl e, while the wine list features the usual European suspects in addition to New World varieties. Top-quality seasonal vegetables such as Jerusalem artichoke and beetroot have pride of place, and Jacobs likes to get out and meet growers. The horticultural centre in Gembloux is one point of contact. “Exchanging views with producers is a very enriching experience,” explains Jacobs.

Considering his penchant for old-fashioned fare, it’s little surprise that Jacobs’ fi rst criteria when creating a new dish is that the customer should not leave the restaurant hungry. Second is the quality of ingredients and taste, and fi nally presentation. “It used to take me about a week before I was happy with

the visual aspect, but now it’s only taking a day or two.”

A Michelin star attracts new clientele, and Va doux vent is no exception. With service always busy, Jacobs and his partners have been concentrating on creating a more effi cient kitchen. “I’m personally demanding on myself and this has an effect on the whole team,” he says.

www.VaDOUXVeNT.Be

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Create PaNOraMa

Bottling it

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It’s a little known fact, but thousands of upmarket cosmetic products are packaged in glass bottles made in

Momignies, a small village near the French border. Founded in 1899, the Verreries de Momignies was close to bankruptcy in 2005 but is now one of Wallonia’s major export success stories. It is also a rare survivor of the

region’s traditional glassware industry that dates back to Roman times, and has gone from the brink of closure to producing 800,000 bottles a day for luxury brands such as Dior, Armani, Chanel and Lancôme. The factory’s four ovens produce beautiful clear, white and coloured glass bottles in many beautiful shapes and sizes.

It was bought out in the 1990s by German group Gerresheimer, and the factory’s 500 workforce could be strengthened in 2015 with planned further investment of €15 million.

www.gerresheimer.com

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CREATE DESIGN

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This is not a one-way exchange: Belgian architects can also learn a lot from the Chinese LI MEI TSIEN

Brands, design, fashion, architecture and more – each December, Business of Design

Week brings the world’s best to Hong Kong. The key partner this year is Belgium, with Wallonia and Brussels showcasing their design credentials. A series of Belgian Spirit events show Hong Kong and the whole of China just how creative the region can be.

Launched in 2011, Belgian Spirit promotes the country’s architecture, design and fashion in Asia, and fosters long-term collaboration between local designers and their Asian colleagues and clients. Wallonia and Brussels have a strong presence in Hong Kong and at architecture events in neighbouring Shenzhen, a booming part of mainland China.

“We wanted to work on three aspects of the architecture profession,” says Aurore Boraczek, director of Wallonie-Bruxelles Architectures. “First of all, business opportunities. There’ll be appointments for individual discussions, but also meetings with public and private promoters who might hire Belgian architects. From that point of view, Shenzhen will be

Heading EastTop creations from wallonia and brussels will be in china’s shop window when belgian Spirit hits Hong KongbY IAN GRAHAm

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very significant. Hong Kong is more or less completely built up, so most of the architectural opportunities will be on the mainland.

“The second aspect is teaching. Many architects in Belgium are also teachers, and it’s important to get them known internationally in academic circles. Last but not least, there’s the creative, cultural side of architecture.”

Joint workshops are being held by Belgian architecture faculties in Mons and Brussels and three in Hong Kong. The results will be on show in the House of the Belgian Spirit, a pavilion at Hong Kong’s InnoDesign Tech Expo in December.

Hong Kong students visited the University of Mons’s architecture faculty in October. “We held a one-day workshop with them,” explains Li Mei Tsien, an architect with Brussels-based B612 Associates, who teaches in the Mons faculty. “We worked on the project shown in Hong Kong, and we also visited some sites in Brussels with them. The idea was to confront them with the difference of context. We mixed Hong Kong and Mons architecture students in the same group and it all worked quite well.” Projects by two Mons students will be chosen to represent the faculty in Hong Kong.

From December to February, the XX Models exhibition in Shenzhen will show work by 20 young Belgian architectural firms, using models of some of their first public projects. Belgium is one of Europe’s most densely populated countries, with a cultural diversity that has made it a complex arena of shared territories and landscapes. In its own way, each project bears witness to this context.

As ‘urban borders’ are the theme of this year’s Hong Kong-Shenzhen Biennale, the Belgian experience could well be relevant. “This is something we do understand in Belgium,” Tsien says. “Belgian architects have also been thinking for quite a while about another current Chinese concern – breathing spaces. After the first period of intense construction, people in Hong Kong and across China are longing for better spaces. Not just green spaces, though green is certainly important. But places that have a human side. Places where people can meet. This is not a one-way exchange: Belgian architects can also learn a lot from the Chinese.”

Local fashion, meanwhile, will be on display at Dress Code, an event to be held at the Hong Kong Design Institute until March. The exhibition’s curator is multifaceted Brussels architect and designer Charles Kaisin (example of work below). “Brand cults have created a universe in which the simple fact of buying or wearing a particular brand

brings the feeling of belonging to a group,” he says. “There remains one last category where clothing confirms identity to meet personal expectations: made-to-measure, the unique piece.” Elle Belgique journalist Béa Ercolini paraphrases Coco Chanel: “Belgian fashion is something that never goes out of fashion.”

For a compelling overview of local design, the exhibition Tales of Heroes will display objects selected not only for their beauty and functionality, but also as a three-dimensional tableau vivant that tells a story.

So it will be a week of creativity, but also a week of business. A joint economic delegation is to be co-chaired by Jean-Claude Marcourt, vice-president of the government of Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. It’s a major chance to boost exports to China, one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, and a wide range of designers and teachers will take part.

If that sounds a little dry, there is always Manneken Pis in the City. Billed as “an exhilarating treasure hunt for Belgian products and Manneken Pis statues in Hong Kong”, it will take contestants to shops that sell local wares.

More exclusively, local VIPs will be invited on a journey through Belgian cuisine. And it’s not just any old journey. The kitchens will be under the watchful eye of Michelin-starred Pascal Devalkeneer, chef at Le Chalet de la Forêt in Brussels, while Kaisin’s decors will be inspired by the paintings of René Magritte. The dinner will be “like a daydream” and will “challenge all the senses of each individual guest”.

www.bodw.com

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CREATE AGENDA

FESTIVAL Djangofollies Every year, Belgium pays tribute to Liberchies-born jazz great Django Reinhardt with a musical celebration known as Djangofolllies. This year is the festival’s 20th anniversary, and it will mark the occasion with 31 concerts spread out over 15 days and 25 venues all over the country. The festival launches in Brussels’ Bozar, before joining forces with the Winterjazz festival at Théâtre Marni and the festival Django @ Liberchies in Charleroi. La Louvière hosts French guitarist Christophe Astolfi, Namur the Mike Reinhardt Trio (pictured) and Liège La Femme Belge.WHAT? Djangofollies

WHEN? january 14-31

WHERE? across the country

www.brosella.be

MUSEUMS MuseuM night feverProving they’re not just stuffy archives full of dusty old objects and dustier curators, once a year Brussels’ museums take over the night with a city-wide party. Two dozen museums offer 100 hands-on activities for all ages, workshops, performances, live music and special expos, followed by an after-party at one of the city’s favourite venues. Free shuttle buses ferry you across town to your next rendez-vous.WHAT? MuseuM night fever

WHEN? february 22

WHERE? across brussels

www.museumnightfever.be

fin De siècle MuseuMThe modern state of Belgium was born in 1830 but the fledgling nation wouldn’t prove itself as a formidable cultural force until later in the century, when the first generation of Belgian-born artists matured. The Fin de Siècle museum, opened in early December, is dedicated to the years between 1865 and 1914. In this time Brussels became an artistic as well as a political capital, thanks to indefatigably modernist young Belgians: visual artists like Constantin Meunier and Felicien Rops, architects like Victor Horta, and men of letters like Emile Verhaeren. WHAT? fin De siècle MuseuM

WHEN? ongoing

WHERE? brussels

www.fine-arts-museum.be

EXPOS jijéIn the Pantheon of comic-book greats, Joseph Gillain has earned his place. The artist, better known as Jijé, was versatile, turning his hand to humorous cartoons, realistic fiction and biography, and even painting and sculpture, and from his pencil sprang such characters as Spirou , Jean Valhardi , Jerry Spring and Michel Tanguy. The Musée de la Bande Dessinée celebrates the 100th anniversary of his birth with an exhibition of more than 100 works, and Jijé expert François Deneyer has produced a 400-page pictorial biography.WHAT? jijé expo

WHEN? DeceMber 3-june 29

WHERE? Maison De la banDe Dessinée,

brussels

www.jije.org

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the four WorlDs ofthe Maharajah

A collection of about 40 miniatures and 20 sketches dating back as far as the 17th century, reflecting the daily life of the maharajah and centred on four components: worship, love, leisure and war. These works tell the reality of an era littered with stories about symbolic images, where the relationship with the divine is all around as myth, beliefs and reality intertwine. Photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries and rare film footage shot in the opulent gardens and palaces of the maharajah enhance the exhibition, part of Europalia India.WHAT? the four WorlDs of the

Maharajah

WHEN? until january 19

WHERE? Musée folon, la hulpe

www.fondationfolon.be

hello brussels?gaipajaMa calling!

Also part of Europalia is this exhibition looking at India through the eyes of Tintin and his creator, Hergé, who carried out a lot of research before setting one of his adventures there. Among the exhibits are the artwork for the first black-and-white edition of Cigars of the Pharaoh from 1934, alongside the colour plates for the 1954 edition and material from Hergé’s archives. Tintin’s adventures have been translated into Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Gujarati, and the exhibition demonstrates just how his success in India has grown over the years. WHAT? hello brussels? gaipajaMa

calling!

WHEN? until january 19

WHERE? Musée hergé, la louvière

www.museeherge.com

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AND ALL THAT jAzzBrussels-based guitarist Christophe Astolfi absorbed manouche jazz growing up in his native France. Self-taught, he started playing from the age of 12 and soon accompanied other musicians. They included manouche artists, “and it developed naturally from there”, says Astolfi. He makes his maiden appearance at Djangofollies in La Louvière on January 26, with fellow guitarist Frédéric Guédon.

Astolfi studied jazz at Brussels’ music conservatory and quickly found work in Belgium, even if he continues to play and find inspiration in the French capital. Life in Brussels is also a pleasure. “I love the scenery and atmosphere. It may not be original, but the ambiance is surreal,” he says. Wallonia, by contrast, appeals for its common touch and conviviality, recalling his Italian roots and childhood in Luxembourg and France. “I was made to feel at home right from the beginning.”

Astolfi favoured jazz over rock early in his career. “I started by learning Jimi Hendrix solos, but found jazz to be richer and more refined. There is something about acoustic guitar that is almost artisanal.” Playing in a trio is his preferred formation, as “they are more comfortable and I love the energy”. He has recently released a CD, a collection of waltzes including manouche favourite the musette, swing, classic melodies by Chopin and Fauré and original compositions. “It’s for people who love music, not only the guitar,” he says.

WWW.Djangofollies.be

EVENTS brafaBrafa, short for Brussels Art Fair, is a treasure trove of antique and art objects. Having grown from 20 Belgian antique dealers at the outset to around 130 participants both local and international, the last few years have seen the fair become an expanding international fixture while retaining its own individual character. Over the years the fair has also moved from its original focus of antiques to embrace modern and contemporary art. Collectors will have the chance to browse among treasures including antique jewellery, Oceanic and Oriental art, comic books, old masters, tapestry, sculpture, photography, and much more.WHAT? brafa

WHEN? january 25-february 2

WHERE? tour & taxis, brussels

www.brafa.be

christMas MarKetsDecember in Belgium means Christmas markets, and each town and village across Wallonia will be hosting its own events. In Liège, the traditional German-flavoured market that fills every street and square will be complemented by a Russian craft market. Binche, known for its carnival, also knows how to celebrate when Christmas comes to town, with 10 days of traditional festivities with a medieval atmosphere and the chance to buy (and sample) local specialities and handicrafts. In Nivelles, thousands of pilgrims gather at 6.00 for a walk in honour of Saint Gertrude, and the town celebrates its rich gastronomy. For a month, Namur offers visitors festive fun in a magical atmosphere, featuring traditional bands, choirs, concerts, street entertainment and children’s activities, while in Brussels, festivities take over the city centre with hundreds of chalets selling regional food and drink and traditional and trendy handcrafts. A ferris wheel towers over the ice rink on Place Sainte-Catherine, and a spectacular sound and light show illuminates the Grand’Place several times each evening.WHAT? christMas MarKets

WHEN? until january

WHERE? across Wallonia & brussels

www.wallonie-tourisme.be

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Franco Dragone

The world is my stage, #Wallonia is my home

Franco Dragone dazzles the planet with his amazing shows. Along with thousands of other Walloon entrepreneurs, artists, actors, writers, designers and creators spreading their Belgian creativity and innovation capacity all over the world. Wallonia is in the World.

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wab winter 2013 14

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