Mariemont by Torchlight!

Our Spring social event this year was a guided tour around the Musée Royal de Mariemont on the morning of Saturday 13 May. The Mariemont describes itself as a dialogue between art, culture, and nature, with unique collections evoking the Orient and the Occident, the past and present, fauna and flora. And our two hour anglophone guided tour around the museum had an added quirk: it was conducted by torchlight!

RSC Belgium members and friends gathered at the entrance to the entrance to the Mariemont Park at 10 sharp and then proceeded to the Museum itself to meet our delightful guide for the morning: Aline Peremans - seen describing some Pompeian villa frescoes to our group below.

Since the end of April, a temporary exhibition called the “Invisible collections” has been open and highlights some of the objects held in the museum’s vast (and unseen) collection. During this exhibition, that runs until 26 November 2017 the museum’s main galleries are plunged into darkness to ensure the delicate exhibits are not damaged through a rare exposure to daylight!

Dark galleries
Within the darkened galleries the new artifacts are under the spotlight and the rest of the collections are in the shadow, victors are given torches to explore the rooms – and for us Aline wielded the light source! A very unusual and extraordinary way to discover the Museum!

The museum collections were gathered by Raoul Waroqué, a local fabulously wealthy industrialist, and are currently housed in a modern building inaugurated in 1975 and built by the Belgian architect Roger Bastin.

Raoul Waroqué devoted most of his fortune to acquire works of art works from the classical antiquity. He was also interested by ceramics and Eastern philosophies and brought back a huge number of Chinese and Japanese works. A favourite object for many RSC visitors was an incredibly intricate ivory object consisting of a dozen or more nested spheres (see below).

Our two hour trip around the Museum was both very informative and entertaining and – if you couldn’t join us on the day – a visit to the Mariemont and its very fine park is highly recommended.
After the visit many of the RSC Belgium party had a relaxing lunch at the Museum’s brasserie.
Our thanks to Ian Carson for the initial idea to visit this museum and to Rita Woodward who put in the main work to actually organise the event.

More about Mariemont
Mariemont includes a 45 hectare park in the style of an English landscape garden; an arboretum; the ruins of Charles of Lorraine’s palace; the museum; major art collections; the most complete collection of Chinese antiquities in Belgium; a tea house and numerous collections from Japan, Korea, and Vietnam; archaeological and historical collections covering everything about the region; rare manuscripts; and many other treasures. For more information, please visit the museum’s website.

The Musée Royal de Mariemont is situated at Chaussée de Mariemont 100, 7140 Morlanwelz

Top tip: On the first Sunday of every month, access to the permanent collections and any temporary exhibitions is free!

A Right Royal Tour of Mechelen!

On the morning of Saturday June 1st a gaggle of RSC Belgium members and friends were treated to a right royal tour of the Flemish city of Mechelen. In company of no less a person than Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of vast swathes of both the 'old' and 'new' Worlde, we got to visit and admire many of the historical points of Mechelen - and to learn of a very good reason to return in the not-too-distant future.

Our group met up for the morning guided tour for a ten o'clock start. The tour was over two hours long and our host, Charles V (see below), was accomplished in his knowledge of the Englishe language. Mechelen had its heyday in the late 15th/early 16th century when it was the centre of Burgundian power over the Low Countries and the seed point for the Renaissance in the region.

Our tour started in the Grote Markt accompanied by the sounds and smells of the traditional Saturday Mechelen market and enlivened by a series of 'happy couples' and their entourages arriving via a wide variety of transports, from high-powered sports cars to butcher's bikes, to be wed at the Town Hall.

Town hall
Our tour started at the Town Hall where we were introduced to its distinct architectural styles and fabulous tapestries and continued to St. Rhombouts Cathedral with its renowned bells and carillon and the Palaces of Margaret of Austria and Margaret of York (below).

Charles V was full of anecdotes about his time in Mechelen and the history of Flanders, Spanish Netherlands and the lands beyond; not to mention his escapades with our own Henry VIII and his wars with France. All together a very merrie olde time was had by all.

Having said been bade farewell with a song by the Emperor (aka the excellent Mr. Rudi De Mets), the RSC group made for the Carlton Brasserie on Grote Markt where we warmed up and enjoyed some Flemish specialties including a taste of Mechelse Koekoek, the local poultry dish and a regional brew: Gouden Carolus beer - which is actually a 'brun'.

After lunch a few of the group carried on to visit Technopolis, the Flemish “hands-on”-centre for science and technology on the edge of the town. Technopolis offers young people aged 4 to 100 the chance to take part in a variety of experiments and experiences, including bridge building, riding a bicycle on a high wire five metres above the ground, having their hair stand on end and much much more.

Reason to return
A great time was had by one and all in Mechelen and a very good reason to return at the end of the summer was also revealed by old Charles V: the Hanswijk Cavalcade.

This historical religious procession is staged every 25 years so it is a rare treat to behold and the next Hanswijk Cavalcade will wend its way through the streets of Mechelen on Sunday 25 August and Sunday 1 September 2013. Traditionally the event is rounded off with the Mechelen Ommegang, which features the family of giants recognized as a UNESCO world heritage resource.

The Hanswijk Procession has made its way through the streets of Mechelen every year since 1273. On that day Mechelen's historic centre becomes the setting for a unique and colourful spectacle with hundreds of volunteers dressed in authentic costumes acting out historical and religious scenes. Since 1738 the Hanswijk Procession has celebrated its jubilee every twenty-five years in the form of the Cavalcade. See you there?