Description
(en anglais seulement)
HERITAGE DAY FLANDERS 2012:
Music, Diction and Visual arts Sunday 9th of September 2012 the new edition of Heritage Day Flanders takes place throughout Flanders. This year’s ‘Open Monumentendag’ is all about culture, more specifically ‘Music, Diction and Visual arts’. This way we meet heritage where art and culture – whether or not serving a higher purpose- were created and experienced.
We visit places where culture was and is being created. Artists’ houses and studios wear marks from their former inhabitants and therefore are important pieces of heritage. Numerous places in Flanders have been a source of inspiration for culture creators and artists. Some of the more prominent examples are landscapes, districts, cities and villages.
On this year’s ‘Open Monumentendag’ we enter a world of mirror halls, music salons, private libraries, opera buildings and art rooms where high society used to partake in culture in secluded circles. We also take a look at the other, more humble side where the average man could satisfy his cultural needs, more specifically in theatres, cinemas and kiosks.
At the end of the nineteenth century all the political institutions wanted, from an educational point of view, to get the people into touch with culture ‘from a certain standard’. For this purpose houses, party halls and guild houses were specially constructed. These institutions also favoured theatre movements and brass bands, each of course with their own accomodation.
Music, diction and visual arts were also used to bring a message across to a very large crowd. They were essential for the experience of the Catholic faith like it typically takes place in a church or any other place. Moreover, for a long time the Catholic church used to be one of the most important clients for expressive artists, composers, architects and craftsmen. Cultural heroes are usually immortalised by statues, tombs or commemorative plaques. Of course these places are also incorporated in this year’s programme. Finally, the programme also highlights cultural redestination: from a music centre in a former church to a store in an old movie theatre.
197 cities and communities form the programme of ‘Open Monumentendag’ 2012. Hundreds of surprising and varied openings and activities make sure that this edition is the true anniversary of the immovable heritage.