02.09.2007 My Belgium

At Pax Christi Flanders invitation, I left for Belgium, the capital of diamonds and peace-making youth initiatives. Eight out of ten diamonds get to the world market from Antwerp. The history of the precious stones getting and conversion and the deposits map are shown in the famous Museum of Diamonds in Antwerp. There, one will see unique works of jewellery art of the past and the present Ц the most prestigious international awards winners. The museum get them thanks to the sponsorship from major companies. The glitter of diamonds really turns your head. After you have looked at them, jewellery shops nearby seem to be small shops that sell things made of tire, ground nuts and tiny glass fragments. Diamonds trade is, almost on a voluntary basis, under charge of people wearing kipas and professing Judaism.
The writing above the doors of RubensТs house says: УLong Live Spirit!Ф. The great artist arranged his house with a truly royal splendour. LetТs have a look at his works. УAdam and EvaФ (1600). Thoughtful Eva and frightened Adam are in front of us. The painting portrays the very first conflict happened in the world. Adam is reproaching Eva that they have disobeyed God. He is shifting the common blame on to Eva. The painting is deeply philosophical. The painter raises the issue about personal responsibility of all that happens in the world and about feelings of guilt and repentance. These are the feelings that a person should be guided by. The presumption of oneТs own guilt as a way to overcome evil in the world. Emphasized plump shapes of the characters Ц is a symbol contradictions and distorted GodТs intention. Rubens, however is far from moralizing.A universal beauty, that takes off all the pros and cons, manifest itself in his canvas. Perfectly painted nipples of the characters, perhaps they are the best in the world of painting, suggest us idea that being and every moment of a flourishing life are of great value. Happiness is available in spite of conflicts and contradictions inherent in life itself. Happiness is a joy of spiritualized physical love. УThe AnnunciationФ (1628) Jesus appearance is noticed by everyone except a cat, that is sleeping. The man differs from the animal, being able to experience the finest spiritual enlightenments and to lead a spiritual life. It is this kind of life, that harmonizes the world order and relations between all living things.
The place I was living in was unusual. That was Franciscan Order of Capuchin monastery. It was a catholic priest, Pax Christi Flanders president Jo who offered me bed and breakfast. My cell was next to his room. I was given a warm welcome. The place was no less comfortable than upscale hotels, like УSheratonФ and УHiltonФ. The spirit of Francis of Assisi reigns within the monastery walls. The spirit that finds itself in the intended poverty as the highest stage of resignation. Refusal of any property, except Bible, following ChristТs example, love for oneТs neighbours are the values the monastery life is based on. I guess that the life of our country would change quickly for the better, if the authorities were guided by the teachings of Franciscans. The priests are examples of peacefulness, they are free of any kind of intolerance. The same hospitality was shown to me by Belgian students, who tented an apartment in the middle of Antwerp. Only the cat was impolite, since it was jealous seeing a hostТs attention to me. It managed to mark my mattress two times.
Catholic kirks are beautiful and magnificent.. They are prototypes of spaceships. Human spirit ascends upwards there.
Urging to satisfy my interest in masks and festivals, I set out for a small town called Binche. There is an international museum of Masks and carnivals there. By the way the museum was founded by a local governor, who apparently was a cheerful and clever person. Unfortunately, the masks on the display were only a small part of the curiosities reserve stock. But even what I saw was deeply impressive. African, Papuan masks Ц it was a wonderful alien world. Fantasy of the people, realized during carnival processions is an unlimited source of joy. Turned upside-down world of a carnival. This full of fun event was the only way to take off social limitations. Common citizens could feel like kings. Failings such us drinking, greed, grumbling became objects of ridicule. People dressed up in cloaks and performed their comic court that had a huge share of truth in it. Paradox manifested itself making people roar with laughter : a pig that loves tidiness, a king who thinks of the people. Carnival is a colorful world where people dull on the first sight can vividly express themselves. The festival generates vital energy. In the old photographs, one can see Binche citizens wearing carnival dresses. Their faces are not ordinary. The impress of another dimension is upon them. In this dimension, a Game or УapingФ is the norm of behaviour.
There is enough rudeness in any country, but not everywhere it is resisted. This is what happened to me in Binche. A man entered a cafe and bought take- away pizza and croissants. But he changed his mind and took a seat to eat them right there. Enraged by this, the owner of the cafe launched into a tirade. Two ladies refused having lunch there, in protest against her rude behaviour. Of course, citizens like that deserve respect. And can it be otherwise in the country that sets up the statue of Don Quixote
A long time argument about the nature of prostitution is presented in Russian literature by two writers: F. Dostoyevsky and A. Kuprin. The first believed that poor living conditions make women prostitute themselves. The other considered that these women are psychologically inclined to this kind of activity; they are infantile and would do that, even if they lived in the most favourable conditions. To my mind, both of them are right and the truth links up opposing views. There is a street in Brussels where naked girls lie idly in human Ц height shop windows. They draw passersby staring at them. If you look carefully at their faces, you will share my opinion about double nature of this craft. After all, these girls, who frankly, without pretending and acting the lords sell their bodies and, for sure, delight their clients, evoke more sympathy than mediocre Karelian journalists. The last sell themselves to the local authorities of businessmen for much lower pay. They are strutting around filled with conceit, sometimes Ц totally stupid.
One of the most joyful impressions is connected with the visit of Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels. LetТs talk about some of the pictures. The Flemish painter Theodor Rombouts (1579 Ц 1637) He had worked in Rome and then moved back to his native Antwerp. In Netherlands, he carried on with his caravaggism line together with the Utrecht school representatives. He changed his style, influenced by Rubens and Vandyke. His painting УPrometheusФ strikes with the strength of suffering conveyed in it. Prometheus is seized with mortal torture. He is writhing in pain. A bird is tearing him to shreds. ItТs agony. The painter raises an important issue about the meaning of self- sacrifice. In the context of religion: why was ChristТs death necessary? The painter asks a seditious question. But one canТt be a great person without being a heretic. ThereТs little justice in the world , but still it has people who do good. Why does it happen that one is capable of a great deed and an other Ц of a mean thing. The question remains without an answer.
Peter Bruegel the Elder, a painter from Netherlands. He revised in an artistic way the lessons of Italian 16th century painting; and created a deeply national art, based on the Netherlands traditions and folk art. Humor and fantastic grotesque, lyric and epic sides of the Creation are interwoven in his works. УSt. MartinТs WineФ People are fighting for welfare. Everyone wants to grab more. Man is pitiful, worthless, cursed and wretched. These are the person, whom helps the saint. He loves those, whoТve lost their human features, so to say the lowest of the low. This work of genius reveals the Christian postulate: love the ugliest and help it to become human and even god - like. The essence of Christian ethics is expressed in the picture. This invaluable masterpiece was a gift from Mrs. Van der Meiren.
The Flemish painter Jacob Jordans. The painting УThe King is DrinkingФ is full of festive performance, wild epicureanism, coupled with prosaic part of life. The king is fed up, stout, drunk and satisfied; and the people, crowded around, also seem to be happy. But maybe they are wearing masks? The painter raises the problem of the attitude to another personТs wellbeing. People feel happy, being near a happy person. On the other hand, they are unhappy. Is their happiness hypocritical or they are sharing the welfare sincerely? Everyone stares the king, only a boy has turned, he is looking at a dog, which resembles a person. A doggy joy of people.
Acquaintance with the works of the Dutch painter Hans Memling has been a real discovery for me. УSt. SebastianТs SufferingsФ. Arrows are piercing SebastianТs hands, belly, and legs and are going through the body. But the face of the martyr is expressing a somnambulist calm and total impassivity as if nothing is happening. The works of the gifted Memling have no pathos and pathetic mood, typical for this kind of themes. He creates fairytale paintings. The arrows are not killing Sebastian. The martyr is a romantic youth, who is looking sadly forward and ignoring what is happening. And in fact, what can be more serious and important than the inexplicable sadness and languor of the Youth. УJesus at Pharisee SimonФ Maria is washing ChristТs legs with her hair. This gospel subject turns under the brush of Memling into a strange home custom. It evokes curiosity, unease, affected indifference and even superiority feeling in those, who are witnessing this. Maria is in an awkward posture and her face is foolish and worried. Christ is being touched by this. ItТs a kind of cartoon drawing. A lovely childishness. УMadonna and ChildФ arouses similar feelings. A divine image was made down- to-earth by Hans Memling. And one takes it as an art work of great value. The painter is inclined to a peaceful, lyrical and everyday interpretation of religion themes.
In the famous MemlingТs picture, one can see a sign, marked on ChristТs chest. This sign is an old human symbol and in the 20th century it became the sign Roerich Banner of Peace. Three dots in a circle: religion, knowledge and art are within the circle of culture. It was Brugges, a beautiful town of Belgium, where the first international conference on Roerich Pact took place. УIt was no mere chance that the conference is being held in BruggesЕthis picturesque monument to the past pleads for culture with its essence onlyЕfamous bells of BruggesЕ let these bells be the bells of Banner of Peace Conference victoryФ Ц wrote N. Roerich.
Paul Delvaux УCrucifictionФ. Skeletons, two are of grey colour and one is white, are crucified on crosses. Four skeletons are wearing cloaks and one of them is Pontius Pilate. The rest are hidden in armour. The work is deeply philosophical. Corpses are killing corpses. In the world reigned by death, any kind of death, even the noblest one, is an inevitable end of life. Death is impossible to overcome. Hence all the norms and legal laws are relative. Possibly, as soon as one judges he turns into a corpse, no matter wether it is a court of law or moral conviction: both Pilate and Christ are skeletons. Jesus gave his highly moral teachings and Pilate was guided by the norms of law. The soldiers are in armour. They are impassive participants of life. Delvaux leaves them the right to be called alive. They are the people! And in fact, humanity achieved immortality at the level of a genus. But Paul Delvaux wants to tell us not this. The painter suggests that we should reject judgment. DonТt judge and just live! Judgment changes life into a row of crucifictions and small deaths. Refuse to know what is good and what is evil and return to the eternal life, to the origins of creation, to the united.
Streets are vacuum cleaned in Brussels. ItТs so sensible to clean away even the smallest pieces of rubbish. Cigarette packs contain information in a few languages about the danger of smoking; the picture of a person who has cancer warns about a lethal end, which can be caused by this habit.
Atomium Ц is a huge iron molecule model. It was built for the World Exposition in 1958. It is 102 meters high and weighs 2400 tons. Atomium has nine spheres, 18 meters in diameter each. It takes 23 seconds, with the speed of five meters per second, to get using the lift to the highest of the spheres. It is most high-speed lift in Europe. The length of the piers that connect the spheres is 23 meters. They reach thee meters in diameter. Belgium government has given 15 million euros for reconstruction of Atomium. And the authorities of Brussels together with Atomium owners paid 9.7 million. It is among the most visited sights. One of the main Belgium symbols, which is also a tourist destination that provides work places, was created thanks to the talent of engineers and governmental support.
I enjoyed communication with cultured, intelligent young people who came from various countries and continents. Thinking about the problem of xenophobia, I am inclined to the opinion that the need for adaptation to quickly changing conditions is the basis reason of it. It can be isolation from the usual environment or vice verse when foreign elements invade this environment. Europe shows us a bright way how to solve this problem. The mechanism of assimilation works Europewide. Europe is a strong attractor. Universal European values are quickly perceived and adopted. The European intellectual feel their responsibility for the future of the whole world understanding that everything is closely interwoven. After Christianization of the world , intense process of Europeanization has been occurred. The flow of immigrants from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe countries does not frighten Europe, since it is sure in the power of its melting pot. Neither religious fanaticism nor cultural atomism and language barrier canТt resist the power of European civilization, which was created by philosophers Ц positivists, empiricists and rationalists. Europe has opened its gates for the whole humanity, which quickly assimilates in this environment. Stability of the system is tried by challenges. To be afraid of challenges means to admit youТre incapable and that the system is not good enough and doomed to failure. Europe doesnТt afraid of this. It carries out its national policy with confidence and efficiency.
Ships of various sizes are coming and coming to Antwerp. Antwerp embankment is the most romantic place. The wind of freedom and hope for an encounter with a beautiful girl is blowing. Ships with foreigners on board have arrived here for hundreds of years. Scandinavian sailors built here a kirk. A person should feel everywhere at home; there is nothing worse than homelessness and endless wanderings. One should have a place to return, should feel a solid ground. After the church, sailors went to taverns, where wine and women embrace helped to forget about their pilgrim fate.

Maxim Efimov,
the leader of the Karelian branch of УYouth Human Rights GroupФ