Name dropping again – it’s a chronic condition – but Thimo te Duits, curator at the fantastic Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, once gave me a private tour of the museum joking that its eclectic permanent collection and fast exhibition turnaround made it “the Colette of museums”… And it really is an amazing art space, with a collection that ranges from paintings to design & ceramics – the Netherlands Architecture Institute nearby is equally wonderful (Rotterdam being the European capital of architecture) and check the many galleries across the Westersingel on Witte de Withstraat… more in a separate post. The Art of Fashion opened 2 weeks ago at the Boijmans, it explores the interaction between art and fashion, and I was dead jealous of their beautiful flyer.

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 19 Sep-10 Jan, Museumpark 18-20

I was reading the October edition of Wallpaper* magazine on the Eurostar and it crossed my mind that the magazine was slowly reviving its vintage 1990s spirit, when it was daring and sexy (even raunchy). The peelable cover was a great idea and I was suddenly excited at the idea of browsing through the pages and actually reading articles. I had a similar epiphany last July when I got hold of the Sex & Art issue. It will sound sycophantic but Karl Lagerfeld is a true genius – next to my copy of Wallpaper* was Intelligent Life (The Economist’s monthly title) with an in-depth article on the end of polymaths. What a coincidence because Mr Lagerfeld strikes me as the godfather of them all… the extent of his knowledge is staggering – not only fashion but also art, design and architecture – and I wish I could deliver his witty one-liners in at least one language (his acid tongue spans quite a few languages). I was amazed by his talent for photography and his male nudes were quite a noticeable departure for a magazine as ice-cold as Wallpaper*. Magazines have changed so much over the past few years – I remember reading an interview by the founders of Butt Magazine and how they explained that they couldn’t even find a retailer. It’s nice to see a new sense of aesthetics permeating the glossy press. More please!

This is a picture of the Turnleft office – as you can see we’re used to turning right!

Working on the Antwerp poster series has been a tremendous pleasure. One last thought for Brecht Vandenbroucke, the super-talented illustrator who designed the Street poster (below). Ben, Turnleft’s Art Director, was familiar with his work and I had seen Brecht’s cover for the Vice Summer guide (Benelux edition). By the time we saw the sketch of his proposed poster, we couldn’t wait to see it in print. To me it balances Antwerp’s ice-cold image – often conveyed by its fashion capital status – with a fun and festive representation of the city. It was also interesting to know that all Belgian grown-ups have fond memories of childhood visits to the Antwerp Zoo so here it is, our final recommendation (Koningin Astridplein 26, behind Centraal Station).

We are already working on our next edition, maybe Fall-Winter 09-10 or Spring-Summer 10 at the latest. Contact us if you want to take part! nick at turnleftguides dot com (publisher & editor-in-chief)

A few credits:
Art director Ben Freeman
Creative consultant Johannes Reponen
Posters & illustration Jarno Kettunen | Brecht Vandenbroucke
Photography Donatien Veismann
Style Ruben Debuck
Hair and make-up Géraldine Niego
Photography assistant Jeroen Vissie
Models Seppe & Steve @ New Models
Special thanks Inge Bauwens, Andrea Cammarosano, Igor Daems, Miek De Roeck, Rob Driessen, David Flamée, Hein Knapen, Harald Ligtvoet, Dawn Page, Bert Vercamer & many others

All content © 2009 www.turnleftguides.com

Turnleft always makes every endeavour to feature mostly small, independent venues. This is particularly true for hotels – we can’t stand Caesar Salads in identikit hotel chains. The whole team has developed a fondness for small bed & breakfasts and they don’t come better than in Benelux, probably because buildings are so small and narrow – we’ve already featured Hooy Kaye Lodge (Brussels) and Lute Suites (Amsterdam) in previous guides (it would be more difficult to establish an intimate hotel in an Haussmannian building). Dutch designer Analik’s Miauw in Antwerp and Amsterdam revolves around 3 ideas set within the same premises: a bed & breakfast (Miauw Suites), a concept store with a rotation of fashion, design and art displays (Miauw Shop) and a creative agency (Miauw Projects). The Antwerp building is not necessarily Unesco World Heritage material but its corner location allows for a view over Marnixplaats and a 270-degree exposure in each suite, each of them a staggering 70sqm. And at this stage we need to mention that Miauw is located between 2 of the city’s best restaurants: Fiskebar at 12 (fish and seafood canteen, great wine list) and Lucy Chang at 16 (everyone’s favourite pan-Asian eatery in Antwerp – see previous posts).

Fiskebar Marnixplaats 12, Miauw Marnixplaats 14, Lucy Chang Marnixplaats 16

An unusual post but I’ve noticed that for some reason, many of our readers are in Singapore: the National Museum of Singapore has a temporary exhibitions that juxtaposes the Old Flemish Masters with the leading names of the Antwerp contemporary art scene.

A Story of the Image: Old & New Masters From Antwerp was in Antwerp 2 years ago and in Shanghai last summer. Many of the Old Masters on loan from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA) and the Museum of Plantin-Moretus are in Asia for the first time. This includes artworks by Breughel, Brouwer, Rubens and Van Dyck. The contemporary collection on loan from M HKA reads like the Who’s Who of the Belgian art scene: Luc Tuymans, David Claerbout, Francis Alys, Marlene Dumas, Berlinde de Bruyckere, etc.

National Museum of Singapore Stamford Road, 14 Aug-31 Oct

It is an incredibly busy week for the unpronounceable Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (or M HKA, a.k.a MuHKA) – Antwerp’s museum of contemporary art. The museum reopens on 10 September and on 12 September its Film & Media department becomes Cinema Zuid.

The leading exhibtion remains the updated collection – Collectie XXIV (11 Sep-28 Feb) – but September brings a set of new shows on each floor of the building: Lonely at The Top (11 Sep-8 Nov), T_Tris (12 Sep-29 Nov) and Despues del Arte (2 Oct-15 Nov). Textiles Art and the Social Fabric (11 Sep-3 Jan) is this season’s leading group exhibition – an exploration of the use of textiles in art as a vehicle of social and political expression.

M HKA Leuvenstraat 32, Cinema Zuid Lakenstraat 14

We owe Sonny Vandevelde a small apology. We featured his work in a previous Antwerp guide but somehow we messed up the fashion captions and ended up crediting another photographer… Sydneysider Sonny is a fixture of the European fashion circuit and his photography work backstage brings a colourful, no-nonsense perspective to the mayhem that surrounds fashion shows. We’re big fans of his work – his exhibition, BACKSTAGE, opens in New York this Thursday.

Below, backstage at Bruno Pieters & an extract of our Antwerp guide.

BACKSTAGE, Sonny Vandevelde. Tribeca Grand Hotel, 2 Avenue of the Americas. 10 Sep – 30 Sep (opening 13 Sep)

It’s slightly off the beaten track but the Cogels Osylei-Waterloostraat-Transvaalstraat triangle in Zurenborg is really a mind-blowing display of eclectic architecture, including many Art Nouveau buildings. Not so far, closer to Middelheim Park, Maison Guiette on Populierenlaan is the only house in Belgium designed by Le Corbusier. The house is owned by fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester.

This reminds me of the interview we did with David Flamée, who does the Press & PR for MoMu Fashion Museum and who also runs Sketch, the creative PR agency of the grassroots Antwerp’s fashion ecosystem – he seems to be a big fan of this part of town:

“I’ve been living in Antwerp since 2001 and it’s like a city and a village. Of course it’s all about fashion. I very much enjoyed this year’s shows and the experimental approach of the different designers that graduated. This is a very creative city – one thing that is so great here is that young designers [at the Academy] are pushed to develop their own style and vision. Summer’s great in Antwerp: on a sunny day I like having a picnin in Middelheim Park, an open-air museum with about 200 sculptures and art pieces; in the evening I’ll have a walk through Cogels Osylei and dinner at Euterpia, my favourite restaurant. The neighbourhood has mainly belle époque houses in a variety of architectural styles. It is a very romantic area. I’m not the clubbing type but if I’m not in bed at 3am you’ll probably find me at Frituur Number One! [eds: we love it too - see previous post]”

Euterpia Generaal Capiaumontstraat 2

Like most publishers, I am fascinated by print publications but I tend to run away from fashion magazines. They seem too… self-referential! Yet over the years mostly fashion titles really blew my mind, from Wallpaper* (vintage ) to Fantastic Man… A Magazine is one of them. I love the title – a byword for Flemish modesty – A (a.k.a A Magazine Curated By) comes out twice a year and each edition is curated by a guest from the realm of fashion – enabling him/her/them to develop an editorial that reflects on personal values.

So many creative perspectives are explored to deconstruct the fabric that makes up the world of fashion, from graphic design to art and architecture – IMHO the magazine as much bedside as coffee table (and I say that as a compliment). Previous editions have been curated by the aristocracy of European fashion, many of them trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp: Kris Van Assche, Veronique Branquinho, Maison Martin Margiela, Haider Ackermann. The blog is also really inspiring. For the first time in its history, A is curated by an American fashion house (New York duo Proenza Schouler).