Antwerp removes ‘woke’ portraits from Schouwburg stairwell | Abroad

The four photos by the internationally renowned photographer Mous Lambarat – including a portrait of a woman with a headscarf – have been adorning the stairwell of the Arenberg since the beginning of November, which has undergone a thorough renovation. According to the theatre, the aim was to give the interior ‘a more diverse and contemporary look’. “Our hall was full of white old men. They do not reflect today’s cityscape,” director Milan Rutten stated last autumn Gazette of Antwerp.

Four portraits of historical Antwerp figures – including Antwerp mayor Filips van Marnix, entrepreneur Gilbert van Schoonbeke and Pieter Appelmans, one of the architects of the Cathedral of Our Lady – had to make way for Lambarat’s photographs.

That was against the sore leg of Luk Lemmens, member of the board of directors of cultural institutions in Antwerp. “It bothers me that people want to make the image of white men disappear. This is how they try to erase history under the pressure of the woke culture that a group of intellectuals adhere to. I oppose the rewriting of history,” said Lemmens, also a deputy of the province of Antwerp on behalf of the Flemish nationalist N-VA. Gazette of Antwerp (GVA). “I understand very well that the Arenberg wants to work on diversity, but there are enough places in the theater to do that.”

Lemmens was heard by the Antwerp city council. He decided that the photos must be removed and the original paintings must be put back. Lambarat’s photos will be moved to other locations in the Arenberg. One photo of a woman with a veil has already been removed, and will be displayed ‘prominently’ in the reception hall. The three other photos will disappear during the Easter holidays, and will eventually be displayed in the renovated foyer.

The Antwerp alderman for culture Nabilla Ait Daoud (N-VA) responded to the issue on Thursday on Belgian Radio 1. Erasing the past is madness. I don’t participate in this cancel culture,” she says. “These are not just paintings of white men who have been removed, but historical figures who helped make our city great.”

Ait Daoud emphasizes that she does not find Lambarat’s photos ‘woke’. “I love those portraits. They show our city in all its diversity, headscarf or not. I am talking about a director, a civil servant of Antwerp, who has historical paintings removed on his own.”

The fact that the city intervenes so drastically is said to be particularly bad for the leadership of the Arenberg. It was one of the reasons for Milan Rutten to resign as director of the theater at the end of February. Other political parties in the municipality have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the city council’s action to intervene. “This is unheard of and I am shocked,” said Tatjana Scheck, a council member of Vooruit, one of the largest parties, to the Belgian newspaper. Scheck is also a board member of the Arenberg. “Arenberg is an autonomous art house and the Antwerp city council is now intervening in the artistic freedom of this house. This sets a dangerous precedent.”

Photographer Moes Lamrabat, who works for international fashion magazines such as Vogue and GQ and brands like Yves Saint Laurent, is disappointed. “In Flanders, diversity continues to cause discussion, unlike abroad. They are not surprised at all by what is on my work,” Lamrabat told the newspaper.