A member of the Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang was appointed to the board of the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) last week, eliciting widespread criticisms from the Flemish artistic community in Brussels.
Board members for the KVS are named by both Flemish and Brussels institutions, leading to Vlaams Belang MP Filip Brusselmans being named one of the representatives by the Flemish Parliament.
Belgian law states that cultural operators in the capital which rely on public funding must have a politically representative board. The KVS administration comprises of 11 board members, five of which are named by the City of Brussels municipality, five by the Flemish Parliament and the final member chosen by the capital’s Flemish Community Commission.
Following the selection by fellow Flemish MPs, Brusselmans has become the first-ever far-right politician to sit on the KVS’ board of administrators, an appointment that has not gone down well within the theatre.
Vlaams Belang MP Filip Brusselmans. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
KVS’ Artistic Director Michael De Cock responded to the nomination, stating that “we must ask ourselves whether the appointment of a representative of a xenophobic, homophobic party is at odds with our values."
An open letter was signed by more than 40 of the KVS’ in-house artists, which reminded people that "everyone is welcome" at the theatre. "More than that, we cordially invite everyone to come and see our work, and to enter into dialogue with us," they added.
The artists also hit back at Vlaams Belang’s ideology which "divides rather than unites and is in everything diametrically opposed to what we stand for and fight for," accusing the party of "never missing an opportunity to spout hateful, xenophobic and homophobic statements."
In response, the far-right party called the letter "an outright attack on the plurality of political representation" in the KVS board of administration, with Brusselsmans himself calling the outcry "very dangerous."
