Stick around the city centre in Brussels and you'd think that the entire country is just Tintin, beer, waffles, fries, and chocolate. (All good things, to be fair.) But the conundrum that is modern 'Belgium' is much better encapsulated by taking a train - multiple trains - across it, watching the dominant language change in conductor announcements and navigating the unspoken tensions of language. In Flemish areas I learned that English is fine, but French is frowned upon. I tried to learn a few words of Dutch to bridge the awkward gap, but I can't imagine navigating this kind of life every day. How do you tell someone where you live when it has two different names? (Bruges/Brugge; Brussels/Bruxelles.) Yes, the sonority of the words makes them essentially the same, but the dissonance is still there. So is the pause before you pick which language to speak, which identity to use. I envy the ability to be so naturally multilingual, but not the circumstances.
So, to the 'working holiday' part. I love the fact that this was actually a research/"business" trip when we spent the entirety of it looking at works in museums. (Yes, it is actually work - the way we do it! And often exhausting.) We covered most major museums in Brussels, Leuven, Ghent and Bruges in a matter of four days. Though it was a bit of a race to see everything, we got an in-depth look at some incredible works with our professor, and a talk from a conservator working on the Ghent Altarpiece restoration. I thought he somehow bore a remarkable resemblance to Tintin...and, you know, had super interesting things to say about the project. It's a great group of classmates - er, colleagues? - so we had fun together as well.
I'd love to go back and spend more time in f*#$ing Bruges. (Faint of heart, don't click.) My chief prior perception of it was from the movie, so the art historical perspective certainly fleshed it out for me. There's a lot more history than I was aware of - Bruges was once a thriving international city, not a quiet little town. We had limited time there, so there's plenty of churches and charm left to explore.
I wish I had more pictures to illustrate this post, but it was a working trip so nearly all of my pictures are details of early Netherlandish panel paintings. Eh? Any interest?
Love,
Annie
So, to the 'working holiday' part. I love the fact that this was actually a research/"business" trip when we spent the entirety of it looking at works in museums. (Yes, it is actually work - the way we do it! And often exhausting.) We covered most major museums in Brussels, Leuven, Ghent and Bruges in a matter of four days. Though it was a bit of a race to see everything, we got an in-depth look at some incredible works with our professor, and a talk from a conservator working on the Ghent Altarpiece restoration. I thought he somehow bore a remarkable resemblance to Tintin...and, you know, had super interesting things to say about the project. It's a great group of classmates - er, colleagues? - so we had fun together as well.
I'd love to go back and spend more time in f*#$ing Bruges. (Faint of heart, don't click.) My chief prior perception of it was from the movie, so the art historical perspective certainly fleshed it out for me. There's a lot more history than I was aware of - Bruges was once a thriving international city, not a quiet little town. We had limited time there, so there's plenty of churches and charm left to explore.
I wish I had more pictures to illustrate this post, but it was a working trip so nearly all of my pictures are details of early Netherlandish panel paintings. Eh? Any interest?
Love,
Annie