Belgium/Heritage Days in Brussels: when women's forgotten heritage reclaims its rights
Taking place from September 26 to 28, Matrimony Days aims to put the spotlight on a whole area of women's heritage.
This weekend, from September 26 to 28, some 30 activities are being organized to discover Brussels' historical and contemporary matrimoine.
The term "matrimoine" was already around in the Middle Ages, and referred to assets inherited from the mother (as opposed to those inherited from the father). The word was later erased from the language with the creation of the Académie française in the 17th century, which declared, among other things, that the masculine gender was the noblest.
Over the last ten years or so, the word has reappeared in the French language.It is used by feminist movements and researchers to designate the cultural heritage bequeathed to us by women - works of art, writings, art objects and so on.uvres d'art, écrits, savoir-faire, archives, lieux - tout ce qui a souvent été oublié ou marginalisé dans les récits dominants du patrimoine.
And this weekend's Matrimony Days aim to highlight a whole range of women's heritage.Behind these days is the association L'architecture qui dégenre, founded by Apolline Vranken, a feminist architect whose aim is to "to rethink contemporary architecture - from housing to public space, via urban planning - to make it more inclusive and favorable to women".
She has surrounded herself with a circle of young women architects, journalists and art historians, all deeply involved in gender issues, and together they propose numerous tours and conferences around matrimony, including Matrimony Days.
A few things to do...
Among the thirty or so events organized, there's the tour entitled "À l'ombre de Mathilde, une lignée Pelgrims au féminin". Behind this title lies a visit to the Pelgrims house in Saint-Gilles, an architectural gem designed in 1905 in a neo-Renaissance style and modified in 1927 in a more Art Deco style. The idea is to evoke all the women who lived here, including Mathilde Pelgrims, who was a member of the French Resistance during the First World War.
This is an opportunity to discover the Pelgrims house, which has been completely restored and has just reopened its doors...
Matrimony Days also features city walks, such as this guided tour of the Brugmann district, entitled Women Architects of Belgian Modernity. You'll be guided by Elisabeth Gérard, a young architect whose dissertation focused on the first generation of women architects in Belgium, women who were primarily active in the post-World War II modernist movement.
You'll see, for example, buildings designed by Simone Guillissen-Hoa, the fourth woman to graduate from La Cambre, in 1938, where she was a pupil of Henry Van de Velde. Simone Guillissen-Hoa was responsible for some fifty projects, ranging from private villas to public buildings. Among her buildings is the apartment and office building at 21 rue Langeveld, Uccle. This building is now listed.
Elisabeth Gérard will also present the work ofOdette Filippone, La Cambre's ninth female architecture graduate. She worked extensively with her husband, Jean-Pierre Blondel, but you can still see the Hamaide house, which she built alone, at 27 rue Jules Lejeune, in the Brugmann district.
It promises to be a fascinating stroll, and one that's sure to lead to some wonderful discoveries!
Conferences, museum visits and workshops are also organized throughout the weekend. For more information, visit www.matrimonydays.be!
Source: www.rtbf.be/
