Bust

In café Breughel, the jukebox cuts through

the bagpipe leather

drinkers sing in cracked American

the engravings on the walls

From ‘Café Breughel’, 2000

Against the facade of the Pepper Factory on Breughelstraat, there has been a bust of Wannes Van de Velde hanging since June 2008, who was declared an honorary citizen of the neighborhood two years earlier. The statue was made by the Antwerp artist Michaël Bracke. Wannes himself was too sick to be present at the unveiling.

“This neighborhood was his home for 34 years. Here around the corner, at Antoon Van Dyckstraat 34, he lived with his wife Christa. They had no children together. The City Park was his garden. That’s where Wim often went to stroll, paint, or write. He was fascinated by the war bunkers in the park, about which he wrote texts. Throughout his entire career, the city was a source of inspiration. It shimmered through all his texts and poems.”

In this neighborhood, at the corner of Breughelstraat and Lange Leemstraat, where the Jumbo supermarket is today, Café Breughel used to be located. “Wannes wrote a song about it, of which he once confided to me that he considered it one of his best songs,” says Nanna. “And it really is very beautiful. All his song lyrics read like poetry. Even without music, they stand strong. That is not always the case with song lyrics. That shows you that what Wim wrote was real literature.”

GVA - Gazet van Antwerpen