Bring On The Sun(flowers)

What happens when you fill a historic city square with 8,000 live sunflowers? When it is located in a European Capitol of Culture and has been designed as part of an art trail, it is called Sun City. Yes, that is right; for the next week the Grand Place here in Mons is filled with a maze of 8,000 sunflowers or tournesols, as they are called in French. This is just another one of the many free events that are taking place as part of the Mons 2015 celebration. Sun City is the latest cultural event that is celebrating the regions arts scene this year. And like so many of the previous events, this one pays homage to Vincent Van Gogh, one of the more famous residents of Mons. We had already visited an earlier Van Gogh exhibit at the modern art museum so now it was time to wander through a recreation of the sunflower fields that he made so famous.

This field of sunflowers is laid out in an intricate maze allowing visitor to wander through the towering twists and turns right in the center of the city. Before visitors enter the maze they pick up a free pair of headphones which provides a soothing soundtrack for their visit. The next stop is a climb to the top of the Grand Place or in this case, a multi-storied set of risers where visitor can take in a panoramic view of the Grand Place and the sunflower maze below. This was the first time I had viewed the city from this perspective and it was quite impressive. Next we made our way back down the stairs and entered the maze. Along the way we were greeted with row upon row of towering sunflowers in various states of bloom. There were also a few larger than life topiaries tucked into hidden nooks within the maze. Of course this included a giant Vincent Van Gogh head as well as an oversized chair, a giant boot (that looked a lot like the famous LL Bean boot in Freeport, Maine) and a ship. All in all, it was a pretty cool experience.

But pictures always say it better than words so here are a few to give you an idea of what Sun City is really like:

Looking down and across the maze

Hotel de Ville

Up close

Van Gogh; oversized images of his head  made
of various mediums have been
everywhere this year

Peeking through the sunflowers

An ariel view of the Mons Grand Place at night. Photo courtesy of We Love Mons 2015

If you go:

Sun City
Grand Place Mons
Open from 17 to 25 July, from 12.00-20.00 (extended hours on weekends)
Free admission

Living In A Tourist Town

Come play in Mons

It may have started out slowly, or so it seemed, but Mons 2015 is in full swing. As in the tour busses are coming, the tourists are swarming and I dare say we are living in a Belgian tourist destination. And as a resident, I have to admit that it is all kind of exciting.

Although the construction of the new train station appears to be lagging, things are really picking up around here. The streets are cleaner---workers patrol the streets both day and night with giant vacuum cleaner like apparatuses sucking up trash, leaves and anything that lies in their paths. New restaurants, store fronts and private residences are opening up and public art is everywhere. Formerly drab facades have been splashed with brightly colored paint and pop up exhibits (like the giant inflatable red balls pictured at the left) appear in surprising places. And as someone who spends a lot of time wandering through the neighborhood, I've noticed an increase in signage identifying historic buildings. And much to my surprise the signage is usually tri-lingual with the local French sharing space with Flemish and English. But best of all is the increase in customer service one receives from the shop keepers and waiters. Under the best of circumstances I've found Belgian service workers to be polite if not a bit surly with many not speaking, or at least professing to not, speak any English. Now I have no expectation that anyone should speak English here but upon arriving here I was a bit surprised by how many people didn't speak it. But all of a sudden it would appear that the very same waiters and clerks now speak the language. Like I said, it isn't necessary but is a welcome surprise that makes it easier and more comfortable to go about my business. (Of course my French is also improving so maybe we are really just meeting half way).

And a Grand Place filled with balls

So on any given day, regardless of the weather, I leave my house and come face to face with hoards of map and camera toting tourists.While I don't take the sights of Mons for granted, seeing others stop to take pictures of the buildings around me is making me slow down and appreciate my daily views. And when I do I find myself in slight awe that I am living here in Europe and getting to enjoy all of this on a daily basis. On some level I must look like a local too since I am being approached on a daily basis with inquiries for directions or things to see. My French is still pretty weak but ask me for directions to the Grand Place and I can rattle them off in French with the best of them. But of course it isn't all fun and games.....

Remember the tour busses I mentioned earlier? Well they need to park somewhere and the narrow streets and even more limited on street parking spaces don't afford them a lot of leeway for moving about.  One way streets and sidewalks are being converted into make shift bus parking--both authorized and unauthorized-- and much to my dismay on more than one occasion this has included the no parking zone in front of our gate. Yes, the joys of city living apparently include being blocked into your driveway with no alternative escape route. I guess it is as good of an excuse as any but more than ever it means being flexible and making alternative plans. And regardless of the size of the street, a double decker tour bus is not designed to do K-turns. But they try and the results aren't always pretty.

With the summer season just gearing up the tourists and busses are only going to increase. Mons has a whole slate of fun activities planned for the coming months and I plan on joining the hoards and enjoying them as well. I'll be arriving on foot instead of by bus and will be able to escape to the calmness of my own house when the buzz gets to be too much. But at the end of the day this is all  a lot of fun. After all, how many people can say that they have lived in a fun and increasingly vibrant community with the designation of being a European Capital of Culture? I'm going to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts.

Wordless Wednesday: Biografias

This week's Wordless Wednesday photograph is actually overflowing with words:

close up of the books

Wordless Wednesday: Bounce

A Date With Van Gogh

This year Mons is a European Capital of Culture and with that designation comes an entire year of cultural activities right here in our little part of Belgium. Earlier this winter we attended Illumination, the kick off event for this year's festivities and most recently we took in a Van Gogh exhibit at BAM, Mons' own modern art museum.

Van Gogh has been all of the rage this year. Sidney's kindergarten class has been studying Van Gogh since the beginning of the year. They've been looking at his art work, making their own five year old renditions of his sunflower paintings and even piled onto a bus and took a field trip to see the exhibit when it first opened. Sidney came home telling us that it was "the best field trip ever" and he wanted to take his father and I there to see Van Gogh's work. So this past weekend we did just that. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

You might ask yourself why Van Gogh in Mons? Well the answer is that Vincent Van Gogh is actually a product of Mons. Van Gogh had a short but turbulent life which lasted a mere 37 years. During this time he toiled with various professions: art dealer, teacher, book seller and lay preacher before focusing on his art work. Between December 1878 and October 1880 Van Gogh lived in the Borinage mining region (the area surrounding Mons) and worked as an evangelist missionary but it was during this time that he developed his artistic ideology. His early work was rather primitive and reflected the world he saw around him; miners and their families, hardscrabble villages and Belgian landscapes were the subjects of his earliest drawings and paintings. His work reflected the everyday realities of miners, peasants and weavers and by all intensive purposes was quite grim. But his work reflected the times and his perspective on the world and although his time in Mons was brief it shaped the rest of his career as an artist.

The BAM exhibit is entitled "Van Gogh in the Borinage: The Birth of an Artist" and features his early work, much of which was produced right here in Mons. The exhibit is comprised of a combination of original work and reproductions done in oils, watercolors, pencil and even woodcarving.  Many of the pieces are copies of the works of artists he admired, including Jean-Francois Millet, and visitors can clearly see the progression of his skills as they walk through the exhibit. An early work entitled "The Hag" depicted an old beaten down horse. On one hand I don't think it is a particularly artistic or even well done painting but one does get the sense that the horse had led a hard life. Later paintings of animals are more sophisticated and well done, thus reflecting his evolution as an artist. Personally, I am an admirer of Van Gogh's later works but it was interesting to see how his skills truly did develop over time. More often than not we only have the opportunity to view masterpieces and never get a glimpse of where the artist came from when they were getting their start. With this Van Gogh exhibit we are given just that and for that reason alone, a visit to the BAM is well worth it.

The Van Gogh exhibit is temporary, with many of the pieces on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and will be at BAM through the middle of May so now is the time to visit. If you miss this exhibit not to fear; other temporary exhibits will follow.

If you go:
BAM
Rue Neuve 8
7000 Mons, Belgium
Open Tuesday-Sunday 12:00-18:00
www.bam.mons.be


You can also visit the Van Gogh House in neighboring Cuesmes
Maison Van Gogh
Rue du Pavillon 3
7033 Cuesmes, Belgium
www.maisonvangogh.mons.be
Open Tuesday-Sunday 12:00-18:00

Mons 2015: This Year's European Capital of Culture

In yesterday's blog post I shared pictures from this past weekend's opening event for Mons 2015. Today I'm going to explain what Mons 2015 is and some of the things I have to look forward to in the coming year. (Again I keep telling myself that it is just so cool that I have all of these great events taking place literally blocks from my house!).

So what is a European Capital of Culture? Simply put, it is a cultural initiative within the European Union that annually showcases the cultural heritage of selected cities.

Since 1985, the EU Council of Ministers has been selecting between one and five European cities to carry the title for a one year time period. The first city to carry this designation was Athens, Greece and since then cities large and small, capitals and provincial outposts throughout Europe have worn this designation with pride. This designation has been used as a tool for urban renewal, job creation and economic growth as well as an opportunity to highlight the sometimes neglected artistic and cultural aspects of a community. In a 2004 study the European Commission found that being selected as a European Capital of Culture has created longterm transformation for chosen cities. Simply put, this designation is a big deal. And that brings us back to Mons.

Yes, Mons. This little city is the southwestern part of Belgium, often overlooked and neglected is a 2015 European Capital of Culture. (Mons shares this year's title with Plzen, Czech Repubic). I had known about this designation when we first moved here a year ago. At the time people were referencing it but the details were vague. We heard that the year would be filled with activities but that was all we really knew. A new train station was being built in anticipation of all of the visitors who would be descending. We've been watching the construction's progress, or lack there of, over the past year and wondered if the station would really be completed in time. (It turns out our doubts were founded with the projected completion date now being the "end of 2015"). A large wooden piece of public art by Belgian artist Arne Quinze went up...and then came down. As residents of the city center a month ago we received a notification informing us of street closures, residential parking bans and driving restrictions within the city. I began to wonder if this designation was going to be more of an inconvenience for us than anything else.

But then, Mons 2015 officially opened. As the weekend approached the streets looked cleaner and more litter free than usual. Barriers and no parking signs were placed on corners and intersections. Roads began to be closed. In anticipation of the parking and driving ban we made plans to hunker down for the weekend and enjoy the festivities by foot. (Again, this is the great thing about living right in the center of the city). The theme for the opening festivities was "Illumination". As in lights. And sure enough, after a snowy then rainy morning the weather cleared up and illuminated art displays filled the city's squares, parks and open spaces. I'll admit the silver foil ponchos that were handed out to make the audience a part of a "living mirror ball" were a bit weird and perhaps I didn't see enough of them to truly appreciate their intended effect. But the larger than life, multi-colored sculptures that filled the Belfry park were spectacular. (We can see the belfry from our house and have been watching its changing color displays for weeks but it was great to finally be able to see it up close). Then there was the fantastic fireworks display that we could actually view from the second story of our house. But our favorite exhibit of all was the one involving fire. Located in Place du Parc, impressive displays involving fire and water filled the streets and green spaces. There were the giant flame filled balls that were suspended from a crane, candle lit arches over all of the park's walkways, giant fire pits that served as both warming stops and art and artists playing with fire and flames. A band performed under and flame filled stage. It really was a spectacular sight to behold.

I'm not sure what I expected to see but I must say I was impressed by all of the evening's events. Sure the crowds (not as bad as I had anticipated) and blocked streets were an inconvenience but it was all worth it. I've always loved the way Europe embraces public art, both the traditional and envelope pushing displays, and the Illumination event highlighted the best of public art. I'm now excited to see what the rest of this year of culture holds in store. And apparently others feel the same way. CNN's travel section named Mons as one of the top ten destinations to visit in 2015 and Britain's The Guardian has been covering this year's activities in Mons. If the media hype is to believed, the crowds are going to come. Am I ready? Yes. I can't wait. It really is a great time to be here in Belgium.

Mons 2015: Illumination

This year Mons is a European Capital of Culture. Here are a few pictures of the opening festivities of Mons 2015. The theme was "Illumination".