Belgium’s schools have started a new academic year with “headscarf arrests”: Antwerp police arrested eight youngsters at the Royal Athenaeum in Hoboken a week after classes started. The arrested students violated a ban on demonstrations and worn Muslim headscarf’s which are a ligher version of well known burkas or burqas.
While many believe the ban of Muslim headscarf in Belgium as well as other European countries is a demonstration of social prejudice and religious intolerance rather than an attempt to integrate Muslim women into the Belgian or European societies, some of the local authorities seem to be quite serious about the the Muslim headscarf ban.
Choosing hotel in Belgium
Travel in Belgium is very compact due to the close proximity of Belgian cities to each other. And, while such proximity makes it easy to book hotel in one Belgian city and use it as a base, you will certainly be able to experience much more staying in a hotel or bread&breakfast in any Belgian city or small town that you visit on your Belgium tour.
Smart textiles, nano textiles and intelligent clothing are becoming more and more the buzzwords throughout the fashion industry. What are the recent evolutions and what is still to come? The smart fashion conference in Antwerp, Belgium, will provide more insight news, ideas and concepts and is an excellent platform for everyone involved with future intelligent fashion design.
Moi, Veronique. Branquinho toute nue – 12 March until 17 August, MoMu Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of her fashion label, Veronique Branquinho offers a glimpse into her ambiguous world during this first retrospective.
In 2006 the MAS presented an exhibition about Antwerp and the Red Star Line in New York. This exhibition is currently being reprized on the ground floor of the MAS | National Maritime Museum of Antwerp.
Jan Cox (1919 The Hague – 1980 Antwerp) played a significant part in the transition from the closed, relatively provincial world of art of the 1930’s to the open, internationalist art scene of post-World War II.
DIAMOND DIVAS, an exhibition organised by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, featuring in starring roles the enchanted and enchanting diamond jewellery that was once worn by famous (Hollywood) actresses and other celebrities.
French-English author Marie Louise de la Ramée (1839-1908), alias Ouida, wrote the children’s book ‘A Dog of Flanders’ after visiting Antwerp in 1871. It is the story of a boy called Nello and his faithful dog Patrasche. Nello and Patrasche lived in Hoboken (now suburb of Antwerp). They traveled into Antwerp every day with their milk cart and it was there in the Cathedral of Our Lady that they met their dramatic end.
The book found its way to Japan and Korea, where it was translated and is still a best-seller today. Many Japanese and Korean children have read the tragic tale of Nello and Patrasche and through it have discovered Antwerp and Rubens.
There is a statue of Nello and Patrasche in the district of Hoboken at the height of the Infoshop (Kapelstraat 3). Both figures have also been immortalized in a bench; you can find this work of art in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady, in Handschoenmarkt.
The Antwerp Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the world and it is one of Antwerp’s most popular attractions. With an animal population of over 5,000 and more than 950 different species, it attracts over one million visitors each year. The Royal Society of Zoology was founded in 1843. It acquired 4 acres of land well outside the Spanish walls, next to the East Station. In 1904, the small East Station of Antwerp was replaced by the current Central Station. The new Antwerp Zoo
