AntwerpWeekly

Week 32.
Rumours of my demise are exaggerated but COVID sucks. It did my brain in this past week but hey, onwards and upwards.


The annual Laus Polyphoniae festival takes a closer look at the soundscape of Antwerp during the city’s Golden Age with a varied programme including world-class ensembles such as Graindelavoix and Huelgas. Also worth checking out: an evening with Michael Pye, the historian who wrote a book about Antwerp’s Golden Age, who will be accompanied by Mario Parecchia on the virginal.


Flex your muscles to give Charon’s wheel a whirl (Van Meterenkaai until the end of August)

A gigantic 30’ spinning wheel with posed human skeletons mounted on its inner edge, Charon is fully powered by a minimum of 12 people working in unison. Onlookers are invited to pull a series of 6 ropes which cause the wheel to rotate progressively faster. When the rope pullers are coordinated enough to get the wheel spinning at the correct speed, a strobe is activated, revealing the skeletons’ animation.
The animation tells the story of Charon, the mythological gondolier and ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the recently departed across the river styx, the last right of passage on the way to the afterlife. This piece debuted at Burning Man, 2011.

OR

Visit 14 of Antwerp’s churches this evening as part of the annual church nocturne. This year’s theme is good and evil. The beguinage church and St Anne’s Chapel in the university neighbourhood are definitely worth a visit. If you happen to visit St George’s/St Joris, you can also see the church garden or Hortus Conclusus, which is maintained by Ronald Van der Hilst.


My appetite’s been a bit off lately (see intro) so I’m at a loss as far as food goes. I did note that Brussels chain Knees to Chin has finally opened a branch in Antwerp’s Kammenstraat so if you’re into rice paper rolls, give them a try.

Week 29

Apologies for the late update but I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather (pun intended). It’s that funny time in summer where most people are on holiday, the city’s streets are pleasantly empty, and you can actually go places without having to book a table first.


No Barbenheimer here! Stellar effort by the marketing team, although Barbie fatigue has already set in among some of us…

My tip for this week? Björn de Feyter’s White Walls/Stilling Bodies at Base-Alpha Gallery, which opens on Thursday. The stillness in his photos of male bodies is pervasive, and emphasised by sections that are whited out.


On the 28th, you can pop into church for a lunchtime organ concert (12.45-1.45pm). Antwerp’s Cathedral has two: the romantic Schyven organ and the Baroque Metzler. They each have their merits but on Friday you can hear Peter Van de Velde on the Schyven. Last summer I walked in on an organ practice in Weimar. The person seated next to me - who is a staunch atheist mind - got up after gazing at Cranach’s altarpiece and listening for a while and said: I can see how people found religion…


I suppose it has to be mussels, since they’re in season. When in Antwerp, do as
Antwerpians do and head to Sint-Anneke plage or Maritime near the Cathedral. If you’re a vegetarian, And/Or is always a good idea!