Tag: Disruptive

An interview with Antwerp’s fashion retail pioneer Geert Bruloot

In an exclusive interview for The Word, Philippe Pourhashemi talks to retail pioneer Geert Bruloot about the influence of London in his early days, the making of the Antwerp Six and how Japan paved the way for Belgium.

Jean-Luc Moerman wraps up ING’s Brussels headquarters

Money meets art in the form of Belgium's most humongous tarpaulin to hide the battle scars of ING's large-scale HQ facelift, a colour infused second skin by artist Jean-Luc Moerman.

Photographer Kelly De Block

In our continued bid to shine a light on rising Belgian talent, we speak with recently-graduated fashion photographer Kelly De Block about collages, contrasts and connecting with people.

Into the light

A light-sensitive series of juxtaposed animated gifs that has the entire office finding itself a new-found love for the digitally-bettered arts.

Win: Share our iPad AppStore link and win yourself a Word goodie bag

Share our iPad AppStore link on your wall, take a screenshot and email it to us. How to win yourself a Word goodie bag in three easy steps.

Meeting Dries Van Noten (or the day my heart stopped beating)

We meet Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten to discuss distance, independence and advertising (or lack of).

Rise and shine: producer Dynooo

Dynooo‘s future-forward, Blade-Runner-grade productions have earned him quite the following in Word HQ. With a string of releases to his name, the latest of which surely won a world record for longest ever title (I Feel Like PLaying Sim City Straight From The Floppy And Run A Tornado All Over My Perfectly Functioning Town After […]

Gone in 12 hours: Art Asylum

There’s something about spontaneous, one-off initiatives that gets our clocks ticking. You see, we’re firm believers in ‘mix-and-we’ll-see’ creative collisions, preferring the unknown to the predictable, the loose-ended to the pre-defined. So it was with much trepidation (and, granted, a raised eyebrow or two) that we stepped into Art Asylum, a 12-hour-only, 20-man-strong get together […]

Music: Mark Boombastik and Eduardo Delgado Lopez’ Adios Berlin

You could say Mark Boombastik is something of a general ordering his troupes to get in line and march to the beat. A Berlin-based beatboxer, lyricist and singer with an intense, commandeering and hypnotic vocal presence, his recent collaboration with Eduardo Delgado Lopez (also the bass player in Caspar Brötzmann Massaker) on their joint effort Adiós Berlin […]

Win two tickets to Spoek Mathambo this weekend

Former model turned instant counter culture soldier Elisabeth Ouni has also been dabbling in party promotion of late. Her latest gig, dubbed ‘The Spicy Issue‘, sees none other than Spoek Mathambo take centre stage at Antwerp’s Club magic, a retro-fantastic venue nestled in the basement of the city’s Ramada Plaza Hotel. With Luxembourg’s Kwistax and our very […]

Kitsch, crimes & Ketchup

With Wes Craven‘s Scream 4 due for official cinema release in spring, avoiding slasher films has become quite the challenge. This was not always the case. In fact, slasher movies are more of a subcategory within horror films, verging onto caricature and exaggeration. Writer Vincent Dechamps The rules are simple and have yet to be […]

Emufucka, the prodigy producer straight outta Tokyo

Early last week, Brussels’ Citywurl Records sent us a promo of Tokyo-based producer-come-beat-maker Emufucka’s latest EP called Select. The six-track effort, a genre-defying mix of cosmic electronic beats and mangled melodies, is fresh, flawless and cerebral. We email-interviewed the 24 year wizard of odds, asking him about everything from the view from his bedroom window […]

Alexis Taylor

Special thanks to Wilfried for making sure the camera safely got back to us.

The joker has landed – An interview with Drums of Death

Ceratin artists sometimes seem to drop a bomb on you out of nowhere. You kind of had heard their name somewhere before, but couldnt quite place it. You know they aren’t exactly newcomers to the game, but they aren’t old-timers neither. It’s that certain breed of on-the-cusp of breaking-through artists. Some seem to be eternally […]

Five of the best gigs of 2010

1. Strange Days: featuring Sonic Youth, Shellac, The Pop Group, Factory Floor – 31st December, Hammersmith Apollo (London) Leave it to cult British promoters All Tomorrow’s Parties to throw the UK’s most hyped night of the year. Supported by Factory Floor, cult post-punk outfit The Pop Group (reformed after a 19-year hiatus) and Steve Albini’s […]

Less is a bore

Minimalism equals good taste. For nearly a century, such was the design credo of the Western world. But let’s face it: the world has changed a great deal since. Writer Anneke Bokern Suddenly, countries that never had much of an influence on the international design scene are developing into major markets. “People here want golden faucets”, […]

Tap that thang: we want to hear from you (in return for some booze)

Our iPad app comes out early January. Expect a more engaging and immersive editorial experience. Print, digital, video and sound – all-in-one. Its starting point will be the magazine (as with pretty much everything in Word world), its scope the neighbourhood (you know, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Koln) and its reach […]

Back To School party: the pictures

We couldn’t quite believe our luck when the authorization came through. The commune of Ixelles/Elsene had approved our request to throw a “back to school” party in their crown jewel, the elementary school Les Mouettes. Held to celebrate the start of the school year and mark the beginning of Design September festivities, we got our […]

Varsity blues

I was given a little lesson in sportswear history over lunch today. The topic at hand was the varsity jacket (also known as a Letterman jacket), a staple of American university folklore. The lunch, organised by Nike Sportswear, took place in Alice Gallery‘s breath-taking new downtown space located in the heart of Brussels (the gallery […]

Back To School party: the yearbook project

As soon as we got the go-ahead from the powers-that-be to invade public elementary school Les Mouettes for our Back To School party, we simply couldn’t resist the idea of having our very own yearbook studio. Here are some of the photographs we got during the night, but you can view the entire album on our […]

Ik hou van Charleroi

Our relationship with Charleroi and its locals was left somewhat shaky after a feature we ran in last year’s Heritage Issue. Conceived as a tribute to the city’s industrial heritage, the piece garnered its fair share of controversy and even a few angry comments. We felt we owed the city a fresh new look and […]

Superfly

The Ghent-based concept store Mac Fly curated a night of beats, bops and boogie in Nijdrop a few weeks ago. Irish producer Mike Slott and Swiss beat craftsman Dimlite were headlining the whole shindig, whilst 54kolaktiv‘s Sagat opened and Cupp Cave & Dynooo, who recently launched their label Surf Kill, played a collaborative show ranging […]

Wonder construction

Take a mental cruise across Belgium’s modest territory; go for a quick imaginary spin along its motorways, through the bigger cities and down the country lanes. Notice any recurring features? While ‘medieval wonders’, ‘peaceful country- side’ and ‘millions of road signs’ are all valid answers, you couldn’t have possibly missed the ubiquitous construction sites, ongoing […]

The colour blue

We entertain somewhat of a disturbingly unhealthy obsession with the colour blue, but talk about it against a backdrop of distraught flesh and, well, we might just adopt you. Photography Ulrike Biets Below are some of the pictures you weren’t supposed to see.

Tour operator

It’s only been a year now, but Brussels can finally pride itself on having a collective reopening of art galleries worthy of a true art capital. Simply labelled Brussels Art Days, two days of intense gallery hopping and openings just took place this past weekend, with no less than 30 new exhibitions, among which some held […]

Oooh Wordiors, come out and play…

The indefatigable and near indestructible KKGB gang produced one of the most ambitious fashions series to have graced the magazine pages for our Rough Edges Issue. Indeed, each day of shoot was a cacophony of surreal situations, future-funky hairdos and menacing weapons. Before we show you the series in its entirety as well as a […]

Giving the people what they want

Citroen’s new DS3 has been on my mind ever since I took it for a test drive over three weeks ago. At first sight, you’d be forgiven for thinking they got it totally wrong. It’s much more muscular, intimidating even, than the original model (which we paid respect to in our Rough Edges Issue). It […]

This Saturday, we go back to school!

Ahh, September. Time to sharpen your pencils and get your rulers out. Time to say bye bye to that summer crush and hello to another school year.Time to party one last time before academic angst sets in and your teacher’s moralising musings get the better part of you. Taking over the indoor playground of Ixelles’ […]

Jimmy Edgar

Photography and captions Jimmy Edgar

The Black Box Revelation

The (bloody) backstage at Lokerse Feesten

Photography Ulrike Biets Here’s some of the material we were able to get despite our limited access. It would be a shame not to share something that (questionably) deserved shedding blood for. After a hilarious two-hour show where he was beheaded, hung, stabbed by a sword, skewered in a nail-filled coffin, impaled by a giant […]

Road revelations

It’s not all fun and games for Belgian garage duo The Black Box Revelation. The two-piece is having a busy summer so far, driving through Europe to perform at a string of festivals. We caught Jan and Dries between two pit stops and had a chat about life on the road. Photography Ulrike Biets How […]

So hip, so Hepcat

Mamiko Motto’s Hepcat Radio defines what good music is all about; not assigned to styles, genres or scenes,  it’s a celebration of great music – old and new. Starting at Antwerp’s Radio Centraal, Hepcat Radio soon became the station’s most listened to show and laid foundations for Mamiko’s development as DidUReally at Samurai FM in […]

Backstage at Dour festival

The disarming femme enfant Uffie admitted to us she enjoys pretending to not understand a word of French, that way she can secretly eavesdrop all ongoing conversations in the press area. Lola Olafisoye, singer of Chrome Hoof, certainly has what it takes to be Grace Jones’ little sis – crazy as hell, but full of […]

Pete Doherty

Here’s our man capturing the audience as he steps onstage. Fast forward to 1.00 for a load of the action.

Backstage at Les Ardentes

Pictures by Ulrike Biets The one and only Pharrell, listening to his iPod as he exits his ride to get into the dressing rooms. The iPod actually contained all of N*E*R*D‘s brand new top-secret material. No one was allowed anywhere near it, save for two very lucky journalists. Pete Doherty posing minutes before Babyshambles‘ concert. We […]

HEALTH

Here’s what the boys took with our disposable camera right after the gig:

Jamie Lidell

Below are your usual festival pictures taken from the front stage area: And here’s your exclusive peak at what was happening backstage:

Mosh pit mash up

So festival season is well and truly upon us and what’s a festival without a mosh pit? In homage, we thought we’d offer up our favourite mosh up videos for your enjoyment. Take caution, some of these moshers are hardcore! By Renasha Khan For starters let’s ease into these with Metallica rocking out at Greece’s […]

Brussels: where we drink

Together with the start of the summer comes the cringe-inducing ‘city guides’ we’ve all grown accustomed to, from American broasheets’ “36 hours in…” roundups to glossy magazines’ “10 things to do in…” selections. Directories of the usual suspects, these guides hit all the right (touristy) chordes, without ever delving deep into the city DNA. And […]

Our pick of London summer festivals (+ a giveaway)

Some hop on the plane to Barcelona to take in the sea, sex and songs at Sonar, whilst others road-trip it down to Sete for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival – a jamboree of urban sounds that this year has everyone from The Gaslamp Killer to Gil Scott Heron headlining the cult seaside musical festival. The […]

The last few outlaws ride the waves

They provided the soundtrack to our teenage years and introduced us to sounds overlooked by the mainstream, but is there still a role for pirate radio stations in the podcast era ? Writer Marcus Barnes, photography Charlotte May Wales, additional research by Renasha Khan In 1994 we fell in love with a new sound that we […]

The Special Showstoppers: At the back of the bus

The nomadic lifestyle of the band on the summer festival circuit is both a blessing and a curse. While such movement adds exponentially to both industry cred and the rock ‘n’ roll allure, the effects on both sanity and hygiene can be much less desirable. Whether struck by stress, boredom, the sense of imprisonment, or […]

DJ Kicks given the Kode 9 treatement

There was never any question that Kode 9’s DJ Kicks mix would be an interesting, time-travelling foray into bass music. The London-based producer, DJ, label boss and author – the closest the UK’s dubstep scene has to a spiritual godfather – has relentlessly been crafting a unique musical identity that has won him the respect […]

On our corner

A Brussels landmark as soon as its doors opened eight years ago, the iconic Café Belga has become the social hub that transformed a neighbourhood. It was just a matter of time until this local institution made it in our pages and the Breakthrough theme was simply the perfect fit. Photography Merel ‘t Hart Located on Place Flagey, […]

Absolutely smashing

Life at the cutting edge can get pretty exhausting – kept awake at night by genius ideas, burning through the shoe leather as you sprint your way too and from the patent office, wrestling frustration as things fail to fall into place just so – we thought we’d help out with a little selection of […]

Bad vibrations

Music has the ability to move us emotionally and effect us physically, to boost spirits and make a crowd move as one – but this power can have unforeseen, and even unpleasant consequences Writer Hettie Judah, illustrations Marcel Ceuppens War is heavy metal George Gittoes’ documentary Soundtrack to War explores the profound integration of music […]

Oh Oh Emmanuelle

Giving into a little teenage nostalgia, we profiled cult figure of night time television Emmanuelle for our Skin edition. Here, you’ll find a selection of some of our favourite Emmanuelle moments, as balmy as they are classic. The original article we published can be found at the end of the post. Additional research by Timothy […]

Blow the horn, rebels have arrived.

Consider this. An opening slot on a Kitsuné Maison compilation. A live gig at a Jean-Charles de Castelbajac catwalk show. A ‘Record of the Week’on BBC Radio 1. Heck, this band even had Les Inrockuptibles’ editor  championing it as if his own mother was the drummer. And we ain’t talking your usual one-hit-wonder, I’m-a-celebrity-dj-get-me-out-of-here band […]

Currently available at

Giving an extended online lease of life to an article we ran with in our skin issue, here’s the piece Randa (our newly-posted London correspondant) did on Dover Street Market. Photography Charlotte May Wales Dover Street Market still feels fresh as new despite being around for half a decade, making it one of the best, […]

Ctrl-alt-del the front row

Playing your cards right as the PR officer entrusted with shaping a given designer’s front row has recently become that much harder with the arrival on the scene of teenie-bopping bloggers. Armed with an online following that’d make @aplusk bow down in awe, these industry outsiders have suddenly become front row material, with designers and […]