Agenda: museums and exhibitions, food and drinks, nature and parks and sight in Ostend
Ensor Dreams of mother-of-pearl
This new Ensor presentation consists almost exclusively of paintings and drawings from the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. With 38 paintings and some 650 drawings, the museum not only has the largest, but also the very best Ensor collection.
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New at Mu.ZEE: The Raoul Servais Wing
Raoul Servais (born 1 May 1928, Ostend) is a renowned animation filmmaker. In the early 1950s he studied applied arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent (KASK). Servais painted and drew, and was very active in graphics too, but from the beginning his heart was always in animation films. The artist had neither experience nor financial means, but his curiosity and drive were enormous. In 1960 he was able to start work as a teacher at KASK, where he developed the first animated film course in Europe. In total, he made sixteen animated films. Between Havenlicht (Harbour Light, 1960) and Tank (2015) there is a gigantic evolution in style and technique. With each new film production, you feel his curiosity for new and hitherto unknown ways of creating imagery and atmosphere. Raoul Servais has won many international film prizes, such as the Palme d’Or in Cannes (Operation X-70, 1971 & Harpya, 1979) and the Primo Premio in Venice (Chromophobia, 1966). Servais’s love of animation is a shared love. As of summer 2018, it can be enjoyed on a permanent basis in the Raoul Servais Wing of Mu.ZEE. A large selection of original documents, (cellophane) drawings and films will have a permanent place there. This wing of the museum is not intended to be the end destination for the rich oeuvre of this star of the film industry, but a new start, an inspiring place for young filmmakers.
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Museum Amandine
April 3rd 1995. On this day the Amandine entered Oostende harbour for the last time. On this day it dropped anchor for the very last time. The crew disembarked, swallowed hard and went home without looking back. The last page in Oostende's book on Iceland Fishing had been turned. Now, 13 years later, the Amandine has started her second career, a career as an interactive museum. It has taken two years of hard and concentrated work in the old shipyard 'Seghers' to restore the...
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Ostend City Museum
The museum tells you Ostend’s fascinating life story and also casts light on its future. A host of objects, posters, documents and multimedia applications reveal the secrets behind the development of the city, its tourism, fishing industry and shipping. Discover the Ostend of former times and the most famous resident of the premises, Louise-Marie, the first Belgian queen. She shows a strong presence, and even has her say.
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Mercator
Arctic traveller Adrien de Gerlache designed this three-master which was built in Scotland. The Mercator had only two commanders and made 54 voyages. In 1956 it repatriated the remains of Father Damien from Molokai. In 1960, it sailed into the harbour of Antwerp and in 1961, it was equipped as a museum ship. Since 1964, it has been the pearl in Ostend’s crown. Like to visit this attraction at a discount? Print your free Coast Pass now on www.kustpas.be/home/register
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Dikke Mathille
The Leopold II-laan curves gracefully around the most famous sculpture of a woman in Oostende: De Zee (The Sea). Although Reclining Nude is another name for this lady the locals always refer to her as ‘Dikke Mathille’ (Fat Mathille). Grard emphasised the volume of the full, round forms. In De Zee he portrayed the opulence and sensuality of the sea in a female figure. Until 1963 the work of art adorned the Kursaal Casino.
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Railway station Oostende
Eclectic station complex consisting of a central entrance hall flanked by two square "Tower buildings". On the left side adjacent to the station the former "Hotel Terminus Maritime".
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Sint-Petrus- en Sint-Paulus Church
The church St.-Petrus- and Paulus is a neogotic church built in 1907 which consists of beautiful stained-glass windows. The tomb of Louise-Marie, the queen of Belgium who deceased in Oostende, is situated in the chapel of the main altar (only to be visited upon request). The St.-Pieter's Tower, also called 'Peperbusse' in local dialect, is situated behind the church St. Petrus- and Paulus. Once it was part of the ancient St. Pieterskerk that burned down last century.
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Lighthouse Lange Nelle
Lighthouse "Lange Nelle" : The famous lighthouse is the fourth one in the history of Oostende and the third one on this location. It was built between 1947 and 1949, rises 65 metres above the sea and guides the fishermen safely in the Ostend harbour. The lighthouse is not open to the public.
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Kursaal Oostende
The building dominates the view at the Albert I promenade. The Casino, a design by Leon Stynen (1953) stands on the spot where in 1875 the first casino already stood. The latter was destroyed during WWII. After the war it would still be eight years before the current building was erected. This strikingly large building can boast being the largest in Belgium and is a typical example of modernism. The eye-catchers are of course the murals by Paul Delvaux. On 17th December 2004, the renovated...
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