A Weekend in Belgium! (Paquin)
By Avery Paquin.
Our final international Civ in London trip was to Belgium! On Sunday, we had a tour about the decolonization of Belgian colonies and the idea of decolonizing the Belgian mindset. Benjamin was a fantastic tour guide and gave so much information about many things including how the Conference of Berlin led to the creation of the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo as well as two other countries (Rwanda and Burundi). These lands were colonized by Belgium in the 19th century, which led to riches being sent back to Belgium so that many colonizers could buy things such as art and large estates and live lavish lifestyles. A lot of pain and hardship were behind the lifestyles these people were living and the Belgian people had no idea.
During my time at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium after the tour, I stumbled upon a small exhibit that attempted to touch on the idea of decolonization and how art was used to hide the truth of what was happening. The Rubens exhibit featured a series of paintings looted by the Third Reich and held titles that were offensive and cruel to many BIPOC members. Many museums, including this one, have decided to rename famous pieces as they have a responsibility “to be inclusive and non-discriminatory” (Royal Fine Arts). I think that this is important to think about concerning what we have learned about thus far in the Civ colloquium concerning museum culture and how titles can be changed so that more people might be open to experiencing and learning from art. Art and other forms of museum artifacts should not be seen as inaccessible simply because the current owner does not want to change the name. I know it is not as simple as this, but sometimes when people get a new pet, they will change the name of the pet or sometimes people will change their own name as they view themselves in a different light.
From Brussels, we took a day trip by train to the canal-filled city of Bruges. There we were able to dodge the rainy weather for a solid couple of hours by making waffles. I thought it was cool how there was a larger history behind the Belgian Waffle. Growing up in Vermont, I constantly had Belgian waffles after ski days since they had these little shacks at the bottom of the hill. I believe that the Vermont waffles would be considered “street waffles” after yesterday’s lesson since they did not have any toppings and they had a sweet outside. In the waffle-making workshop, we made waffles from the north so they were a little bit less sweet, but still just as good (and gluten-free!) I loved when we got little hats too! I was partnered with Madden and we had so much fun making everything and trying to convert all of the recipes from US measurements to EU measurements since we’re not used to baking with grams. I also loved the idea of vanilla sugar. I have heard of it before because I do love to bake, but I have never seen it before in person, so now I am going to have to bring it back with me to the US. Overall, I think my favorite part was eating the waffles since they were so fluffy and warm and sugary and essentially what we are always told to “eat in moderation”. It was the highlight of the trip for me!
