Almost Summer: beBELGIAN-ization party / Anyuta Wiazemsky Snauwaert

What if becoming Belgian is a party? Anyuta and the ships of Kortrijk welcome you for a ceremony and festive waffle baking! They welcome new citizens and bring them together with other residents to celebrate a shared future. Everyone is welcome: new Belgians, always-been-Belgians, and everyone else, regardless of their nationality! Anyuta herself describes their path to Belgian citizenship as a marriage where only one partner was present to say ‘yes’. The total lack of ceremony, official welcome, or congratulations inspired her to develop a ritual for new Belgians. Becoming Belgian or welcoming new Belgians, what does that mean for a community? What kind of country do we want to be? What is nationality in a world that needs to be decolonized? Anyuta wants to contribute to this so that newcomers feel as welcome as Belgian citizens. And so their research began into what a welcome ritual – and perhaps one day a real national ceremony – could be. The goal of verBELGingsfeest is to introduce the concept of ‘hospitality’ within the state apparatus and thus reflect on our contemporary citizenship. Because, you don't eat a waffle alone, do you?