Top of the shots

Me by Konrad Dwojak

This weekend, my colleague, the up-and-coming uber photographer, Konrad Dwojak took a couple of portrait shots of me to furnish my new website-in-the-works.

Here is a preview of one of Kon's concept shots, which I love! It was really important to get the books in the shot and the composition took a little time. While Kon was concerned that I should be the focus, he managed to achieve the right balance between me and the books and accurately but discreetly convey the message that I wanted.

This is a cropped version of the final image. The full photo is below. If you like Konrad's sophisticated camera work, you can follow him on Twitter @konradphoto.

Following in the footsteps of Christopher Isherwood

22 rue Adolphe Max, Brussels: sometime home of Christopher Isherwood

The photo above is of 22 rue Adolphe Max in the centre of Brussels. Nothing distinctive about that, you might think, except if it was in England it would certainly be graced with a blue plaque in honour of its one-time inhabitant. The late, great British writer Christopher Isherwood briefly lived here in 1932. Isherwood is probably best known for the adaptations of his beautifully written novella, Sally Bowles, which became Cabaret on film, starring Liza Minelli and a successful Broadway production, starring Julie Harris. Recently, the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of A Single Man, starring Colin Firth in Tom Ford’s directorial debut, brought Isherwood’s work back into the spotlight.

Having recently read Isherwood’s Berlin Stories - the subtly sinister Mr Norris Changes Trains and the surreally evocative Goodbye to Berlin - I am officially in thrall to his genius. A master of prose, his delicate re-creation of character and events makes the reader feel as if they, too, have lived his life and been a party to his times. This feeling of intimacy is further enhanced on reading Christopher and his kind, Isherwood’s autobiography of his Berlin years, from 1929 to 1939. Against the encroaching political backdrop of Nazism, and in the final days of the Weimar Republic, Isherwood captures a period of decadence and impending, unstoppable loss. Rather than joining any of the political movements that were prevalent at the time (although he flirted with Communism, he was never really committed), Isherwood contributed to the cause and halted time the best way he could - by documenting it in his inimitable, timeless style.

An honest, unselfish writer, Isherwood gives us an insight into how he used the people and events of his life by explaining the fictionalisation of his novels in Christopher and his kind. The sections that explain his creative and literary process are invaluable to the novice who, like me, is struggling with the indistinct line between truth and fiction. The struggle continues but, thanks to Isherwood, the line is a little bit clearer.

Where are our Walker Evans?

Much has been written over the last few months about the lack of writers documenting the human impact of the financial crisis. The names most often brought out in these debates are Steinbeck and Orwell, two towering figures in the literary-documentary tradition against which no writers today justifiably compare.

But it occurred to me while walking around the Jeff Wall retrospective at the BOZAR in Brussels that, not only is it legitimate to question the dearth of literary chroniclers, we might also pause to consider the absence of photographers capturing the essence of the new great depression. Where are our Walker Evans? Where are our Cartier-Bressons?

The argument could be made, as it has about writers, that in the midst of the worst financial crisis in a generation, people don’t want to read, or see, their suffering reflected in their entertainment. The purpose, they argue, of literature and film and any other of the arts, is to take the consumer into the realms of fantasy not force them to wallow, to live, in their reality. This is a one-dimensional analysis. Surely, the job of an artist is to capture reality as well as help create it? And if, as is often said, the media set the agenda, then surely our writers and photographers are in a unique position to document the social and economic decline at the human level and give voice, shape and form to the suffering.

While many striking images have come out of Detroit, and there have been inevitable accusations of 'poverty porn', the new voyeurism, it may only be years from now that we come to rue the consequences of the suffering we chose to ignore.

A bright idea from a Bellray

The wonderful Bellrays

Justin, the really cool guitarist from the California band The Bellrays, came up with this great suggestion yesterday over a delicious dinner home cooked by our very own dynamic diva, Dorrie D.

As a voracious reader who’s on the road a lot, Justin’s become a big fan of the Kindle (or, rather, Barnes and Noble’s version of the Kindle, the NOOK). He told me that the Los Angeles Public Library, of which he’s a member, loans books digitally just as they do physically. The books are downloaded onto your device and are available to read for a specified period, say, three weeks, after which time the book becomes inaccessible from your reader. Presumably, you can renew the books just as you would in the real world.

I’ve been thinking about how I can incorporate new forms of publishing, e.g. e-books and digital devices into the library and this is a great idea. Users will also be able to borrow books digitally therefore being allowed to take them off the premises (dependent, of course, on them having a digital device of their own in the first place). On a side note, I’m currently considering options for bulk purchase and distribution with partners. All ideas welcome but thanks, Justin, for this one.

Check out The Bellrays (motto: Soul is the teacher, Punk is the preacher) at www.thebellrays.com.

Dinner with new friends

It’s been almost a year since I arrived in Brussels and how time has flown! In the last twelve months I’ve met many interesting and creative people from all over the world, the kind of people it’s been a pleasure to learn from and to know. They’ve all been generously encouraging and personally inspiring in their individual ways.

Last night, I was lucky enough to be in the company of such a group of people thanks to my new friends, Lies and Sulaiman, who hosted a lovely dinner party with a creative, engaging, caring collective: Cleve, Lee, Anne and Tim, Omar and, of course, Tamara, who introduced me to Lies and Sulaiman in the first place.

At several points in the evening, the discussion turned to ‘my’ library idea. During the course of numerous conversations, the assembled intellects pointed out the following:

• Reading is a form of escapism.
  I recently interviewed Andy Thornton, Director of AfriKids UK. He told me that people, in their generosity if not in their wisdom, would donate toilets to villages in Ghana where there was no plumbing. And yesterday when I remarked that people in the north were too poor to worry about reading books Cleve pointed out that that wasn’t necessarily the case, that reading can often be a form of escapism for those living a harsh reality. Later on, Sulaiman told me that when he was living in a refugee camp as a child, he and his brother would voraciously read copies of month-old newspapers to stay in touch with the world and maintain their knowledge but also to escape into other worlds. Moral of the story: Never underestimate the importance of books and reading to anyone and never underestimate the value of knowledge. Books (and newspapers / newsmagazines) may age but the knowledge contained within them never dates, even if the world has moved on, the world contained within their pages still has a value.

• Get members to donate books.
  I was telling Lee about my plan to charge for membership to subsidise other/rural branches and the various levels of benefits associated with each membership. He suggested that one way to subsidise membership would be to get people to donate their old books in exchange for a reduced rate. This hadn’t occurred to me before. By offering this incentive, it encourages books to be recycled as well as growing the collection. Or, even better, get people to donate a book in addition to their subscription. Both great ideas!

• Facilitate the move from an aid economy to a knowledge economy.
  Omar, who has spent his life working for the UN and is now retired, said he had two big regrets about African development: the failure of African leadership and the dependence on aid. Omar has a lot of knowledge gained from vast experience of development around the globe. He’s passionate about Africa moving from an aid-dependent economy to a knowledge economy and books, of course, play an important role in this.

• Developing a reading/writing culture.
  At the end of the night, Tamara, my Malawian friend and South London homegirl who’s lived in Nigeria - Lagos, no less - became my Socratic interlocutor. ‘Will people be willing to pay to read books?’ ‘Who will your market be?’ ‘How will it make money?’ ‘What sidelines can you add on?’ All extremely valid questions which need airtight answers in order to firm up the idea. Then she raised my biggest bugbear – the lack of (internationally renowned) Ghanaian authors, especially in comparison to Nigerian authors – Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ben Okri, Chimanda Ngozi Adichie, E.C. Osundu, Teju Cole, the list goes on… This is, of course, very true. The aim of the library is obviously to encourage and develop a reading culture but, through this, develop a writing culture too. Almost every successful writer is an avid reader. The two go hand-in-hand. As well as a repository of books, the library will also hold writing workshops, host writer events with visiting authors and, over time, develop a publishing arm as an added incentive to encourage budding writers. She pointed me to the wonderful Cassava Republic Press, a Nigerian publishing house whose mission is to change 'the way we think about African fiction'.

‘My library idea’ is now ‘our’ library idea! Thanks to everyone for their generous input. I look forward to many more dinners where ideas are shared and refined in the company of talented, creative and caring people.

A bibliophile's paradise

This morning, I set out to discover the legendary Brussels second hand bookshop, Pele Mele and, boy, did I discover it. 'Cavernous' doesn't do it justice. High shelves stacked with books of every genre, edition and format with a vast selection in English. Serious fellow bibliophiles with baskets full of classic and contemporary literature.

In my own basket was:

• Aminata Forna, Memory of Love
• Andrea Levy, Small Island
• Zadie Smith, On Beauty
• Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
• Hisham Matar, In The Country of Men
• Karen Blixen, Out of Africa
• Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea

...all for the paltry sum of just €13! And hardly a cracked spine in sight! I fear a love affair is just beginning...

The man who would be PM

The Italian Obama? Nichi Vendola

Last night, in a trendy bar in Brussels’ beautiful Parc Cinquantenaire, three hundred young, professional, Italians crowded into a room, each vying for space. Elbows were sharpened. The atmosphere was electric. You'd think it was an intimate gig by a big rock band. There was a buzz and an energy. There was passion and determination. There was beer and there were burgers but neither was of any interest to this crowd, who’d hurried to the venue after work to secure themselves a prime spot. They were all here to see the man who would be the next prime minister of Italy and they hung on to his every word.

Nichi Vendola has been dubbed ‘the Italian Obama’. His following has been called cult-like and his politics ‘all things to all people’. But for these people here, many of whom left Italy because they saw no future for themselves in their native, he is the best hope they have for a revival of their homeland. A former communist, openly gay and devoutly Catholic, he may seem an extreme choice but, after two decades of Berlusconi, it’s Vendola’s extreme difference that makes him such an attractive proposition to many.

Three topics dominated the agenda: ‘precarious’ jobs, the stability pact and the bankruptcy of the European left. Vendola didn’t have all the answers but he was honest enough to admit it and humble enough to invite free thinking on the issues.

Young Italians, like young Spaniards, young Egyptians and young Tunisians are desperate for change. Who knows? Come 2013 they may finally get it. Fingers crossed.

The good, the exceptional and the downright disastrous: Couleur Cafe

Kooky and credible: the super-talented Janelle Monae

I take it all back. The indifference, the ambivalence, the dismissiveness. All hail Janelle Monae! This girl rocks! Not only does she rock, she does it gracefully, too: artistically, creatively, theatrically, dramatically. Having seen her bring the house down at this year's Couleur Cafe opening night, I'm now a believer, converted by an engaging, consummate performer delivering a stellar show, including her whole band. An hour long set that was a monochrome riot of energy and talent that was matchless on this particular night. I can't wait to see her again in a better setting i.e. where the sound mixers actually work.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80: taking over from where Fela left off

Seun Kuti played on the same stage as Janelle Monae and gave a good performance. But something was missing. Can't  put my finger on it.  Nothing wrong with it but it didn't compare to his performance at Cargo some years ago, which came on the back of the release of his debut album, the politically potent Many Things. For one thing, he didn't make good use of the stage. You could barely see his dancers, who were hidden away at the back. But that wasn't it. Perhaps it was the lack of connection with the audience or jet-lag, who knows? The highlight of the set, though, was a rendition of a song called Rise, taken from his latest offering, the wonderfully-titled From Africa With Fury. Definitely one to download.

Purveyors of true hip-hop: I Am

The other day I told my multilingual colleague how lucky he was to be able to enjoy music from around the world whereas us monolingual English speakers are confined by laziness to consuming the commercialism that the industry inflicts upon us. What prompted this comment was the Couleur Cafe line-up. I knew a few of the artists but not nearly as many as the non-British seemed to know. And everybody else was raving about seeing one group in particular. Now I know why. I'd never heard of I Am until a few days before the festival and now I'll be joining the masses in singing their praises. I Am delivered a tight hip-hop set that combined a tight, lyrical flow over heavy street beats with consummate professionalism. These guys are veterans and ground breakers on the French rap scene and, though they've been around since the 1990's they haven't lost any of their fire. Unlike these two...

Legends dishing out old rope: Method Man and Redman

Method Man and Redman were supposed to be the highlight of our night. The 10.30pm billing was testament to that. But I'll leave it to my equally bemused friend to sum up their 'performance': 'This is like a parody of a hip-hop show. I've invested my life in this music and they're pissing on my memories.'

Nuff said!

Libyans demonstrate in Brussels - what will it take to stop the butchery?

Link to a report from the European Council on Foreign Relations on what Europe needs to do on Libya here.

Italians protest for women - and against Berlusconi - in Brussels

Protestors demand sanctions against Lukashenka

Pro-democracy campaigners outside the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels where EU foreign ministers were meeting to decide on sanctions against President Lukashenka of Belarus.

Less talk, more action: Belgians take to the streets to demand a government

Protesters march in Brussels to demand a government. The protesters in the Belgian capital numbered in the tens of thousands. Belgium has been without a government for seven months and holds Europe's record for the length of time it has been without government.

Fifty years after the assasination of Lumumba, protesters demand justice

Photo by Agnes at Intal.be

The Tunisian uprising in Brussels

Jubilation at the stock exchange

Conquering lions of Tunisia

The finger of blame

Yes they did!

The placard that says it all

More financial folly from the Commission

So this year's EU Development Days have come to an end after two days of roundtables, conferences, seminars, workshops and discussions involving heads of state, diplomats, officials, development experts and interested members of the public. According to the Commission, 6,000 delegates attended the event and were treated to, among other things, a fashion show, a music concert and theatre productions. The cost for this affair? Rumoured to be in the region of two million euro. Money that would have been better spent in actual development, no doubt.

This latest financial folly comes just weeks after a similar ill-conceived exercise to mark the EU Year Against Poverty in which thousands of free branded t-shirts were handed out to all and sundry outside the Parliament. The t-shirts were given away free, which is worth reiterating, because they weren't given in exchange for signing up to receiving more information about poverty in the EU or for pledging to help combat inequalities. No, the communications 'experts' responsible for such profligacy clearly have a complete disregard for the cardinal rule of communications campaigns: what do you want people to do NOT what do you want them to know. However much, or little, the branded t-shirts cost to produce, again, surely it's money that would have been better spent actually combatting poverty as opposed to promoting it!

In this age of austerity, surely the powers-that-be at the Commission could come up with more cost-effective ways for getting their messages out and engaging the public in a meaningful way. The key is not to throw money at comms campaigns but rather to inject a bit of common sense in to them. EC Comms Watch continues...

The people versus Paul Kagame

Men blow vuvuzelas as they gather outside the Square conventre centre to protest against the visit of Rwanda's President, Paul Kagame to the EU Development Days in Brussels, Monday, 6 December, 2010. Photo from AP.

Journal d'une femme du Kosovo

As-tu oublié Sarajevo ?

I've just come back from a performance of Journal d'une femme du Kosovo (Diary of a Kosovan Woman), a production by Konitza, a Brussels-based Albanian organisation named after the writer, Faik Konitza promoting Albanian arts and culture. The play was at a tiny community theatre in Evere, a suburb of Brussels, and there's just one word that comes to mind when describing the production: powerful.

Based on the diary of Sevdije Ahmeti, Journal tells the story of women during the Kosovo war of the 1990s. A simple set with a screen backdrop projecting images of suffering caused by conflict around the world was the pefect stage for a captivating performance by actress, Anila Dervishi and musician, Afzim Jahja who, together had the audience gripped with their compelling, stripped down performances.

Journal needs to be seen by more people. It's a timely reminder of the atrocities that have been committed in recent history and is deserving of wider notice and acclaim for all the right reasons in a time of so much wrong.

The Hungarian Revolution: Erich Lessing at BELvue

In 1956, Austrian-born Magnum photographer, Erich Lessing used his camera to capture the unfolding events of the Hungarian revolution in the streets of Budapest, unintentionally producing an important historical document. The BELvue Museum is showing a collection of the photographer's images along with more contemporary photographs from subsequent generations of East-European and Balkan artists who registered their own personal, often more nihilistic, view of the world. The (im)potence of the image depicts the new Europe from the post-war period but also that, in process of enlargement, of the men and women that were born there at that time and are still living and working in the region.

Background
Budapest 1956. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, was an anti-Soviet revolt in Hungary lasting from 23 October to 4 November 1956. The revolt was suppressed by Soviet troops, and to a much smaller degree the Hungarian ÁVH ('State Protection Authority'). Anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 Hungarian rebels and 7,000 Soviet troops were killed, thousands more were wounded, and nearly a quarter of a million left the country as refugees.The beginning of the deStalinisation period in Hungary favoured the development of an opposition movement, particularly among students and intellectuals. Imre NAGY who was called in as Prime Minister had obtained the demand of Soviet troops being withdrawn. He became submerged by the spread of the insurrectional movement in Budapest and the provinces. Abolishing the 'unique' party system on the 13 October 1956 he demanded Hungary's withdrawal of the Warsaw Pact and neutrality. Armed insurrection started in the streets on 24 October until the Soviet troops occupied Budapest, on 1 November 1956, and crushed the movement.

The Empire of Light by Rene Magritte

Been to the wonderful Magritte Museum twice now and this remains the standout piece, a brilliantly luminous play on night and day, dark and light that has yet to cease to amaze me.

"Everything that we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well..."

Aung San Suu Kyi: Free At Last

Work's handiwork at the European Parliament. You wouldn't believe how long it took for my colleague to have that wording agreed... SMDH!