During a ceremony at the Schaerbeek town hall on Tuesday evening repositioned the bust of the former, controversial mayor Roger Nols to contextualise it and inform the public of the xenophobia that centred around the man.
In some ways, Nols, who led the Brussels municipality for almost 20 years from 1970 to 1989, could be described as a colourful character – he once arrived at the town hall on a camel.
But more often, his eccentric nature had another, darker side to it. Associated with the Belgian far-right, he once welcomed the President of the French far-right party, Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and was an outspoken racist and notorious for his discrimination against the Flemings and migrants.
He became notorious nationwide for the 'counter affair', where he set up separate counters in the town hall for French and Dutch speakers, which was against the language law.
Government commissioner Ganshof Van der Meersch during a visit to the city hall of Schaerbeek in 1976 after Nols opened a separate counter. Credit: belga archive
In an effort to contextualise his behaviour in the present day and to educate people on so-called "Nolsism", referring to his political views, current mayor Cécile Jodogne and Councillor for Culture and Equal Opportunities Sihame Haddioui turned around the marble bust of Nols at Schaerbeek town hall with its back to the public, to denounce but not erase his legacy, on Tuesday evening.
Must discuss history
The furture of the mayor's statue has been long debated. In 2017, the French-speaking anti-racism movement (MRAX) published an open letter to the Schaerbeek authorities calling for the removal of the bust of Nols from the city hall.
In response, the College commissioned a historical study of Nolsism by the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI), and a working group was set up by the municipality to look into the presence in the public space of representations of conflicting personalities.
Credit: Commune of Schaerbeek
In the autumn of last year, it recommended that the bust of Nols should be returned to its pedestal but that it should be turned facing away from the public.
It also noted that it should be placed behind a work created by Schaerbeek pupils reflecting the values promoted by the municipality today. The Local Council approved this project and the surrounding procedures in December 2022.
The BSI will also support the implementation of the working group's recommendations to develop an educational pack on Nolsism and the bust for Schaerbeek schools to explain the intervention.
"Memory work is essential if we are to learn more about the history of Schaerbeek, but also to combat polarisation," said Jodogne. "We must not be afraid to talk about our history. This process proves that we can work with associations and citizens, and find original ways to mark this work of commemoration in the public space."
