Love Letter from Brussels
<< Back List Next >>
Towards the Finale (No.45)
28/11/2016
And so the 12th month will start soon. We approach now the final month of 2016, a year filled with festivities for the 150 Years of Friendship between Japan and Belgium. And various events appropriate for closing off the year continue.Ukiyo-e Exhibition
One of those is the “Ukiyo-e Exhibition”, which opened on October 21 and takes place at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels. As a matter of fact, the Cinquantenaire Museum, which is located very close to the EU Headquarters, owns a world-leading collection of Ukiyo-e prints. Since Japan opened diplomatic relations with Belgium in 1866 and up until the beginning of the 20th Century, many Ukiyo-e prints made it to Europe. It is widely said that during the record-breaking boom of Japonism, the newly forming arts called Art Nouveau in Europe was greatly influenced by the works from Hokusai, Utamaro, Sharaku and others.
We are proud to say that this Ukiyo-e Exhibition, in matter of quality as well as quantity, is the best Ukiyo-e exhibition since the one held on the occasion of Europalia in Belgium in 1989. Honestly, under harsh financial conditions, it must be quite difficult even for the Royal Cinquantenaire Museum to manage their extensive art collection and to renovate on time their exhibition space to hold such a vast exhibition. I was delighted as can be to see that with all the effort put in by the staff of the museum, the exhibition space in front of the main entrance could be improved and the Ukiyo-e collection, which had been kept in storage for a long time, could be displayed again for all visitors to see on this occasion of the 150 Years of Friendship between Belgium and Japan. Thanks to the cooperation of many sponsors, I was happy to be able to partly participate in the organization of this exhibition as the 150 Years Anniversary Celebration Committee.
I also attended on the eve of the exhibition on October 20, and having the chance to marvel at the numerous works of art can only be described as magnificent! Personally it was the first time for me to see such a varied cornucopia of Ukiyo-e. Even in Japan, I don’t think such Ukiyo-e Exhibitions open very often. Amongst the works on display, there are even a few Ukiyo-e prints from Sharaku that now cannot be found in Japan.
Actually, this exhibition is on until February 12, so even after the anniversary year of 150 Years of Friendship ends. The works that are displayed will be switched on December 20, so I recommend for those who want to see them all to visit the exhibition twice, once before and once after December 20. Also, although the Museum is closed on Mondays, on Christmas and on New Year, it is open all other days including weekends. For more details on the opening hours, please visit the website of the Cinquantenaire Museum. By all means, on this occasion, enjoy Ukiyo-e in Brussels.Winter Wonders
On this occasion I would like to introduce another event. In the major European countries, including Belgium, Christmas markets are held from the last weekend of November onwards. In Brussels as well, a variety of events known collectively by the name “Winter Wonders” is held each year. And once again, in celebration of Japan’s150 Years of Friendship with Belgium, Japan was the guest country of this year’s edition. On November 25 (Fri), the opening ceremony was held, which I also attended. Following his welcoming speech at the Brussels City Hall, the Mayor led the way and showed us around the festivities. First, at the Grand Place in front of the city hall, a huge Christmas tree, donated by Slovakia, was decorated, and followed by a ceremony to light up all of the LED lights. Following this, men in ice bear-suits led the way around the similarly beautifully LED-decorated Bourse (the old stock exchange building) and the ice rink in front of the Monnaie Theater.
However, the highlight was surely the St. Catherine’s church facing the square that is famous for the Christmas market. On its front facade, a 6-minute Japan-themed video mapping show was projected. I had the honor to witness the first projection together with the Mayor, and it was wonderful indeed! It would be a shame to reveal all of the contents here, but there is a link with the Ukiyo-e exhibition which I talked about earlier. Both traditional and modern Japan is shown, resulting in a dynamic content and a loud appraisal from the Mayor and the members of the audience.
This projection mapping show takes place every day until January 1, from 18:00 to 22:00. There are intervals of 30 minutes between projections, with the remaining time until the next projection displayed as well. If you feel like checking it out, do not hesitate to drop by.
