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Open Letter to the Flemish Government

Let Us Retain Doel as "Artistic Events Village"

 
On Friday, 23 March the Flemish Government approved the total demolition of Doel, a village in East Flanders on the left bank of the river Scheldt, as of 2009. Already in August 2007, the first 126 vacant houses will be taken down. To justify this decision, the authorities argue that the village is no longer suitable for human habitation and that social life is nonexistent.
 
Yet, the initiators of this "open letter to the Flemish Government" have personally experienced that various enthusiastic initiatives and proposals sprouting from within the local community are consistently being turned down, not to say "nipped in the bud".
 
Since the end of 2005, we have spent much time and effort developing an arts trajectory in Doel (a municipality of the larger Beveren area), also in the hope that such an initiative would give rise to a positive atmosphere in and regarding the village and have a reconciliatory social impact. So as to find about 20 vacant locations for our art plans, we entered into an open dialogue with villagers, the municipal authorities, and the Corporation for the Industrialization and Territorial Planning of the Scheldt's Left Bank, which owns all the expropriated real estate in Doel. Despite numerous positive reactions and the support of the Advisory Council for Cultural Affairs of Beveren, which submitted our proposal to the municipal government, we received a letter from Mayor Mark Van De Vijver on 9 March saying the authorities would not support the project nor give us access to municipal buildings in Doel.  Our art trajectory will therefore have to be scaled down to a few private houses and other facilities.
 
During our last, very positive meeting with the mayor on 12 December, at which he personally suggested to refer our concept to the Cultural Council, we cautiously suggested our idea to maintain Doel in its current constellation as an "artistic events village", pending a definitive decision on the Saeftinghe dock.
 
We have opted for the term "artistic events village" for good reasons. Before us, other people have already suggested to give Doel a new destination as artists' village. This option, however, implies that artists would have to settle down in Doel as permanent residents. Yet, during our talks with all people who have decision-making authority in this dossier, we noticed they would never accept new permanent dwellers, not even with temporary rental contracts. It is understandable that the authorities, if ever the Saeftinghedock comes about, want to avoid a repetition of the painful expropriations campaign that was conducted a few years ago.
 
In our opinion, however, between refusing new residents and the demolition of a unique historical Flemish village on account of its alleged unviability lies a wide range of creative and feasible interim solutions, one being the proposal to preserve Doel as an "artistic events village" until the eventual construction of the new dock. This could for instance mean that, every year, a guest curator would invite a team of artists to elaborate a major artistic happening during the summer period. This approach has many advantages:
 
  • Current residents would be allowed to stay, while there would be no influx of new dwellers. The vacant houses that are still in a fairly good shape would be used as exhibition areas. This new functionality would prevent their further decay.
  • The empty spaces of recently demolished houses are ideal locations for monumental works. The virtually traffic-free streets offer many opportunities for all kinds of street animation or theatre.
  • These bustling summer activities would bring a new, more positive form of life to the village, which is now mainly attracting "disaster tourists".
  • During the winter, the invited artists could be allowed to stay in the village to prepare their works of arts for the summer happening. There is still sufficient accommodation in the village that would only need some minor repairs to serve this purpose.
  • The annual art event would be an enormous tourist attraction for East Flanders and Antwerp. The Flandria ferry service could take tourists visiting Antwerp for one-day visits to Doel and the nearby Liefkenshoek Fortress, which is currently being converted into a museum.
  • Bearing in mind the success of such art events as Watou and Beaufort, Doel could even gain a place in international arts agendas.
  • Companies operating in the adjacent port could build up a positive image by sponsoring art events in Doel.
  • And if ever the village is to make room for the Saeftinghe dock, the people will at least have some nice memories to cherish, and not only feelings of bitterness, disillusion, abandonment and decay.
 
If an ordinary village life is no longer possible in Doel, let us then give it a new role as cultural village during this "interim period". Let it become an oasis of tranquillity and beauty amidst the bustling dock industries. A place that is temporarily out of reach of ever-rushing time, where our stressed-out fellow citizens can spend some time and forget about the pressures of present-day society.
 
Let us invite creative people, national and international artists, to engage in a peaceful confrontation with an age-old, typically Flemish village, with the river Scheldt and with the surrounding industries, and let us all enjoy the richness of the ensuing dialogue. Let us create the conditions for a positive, warm and humane solution so that, in the future, we will not have to feel sorry for a missed opportunity…
 
 
The initiators
eva van tulden, philosophy student, UA / luc cappaert, artist, Melsele