Mons: European Capital of Culture

  • Tuesday, February 3, 2015
  • Ann N. Yungmeyer

Meet Mons, Belgium – a city of less than 100,000 people, about an hour’s train ride south of Brussels in the French-speaking part of Belgium known as Wallonia. Perhaps not well known as a travel destination, Mons is in the spotlight this year as the European Capital of Culture for 2015.

With support from the European Union, the designation is a catalyst for cultural development and transformation of the city, bringing a year-long program of arts and cultural events. The EU designation often has recognized lesser known cities, although in the past, it has included bigger names such as Marseille, Istanbul, Liverpool, Prague and Helsinki. This year, Mons shares the designation with Pilsen in the Czech Republic.

The Mons 2015 cultural fest was launched on January 24 with a light show, fireworks and grand revelry in the town’s main square, Grand-Place.  The crown jewel of Mons, a 17th century Baroque belfry and a UNESCO site, towered in the background from a nearby hilltop, illuminated for the year of festivities.

A series of art exhibitions are on tap at the city’s Musée des Beaux-Arts including the current showing, “Van Gogh in the Borinage,” which features the artist’s earliest works inspired from living in the nearby coal mining region. Van Gogh fans can also visit the house where the artist lived from 1879-1880, or take a guided tour following his footsteps when he lived among the miners. Mons 2015 will also host an exhibition, “Hollywood at the Foot of the Slag Heap,” recalling the screening of the 1955 film, Lust for Life, filmed near Mons by Vincente Minnelli with Kirk Douglas. Honoring Van Gogh in a summertime exhibit, an urban maze of 8,000 sunflowers will grace the Grand-Place.

Other program highlights will include gigantic sculptures by contemporary Chinese artists, 100 accordions sounding on the steps of the historic Sainte Waudru’s Collegiate Church, and an exhibit on the French poet Paul Verlaine that examines his writing during his years spent in a Mons prison. From his work, Romances sans paroles, the exhibit illustrates the stormy saga of Verlaine’s love affair with the poet Arthur Rimbaud and his subsequent shooting of Rimbaud in the wrist.

In addition to city-wide art installations and performing arts programs throughout the year, Mons will see long term benefits with the opening of five new museums, two new concert halls, and a state-of-the-art conference center designed by Daniel Libeskind, the architect of Ground Zero in New York.

One of the new museums will feature a collection of memorabilia from the city’s most celebrated tradition from medieval times, Ducasse de Mons, or “Doudou,” an annual parade and reenactment of the myth of Saint George and the dragon. Each year on Trinity Sunday, after a procession of the historic Golden Carriage, crowds gather in the Grand-Place to watch Saint George on horseback slaying the dragon.

If Doudou sounds quirky, it isn’t the only unusual art. During the Mons 2015 opening reception with the King and Queen of Belgium, an aerial blimp hovered inside the 17th century Sainte Waudru’s Collegiate Church just below the cathedral ceiling, piloting between columns of the nave.

Adding to the unconventional art – urban installations include laundry and sexy lingerie hanging between rooftops, dancing robots illuminating a town square, and pounds of books cascading out of windows. And Mons’ Town Hall, a masterpiece of 15th century Gothic architecture, features a sculpted monkey squatting near the main entrance that it is said to bring good luck by stroking him with your left hand.

With its colorful character and unique blend of cultural heritage and contemporary style, Mons is a place to expect the unexpected. But even before Mons 2015, the city has been known for arts education and began to transform historic spaces into premier arts venues, including its newly renovated, former slaughterhouse called Les Anciens Abattoirs and the former cavalry stables built in 1854, Manege de Sury. Mons has also become a laboratory for digital technology and the new creative economy, with Google and other high tech companies locating operations in the region.

The city has an energetic vibe that is also casual and welcoming, and certainly this year, as the European Capital of Culture, Mons puts itself firmly on the map.

If you go:

www.mons2015.eu/en

www.visitbelgium.com

For information on Tourist Schengen visas which are needed to enter Belgium, go here: http://www.schengenvisainfo.com/tourist-schengen-visa/

 

 

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