2023-09-19 17:07:00
Avenida de Bruselas. Avenue de Bruxelles, in the heart of Madrid. First of all, it’s funny. And in a small street adjoining it, the Spanish capital takes on the appearance of the well-known Avenue de la Couronne in Ixellois. It was the artist Jonathan Pauwels, otherwise known as “Yellow”, who took part in an exercise that he knows well, since he has already stencilled the walls of around twenty countries on four continents.
“In the end, I am a bit like your colleague, I too am an ambassador of Belgium,” he quips to Geert Cockx, the real Belgian ambassador to the Hispanic peninsula, accompanied by Minister-President Rudi Vervoort (PS ). The meeting is no coincidence, since it somewhat unofficially kicks off Brussels Days, a major economic-cultural meeting aimed at establishing links between Brussels and the two largest Spanish cities.
Inauguration of a fresco with the image of Brussels, next to Avenida de Bruselas, in Madrid, on the occasion of Brussels Days in the Spanish capital. ©Sylvain Anciaux
Over around twenty meters, the artist and his partner have created a universe between the two capitals. “These are the windows and doors of Crown Avenue. In fact, there are not a lot of architectural differences between Brussels and Madrid, it is mainly the arrangement of the elements that differs.” We therefore find names of bistros from our region, such as “In de Molen” alongside establishments with more Spanish titles, “La Chilostra”.
Tribute to cleanliness services
And then, the main element of the fresco are these Brussels-Propreté workers who sludge over the meters. “It’s a tribute to an essential service for city planning,” underlines Jaune. No one is working on the fresco, this is to show that if they stop, the situation can quickly become chaotic.”
And to make the link with Madrid, Brussels officials display the colors of their Spanish counterparts on the fresco. Ironically, or not, the fresco is on a wall of a building of the UGT, the Spanish left-wing trade union confederation. “Yellow represents the workers, the UGT too”, analyzes Guillermo De La Madrid, of the “Madrid Street Art” project.
Inauguration of a fresco with the image of Brussels, next to Avenida de Bruselas, in Madrid, on the occasion of Brussels Days in the Spanish capital. ©Sylvain Anciaux
A detail that hits the mark, since the Madrid garbage collectors were amazed to see the fresco grow throughout the work week, says Jaune. And they are not the only ones, “adults see political stories, children imagine other things, everyone interprets the story in their own way. It’s a piece of Brussels that Madrid is making its own.”
The awakening of cities
“The frescoes are the product of our history linked to comic strips,” says Rudi Vervoort, contemplatively. He, like Jaune, observe with delight the integration of the urban dimension into art, “and this is only one of the aspects, notes the Minister-President, but that is also Belgium”.
Meeting between Rudi Vervoort and Isabel Diaz Ayuso, on the occasion of Brussels Days. Madrid, September 19, 2023. ©Sylvain Anciaux
Once once more, culture is becoming a real diplomatic tool for Belgium abroad. It is no coincidence that Rudi Vervoort gave a Tintin book to Isabel Diaz Ayuso (PP), his Madrid counterpart during a meeting organized this Tuesday noon in the presence of the new Secretary of State, Ans Persoons (Vooruit ). Climate change, housing, urban planning, the Brussels Days are an opportunity for Vervoort, Persoons, hub.brussels, brussels.international, visit.brussels and urban.brussels to build new bridges between Brussels and Spain.
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