Luckas Vander Taelen

Speaker
Dutch
French
Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen

Who is Luckas Vander Taelen?

Jack-of-all-trades Luckas is a historian, and came to prominence as a singer, politician for Groen!, documentary maker, writer and author. What typifies the man? He doesn’t shy away from controversy. For instance, he has some fascinating views about the increasing level of diversity in Brussels. In ‘De grote verwarring’ (the great confusion), he tackles this issue head on, along with the contrasts between Islam and ‘our’ Western democracy. During this lecture, he highlights the failure of left-wing politicians to properly deal with waves of migration and offers solutions to address the issue of Islamic fundamentalism. This theme only reflects a frament of Luckas’s comprehensive knowledge.

Thanks to his experience as stage actor, journalist, investigative reporter and politician in the Flemish parliament and his municipality, Luckas is an enthusiastic and versatile speaker for all kinds of events.

Actually, it’s not that bad: monologue

Current affairs

During this keynote, Luckas explains how he was woken by the sound of chirping birds on 22 March 2016, the day of the terrorist attacks in Brussels. He asks himself if Mohamed Abrini, who was one of the three terrorists in Zaventem and was better known as ‘the man with the hat’, heard the same thing. And why, at the very last minute, Abrini decided not to detonate his bomb and walked all the way back to Molenbeek.

He also talks about distances in the universe, the first performance by Jerom and why De Dolle Musketiers - a comic strip story - is just as important as the Koran or Bible. He also explains why martyrs will not find 72 virgins waiting for them when they get to heaven. Watch him talk, laugh, shout, run, jump and dance. The performance is taken to the next level, thanks to accordion music by renowned musician Tuur.

De Grote Verwarring (the great confusion)

Current affairs

Luckas doesn’t mince his words - not about extremism, not about the refugee crisis and certainly not about the problems in Brussels and Belgium, which have been caused by misunderstood solidarity and a lack of responsibility.

The terror attacks in Paris, Brussels and Zaventem in 2015 and 2016 were also a blow to left-wing politically-correct thinking, which ignored the signs of growing Islamic fundamentalism for fear of being accused of Islamophobia. According to Vander Taelen, the public opinion shift to the right could have been avoided if left-wing parties had dared to revise their naive view of multicultural harmony and given serious consideration to the fears of ordinary people. For instance, if they had not simply sought excuses for the problems in Brussels.

Populism is a blessing for democracy, not a threat

Current affairs

‘Populism' is a word that appears in just about every political analysis these days. But that's not surprising, considering the unexpected result in the UK's 2016 referendum on Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Turkish president Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Putin pursue policies that can be described as both dictatorial and populist. Wilders in the Netherlands and Le Pen in France are other clear illustrations of this phenomenon.

During this lecture, Luckas provides several historical examples of parties that often exploited grievances within society in a demagogic manner. When doing so, he explains why it is in the best interest of other parties to understand the signal being given by disillusioned voters and to not leave them in the hands of populistic parties.

Het kostuum van mijn vader (my father's suit)

Current affairs

Luckas never knew his father, who died when he was 37 years old, four months before Luckas was born. He was also never able to visit his grave. His mother never wanted to see the stone that enshrined her grief. After ten years, the grave was cleared. Het kostuum van mijn vader is about a personal quest, with occasional visits to the imaginary grave of a man who was buried in his best pin-striped suit and red tie.

This causes Vander Taelen to examine Flemish burial rituals and taboos about death in the 50s, and tensions with his deeply religious family. For many years, it was as if Luckas had blocked his grief. However, in his new book and lecture, he now talks openheartedly about how the death of his father marked him for life and how the graveyard in Aalst had a cathartic effect. It is a very personal story about what it is like to grow up without a father, about bereavement, about overcoming bereavement and about how therapy can offer a new perspective on your past and your suppressed grief.

Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen
Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen
Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen
Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen

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