ERFGOED & ZONEN

A child with a fever blister, a makeshift UFO, raw meat in a blood puddle, and a child soldier posing in front of the bumper cars’ canvas. What unites these images probably has more to do with myself than with the assignment I received from the Erfgoedcel Pajottenland en Zennevallei: to photograph ten living traditions. Not only the deeply rooted Sint-Veroonmars in Lembeek, Brabantian draught horses, and Geuze breweries, but also new, imported ones like Halloween made it onto the to-do list.

Typically, it turns out that these traditions are not kept under a glass bell jar, no, they’re even quite up-to-date. Of course, during the three-day Folk Music Workshop in Gooik, a few participants may still be seen in hobbit costumes, but the very next day, you’ll probably spot them in the same outfits at the local organic market.

How an entire village becomes one big family thanks to a cherished tradition: it never fails to move. Like Lembeek during the two-day Sint-Veroonmars, where both the uniforms of the Easter soldiers and the love for jenever serve as a bonding element. The folk tradition is also handed down to the new generation with a spoon, enriched or not with a local Kriek Boon.

 

Year of publication 2015 - Sold out