A hippie house in Liège, Belgium.
Demanding a fair housing policy in the decadent city of Liège, Belgium
A community of old hippies reside in rue du Palais, in the extended area of the Coteaux de la Citadelle, a few steps away from the peak of Montagne de Bueren, only 132 meters above sea level with its 374 steps.
They demand a fair housing policy — they hang posters on their windows. They mention cohabiting, as if they were against it. When all they want is a welcoming space where to quietly spend their last, too many, years of living.
They appear open to newcomers, as they approach them on the streets to narrate their past lives in a city that was decadent long before their arrival to this planet. The baroque Notre-Dame-de-l'Immaculée-Conception church on rue Hors-Château is no exception — while its lipstick-red façade was restored in the early 2000s, the building remains closed — with the school d'Hôtellerie de Liège (founded in 1927) making use of part of its complex. These old hippies are warm, smiling. They go about pulling their shopping trolleys, with the loyal support of a walking stick.
Out of scorn or possibly indifference, the “lucky” ones have longed abandoned the hillside to inhabit houseboats moored on the quays of the Meuse.
Liège, and its city centre crossed by the construction of the tram
Too many of the properties in the city centre are for rental or sale: the house market is flooded, while inflation keeps ramping up. The conditions of their interiors are very scant, most often not ready to welcome any residents. Even when a renovation has been started, there is no certainty that it will be completed. The prices are still too high, making them unaffordable for many. Historical buildings, such as the gothic Sainte-Croix church (known in Liège as, collégiale¹) — closed in 2005, consequentially enlisted in the World Monuments Fund in 2013 as endangered monument, and under a 17.5M€ restoration since 2020 — share a similar destiny. Why even bother starting any works at all?
The city is a giant working site, crossed by the construction of the tram. The Conference of Mayors of the Liège Region and the Walloon Government jointly determined that the tramway is the chosen solution to meet the development needs of Liège Metropolitan Area. Despite the delays and the economic difficulties encountered since the opening of its chantier in 2018, the tram should serve twenty-three stations on its 19.1km route and be integrated into the existing network of bus transportation by the month of April 2024.
An intricate architecture of passageways allows pedestrians to get about. The local population excuses itself for the discomfort caused by the phantom tram, that aims to instill new life into the arteries of Liège. They ignore the fact that the fresh energy that they are looking for might spring exactly from the inner tensions of Liège as a periphery and on its own merits for being "the forgotten". As if an injection of public-private funds could make it into a new centre. The gigantic egos of the decision-makers directly reflect the corruption of this piece of public work.
Art au Centre and the Rue Vivegnis contemporary art community
Contemporary art projects manifest the strong desire of coming together as one, or simply imagining practices other than the diffused feeling of the government’s abandonment they are subject to. With the support of their owners, empty shops are used to showcase contemporary artworks, given that Liège has more than 1,000 empty commercial units out of a total of more than 5,000 businesses. This is how the initiative Art au Centre was born in October 2019, embracing the genius loci to the full. Another shop window to keep an eye on is the one of Les Drapiers, a gallery focused on textile arts, that gives insight into the work of an artist in residency over the summer months through IN VITRIN’. Similarly, Les Brasseurs proposes the VITRINE D’ÉTÉ, as well as the Vitrine Jeune Artiste throughout the rest of the year.
Espace 251 Nord has been around to experience the last forty years of Liège city life. It was founded as an artists’ association on the site of the administrative headquarters of a joint-venture company — comprising Bonne-Espérance, Batterie, Bonne-Fin and Violette S.A. — active in coal mining. La Comète, a former cinema of 600m2, functions as its extension in the context of big format exhibitions. To complete Espace 251 Nord’s ample corollary, ATELIER E2N Haecht boasts an extensive tradition of artistic residencies on the fourth floor of the former Brasserie Haech.
The SPACE is another local project worth mentioning. Made available by the public administration in 2011, the SPACE is housed in a flat that has retained its ‘60s style. As an intimate and convivial place for experimentation, it hosts events, symposia as well as individual and collective exhibitions. An additional space, the NEW SPACE, emerged in September 2020, being the latest contribution to the Rue Vivegnis contemporary art district. Saint Léonard neighbourhood is home to a past not only of coal mining but also gunsmiths, blacksmiths, asparagus production and vineyards. The old garage of the judicial police, repurposed into the NEW SPACE now, comes as a 500m2 space that is strategically situated — in front of Espace 251 Nord, and close by RAVI (Résidences - Atelier Vivegnis International), the CORRIDOR (venue devoted to performing arts), L’image sans nom (space dedicated to photography and print editions; on the premises of Klinkenberg plumbers), the Galerie L’inventaire, and Nadja Vilenne commercial art gallery (on the site of STAR bicycles factory).
The counterculture who continue to champion kindness in Liège
Decadence is no stranger to Liège. The city is notorious for heavy drug consumption and dealing (cocaine, heroin, crack), and connected homelessness. Liège has had a low-risk drug consumption room since 2018: the use of the room is increasing, so is drug use, attracting addicts from other cities and abroad. The disarming kindness of its people — in parallel with the persistent and omnipresent aroma of Belgian frites — prevails somehow. As time goes by, the old hippies will keep hanging their affiches, pulling their shopping carts, holding out a helping hand to others. While the decay remains palpable in this urban landscape, the local population does not surrender but is hopeful that better days will come for Liège.
¹ Collégiale: The city of Liège counts 7 collégiales, namely Saint-Pierre, Sainte-Croix, Saint-Paul, Saint-Heat, Saint-Denis, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy. They were established between the X and the XI centuries.