sticking around

www.blijvenplakkeningent.be

The Ghent we know is the result of a whole series of waves of migration. Many of those who came decided to ‘stick around’. Today, one in five of the people living in Ghent have roots in different part of the world.

In 'Sticking around – over 50 years of migration to Ghent', STAM brings the colourful history of migration to life – not in the museum but in the city itself. In the streets, eye-catching information points highlight the city’s migration past. Audio-trails and guided walks reveal exciting and surprising personal stories. Follow the trails on foot or by bike, on your own or in a group.

audio-trails € 5 or € 4 1,5 hrs

for individuals
Ghent through the eyes of remarkable people who ‘stuck around’.

• audio-trails + route plans available in the points of departure (€5)
• download onto your smartphone via www.blijvenplakkeningent.be (€4)
• €1 reduction when you show your ticket to the Géricault (MSK) and Straffe Gasten (MIAT) exhibitions and vice versa

My grandfather, Celal Kubat
(available in Dutch/Turkish)

• After the death of their grandfather the Ghent-born grandchildren of Celal Kubat go in search of their legendary granddad. What led him to Ghent? What did he do when he got here? And how come everyone knows his name? A series of encounters takes them back to the Ghent of the 1960s and 70s.
• on foot through Muide, Tolhuis, Ham
• start and finish: MIAT

All good things in Ghent come from Italy
(available in Dutch/Italian)

• The Italian ice-cream maker Giorgio knows it for sure: everything that’s delicious and good in Ghent comes from Italy. Giorgio shows us the way through Italian Ghent, from the Mokabon to the Veneziana. Which tales of migration lie behind these Ghent success stories?
• on foot through the centre to the South
• start and finish: The House of Alijn

growing up in the Brugse Poort area
(available in Dutch/Arabic)

• The Brugse Poort district of Ghent in the 1970s: a Moroccan girl called Zohra has grown up among nuns and priests but now the first imams are arriving in the area. Rebellious Zohra tries to find her way between Xmas and Eid, headscarf and miniskirt.
• on foot through the Brugse Poort district
• start and finish: The House of Alijn

I had a Spanish housemaid
(available in Dutch/Spanish)

• In the 1960s Carmen, who was Spanish, worked as a live-in maid for 8-year-old Louis’s wealthy family. One day Louis discovered that she wasn’t there anymore. Fifty years later, Louis goes in search of her. He comes upon the track of the mysterious Madame Billault, who ran a sort of employment agency in Ghent for hundreds of Spanish domestic workers.
• by bike around the town centre
• start and finish: STAM

Sioen plunges into world music
(available in Dutch/English)

• In the 1980s Ghent’s music scene came to be known internationally. Coincidentally – or perhaps not – the groups who made that happen were an international mix of musicians. Ghent singer-songwriter Sioen goes on a journey of (re)discovery, taking in the music cafés Damberd, Trefpunt and The Duke, where musicians from Ghana, Algeria and Latin-America raised the roof in the 1980s.
• on foot through the town centre
• start and finish: MIAT

The audio-trails are a coproduction of STAM and Action Zoo Humain.

guided trails
€ 80 / max. 20 pers.
1,5 hrs

for groups
The bigger story of migration to Ghent in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

• per guide: € 80/max. 20 pers.
• available in various languages
• reservations via boekjebezoek@gent.be +32(0)9 269 87 50

Sticking Around
Your guide introduces you to some notable figures from Ghent’s migration past. Meet ‘the Turkish festival mayor’ of the 1970s, French ‘Marie and her whistle’, ‘old Zangrando’ and many others. They all had their own reasons for sticking around in Ghent. A walk about people, full of poignant stories and piquant anecdotes.

• Sunday tours for individuals (in Dutch) on 25.05, 29.06, 27.07, 31.08, 28.09, 26.10, at 14.00 (€5/pers.)
  
  

50 years of migration to Ghent
Your guide leads you through the most important chapters in Ghent’s migration history. From the first guest workers to the most recent arrivals, in half a century much has changed. About how migration to Ghent began much longer than fifty years ago, and in what circumstances the newcomers stayed here over the past century.

www.blijvenplakkeningent.be

www.blijvenplakkeningent.be (online in April 2014) puts everything in a broader context – arranged by country, period and theme. For the first time existing and new research provides a historical background. Have you yourself come to Ghent from elsewhere, or were your parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents once newcomers to the city? If so, you can upload your own story, photos and videos onto the website. Need help? Make an appointment via stam@gent.be.

This STAM project 'Sticking around - over 50 years of migration to Ghent' is curated by Tina De Gendt & Dr Jozefien De Bock.