Willem Vermandere (born 9 February 1940 in Lauwe,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) is a Belgian singer, Flemish cabaret artist, writer, sculptor, guitarist and painter. His songs are written and sung in the dialect of the South of West-Flanders in Belgium. His most famous songs are ‘Klein ventje van Elverdinge’, ‘Lat mie maar lopen’, ‘Als ik zing’, ‘Blanche en zijn peird’, ‘Bange blankeman’, ‘Duizend soldaten’, ‘La Belle Rosselle’ and ‘Ik plantte ne keer patatten’.

Biography

Vermandere studied Religion at Ghent and has been a teacher at Nieuwpoort. Although he is most known for his music, Vermandere is more active as a sculptor. His repertoire expresses criticism on society. His performances are a mixture of seriousness, sadness and fun. His songs can be considered poetry. He performs as a band with Freddy Desmedt and Pol Depoorter. In 1993 Vermandere wrote the song "Bange Blanke Man" ("Frightened White Man"), a song criticizing

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

in a multicultural society. When performing at the

Grand-Place The (French language, French, ; "Grand Square"; also used in English) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ; "Big Market") is the central Town square, square of Brussels, Belgium. It is surrounded by opulent Baroque architecture, Baroque guildhalls of ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1992 Vermandere was physically assaulted by members of the far-right party

Vlaams Blok Vlaams Blok (, VB; ) was the name of a Belgian far-right and secessionist political party with an anti-immigration platform.Erk, 2005, pp. 493-502. Its ideologies embraced Flemish nationalism, calling for the independence of Flanders. The part ...

. He also received letters of threat. In 2000 he was bestowed with the title of honorary citizen of

Veurne Veurne (; , ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , ...

, where he currently lives in the suburb of Steenkerke. In 2009 the Flemish ‘Radio 2’ station nominated him as a member of the galley of honor for a life filled with music.

Discography

* Liedjes Van De Westhoek, 1968 * Langs De Schreve, 1969 * Willem Vermandere (album),1971 * Vier (album), 1973 * Met Mijn Simpel Lied, 1976 * Lat Mie Maar Lopen, 1981 * Als ik zing', 1984 * Willem Vermandere, 1988 * Ik wil maar zeggen, 1988 * De eerste jaren, 1989 * Lat mie maar lopen, 1991 * Een avond in Brussel, 1990 * Help mij, 1993 * Mijn Vlaanderland, 1995 * De vergeten liedjes, 1996 * In de donkerste dagen, 1997 * Onderweg, 1999 * Gezongen uit de ark, 2000 * De eerste jaren II, 2000 * Van Blanche tot Blankeman, 2000 * Omzwervingen - Liedjes zonder woorden, 2002 * Op den duur, 2003 * Master serie - Willem Vermandere, Het beste van, 2005 * Van soorten, 2005 * Altijd iemands vader, altijd iemands kind, 2006 * Alles gaat over, 2010 * De zanger & de muzikant Vincent Troch', 2012 * Den overkant & de meditaties, 2014 * 14-18 En wat nu?, 2015 * Confessies, 2020

Books

* Thuis en nog veel verder, 2000, Gent, Blobe, 224 pp. * Van Blanche tot Blankeman, 2007, Lannoo: 122 liedjesteksten * De zeven laatste woorden, 2013, Lannoo, 70 p.

Art

The sculpture ''Verzoening'', in English ''

Reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Books * Reconciliation (Under the North Star), ''Reconciliation'' (''Under the North Star''), the third volume of the ''Under the ...

'', was created by Willem Vermandere to commemorate

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was erected October 8, 2014 at the geographical starting point of the Western Front.

References

External links

* 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers Belgian folk singers Belgian political music artists Belgian male guitarists Belgian clarinetists Belgian male painters Belgian male sculptors 20th-century Belgian painters 21st-century Belgian sculptors 21st-century Belgian painters Belgian album-cover and concert-poster artists 1940 births Living people Dutch-language singers of Belgium 20th-century clarinetists 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers 21st-century clarinetists Belgian anti-racism activists {{Belgium-singer-stub