Vlaamse Week

The Vlaamse Week ("Flemish Week") was a one-off celebration of the link between Belgium and South Africa, held in Stellenbosch from 16 to 22 March 1997.

The festival

A joint project of the Belgian foundation called the Vlaams-Zuid-Afrikaanse Cultuurstichting[1] and its Stellenbosch branch known as the Vlaams-Suid-Afrikaanse Kultuurstigting, it was aimed at celebrating the historical cultural and academic links between Belgium and South Africa at various levels.

An initiative of Ward Thielemans, chairman of the foundation at the time, it was locally organized by a committee of 11 locals, chaired by Willem Dempsey, with Muller Ballot as the administrative driving force behind the event. The committee included representatives from various arts departments at Stellenbosch, including those for drama, fine arts, literature and music.

The programme

Besides art exhibitions, music concerts, food and drink events, the presentations, the programme included some concerts by a Belgian of music by Volkskunstgroep VBK, a poetry reading by Leen Vermeiren, a film festival of three recent Belgian films (Manneken Pis, Taxandria and Daens) and six performances of a student production of Bruid in die Môre, an Afrikaans version by Jan Rabie of Hugo Claus's first play, directed by Johan Esterhuizen and featuring students from the Stellenbosch Drama Department (17 - 22 March). Claus also offered masterclasses in playwriting in the Drama Department during his visit.