Willem Vermandere (born February 9, 1940 in Lauwe,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) 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 over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

in a multicultural society. When performing at the

Grand-Place The Grand-Place (French, ; "Grand Square"; also used in English) or Grote Markt (Dutch, ; "Big Market") is the central square of Brussels, Belgium. It is surrounded by opulent Baroque guildhalls of the former Guilds of Brussels and two larger ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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

Vlaams Blok ''Vlaams Blok'' ( en, Flemish Block, or 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 ...

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

Veurne Veurne (; french: Furnes, italic=no, ) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , , , , Houtem, , , Wulveringem, and . History Origins up ...

, 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 Sculpture * ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedra ...

'', was created by Willem Vermandere to commemorate

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

References

External links

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