The culture of Belgium involves both the aspects shared by all Belgians regardless of the language they speak and the differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Belgians (mostly Flemish) and the French-speaking Belgians (mostly Walloons and Brusselians). Most Belgians view their culture as an integral part of European culture.
The territory corresponding to present-day Belgium having always been located at the meeting point of Germanic and Latin Europe, it benefited from a rich cross-fertilization of cultures for centuries. Due to its strategic position in the heart of Europe, Belgium has been at the origin of many European artistic and cultural movements.
Famous elements of Belgian culture include gastronomy (Belgian beers, fries, chocolate, waffles, etc.), the comic strip tradition (Tintin, The Smurfs, Spirou & Fantasio, Marsupilami, Lucky Luke, Suske en Wiske, etc.), painting and architecture (Mosan, Early Netherlandish, Flemish Renaissance and Baroque art, as well as major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture), folklore, and surrealism.
Since modern culture is more than ever related to languages (theatre, media, literature, etc), modern Belgian cultural life has tended to develop in each linguistic community (with common elements however). Members of each of the two main linguistic groups generally make their cultural choices from within their own language community, and then, when going beyond, the Flemish draw intensively from both English-speaking culture (which dominates sciences, professional life and most news media) and the Netherlands, whereas French-speakers tend to focus more on cultural life in France and elsewhere in the French-speaking world.
Minorities, such as the Jews who have formed a component of Belgian culture — in particular that of Antwerp — for over five hundred years, have some specific cultural aspects.
Art
Painting
Belgium's contributions to painting have been especially rich. Mosan art, Early Netherlandish painting, the Flemish Renaissance, and Baroque painting are milestones in the history of art. While 15th-century art in the Low Countries is dominated by the religious paintings of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, the 16th century is characterised by a broader panel of styles such as Peter Brueghel's landscape paintings and Lambert Lombard's representation of the antique. Though the Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th century in the Southern Netherlands, it gradually declined thereafter.—A general presentation of the Flemish artistic movement with a list of its artists, linking to their biographies and artworks
During the 19th and 20th centuries, many original romantic, expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including James Ensor and other artists belonging to the Les XX group, Constant Permeke, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art.—List of Belgian painters, linking to their biographies and artworks Multidisciplinary artists Jan Fabre, Wim Delvoye and the painter Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene.
Comics
Belgium has numerous well-known cartoonists, such as Hergé (Tintin, Quick and Flupke, Jo, Zette and Jocko), Peyo (The Smurfs, Johan and Peewit), Franquin (Spirou and Fantasio, Marsupilami, Gaston), Willy Vandersteen (Suske en Wiske, De Rode Ridder, Bessy), Morris (Lucky Luke), Edgar P. Jacobs (Blake and Mortimer), Jef Nys (Jommeke), Marc Sleen (Nero, Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke, De Lustige Kapoentjes), Jean Roba (Boule et Bill), and Dupa (Cubitus). More recently, Jean Van Hamme (XIII, Largo Winch, Thorgal), Raoul Cauvin (Les Tuniques Bleues, Agent 212), François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters (Les Cités Obscures) are among the most read cartoonists.
Belgium is home to some of the most important European comics magazines and publishers, with Dupuis (Spirou magazine), Le Lombard (Tintin magazine) and Casterman.
Museums Some of the most impressive museums in Belgium are the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, which has a cinema, a concert hall and artworks of many periods, including a large René Magritte collection; the Royal Museum for Fine Arts in Antwerp, which has an admirable collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens; the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, with the Flemish Primitives; and the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) in Antwerp, which is located on 't eilandje and is the biggest museum in Belgium.
Furthermore, the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the complete factory of the largest 17th-century publishing house.
Architecture
Examples of Belgian architecture include the Romanesque Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude in Nivelles (1046) and the Cathedral of Our Lady in Tournai, the Gothic 15th-century Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp and the Baroque Grand-Place/Grote Markt (main square) in Brussels. Mosan style is typical of the architecture within the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta, Paul Hankar and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style in Belgium and abroad.Brussels, capital of Art Nouveau (page 1) , (for example)
Literature
Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poets Emile Verhaeren, Guido Gezelle, Robert Goffin, Paul van Ostaijen, and Henri Michaux, as well as the novelists Cyriel Buysse, Hendrik Conscience, Stijn Streuvels, Charles de Coster, Willem Elsschot, Michel de Ghelderode, Georges Simenon, Louis Paul Boon, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus, Pierre Mertens, Ernest Claes, and Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911.
Belgian literature was more cohesive in the past but is now divided based on linguistic lines. Until the mid-20th century, Belgian writers more often wrote in French even if they were Flemish, due both to the then-dominant position of that language in worldwide culture as well as within Belgium itself (e.g. Suzanne Lilar, Emile Verhaeren, and Maurice Maeterlinck). As the Flemish movement grew in importance, Dutch-penned authors became increasingly prominent in Flanders and even played an important role in the said movement (e.g. Hendrik Conscience). Important contemporary Flemish authors are Tom Lanoye or Dimitri Verhulst.
Belgian francophone literature is sometimes difficult to distinguish from French literature as a whole, because several great French authors went to Belgium for refuge (e.g. Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, and more recently Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt) and conversely, top French-speaking writers sometimes settle in Paris (e.g. Simenon and Amélie Nothomb). Belgian francophone literature is characterised by authors who achieved a nationwide success in Belgium while being little known in France, and shares traits that are perceived as typically Belgian: use of black humour, self-derision, surrealism and absurdism (in a similar vein as Belgian painters such as René Magritte), as well as references to Belgian history and society (such as Belgian royalty, language conflicts, former colony of the Congo, Belgian beers and gastronomy, and whatever is typically Belgian) and they are often active in Belgian medias as columnists or entertainers. Such authors include Thomas Gunzig, Juan d'Oultremont, and Jacques Mercier.
There have also been writers in the Walloon language, such as Nicolas Defrecheux and Edouard Remouchamps.
Cinema
Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen. Notable examples include De Witte (1934, remake as De Witte van Sichem, 1980); De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen (1965); Mira (1971); Malpertuis (1971); De loteling (1974); Dood van een non (1975); Pallieter (1976); De komst van Joachim Stiller (1976); De Leeuw van Vlaanderen (1985); and Daens (1992).
Belgian films have been awarded several times at the Cannes Film Festival and in other less-known festivals. They are generally made with a small budget, and are mostly funded by the regional governments (the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, and Wallimage, among others) and private corporations by means of sponsorship and product placement.
Famous Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Chantal Akerman, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include Bullhead, Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair.A review of the Belgian cinema till about 2000 can be found at
Music
The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture. Many great medieval and Renaissance composers, such as Gilles Binchois, Orlande de Lassus, Guillaume Dufay, Heinrich Isaac, and Jacob Obrecht came from the area which is now Belgium.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an emergence of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux. Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born in Belgium, and so were many important classical composers. One of the most famous is César Franck, but Guillaume Lekeu and Wim Mertens are also noteworthy.
Contemporary popular music in Belgium is also of repute. Well-known singers include Lara Fabian, Stromae, Jacques Brel, Angèle, Arno, Maurane, Bobbejaan Schoepen, Salvatore Adamo, Philippe Lafontaine and Pierre Rapsat. Other popular Belgian pop acts include Axelle Red, Vaya Con Dios, Kate Ryan, Pommelien Thijs, Camille Dhont, Metejoor and K3. In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Zap Mama, Soulwax and dEUS are well known. In the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel, Channel Zero and Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.Two comprehensive discussions of rock and pop music in Belgium since the 1950s: Belgium has a very active jazz scene that is achieving international recognition with bands like Aka Moon, Maak's Spirit and Octurn. Harmonicist Toots Thielemans, guitarist Philip Catherine and Django Reinhardt are probably the best known Belgian jazz musicians. Belgian hip-hop started with the rise of Starflam, CNN (a Brussels-based crew) and 't Hof van Commerce in the mid-1990s. The country has also influenced electronic music with a.o. Front 242, Praga Khan (also known as Lords of Acid), Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and 2 Many DJ's.
Belgium is also home to some very popular music festivals such as Tomorrowland, Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop.
Fashion Belgium is also home to a number of successful fashion designers. For instance, in the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts produced important fashion trendsetters, known as the Antwerp Six.
Cuisine
Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries. The national dishes are "steak and fries", and "mussels with fries". Republished from Republished from Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide. One of the many beers with high prestige is the ale produced by the Trappist monks. Traditionally each abbey's beer is served in its own glass (the forms, heights and widths are different). Six of the eleven breweries sanctioned to brew Trappist beer are Belgian.