We’re packed into stands on opposite
sides of a vast exhibition hall on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium. There are no
windows and it’s all rather dark and gloomy. There are no signs of creativity. In fact, were it not for the guest list I was holding that stated the presence of leading artists, museum directors, choreographers and
architects – presumably sitting somewhere in the dark cavernous hall - I could
well have wondered if I’d walked into the wrong event.
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Two hours later and my doubts had been
totally dispelled. The huge space had been filled with more creativity than I
have ever before seen at a press conference. It felt like a mini opening
ceremony for London 2012, particularly when an open-top double decker bus full
of British quirkiness arrived in the exhibition hall - think the Queen waving
from the front of the upper deck, techno music blaring out, umbrellas, Sherlock
Holmes, policemen on stilts…! But no, this was not the prelude to the Olympic
Games, it was the launch of the cultural programme for Mons as European Capital
of Culture next year: Mons 2015.
The launch event included the tricky choreography
of several local buses arriving in the hall, each illustrating a different Mons
2015 theme through the words lit up on its destination board and the people and
props that emerged from each vehicle.
One bus was filled with sunflowers and had
the words ‘I’m called Vincent. And you?’. Vincent Van Gogh lived for a time in the Mons
area and it was there that he decided to become an artist. Cue visits to the
house where he lived and an exhibition on the sources of his inspiration. Another bus said ‘I
sing for Mons. And you?’ Standing on the roof was a singer dressed as the Renaissance composer Orlando di Lassus, who was born in
Mons in the 1500s. One of the related events will be 700 amateur and professional choral
singers gathering on the steps of the town’s Sainte-Waudru collegiate church. And
as for the British double-decker, it represented London, which will be one of
eight global cities featured in La Maison Folie (the Madness House).
In total Mons will organise some 1,000 cultural
and artistic activities throughout the year. Many big Belgian names have got
involved, including choreographer Frédéric Flamand, who founded the Charleroi Danses company, artist Arne Quinze, renowned for his large outdoor
installations, and the designer and illustrator François Schuiten, best known
perhaps for his comic strip work.
There will be no shortage of development
projects happening in the town, with five new museums opening in Mons and a
brand new train station designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava – and set
to rival another of his creations, the futuristic train station in another
Walloon town, Liège.
In its own words, Mons plans to undergo a
metamorphosis. The town wants Mons 2015 to bring about positive change that
will last well beyond 2015. As the outgoing Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo
explained in his opening speech, Mons has undergone difficult economic times in
recent decades with the collapse of the industrial age. Mons 2015 will enable
the former coal-mining area to turn the page and start to write a new and
prestigious chapter, he said. “Mons 2015 will not be an end in itself; it will
be the start of a new era,” said Di Rupo, who is also the official mayor of Mons.
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So, as the six local buses, which by the close of
the launch were all parked at one end of the hall, said on their destination
boards:
In 2015
I am from Mons
She is from Mons
He is from Mons
Everyone is from Mons
And you?
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