Volkhardt Mueller: Ghent
A Tale of Two Cities: what can Exeter learn from Ghent?
I wanted to get an impression of how independent artists and artist-led organisations operate in Ghent, and learn more about how social innovation and the cultural sector connect in the city.
From the Visit Ghent website, I expected Brabantine Gothicism, poplar trees and canals, bathed in the tranquil glow of the Golden Age; a bit like a Vermeer painting, basically. I also expected some world-class traffic management, lively markets, slick modernity and more. In a nutshell, the city markets itself on a blend of proud history and social and technological innovation. On the website, dozens of guided tour providers advertise their services.
In and around the huge medieval centre there are baroque facades, Austrian 18th century neoclassicism, neo-gothic and art deco buildings that bear witness to a wealthy past and many influences. Two of Ghent’s most splendid art deco structures were erected in the spirit of socialism. One of them is the phenomenal Vooruit Arts Centre, built in the early 20th century to uplift, celebrate and accommodate the working classes. Incredibly, its bourgeois ornamentation, its many ballrooms and theatres, stucco and stained glass windows were part of a socialist vision. How very different from the architecture the Eastern Block presented some 50 years later! The city’s abundance of ornamentation and craft is punctuated by 20th and 21st century interventions, but instead of after-war ‘brutalism’, I saw sensitive and responsive ‘new’ developments from many decades. The choice of beers was phenomenal, the pubs cosy, the food very nice, public transport swift, and the cycling infrastructure just short of unbelievable.
Officials told us that over the last decade or so, Ghent has evolved from being a hidden gem to a global tourist magnet. Conversations did not extend to ‘overtourism’ – if and how that might be felt in Ghent, for example. It’s hard to disagree that lots of tourists are a good thing, if they are sustainably managed, and if the community as a whole gets to benefit from their cash. Why tourists come and who they are, are related questions. For all it’s worth, I know why I would visit Ghent again.
A centre is key to most medieval cities that market themselves on their history. Ghent and Exeter have that in common. The centre of Ghent felt both lively and relaxed, never dead or abandoned. There are lots of cafes, pubs and smaller shops. But most importantly, people live there – including families with children. Local officials told me that it is populated by a diverse demographic, supported by a diverse mix of different types of property ownership. A local government website provides deeper insights. Cars? Nope. Business? It would seem so. Quality of life? Oh yes. If people ‘own’ their neighbourhoods, if they feel they have a stake in them, do these neighbourhoods develop a different civility to those run solely by businesses? More permanent city centre residents seem to bring ideas, energies, decisions and the will and strength to take responsibilities. Ghent seems to be constantly evolving, but there was also a sense of continuity with view to how change happens.
Exeter delegates went on a guided tour through De Krook, Ghent’s new public library, an incarnation of digital modernity. As is often the case with statement buildings, the development was driven by a set of visions, some of which are now being adjusted to reality. Overall, though, it’s quite the success. It’s also a contemporary architectural highlight. Generously dimensioned, it appears solid like a rock, but light-flooded, slightly brooding, yet strangely elevating. Nothing about it felt tacky. Whether people like the shape of it or not, they will notice the care and attention to detail that went into it, making it worthy of the historic environment, to the tune of £63 million.
The city’s cycling network is world famous. Various studies suggest cycling infrastructures remain fairly ineffective unless they are implemented comprehensively, and in Ghent they have done just that, alongside getting rid of cars, with a strategy that has been described as tactical urbanism. Initially, these plans met fierce opposition, and the Guardian reports how a Ghent mayor had to be put under police protection over the issue. Twenty years later, Ghentians love their car free centre, and an overwhelming majority of residents and businesses cannot imagine a way back. The same success story has played out across many cities.
All of this made me think about the relationship between city centre management and civic pride, and what entirely different concepts they are. Good management can support civic life, but it can’t ‘do’ it. If true civilisation evolves at the interface of natural self-interest and public good, city centres are the ultimate testing ground and display case of civility, and only to some extent can this be a ‘management’ issue. Another interesting parallel was that both Exeter and Ghent are mostly social democratic in their outlook, surrounded by a conservative hinterland.
I spoke to various members of the independent arts scene, amongst them Convent, a small cutting-edge gallery, and Nucleo, who provide studio and exhibition spaces all over the city. Ghent has several art schools, which makes for a good, critical mass of ‘fresh blood’. This sustains the flow of ideas and keeps the energy levels up, whilst making for decent audiences where work goes on exhibition. Independent operators like myself, who have exhibited in Exeter, know that audience building is incredibly hard work. In Ghent, skilled curators and practitioners do professional standard work, but they often can’t generate an adequate income from it. Ambition and idealism subsidise the cultural life in the city. This is rarely sustainable, and new initiatives come and go.
Young practitioners who make exciting, public-facing things happen for short periods of time are one important aspect of a city’s arts scene, provided they get the space and freedom to play. It is part of Ghent’s cultural strategy to retain talent. Nucleo play a key role in that. With a small core of full and part-time staff, the organisation manages nine buildings with some 150 practitioners across central Ghent. In a five-year cycle, artists with a public-facing practice can apply for affordable studio space, but also for exhibition opportunities. These temporary arts venues come and go, but crucially, they are managed professionally, and those professionals are partly paid for by the city. 30% of Nucleo’s budget is from the city of Ghent, 70% from rental income. Since 2019, they have also been facilitating and encouraging cross-disciplinary practice through the provision of temporary free exhibition spaces. Their curatorial approach seems to be more selective than proactive, a form of artist-led. These clusters of artistic production and exhibition are spread across Ghent, and often they seem to occupy rather attractive listed buildings. The question of how an arts organisation is able to constantly free up rental property in the heart of a city like Ghent might seem puzzling to Exeter people, and points to yet more fundamental differences worthy of closer examination.
In Exeter, Princesshay have enabled a growing arts scene through the provision of empty retail space around Paris and Sidwell streets. A small cultural quarter is in its infancy, around Maketank, lively shops, the AWEsome Art Space and TOPOS. Right next to that, St Sidwell’s community centre is doing a fantastic job as well. At the other end of town, this liveliness is somewhat mirrored around Fore Street, albeit everywhere is rather strangulated by the stink and noise of traffic. Exeter has some great things going for it. It has many beautiful corners and aspects within walking distance, which underlines the need and potential to link up events and activities across the city, so people can experience it as a connected organism. We may not have a lot of people living in our city centre, but things can change, and the potentials to infuse the centre with more cultural life are definitely there.
In the very short time I gained a sense that Ghent’s residents, cultural practitioners, institutions and the council really work together. Some policy makers have shown a great deal of courage, supported independent professionals, and exciting things happened. Good things can happen in Exeter, too. The beginnings are already underway.