Verwant
From 1987 to 1990, the former BRT (Belgian Radio and Television) aired the monthly arts programme Verwant (Kindred Spirit), produced by Annie Declerck and others, with semi-regular colleagues including Stefan Decostere, Jan Decorte and Dirk Lauwaert. The chief editor was Karel Schoetens. The programme developed a flexible formula, providing space for different formats that may or may not have been used in any given episode.
In the central Verwant format an artist was invited to talk about a personal connection. This connection could be personal (Jan Decleir talked about his brother, who had passed away), but could also reveal an unexpected artistic affinity (Jan Decorte and Jürgen Gosch, Marc Didden en Johan Leysen, Benoît Van Innis and Dan Van Severen).
Another format was found in the ‘Brief’ (Letter) in which Dirk Lauwaert provided contributions on artists from different metropolises or proffered an artistic thought or an art-historical reflection. This produced, among others, a ‘brief’ from London, in which Alain Finkielkraut was interviewed on culture, one from the Bordeaux on Hölderlin and one from Stuttgart on Giacometti. There were also more contemplative programmes, concerning the importance of the voice in the film, L’élégance français au cinéma or Japanese Prints: Acting in Japan.
Furthermore, Verwant provided space for portraits (of Arvo Pärt, Agnès Varda, Lars Norèn, etc.) and artistic contributions, including Travelogue by Stefan Decostere, Het meisje en de treurwilg (The Girl and the Weeping Willow), Jan Lauwers’ first film. [Elke Van Campenhout]
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