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Virgin.net - City Guides -
Antwerp
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By Chantal Martineau
Joseph was a painter. Ingrid was a sculptor.
Peter was a photographer, his girlfriend a designer. The terrible
dancer in the middle of the floor with the curly ponytail
and Euro-tight suit was an "odour artist". He painted
with crushed strawberries and, er, less pleasant-smelling
natural materials. Every single person I met in Antwerp was
an artist.
Famed for being the world's
diamond capital, with four of the 22 existing diamond exchanges
sitting in its diamond district, pop stars and princesses
still flock to Antwerp to shop for precious gems. But the
city has proven it has more to offer than priceless jewels.
Antwerp's tradition of inspiring and retaining its home-grown
artists dates back to Rubens and Van Dyck, who were lured
back to their hometown after exploring Italy's grandiose architecture
and ancient art tradition. The Eighties saw the rise of the
Antwerp Six (Ann Demeulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs,
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Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van
Saene, Walter Van Beirendonck and Marina Yee), who helped
make the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts fashion department
world famous. And the new millennium will see the transformation
of the city into its very own modern art exhibit in a two-month
celebration of fashion. The summer event, entitled Mode
2001, will feature giant coloured billboards covering
the city's key buildings.
But it's not all glitz and gloss in Antwerp.
Like its Benelux neighbour in Holland, it has a fully operational
red-light district, complete with ladies of the night (and
day, if you're up for it) behind windows advertising their
wares and services. In the tradition of Paris' Pigalle and
London's Soho districts, where there's sex on sale there's
likely to be a trend-setting cackle of media-crats not too
far behind. Style gurus and slaves have already set up shop
in Antwerp's bawdier streets and it's worth a trip just north
of the centre to check out Café d'Anvers and Phil Collins
- two of the city's places to be seen - even if you're not
looking to purchase a romp.
There's no shortage of trendy establishments
in Antwerp: over 4000 nightspots for a city of some 450,000
inhabitants. Like Zurich, the city's former industrial quarter
in Het Eilandje - the area around the old port - is
getting a facelift. Dozens of designer bars and fusion eateries
are popping up along the bank of the Scheldt River and the
abandoned
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warehouses now house anything from
small creative consultancies to empty beer bottles and bare
dj tables, as many of these are used as venues for exclusive
unsanctioned parties. Het Zuid, just south of the centre,
is the liveliest district for hip drinking spots, especially
if you're looking to bag a creative type. The Museum voor
Hedendaagse Kunst van Antwerpen (Museum for Contemporary
Arts of Antwerp) or MUKHA is nearby, as is the Museum voor
Fotographie (Photography Museum), increasing your chances
of stumbling into the arms of a frustrated young art student
over the course of the evening.
But let's face it. Anyone going
to Antwerp is likely to have just one thing in mind. As much
as we all appreciate good food and raw talent, there's nothing
like a strong dose of retail therapy to make a holiday worthwhile.
Shopping in Antwerp is an experience. The high-street shops
are restricted to the high street so there's no danger of
a Gap lurking around every corner. The Antwerp Six are easy
to find, as are other big names, but the lesser-known local
designers and upmarket fringe shops might pique your curiosity
more. The same goes for interiors shops with antique and ethnic-influenced
gallery-style stores littered around Kloosterstraat. In association
with Mode 2001, a series of Fashion Walks were conceived to
allow tourists to combine the city's important fashion landmarks
with that crucial shopping spree, further blurring the lines
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between fashion and art in Antwerp.
Lines duly blurred, not to mention
eyesight after a few Belgian whites, an Antwerp break is the
grown-up alternative to a weekend in Amsterdam. Refined, yet
naughty and, above all, fiercely cutting edge.
Chantal Martineau travelled to Antwerp courtesy of Eurostar,
which will be hosting a new route to Antwerp in a few years.
For more information on Antwerp, visit the Flanders
Tourism website.
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