This article assesses cinema and entertainment cultures during the First World War in occupied Be... more This article assesses cinema and entertainment cultures during the First World War in occupied Belgium. Building on previous research which was primarily focussed on film culture, I will now broaden my scope and explore how wartime cinemas functioned as hubs for different types of spectacle such as variety performances, concerts, and theatre. I will look at how this shift –a substantial part of which was a reaction to wartime circumstances - impacted managerial practices and decisions, performers’ business strategies, and audience perceptions; and how this was part of a more general hybridization of the popular entertainment landscape under the occupation. I will present this research through a case-study of one specific venue: Louvain Palace in the city of Leuven (Belgium). This is an early example of a purpose - built picture palace, the type of venue that would define film exhibition in the second half of the 1910s and throughout the 1920s. First, I will look at the architectural complex to evaluate the theatre managers’ intentions and asses how these were translated in the different iterations of the building plans. Second, I will look at the actual programming during the war and consider the prevalence of the theatre, music, film, and variety elements on the program and look at different contexts of spectacle that intersected in the movie theatre.
Before performances or spectacles moved into the living room with the advent of television, they ... more Before performances or spectacles moved into the living room with the advent of television, they were the prerogative of public spaces such as cinemas, theatres, concert halls, circuses, music - halls, variety theatres and multi - functional spaces such as village halls, fairs, or squares. Despite variations in their dispositive, what unites these spaces is that they hosted attractions, or spectacles that were either performed live or projected in front of a live audience. Individual members of these audiences usually belonged to different audience groups as well : people not only went to the theatre, but also the circus or to a music performance. Moreover, very often different forms of spectacle were consumed in the same space and/or were even part of the same show. Despite their commonalities, these different forms of spectacle are mostly studied separately, in well - defined academic disciplines (e.g. film -, dance -, performance-, and theatre studies, cultural history, heritage studies, music history…).
The authors of this article aim to break down the disciplinary boundaries between a wide range of domains focussing on different types of spectacle and open the way for future interdisciplinary research on cultures of spectacle. One of the possible avenues for research on a variety of spectacles is to focus on short periods of time and/or specific geo-political circumstances. This approach makes it possible to examine a cross section of spectacles that define a society at a specific point in time and from there on allows for comparative research. Also serving as the editors of this special issue on 'Cultures of Spectacle in German-occupied Belgium. Parallels and Differences between the First and the Second World War', the authors emphasise the relevance of bringing together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German - occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914 - 1918) but also in the Second World War (1940 - 1944).
International Journal on Stereo and Immersive Media, 2021
The Kaiser-Panorama is a cylindrical stereo-viewer offering series of 50 topographic coloured ste... more The Kaiser-Panorama is a cylindrical stereo-viewer offering series of 50 topographic coloured stereo photographs to multiple viewers simultaneously. It was conceived, patented and commercialised in the 1880s by the German August Fuhrmann who subsequently developed it into a longstanding transnational media enterprise. Because of its focus on topographic imagery, the Kaiser-Panorama has often been marketed as a medium for virtual travel. So far the Kaiser-Panorama has mainly been studied in the German context and little is known about its development in other countries. This article focusses on the presence and meaning of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium. It will do so along two lines. First it maps the introduction and development of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium where it emerged at point in time when urban entertainment transitioned from mobile to fixed exploitation. Second, the heyday of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium coincides with the increasing democratization of travel. The article will demonstrate how in the Belgian franchise an enterprise whose core business was the promotion of virtual travel, developed into a medium promoting real travel.
Revival After the Great War. Rebuild, Remember, Repair, Reform, 2020
The book is available in open access: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43023
This workshop, organised by the Scientific Research Community ‘Cultures of Spectacle’ in collabor... more This workshop, organised by the Scientific Research Community ‘Cultures of Spectacle’ in collaboration with the Belgian Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (CEGESOMA), wants to bring together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German-occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914-1918) but also in the Second World War (1940-1944). Research focusing on other leisure activities (social events, sports associations, book clubs, going to the pub) and cultural events (exhibitions, fairs) is also welcomed. A focus on occupied Belgium, however, is key.
The “Office Catholique Internationale du Cinéma” (OCIC), was founded in 1928. It established itse... more The “Office Catholique Internationale du Cinéma” (OCIC), was founded in 1928. It established itself, during an existence that spanned more than seventy years (1928-2001) as an influential institution that played an important role in setting the Catholic agenda with regards to cinema. The OCIC derived its influence largely from an intermediate position between its member organisations (national and local Catholic organisations active in the field of film production, distribution, exhibition or film criticism and guidance) and the Vatican. This intermediary position, however, was not built overnight. Devising policies that were acceptable to its members from across the world, both on a national and supranational level, was a difficult exercise and the OCIC occasionally had to deal with members and other associated organisations either ignoring OCIC or trying to bypass it and deal directly with the Vatican. Maintaining its relationship with the Vatican meanwhile was a permanent exercise in balancing OCIC’s own independent course and the interests of its members with the obedience to the Holy See, necessary to obtain the Vaticans approval. Gaining an insight in this balance and how it was maintained is crucial to understanding the OCIC’s history and its position in the field of (Catholic) cinema organisations. In this paper, we will do so by delving into engagements between the OCIC and the Vatican during the postwar period, a pivotal moment in the OCIC-Vatican relations. During this period, the OCIC had to reestablish itself after its wartime inactivity. Due to changing political, societal and religious circumstances, this involved more than just restarting activities. OCIC had to reconfigure/redefine itself in order to stay relevant in the postwar world. Developing its relationship with other national and international film organisations and, more importantly, with the Vatican were crucial to this endeavour. However, the experimental foundation of the Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia Didattica e Religiosa, which marked the first instance of direct Vatican interference in the field, put considerable strain on the OCIC-Vatican relations. At a time when OCIC itself was trying to prove its relevance to the outside world, it was suspicious of potential competitors like this new institution within the Papal Curia and fearful of losing its independence. Our focus will be on the period between 1948 and 1952: between the foundation of this commission, and its replacement by a permanent Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia. This case study is based on extensive archival research. We use the OCIC archives (KADOC, Leuven University) as well as a number of archival documents made available through the project “I cattolici e il cinema in Italia tra gli anni ’40 e gli anni ’70” . Our research relies in particular on a set of documents from the archives of the Italian Azione Catolica, and the personal archives of Mgr. Ferdinando Prosperini, who was a prominent figure having held various important positions in the Italian Catholic Action, the OCIC and the Vatican.
Roman Catholic Engagements with Audio-Visual Media around the World (1928-2001). Exploring and Utilizing the OCIC and UNDA archives., 2018
The report is the tentative end product of the two-year research project ‘OCIC and UNDA from the ... more The report is the tentative end product of the two-year research project ‘OCIC and UNDA from the Research Fund of the KU Leuven: Foundations for longitudinal, comparative and transnational research into Roman Catholic approaches to audio-visual media, 1928-2001’ (project code 3H150291). The report introduces OCIC and UNDA through a short history of both organisations, explores the most important developments during their 73-year existence, and looks into their relations with the Church, organised laity and the broader field of local, national, international, and intergovernmental (media-) organisations. The second part of the report introduces the OCIC-UNDA archives through a short history of the archives’ management and a detailed institutional history of the organisations that shaped them. Taking this into account, the report analyses the structure and content of the archives, evaluating their state of preservation and lacunas. The report also provides an overview of the reference library’s contents with special attention to publications of OCIC, UNDA and their predecessors. There are also a number of relevant primary sources outside the bounds of OCIC and UNDA’s own archival and library collections. The archival collections kept at the Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV) and Istituto per la Storia dell’Azione Cattolica e del Movimento cattolico in Italia Paolo VI (ISACEM) which have been explored in the context of this project, as well as the interviews with privileged witnesses conducted at the 2017 Signis International Congress in Québec are also explored in this report. Finally, the reader is presented with an overview of the data entered in the ODIS database for archival contextual information and an annotated bibliography of literature with direct relevance to the history of OCIC and UNDA.
Thema-nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis.
Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vij... more Thema-nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis. Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vijver, Roel Vande Winkel.
With contributions by Kati Röttger, Kaat Wils, Gert Jan Harkema, Evelien Jonckheere, Kurt Vanhoutte en Nele Wynants.
Immediately after the First World War and continuing well into the 1920s and 1930s, monuments com... more Immediately after the First World War and continuing well into the 1920s and 1930s, monuments commemorating the war were erected all over Europe. Although the concept of commemorating war through monuments long predates the First World War, no other war gave rise to such a large number of memorials. In formerly occupied territories such as Belgium and northern France, the need to express grief as well as gratitude, which had been suppressed by the occupying regime for over four years, appeared as soon as the Armistice was signed. Ideas for monuments surfaced instantaneously and enthusiastically on the national and municipal level. Plans were proposed by formal and informal local associations, such as parishes, labour unions and sports clubs, but not all of these intentions materialized. Many did so only after a long time. This article takes as its subject a phenomenon slightly predating the large-scale postwar statuomanie. It presents a case study of an exceptional series of ten temporary monuments commissioned by the city of Brussels on the occasion of the festive return of the royal family to the Belgian capital on 22 November 1918. These very first structures of First World War commemoration were placed in the city centre as part of the festive decorations and were made in stucco. They were thus fragile and only stayed in Brussels's public space for a short while. Nevertheless, the plaster monuments left a paper trail: the research presented here is based on newspaper articles, picture postcards, snapshots, newsreels and archival sources. The latter are scarce, because decisions were made hastily, and improvised procedures were used to speed up the process. Conceived as they were in the short transitional period between the war and its aftermath, one can ask whether these chaotic conditions and the preconceived temporality of the monuments prompted experimentation and innovation and heralded an altogether new artistic élan. This article presents, for the first time, a full account of the monuments and their authors, and considers the genesis, reception and afterlife of the sculpture series. We then consider two contextual factors: the concept of the city as a democratic open-air sculpture museum, already much in vogue in Brussels in the Belle Époque, and the existing tradition of temporary sculpture within the cityscape, notably in the context of nineteenth-century patriotic festivities. We believe both aspects – along with sculptors' feelings of patriotism, generosity and possible opportunism – contributed to the unique and speedy initiative taken in Brussels in 1918 to realize a parcours of ephemeral statues. Both angles will be framed by the specificity of the immediate postwar era.
A Captivated Audience studies the organization, regulation and consumption of culture in occupie... more A Captivated Audience studies the organization, regulation and consumption of culture in occupied Belgium during the First World War. Through a case-study of the founding and day-to-day operations of Cinema Zoologie, the film theatre located at the Antwerp Zoo, it is demonstrated how tensions between organizers, audiences and the occupying force are played out in the leisure sphere. The film theatre is presented as an arena of conflicting interests where politics, business and patriotism clash. Cinema Zoologie was operated by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (owner of the Antwerp Zoo), a bourgeois society with an international membership and ties with the German community in Antwerp. As a movie theatre located in this thoroughly bourgeois environment, Cinema Zoologie is also an ideal microcosm to study wartime reactions to filmed entertainment and information as well as bourgeois cinema-going experiences. The research presented here is largely based on primary sources from the extensive archives of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp kept at the Antwerp City Archive (Felixarchief).
Keywords: first world war, leisure, occupation, film, cinema culture, zoological garden
In de oorlogsjaren kende bezet België een relatief divers amusementsleven waarin ook bioscopen ee... more In de oorlogsjaren kende bezet België een relatief divers amusementsleven waarin ook bioscopen een belangrijke rol speelden. Aan het begin van de oorlog sloot een behoorlijk aantal zalen de deuren, maar in de meeste steden vonden vanaf het tweede oorlogsjaar opnieuw regelmatig filmvertoningen plaats. Al gauw werd de bioscoop een van de populairste uitgaansplekken. De grote vraag naar filmamusement zette de bioscoopeigenaars echter op prangende wijze onder druk. De internationale situatie en het Duitse cultuur- en filmbeleid dat in de loop van de oorlogsjaren steeds strakker vorm kreeg, had de filmdistributiesector immers volledig op z’n kop gezet. Door importbepalingen, logistieke problemen en censuur werd de Belgische markt de facto afgesloten van de belangrijkste vooroorlogse filmleveranciers (Frankrijk, Italië). Het belangrijkste gevolg daarvan was een gebrek aan recente en lange speelfilms, waaraan de import vanuit Duitsland en in beperktere mate vanuit Nederland en Denemarken slechts gedeeltelijk tegemoet kwam. Belangrijke verschuivingen in de Belgische distributiesector waren het gevolg van het Duitse filmbeleid. Archiefbronnen werpen tevens een licht op hoe Belgische distributeurs en vertoners schipperden tussen economische rendabiliteit, patriottisme en de steeds strakkere Duitse regelgeving.
The Great War broke out at the moment that the film industry at all levels, production, distribut... more The Great War broke out at the moment that the film industry at all levels, production, distribution and exhibition was becoming established. Here the attention is on the local cinema cultures of three spaces: Louvain in Belgium, Southampton in England, and Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in the United States. The areas share marked differences: Louvain suffered considerably, including direct damage to its buildings, reprisal executions of its citizens and German occupation for the four years of the war; Southampton witnessed the parade of war through its role as the main embarkation point for British troops, as well as suffering the loss in unprecedented number of casualties which the British people endured; and Stevens Point was different again in that the war directly touched the local community, with its considerable German and Polish immigrant population, as the politics of the nation shifted from isolation to engagement. These were all factors in the exhibition strategies of local cinema exhibitors who negotiated new audiences. The article draws out similarities and differences in these areas to argue that the war’s impact on particular local cultures was significant in the establishment of cinema’s social function within each community.
This article examines cinema in relation to the First World War in Belgium from two focal points... more This article examines cinema in relation to the First World War in Belgium from two focal points. First, it describes how film production as well as film exhibition and cinema-going became cultural and economic battlefields in the war years, with the local and occupying authorities fighting for control over the industry, its finances and audiences. Second, the representations of the war in post-war Belgian cinema are explored against the background of the concepts of cultural mobilization and demobilization. The cinematic images of the war are considered from a cultural-historical perspective, and post-war cinema is established as a particular site of memory. The article reflects the status quaestionis of current research in the field and indicates interesting online and offline sources and archives.
Picture postcards quickly gained popularity in Western europe around 1900. the photographs on the... more Picture postcards quickly gained popularity in Western europe around 1900. the photographs on these postcards represent a wide variety of topics. from the start, the monument was one of the most popular themes. In this article we would like to focus on picture postcards of three brussels monuments erected in the late 1910s and early 1920s to commemorate two great War heroines, namely the british-born nurse edith cavell (1865-1915) and the belgian spy gabrielle Petit (1893-1916). after briefly discussing the monuments and picture postcards in their specific commemorative context, we will argue that these picture postcards, thanks to the use of specific photographic strategies, can be read as what the french cultural historian Pierre nora coined 'portable realms of memory'. remembering edith and gabrielle Picture postcards of monuments as portable lieux de mémoire leen engelen & marjan sterckx
Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, 2006
... University) and Michael Eckardt (Stellenbosch University), trained in African history and jou... more ... University) and Michael Eckardt (Stellenbosch University), trained in African history and journalism respectively, both ... history, Film Criticism in Cape Town 19281930, looks at the development of film ... His best known work, Black Skin, White Masks (1952), is a personal account ...
This article assesses cinema and entertainment cultures during the First World War in occupied Be... more This article assesses cinema and entertainment cultures during the First World War in occupied Belgium. Building on previous research which was primarily focussed on film culture, I will now broaden my scope and explore how wartime cinemas functioned as hubs for different types of spectacle such as variety performances, concerts, and theatre. I will look at how this shift –a substantial part of which was a reaction to wartime circumstances - impacted managerial practices and decisions, performers’ business strategies, and audience perceptions; and how this was part of a more general hybridization of the popular entertainment landscape under the occupation. I will present this research through a case-study of one specific venue: Louvain Palace in the city of Leuven (Belgium). This is an early example of a purpose - built picture palace, the type of venue that would define film exhibition in the second half of the 1910s and throughout the 1920s. First, I will look at the architectural complex to evaluate the theatre managers’ intentions and asses how these were translated in the different iterations of the building plans. Second, I will look at the actual programming during the war and consider the prevalence of the theatre, music, film, and variety elements on the program and look at different contexts of spectacle that intersected in the movie theatre.
Before performances or spectacles moved into the living room with the advent of television, they ... more Before performances or spectacles moved into the living room with the advent of television, they were the prerogative of public spaces such as cinemas, theatres, concert halls, circuses, music - halls, variety theatres and multi - functional spaces such as village halls, fairs, or squares. Despite variations in their dispositive, what unites these spaces is that they hosted attractions, or spectacles that were either performed live or projected in front of a live audience. Individual members of these audiences usually belonged to different audience groups as well : people not only went to the theatre, but also the circus or to a music performance. Moreover, very often different forms of spectacle were consumed in the same space and/or were even part of the same show. Despite their commonalities, these different forms of spectacle are mostly studied separately, in well - defined academic disciplines (e.g. film -, dance -, performance-, and theatre studies, cultural history, heritage studies, music history…).
The authors of this article aim to break down the disciplinary boundaries between a wide range of domains focussing on different types of spectacle and open the way for future interdisciplinary research on cultures of spectacle. One of the possible avenues for research on a variety of spectacles is to focus on short periods of time and/or specific geo-political circumstances. This approach makes it possible to examine a cross section of spectacles that define a society at a specific point in time and from there on allows for comparative research. Also serving as the editors of this special issue on 'Cultures of Spectacle in German-occupied Belgium. Parallels and Differences between the First and the Second World War', the authors emphasise the relevance of bringing together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German - occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914 - 1918) but also in the Second World War (1940 - 1944).
International Journal on Stereo and Immersive Media, 2021
The Kaiser-Panorama is a cylindrical stereo-viewer offering series of 50 topographic coloured ste... more The Kaiser-Panorama is a cylindrical stereo-viewer offering series of 50 topographic coloured stereo photographs to multiple viewers simultaneously. It was conceived, patented and commercialised in the 1880s by the German August Fuhrmann who subsequently developed it into a longstanding transnational media enterprise. Because of its focus on topographic imagery, the Kaiser-Panorama has often been marketed as a medium for virtual travel. So far the Kaiser-Panorama has mainly been studied in the German context and little is known about its development in other countries. This article focusses on the presence and meaning of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium. It will do so along two lines. First it maps the introduction and development of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium where it emerged at point in time when urban entertainment transitioned from mobile to fixed exploitation. Second, the heyday of the Kaiser-Panorama in Belgium coincides with the increasing democratization of travel. The article will demonstrate how in the Belgian franchise an enterprise whose core business was the promotion of virtual travel, developed into a medium promoting real travel.
Revival After the Great War. Rebuild, Remember, Repair, Reform, 2020
The book is available in open access: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43023
This workshop, organised by the Scientific Research Community ‘Cultures of Spectacle’ in collabor... more This workshop, organised by the Scientific Research Community ‘Cultures of Spectacle’ in collaboration with the Belgian Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society (CEGESOMA), wants to bring together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German-occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914-1918) but also in the Second World War (1940-1944). Research focusing on other leisure activities (social events, sports associations, book clubs, going to the pub) and cultural events (exhibitions, fairs) is also welcomed. A focus on occupied Belgium, however, is key.
The “Office Catholique Internationale du Cinéma” (OCIC), was founded in 1928. It established itse... more The “Office Catholique Internationale du Cinéma” (OCIC), was founded in 1928. It established itself, during an existence that spanned more than seventy years (1928-2001) as an influential institution that played an important role in setting the Catholic agenda with regards to cinema. The OCIC derived its influence largely from an intermediate position between its member organisations (national and local Catholic organisations active in the field of film production, distribution, exhibition or film criticism and guidance) and the Vatican. This intermediary position, however, was not built overnight. Devising policies that were acceptable to its members from across the world, both on a national and supranational level, was a difficult exercise and the OCIC occasionally had to deal with members and other associated organisations either ignoring OCIC or trying to bypass it and deal directly with the Vatican. Maintaining its relationship with the Vatican meanwhile was a permanent exercise in balancing OCIC’s own independent course and the interests of its members with the obedience to the Holy See, necessary to obtain the Vaticans approval. Gaining an insight in this balance and how it was maintained is crucial to understanding the OCIC’s history and its position in the field of (Catholic) cinema organisations. In this paper, we will do so by delving into engagements between the OCIC and the Vatican during the postwar period, a pivotal moment in the OCIC-Vatican relations. During this period, the OCIC had to reestablish itself after its wartime inactivity. Due to changing political, societal and religious circumstances, this involved more than just restarting activities. OCIC had to reconfigure/redefine itself in order to stay relevant in the postwar world. Developing its relationship with other national and international film organisations and, more importantly, with the Vatican were crucial to this endeavour. However, the experimental foundation of the Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia Didattica e Religiosa, which marked the first instance of direct Vatican interference in the field, put considerable strain on the OCIC-Vatican relations. At a time when OCIC itself was trying to prove its relevance to the outside world, it was suspicious of potential competitors like this new institution within the Papal Curia and fearful of losing its independence. Our focus will be on the period between 1948 and 1952: between the foundation of this commission, and its replacement by a permanent Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia. This case study is based on extensive archival research. We use the OCIC archives (KADOC, Leuven University) as well as a number of archival documents made available through the project “I cattolici e il cinema in Italia tra gli anni ’40 e gli anni ’70” . Our research relies in particular on a set of documents from the archives of the Italian Azione Catolica, and the personal archives of Mgr. Ferdinando Prosperini, who was a prominent figure having held various important positions in the Italian Catholic Action, the OCIC and the Vatican.
Roman Catholic Engagements with Audio-Visual Media around the World (1928-2001). Exploring and Utilizing the OCIC and UNDA archives., 2018
The report is the tentative end product of the two-year research project ‘OCIC and UNDA from the ... more The report is the tentative end product of the two-year research project ‘OCIC and UNDA from the Research Fund of the KU Leuven: Foundations for longitudinal, comparative and transnational research into Roman Catholic approaches to audio-visual media, 1928-2001’ (project code 3H150291). The report introduces OCIC and UNDA through a short history of both organisations, explores the most important developments during their 73-year existence, and looks into their relations with the Church, organised laity and the broader field of local, national, international, and intergovernmental (media-) organisations. The second part of the report introduces the OCIC-UNDA archives through a short history of the archives’ management and a detailed institutional history of the organisations that shaped them. Taking this into account, the report analyses the structure and content of the archives, evaluating their state of preservation and lacunas. The report also provides an overview of the reference library’s contents with special attention to publications of OCIC, UNDA and their predecessors. There are also a number of relevant primary sources outside the bounds of OCIC and UNDA’s own archival and library collections. The archival collections kept at the Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV) and Istituto per la Storia dell’Azione Cattolica e del Movimento cattolico in Italia Paolo VI (ISACEM) which have been explored in the context of this project, as well as the interviews with privileged witnesses conducted at the 2017 Signis International Congress in Québec are also explored in this report. Finally, the reader is presented with an overview of the data entered in the ODIS database for archival contextual information and an annotated bibliography of literature with direct relevance to the history of OCIC and UNDA.
Thema-nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis.
Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vij... more Thema-nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Mediageschiedenis. Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vijver, Roel Vande Winkel.
With contributions by Kati Röttger, Kaat Wils, Gert Jan Harkema, Evelien Jonckheere, Kurt Vanhoutte en Nele Wynants.
Immediately after the First World War and continuing well into the 1920s and 1930s, monuments com... more Immediately after the First World War and continuing well into the 1920s and 1930s, monuments commemorating the war were erected all over Europe. Although the concept of commemorating war through monuments long predates the First World War, no other war gave rise to such a large number of memorials. In formerly occupied territories such as Belgium and northern France, the need to express grief as well as gratitude, which had been suppressed by the occupying regime for over four years, appeared as soon as the Armistice was signed. Ideas for monuments surfaced instantaneously and enthusiastically on the national and municipal level. Plans were proposed by formal and informal local associations, such as parishes, labour unions and sports clubs, but not all of these intentions materialized. Many did so only after a long time. This article takes as its subject a phenomenon slightly predating the large-scale postwar statuomanie. It presents a case study of an exceptional series of ten temporary monuments commissioned by the city of Brussels on the occasion of the festive return of the royal family to the Belgian capital on 22 November 1918. These very first structures of First World War commemoration were placed in the city centre as part of the festive decorations and were made in stucco. They were thus fragile and only stayed in Brussels's public space for a short while. Nevertheless, the plaster monuments left a paper trail: the research presented here is based on newspaper articles, picture postcards, snapshots, newsreels and archival sources. The latter are scarce, because decisions were made hastily, and improvised procedures were used to speed up the process. Conceived as they were in the short transitional period between the war and its aftermath, one can ask whether these chaotic conditions and the preconceived temporality of the monuments prompted experimentation and innovation and heralded an altogether new artistic élan. This article presents, for the first time, a full account of the monuments and their authors, and considers the genesis, reception and afterlife of the sculpture series. We then consider two contextual factors: the concept of the city as a democratic open-air sculpture museum, already much in vogue in Brussels in the Belle Époque, and the existing tradition of temporary sculpture within the cityscape, notably in the context of nineteenth-century patriotic festivities. We believe both aspects – along with sculptors' feelings of patriotism, generosity and possible opportunism – contributed to the unique and speedy initiative taken in Brussels in 1918 to realize a parcours of ephemeral statues. Both angles will be framed by the specificity of the immediate postwar era.
A Captivated Audience studies the organization, regulation and consumption of culture in occupie... more A Captivated Audience studies the organization, regulation and consumption of culture in occupied Belgium during the First World War. Through a case-study of the founding and day-to-day operations of Cinema Zoologie, the film theatre located at the Antwerp Zoo, it is demonstrated how tensions between organizers, audiences and the occupying force are played out in the leisure sphere. The film theatre is presented as an arena of conflicting interests where politics, business and patriotism clash. Cinema Zoologie was operated by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (owner of the Antwerp Zoo), a bourgeois society with an international membership and ties with the German community in Antwerp. As a movie theatre located in this thoroughly bourgeois environment, Cinema Zoologie is also an ideal microcosm to study wartime reactions to filmed entertainment and information as well as bourgeois cinema-going experiences. The research presented here is largely based on primary sources from the extensive archives of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp kept at the Antwerp City Archive (Felixarchief).
Keywords: first world war, leisure, occupation, film, cinema culture, zoological garden
In de oorlogsjaren kende bezet België een relatief divers amusementsleven waarin ook bioscopen ee... more In de oorlogsjaren kende bezet België een relatief divers amusementsleven waarin ook bioscopen een belangrijke rol speelden. Aan het begin van de oorlog sloot een behoorlijk aantal zalen de deuren, maar in de meeste steden vonden vanaf het tweede oorlogsjaar opnieuw regelmatig filmvertoningen plaats. Al gauw werd de bioscoop een van de populairste uitgaansplekken. De grote vraag naar filmamusement zette de bioscoopeigenaars echter op prangende wijze onder druk. De internationale situatie en het Duitse cultuur- en filmbeleid dat in de loop van de oorlogsjaren steeds strakker vorm kreeg, had de filmdistributiesector immers volledig op z’n kop gezet. Door importbepalingen, logistieke problemen en censuur werd de Belgische markt de facto afgesloten van de belangrijkste vooroorlogse filmleveranciers (Frankrijk, Italië). Het belangrijkste gevolg daarvan was een gebrek aan recente en lange speelfilms, waaraan de import vanuit Duitsland en in beperktere mate vanuit Nederland en Denemarken slechts gedeeltelijk tegemoet kwam. Belangrijke verschuivingen in de Belgische distributiesector waren het gevolg van het Duitse filmbeleid. Archiefbronnen werpen tevens een licht op hoe Belgische distributeurs en vertoners schipperden tussen economische rendabiliteit, patriottisme en de steeds strakkere Duitse regelgeving.
The Great War broke out at the moment that the film industry at all levels, production, distribut... more The Great War broke out at the moment that the film industry at all levels, production, distribution and exhibition was becoming established. Here the attention is on the local cinema cultures of three spaces: Louvain in Belgium, Southampton in England, and Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in the United States. The areas share marked differences: Louvain suffered considerably, including direct damage to its buildings, reprisal executions of its citizens and German occupation for the four years of the war; Southampton witnessed the parade of war through its role as the main embarkation point for British troops, as well as suffering the loss in unprecedented number of casualties which the British people endured; and Stevens Point was different again in that the war directly touched the local community, with its considerable German and Polish immigrant population, as the politics of the nation shifted from isolation to engagement. These were all factors in the exhibition strategies of local cinema exhibitors who negotiated new audiences. The article draws out similarities and differences in these areas to argue that the war’s impact on particular local cultures was significant in the establishment of cinema’s social function within each community.
This article examines cinema in relation to the First World War in Belgium from two focal points... more This article examines cinema in relation to the First World War in Belgium from two focal points. First, it describes how film production as well as film exhibition and cinema-going became cultural and economic battlefields in the war years, with the local and occupying authorities fighting for control over the industry, its finances and audiences. Second, the representations of the war in post-war Belgian cinema are explored against the background of the concepts of cultural mobilization and demobilization. The cinematic images of the war are considered from a cultural-historical perspective, and post-war cinema is established as a particular site of memory. The article reflects the status quaestionis of current research in the field and indicates interesting online and offline sources and archives.
Picture postcards quickly gained popularity in Western europe around 1900. the photographs on the... more Picture postcards quickly gained popularity in Western europe around 1900. the photographs on these postcards represent a wide variety of topics. from the start, the monument was one of the most popular themes. In this article we would like to focus on picture postcards of three brussels monuments erected in the late 1910s and early 1920s to commemorate two great War heroines, namely the british-born nurse edith cavell (1865-1915) and the belgian spy gabrielle Petit (1893-1916). after briefly discussing the monuments and picture postcards in their specific commemorative context, we will argue that these picture postcards, thanks to the use of specific photographic strategies, can be read as what the french cultural historian Pierre nora coined 'portable realms of memory'. remembering edith and gabrielle Picture postcards of monuments as portable lieux de mémoire leen engelen & marjan sterckx
Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, 2006
... University) and Michael Eckardt (Stellenbosch University), trained in African history and jou... more ... University) and Michael Eckardt (Stellenbosch University), trained in African history and journalism respectively, both ... history, Film Criticism in Cape Town 19281930, looks at the development of film ... His best known work, Black Skin, White Masks (1952), is a personal account ...
Revival after the Great War. Rebuild, Remember, Repair, Reform., 2020
the many (European) countries that had formed its battleground were confronted with daunting chal... more the many (European) countries that had formed its battleground were confronted with daunting challenges. These challenges varied according to the countries' earlier role and degree of involvement in the war but were without exception enormous. The contributors to this book analyse how this was not only a matter of rebuilding ravaged cities and destroyed infrastructure, but also of repairing people's damaged bodies and upended daily lives, and rethinking and reforming societal, economic and political structures. These processes took place against the backdrop of mass mourning and remembrance, political violence and economic crisis. At the same time, the postwar tabula rasa offered many opportunities for innovation in various areas of society, from social and political reform to architectural design. The wide scope of postwar recovery and revival is reflected in the different sections of this book: rebuild, remember, repair, and reform. It offers insights into postwar revival in Western European countries such as Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, as well as into how their efforts were perceived outside of Europe, for instance in Argentina and the United States.
Edited by Luc Verpoest, Leen Engelen et al. With contributions by Jan Schmidt, Rajesh Heynickx, Pieter Uyttenhove, Pieter Verstraete, Pierre Purseigle, Volker Welter, Richard Plunz, Dries Claeys, Yves Segers, Maarten Liefooghe, Tammy M. Proctor, Helen E.M. Brooks, Marjan Sterckx, Kaat Wils, Marisa De Picker, Simonetta Polenghi, Joris Vandendriessche, Maria Ines Tato, Carolina Garcia Sanz, Ana Paula Pires and John Horne
This report is the result of a research project 'OCIC and UNDA. Foundations for longitudinal, com... more This report is the result of a research project 'OCIC and UNDA. Foundations for longitudinal, comparative and transnational research into Roman Catholic approaches to audio-visual media (1928-2001)' conducted at KU Leuven in 2015-2017.
Project summary : Like most religious institutions, the Roman Catholic Church has always paid close attention to the ways in which media constitutes threats or opportunities to its interests. For over 70 years (1928 to 2001) the Holy See charged two international organizations with the task of managing radio and television (UNDA), and managing cinema (OCIC). Both institutions, each featuring member organisations throughout the world, had their headquarters in Brussels. Their extensive archives, which were donated to the University of Leuven's Interfaculty Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society (KADOC) are of exceptional international interest, yet have hardly been studied by scholars. This project proposes curiosity-driven and pioneering research, which will actively contextualise the now crudely inventoried UNDA and OCIC archives. It is an essential first step towards further research as well as towards the initiation of an international research network on this topic. In the long run, this could lead to a follow-up study into SIGNIS, the current official Catholic organisation for communicatoin which resulted from the 2001 merger of UNDA and OCIC.
Het Leuvense Stadsarchief beschikt over een rijke filmaffichecollectie van om en bij de 3000 stuk... more Het Leuvense Stadsarchief beschikt over een rijke filmaffichecollectie van om en bij de 3000 stuks, uit de periode 1930-1970. De collectie is tot stand gekomen als gevolg van een politiereglement uit 1892 dat de openbare aanplakking van affiches reguleerde. Door de collectie als uitgangspunt te nemen voor onderzoek naar zowel affichekunst als bioscoopgeschiedenis, exploreren de bijdragen in dit Salsa!-Cahier de rijkdom van de filmaffichecollectie ten volle. De auteurs hebben elk vanuit hun eigen specifieke expertise - zij het de beeldanalyse, de affichekunst, de filmgeschiedenis of de bioscoopgeschiedenis - de collectie van het Leuvense Stadsarchief onde de loep genomen. In een eerste hoofdstuk benadert Karl Scheerlinck de filmaffiches uit de collectie vanuit een kunsthistorisch perspectief. Hij geeft hierbij een overzicht van belangrijke actoren en trends. De bijdrage van Pascal Lefèvre, die inzet op de beeldanalyse van een aantal concrete affiches, is hiermee complementair te noemen. In een derde hoofdstuk geeft Leen Engelen aan hoe filmaffiches als een bijzonder rijke bron voor de bioscoopgeschiedenis kunnen fungeren. Zowel Joachim Nijs als Roel Vande Winkel zoomen verder in op de geschiedenis van de Leuvense bioscopen. Nijs bekijkt hierbij de geschidenis van bioscoop Louvain Palace / Forum (1914-1981), de langstlevende bioscoop van de stad, en Vande Winkel gaat in op de oorlogsjaren.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, transnational European cinema has risen, not only in t... more Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, transnational European cinema has risen, not only in terms of production but also in terms of a growing focus on multiethnic themes within the European context. This shift from national to trans-European filmmaking has been profoundly influenced by such historical developments as the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the subsequent ongoing enlargement of the European Union.
In European Cinema after the Wall: Screening East–West Mobility, Leen Engelen and Kris Van Heuckelom have brought together essays that critically examine representations of post-1989 migration from the former Eastern Bloc to Western Europe, uncovering an array of common tropes and narrative devices that characterize the influences and portrayals of immigration.
Featuring essays by contributors from backgrounds as divergent as film studies, Slavic and Russian studies, comparative literature, sociology, contemporary history, and communication and media studies, this volume will appeal to scholars of film, European history, and those interested in the impact of migration, diaspora, and the global flow of cinematic culture.
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Papers by Leen Engelen
The authors of this article aim to break down the disciplinary boundaries between a wide range of domains focussing on different types of spectacle and open the way for future interdisciplinary research on cultures of spectacle. One of the possible avenues for research on a variety of spectacles is to focus on short periods of time and/or specific geo-political circumstances. This approach makes it possible to examine a cross section of spectacles that define a society at a specific point in time and from there on allows for comparative research. Also serving as the editors of this special issue on 'Cultures of Spectacle in German-occupied Belgium. Parallels and Differences between the First and the Second World War', the authors emphasise the relevance of bringing together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German - occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914 - 1918) but also in the Second World War (1940 - 1944).
For the table of contents of the special issue: https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/nl/journal/belgisch-tijdschrift-voor-nieuwste-geschiedenis-lii-2023-1-2
Gaining an insight in this balance and how it was maintained is crucial to understanding the OCIC’s history and its position in the field of (Catholic) cinema organisations. In this paper, we will do so by delving into engagements between the OCIC and the Vatican during the postwar period, a pivotal moment in the OCIC-Vatican relations. During this period, the OCIC had to reestablish itself after its wartime inactivity. Due to changing political, societal and religious circumstances, this involved more than just restarting activities. OCIC had to reconfigure/redefine itself in order to stay relevant in the postwar world. Developing its relationship with other national and international film organisations and, more importantly, with the Vatican were crucial to this endeavour. However, the experimental foundation of the Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia Didattica e Religiosa, which marked the first instance of direct Vatican interference in the field, put considerable strain on the OCIC-Vatican relations. At a time when OCIC itself was trying to prove its relevance to the outside world, it was suspicious of potential competitors like this new institution within the Papal Curia and fearful of losing its independence. Our focus will be on the period between 1948 and 1952: between the foundation of this commission, and its replacement by a permanent Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia.
This case study is based on extensive archival research. We use the OCIC archives (KADOC, Leuven University) as well as a number of archival documents made available through the project “I cattolici e il cinema in Italia tra gli anni ’40 e gli anni ’70” . Our research relies in particular on a set of documents from the archives of the Italian Azione Catolica, and the personal archives of Mgr. Ferdinando Prosperini, who was a prominent figure having held various important positions in the Italian Catholic Action, the OCIC and the Vatican.
Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vijver, Roel Vande Winkel.
With contributions by Kati Röttger, Kaat Wils, Gert Jan Harkema, Evelien Jonckheere, Kurt Vanhoutte en Nele Wynants.
full text online: http://www.tmgonline.nl/index.php/tmg/issue/view/33/showToc
Keywords: first world war, leisure, occupation, film, cinema culture, zoological garden
The authors of this article aim to break down the disciplinary boundaries between a wide range of domains focussing on different types of spectacle and open the way for future interdisciplinary research on cultures of spectacle. One of the possible avenues for research on a variety of spectacles is to focus on short periods of time and/or specific geo-political circumstances. This approach makes it possible to examine a cross section of spectacles that define a society at a specific point in time and from there on allows for comparative research. Also serving as the editors of this special issue on 'Cultures of Spectacle in German-occupied Belgium. Parallels and Differences between the First and the Second World War', the authors emphasise the relevance of bringing together scholars doing research on cultures of spectacle (film, theatre, opera, music) in German - occupied Belgium, in the Great War (1914 - 1918) but also in the Second World War (1940 - 1944).
For the table of contents of the special issue: https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/nl/journal/belgisch-tijdschrift-voor-nieuwste-geschiedenis-lii-2023-1-2
Gaining an insight in this balance and how it was maintained is crucial to understanding the OCIC’s history and its position in the field of (Catholic) cinema organisations. In this paper, we will do so by delving into engagements between the OCIC and the Vatican during the postwar period, a pivotal moment in the OCIC-Vatican relations. During this period, the OCIC had to reestablish itself after its wartime inactivity. Due to changing political, societal and religious circumstances, this involved more than just restarting activities. OCIC had to reconfigure/redefine itself in order to stay relevant in the postwar world. Developing its relationship with other national and international film organisations and, more importantly, with the Vatican were crucial to this endeavour. However, the experimental foundation of the Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia Didattica e Religiosa, which marked the first instance of direct Vatican interference in the field, put considerable strain on the OCIC-Vatican relations. At a time when OCIC itself was trying to prove its relevance to the outside world, it was suspicious of potential competitors like this new institution within the Papal Curia and fearful of losing its independence. Our focus will be on the period between 1948 and 1952: between the foundation of this commission, and its replacement by a permanent Pontificia Commissione per la Cinematografia.
This case study is based on extensive archival research. We use the OCIC archives (KADOC, Leuven University) as well as a number of archival documents made available through the project “I cattolici e il cinema in Italia tra gli anni ’40 e gli anni ’70” . Our research relies in particular on a set of documents from the archives of the Italian Azione Catolica, and the personal archives of Mgr. Ferdinando Prosperini, who was a prominent figure having held various important positions in the Italian Catholic Action, the OCIC and the Vatican.
Edited by Leen Engelen, Lies Van de Vijver, Roel Vande Winkel.
With contributions by Kati Röttger, Kaat Wils, Gert Jan Harkema, Evelien Jonckheere, Kurt Vanhoutte en Nele Wynants.
full text online: http://www.tmgonline.nl/index.php/tmg/issue/view/33/showToc
Keywords: first world war, leisure, occupation, film, cinema culture, zoological garden
Edited by Luc Verpoest, Leen Engelen et al.
With contributions by Jan Schmidt, Rajesh Heynickx, Pieter Uyttenhove, Pieter Verstraete, Pierre Purseigle, Volker Welter, Richard Plunz, Dries Claeys, Yves Segers, Maarten Liefooghe, Tammy M. Proctor, Helen E.M. Brooks, Marjan Sterckx, Kaat Wils, Marisa De Picker, Simonetta Polenghi, Joris Vandendriessche, Maria Ines Tato, Carolina Garcia Sanz, Ana Paula Pires and John Horne
The book can be downloaded here: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/43023
For the paper edition: https://lup.be/products/107571
Project summary :
Like most religious institutions, the Roman Catholic Church has always paid close attention to the ways in which media constitutes threats or opportunities to its interests. For over 70 years (1928 to 2001) the Holy See charged two international organizations with the task of managing radio and television (UNDA), and managing cinema (OCIC). Both institutions, each featuring member organisations throughout the world, had their headquarters in Brussels. Their extensive archives, which were donated to the University of Leuven's Interfaculty Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society (KADOC) are of exceptional international interest, yet have hardly been studied by scholars. This project proposes curiosity-driven and pioneering research, which will actively contextualise the now crudely inventoried UNDA and OCIC archives. It is an essential first step towards further research as well as towards the initiation of an international research network on this topic. In the long run, this could lead to a follow-up study into SIGNIS, the current official Catholic organisation for communicatoin which resulted from the 2001 merger of UNDA and OCIC.
ISBN 9789078192398
Door de collectie als uitgangspunt te nemen voor onderzoek naar zowel affichekunst als bioscoopgeschiedenis, exploreren de bijdragen in dit Salsa!-Cahier de rijkdom van de filmaffichecollectie ten volle. De auteurs hebben elk vanuit hun eigen specifieke expertise - zij het de beeldanalyse, de affichekunst, de filmgeschiedenis of de bioscoopgeschiedenis - de collectie van het Leuvense Stadsarchief onde de loep genomen. In een eerste hoofdstuk benadert Karl Scheerlinck de filmaffiches uit de collectie vanuit een kunsthistorisch perspectief. Hij geeft hierbij een overzicht van belangrijke actoren en trends. De bijdrage van Pascal Lefèvre, die inzet op de beeldanalyse van een aantal concrete affiches, is hiermee complementair te noemen. In een derde hoofdstuk geeft Leen Engelen aan hoe filmaffiches als een bijzonder rijke bron voor de bioscoopgeschiedenis kunnen fungeren. Zowel Joachim Nijs als Roel Vande Winkel zoomen verder in op de geschiedenis van de Leuvense bioscopen. Nijs bekijkt hierbij de geschidenis van bioscoop Louvain Palace / Forum (1914-1981), de langstlevende bioscoop van de stad, en Vande Winkel gaat in op de oorlogsjaren.
In European Cinema after the Wall: Screening East–West Mobility, Leen Engelen and Kris Van Heuckelom have brought together essays that critically examine representations of post-1989 migration from the former Eastern Bloc to Western Europe, uncovering an array of common tropes and narrative devices that characterize the influences and portrayals of immigration.
Featuring essays by contributors from backgrounds as divergent as film studies, Slavic and Russian studies, comparative literature, sociology, contemporary history, and communication and media studies, this volume will appeal to scholars of film, European history, and those interested in the impact of migration, diaspora, and the global flow of cinematic culture.