La-on 2025 Magezien
Kurt van eeghem
flemish television and radio presenter
Ostend during the Belle Epoque was a beautiful place. People dressed elegantly, luxury hotels lined the streets, and the Kursaal was alive with roulette games as money flowed freely. The world flocked to Ostend and celebrated it as the top seaside resort. A century later, this splendid era was forgotten. Radio producer and writer Kurt Van Eeghem uncovered that the finest composers, singers, and musicians performed at the Kursaal, and he believed this should be shared. His book, "Ostend in the Belle Epoque," highlights a coastal city filled with style and decadence, just like the countless grains of sand on its beaches.
Jean-claude burgelman
Director Frontiers Planet Prize
Jean-Claude Burgelman worked in the wings of the European Union for many years. As a researcher, he knew early on how new technologies would shape our lives today. Now he heads the Swiss Frontiers Planet Prize that rewards scientists with CHF 3 million in prize money for climate solutions.
Family MEstdag
Hesse once wrote, "Making music together is the best way for two people to become friends." For oboist Dimitri Mestdag and Bulgarian double bass player Julita Fasseva, this sentiment resonated deeply as their shared passion for music blossomed into a loving partnership. Meeting in the late 1990s as members of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the two have forged a bond that has lasted nearly three decades. Their collaboration extends beyond their personal lives; they are devoted to nurturing the next generation of musicians through their annual Arbanassi Summer Music festival in a picturesque town near Julita's hometown. Their daughter, Jana, adds to the family's symphonic legacy as a talented violinist traveling the world, carrying on the beautiful tradition of music that brought her parents together.
bruno de wever
Professor and historian
Professor and historian Bruno De Wever retired two years ago. He did path-breaking research on the history of collaboration. De Wever grew up in a Flemish nationalist family and experienced himself in his youth the deep traces the war had left in some milieus.
Chef rafa zafra
The best seafood restaurant on the Mediterranean.In Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville', Figaro acts as a mediator between the count and the beautiful Rosina. The Sevillian we interviewed fulfils a similar role, but as cupid among the most refined ingredients. Rafa Zafra was raised on Andalusian cuisine and drew the flavours of his youth into his restaurants himself. We slide into Estimar, the best address in Barce- lona for fish and seafood.
FRANCE BREL
daughter Jacques Brel
Not far from the Sablon in Brussels, the Fondation Jacques Brel sits on a quiet little square with a bronze statue of the country's most famous chansonnier in the middle. Brel stretches his arms wide, as if empathising on the stage that is the street. With equally open arms, his daughter France Brel and her husband Francis de Laveleye welcome us to their private museum, a documentation centre where visitors from all over the world can listen to Brel's music in dozens of languages. There is also a cosy cinema room where France shows her documentaries, each of which she introduces personally. She is idiosyncratic when it comes to remembering her father. "He doesn't need a museum. I'm doing this for the public."
stefan hertmans
author of literary and essayistic oeuvre
For the great Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, ‘literature that takes itself too seriously and leaves entirely the realm of play forsakes its salvation’. Fortunately, for Stefan Hert- mans, writing is a game in which he manages to meander smoothly between different genres. Essays, poetry, novels, drama and opera: all his life, he has been penning an extensive oeuvre that not only takes readers in tow, but also pushes where it still dares to hurt in our society. Whether it is about people on the run as in “De Bekeerlinge”, or the Flemish col- laboration past in “De Opgang”, Hertmans does not take himself but, above all, the function that literature can have seriously. This is perhaps why he has become the crowd-pleaser who often wins awards.Stefan Hertmans stands as a beacon in contemporary literature, embodying Johan Huizinga's belief that play is essential to art.
LUDWIG and Elly
wine bistro Goddaard
Ludwig Aerts and Elly Vandeweyer are born entrepreneurs. During the week they work in their construction company and at weekends they run one of the most exclusive wine bistros in our country. We start deep in the Kempen region (and you can take that literally, as they install concrete cellars) and end in their wine bistro Goddaard, in a sixteenth-century building in Antwerp's historic city centre.
Her father was friends with sculptor Albert Poels. They had agreed that Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven would be apprenticed to him from the age of 12, but when the time came, the classical apprentice-master path repelled her. She wanted to walk her own path, and so it wasn't until after humanities that she really started studying art. This willfulness paid off: with her drawings, paintings, installations and videos, she broke through as one of the most important female contemporary artists in Belgium.
Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
Artist
tim van steenbergen
Couturier
The clothing industry emits a tenth of all greenhouse gases, making it one of the biggest polluters. So the fashion industry needs to become radically more sustainable, and designer Tim Van Steenbergen thought so too. He dropped out of the race to make two collections a year ‘as it should be’. It also became increasingly difficult for him to produce locally in Europe. He saw how in our country, along with the textile factories, craftsmanship was also disappearing. That is why he founded REantwerp, a fashion label where he works with refugees. Because they are often still very skilled with patterns and sewing machines. Big names like Dries Van Noten donate surplus fabrics to REantwerp so they too don't end up in the rubbish. In this way, REantwerp is a deux-pièces of craft and sustainability.
tore tom denys
ensemble Dionysos Now!
A sixteenth-century West Fleming was Kapellmeister of the famous St Mark's Basilica in Venice for no less than thirty-five years. The fascinating life and work of Adriaan Willaert, who was also a renowned composer, piqued the interest of musician Tore Tom Denys. With his polyphonic ensemble Dionysos Now!, a nod to his own name and the Greek god of music, he brings Willaert's magisterial sounds back to life.
Craig Urquhart
Musician
"One hand, one heart. Even death won't part us now," words from the musical “West Side Story” that are as immortal as its author: Leonard Bernstein. This American conductor and composer is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century and an absolute legend. Few people knew him as well as his last personal assistant, Craig Urquhart. To him, Bern- stein was a genius with a big heart.