Explore Marc L.'s travels in the heart of Brussels in this episode 3. You will discover new anecdotes and stories of our beautiful city.
When you leave the KBR, you come across THE FOUNTAIN OF THE MOUNT OF ARTS designed by Roger Jacob in the fifties (located at the foot of the stairs).
Fountain with 9 blue stone steles with its fish, sculpted shells which, in good weather, play at spitting water (the water jets can reach a height of 4.50 meters).
I then want to hear an opera aria sung by our Belgian bass-baritone, José Van Dam, born in Ixelles.
I am always intrigued by the giant glass cube of the SQUARE BRUSSELS CONVENTION CENTRE (formerly known as the "Palais des Congrès de Bruxelles", now a more international sounding name).
Many of our clients come to the Square (13,500m2, auditoriums, halls, numerous modular spaces...) because it is an infrastructure dedicated to congresses, conferences, fairs, conventions, summits, corporate events, shows, exhibitions and other events.
A place for sharing, relaxation, discovery...
The glass cube (3 floors high) of a luminous architecture welcomes visitors to this Square.
Spectacular entrance.
2 reception rooms are decorated with gigantic murals (designed for Expo 58) by Magritte and Delvaux (2 Belgian surrealist painters).
Delvaux ... Paul ? André ? Charles ?...
Paul Delvaux (1897/1994) of course.
I also invite you to have a look at his work "Nos vieux trams bruxellois" (1978) when you take a streetcar at the Bourse- Grand Place station.
For rail enthusiasts, you should know that a temporary exhibition "Paul Delvaux, the man who loved trains" was held in 2020 at the Schaerbeek station (train museum).
A museum is dedicated to him in Saint-Idesbald: FOUNDATION PAUL DELVAUX MUSEUM (at the coast).
As for André Delvaux (1926/ 2002) Belgian filmmaker of international fame, I never tire of seeing the film "Benvenuta" (1983) with Fanny Ardant and Françoise Fabian (whose album released in 2018 I recommend. Record between happiness and melancholy?).
In 1950, André Delvaux accompanied silent films on the piano at the CINEMATHEQUE in Brussels.
Since 2011, the Belgian cinema has been endowed with an annual ceremony (February) "LES MAGRITTE DU CINEMA" (initiative of the Academy André Devaux). Awarding of prizes for French-speaking Belgian cinema.
Equivalent "made in Belgium" of the Oscar (in the USA) and César (in France) ceremonies.
The name chosen for this award is a tribute to the Belgian painter René Magritte.
Not to be confused with the BIFFF (BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL) created in 1983 and taking place every year in April.
The festival will take place online from April 6th to April 18th 2021.
Program with many feature films, world and international premieres... short films including exclusivities!
Important festival in our European capital, Brussels.
Thriller, Fantastic films, Horror films, .... are at the rendez-vous! Famous marathon.
Hold on to your hats!
I hope you enjoy watching great movies from your room at the Aris Grand Place Hotel or the Alma Grand Place Hotel thanks to our excellent fiber WIFI.
Brussels "fantastic"?
Brussels "thrills"?
Brussels "fictions"?
Brussels "horror"?
The "trip" will be at the heart of their 2021 programming.
Among my "little trips" ....
Lovers of this kind of cinema, I also invite you to consult the work of David Géron (artist from Liège) by going on his website.
I am quite "admiring" some of the dolls he creates (I am not a fanatic, rest assured), his doctored photos (also found on Instagram...) make me smile.
A real "serious?" work is done in everything he does.
Offbeat humor at the rendezvous.
It is "rigolo" at times.
No, not the Brigitte Bardot song.
Not to be confused with the annual Belgian Pink Screen film festival held in our capital in April.
A festival dedicated to different genders and sexualities.
This year, the 19th edition of Pink Screens Festival, the queer film festival in Brussels, will be held online from 8 to 18 April 2021.
The public will be able to watch the full-length and short films for rent via the Belgian platform Sooner Belgium.
The Pink Screen festival, which is not to be missed, often features experimental films, art house films, documentaries and surprising fiction, but also debates, meetings, exhibitions, performances... and parties!
Festival often recognized as "the best gay and lesbian film festival in Europe".
Brussels "rainbow"?
Brussels "different"?
Vive la difference! As "our" Lara Fabian sings.
The Aris Grand Place and Alma Grand Place hotels are open.
Our gay-friendly hotels are just a stone's throw away from the gay district of Brussels.
Our "Brussels' Marais"
You will appreciate the premium rooms in the Arbany company and its rooms with a view on the Grand Place.
Come and see "our difference"!
Thank you for your dedication to this beautiful book «Chronique d’une épidémie zombie en 40 portraits (1966/2018)».
As far as Charles Delvaux is concerned (the Belgian founder of the luxury leather goods brand in Brussels in 1829), you are welcome to visit the GALERIES DE LA REINE in their boutique to admire their know-how and the quality of their creations. This house has received the title of "Fournisseur breveté de la Cour" by King Leopold II.
As for René Magritte (1898/1967), "our" tramway 92 informs me that he overheard, during a trip, a conversation of two travelers saying that this painter was "THE" master of surrealism (having rubbed shoulders with Salvador Dali (Spanish painter, emblematic artist of surrealism -1904/1989), Max Ernst (1891/1976 - German painter and sculptor, often considered as the precursor of surrealism), Paul Eluard (1895/1952 - French poet, whose real name was Eugène Émile Paul Grindel)... and that his mother had committed suicide by drowning herself in the Sambre.
And that the young Rene (14 years) had discovered his corpse, the face hidden by his robe. A terrible shock that would have influenced certain themes of his painting (face hidden by an apple, a curtain or a bouquet of flowers...)?
To be sure, we invite you to visit the MARGRITTE MUSEUM (with its majestic facade of this neoclassical palace of the 18th century) containing more than 250 works, the most important collection in the world).
At the foot of the Square, a bather, bronze sculpture by Aristitde Maillol (1861/1944).
At the height of the cube at the entrance of the Square, the sculpture of Eugène Canneel (Brussels artist, 1882/ 1966) representing three children dancing or jumping amuses me a lot.
I smile when I see children riding the bluestone sculpture of Albert Aebly (Brussels artist, 1897/1971) which is in fact a wolf.
Maybe future Philippe Lejeune, Gregory Whathelet... (all these wonderful Belgian riders, champions!) .
So many unforgettable memories during the different international jumping events taking place in BRUSSELS...
Brussels is a very important step in the agenda of experienced riders. Just like Paris, London ...
I stopp thinking of the she-wolf in Romulus and Remus.
All roads lead to Rome.
All "my" ways lead to the hotels of the company Arbany, Aris Grand-Place and Alma Grand-Place.
This glass cube in the Square often makes me think of ..... more in the next episode !
By Marc L.