Luckas Vander Taelen

Speaker
Dutch
French
Photo of Luckas Vander Taelen

Who is Luckas Vander Taelen? 

Luckas Vander Taelen teaches you to look at Brussels, the city that many think they know but about which they know so little. 

He has lived in Brussels for more than 40 years. When he came to study there at the end of the 1970s, he got to know a somewhat boring big city, without a real identity, except that of French speakers who denied or wanted to forget Brussels' Flemish past. But towards the end of the 1990s, the city began to change dramatically: from the turn of the century to 2020, no fewer than 200,000 residents were added. In a short time, Brussels became the most diverse city in the world, with more than 180 nationalities. Brussels has become a city of minorities...

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    'Achille', the story about my grandfather in the First World War

    Luckas Vander Taelen wrote 'Achille', a book about his grandfather who, during the First World War, wrote a letter almost every day from the trenches on the Yser for four years to his brother Hector, who lived in England. Vander Taelen combined quotes from the letters with his impressions during long bike rides through the Westhoek, where he looked for traces of what his grandfather had experienced there more than a century ago. 

    In this performance, Luckas Vander Taelen reads from letters from Achille and reflects on how chance plays a major role in our lives. He would never have been there if his grandfather had not danced with Fientje while on leave in England. "I owe the fact that I exist to the First World War," he writes, "Fifteen million civilians and soldiers lost their lives, but I received mine as a gift, albeit forty years after the armistice."

    Brussels, capital of Flanders

    Vander Taelen is happy to convince you that Brussels should remain the capital of Flanders. In 60% of families, French or Dutch are not spoken at home; French is no longer the dominant language, but the lingua franca that so many non-native speakers use in daily interactions. More and more Brussels residents send their children to Flemish schools. As a result, the situation of Dutch has never been as favorable as it is today. 

    In his lecture he explains how and why the Flemish city that Brussels has been for centuries became Frenchified in the 19th century. But since the 1980s, the city has been making an impressive evolution into a multicultural metropolis in which Flemish people have a strong place. Vander Taelen denounces the malgovernance of the Brussels political structure with too many representatives. He is also critical of the growing influence of Islamism and opposes the tendency of the political class to pander to religious demands.

    Luckas Vander Taelen is a born actor; when he speaks about the city where he has lived for so long and which he knows inside and out, he does not do so in a school manner, but allows his audience to sympathize with his experience. He also knows the French-speaking community very well; his wife is Walloon and their daughter is perfectly bilingual. So he is an expert on Brussels in every sense of the word. 

    Luckas Vander Taelen is happy to talk to you about his city. His lectures last about an hour, after which he tries to answer as many questions as you want to ask. He is also available for small group tours near Central Station, where he talks about the great urbanistic blunders of the last century.

    Brussels, a comedy

    Luckas Vander Taelen will soon have lived in Brussels for half a century. He still loves his city dearly, which he has seen change beyond recognition. Since he came to live there, he has been interested in the history and politics of Brussels. He is very familiar with the French-speaking world and has been following the media closely for fifty years. He became the first Flemish municipal councilor in 25 years in Ixelles and later alderman in Vorst, the municipality where he still lives. Few Flemish people know their capital well; Luckas Vander Taelen will be happy to be their guide with his political stand-up 'Brussels, a comedy'.