Borinage
Encyclopedia
The Borinage is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut. The provincial capital Mons
is located in the east of the Borinage. In French the inhabitants are called Borains. But there was a great sociological difference between Mons
and the Borains of all the villages around Mons.
Charles White wrote for the Belgian revolution: The Borains, like the dark spirits of the melo-drame, rose from their mines, and helter-skelter pushed upon the capital But he was using this name for all the inhabitants in the Province of Hainaut which is an error.
. Between 1822 and 1829, production more than doubled in that region i.e. from 602.000 to 1.260.000 tons. That was more than the total production of France and Germany at the time! The Borinage exported its coal mostly to France and Flanders...
In 1957 out of 64,800 people recorded as being in employment in the Borinage 23,000 worked in the coal industry. Only 7,000 people in services, although in Belgium
as a whole 49 per cent of employment was in tertiary sector.
In the 1960s, because of the end of the collieries, Ladrière, Meynaud and Perin wrote that the Borinage died on the ideological and the economical plan
spent several years living there, ca. 1878-1880. First he preached to and lived with the coal miners. Then he had a breakdown and decided to become an artist, while living there. His first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters
(Oil on Canvas, 1885), of Dutch land peasants, was indirectly inspired by the bad conditions for miners and families in the Borinage, but was not painted there.
Dutch-born Belgian painter Henry Luyten
resided in the Borinage during 1886 and 1887. He witnessed the great strike and its bloody suppression. In response, he painted the triptych "The Strike" on which he worked until 1893. The painting (international title: "Struggle for Life") measures 3 to 5 meters. The painting on the right-hand panel (3 by 2 ½ meters) is called "After the uprising" and the left-hand panel is called "Misery".
This region was emblematic of the whole Sillon industriel
in Wallonia and of the Belgian general strikes
which often broke out in the Borinage. For instance the Belgian general strike of 1893
was initiated by the Borains according Marcel Liebman
The area is best known for its former coalmining industry. The living conditions of the miners were featured in the famous documentary film
Misère au Borinage
(1933) made by Henri Storck
and Joris Ivens
. It is one of the most important references in the documentary genre. In 1932, a great strike paralysed the coalmines of Wallonia and the response of employers and the police had been merciless. Throughout it all the broader population was ill-informed and largely indifferent. André Thirifays, Pierre Vermeylen and all the indignant young people involved in the Club de l'écran, decided to bear witness to this dire poverty using their weapon, the camera. With the aid of a doctor and a lawyer, with very little funding, hiding from the police but supported by the whole population, the shoot took place in difficult and exciting conditions. The film is hard, magnificent. It has lost nothing of its force, its strong emotional impact of indignation and compassion. It has left to the working class the strongest images of its history and struggles: evictions;thin-faced and absent-looking children packed together in slum houses; the procession with the portrait of Karl Marx
; the collecting of low grade coal on the slagheaps at dawn; the begging miner etc. There is also the shock of images placed side by side: houses standing empty while homeless people sleep in the street, near-famine conditions with no aid, whereas big sums of money go to construct a church...
, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of Wallonia's population.
Since the last mines closed in the 1960s the Borinage has had the highest unemployment ratio of Belgium.
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has its major Europe
an datacenter in Saint-Ghislain
.
The listed mine complex of Grand Hornu
is a witness of the region's history. It is also the most important museum of Contemporary art
in Wallonia.
In Frameries
there is a Scientific adventures parc around the Crachet's reconstructed Pit head frame.
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
is located in the east of the Borinage. In French the inhabitants are called Borains. But there was a great sociological difference between Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
and the Borains of all the villages around Mons.
Charles White wrote for the Belgian revolution: The Borains, like the dark spirits of the melo-drame, rose from their mines, and helter-skelter pushed upon the capital But he was using this name for all the inhabitants in the Province of Hainaut which is an error.
Only coal-mining in the beginning and in the end
From the 18th century to 1850, the economy of thirty municipalities in the Borinage was founded on coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
. Between 1822 and 1829, production more than doubled in that region i.e. from 602.000 to 1.260.000 tons. That was more than the total production of France and Germany at the time! The Borinage exported its coal mostly to France and Flanders...
In 1957 out of 64,800 people recorded as being in employment in the Borinage 23,000 worked in the coal industry. Only 7,000 people in services, although in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
as a whole 49 per cent of employment was in tertiary sector.
In the 1960s, because of the end of the collieries, Ladrière, Meynaud and Perin wrote that the Borinage died on the ideological and the economical plan
Belgian general strikes
In his mid-twenties, the Dutch painter Vincent Van GoghVincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
spent several years living there, ca. 1878-1880. First he preached to and lived with the coal miners. Then he had a breakdown and decided to become an artist, while living there. His first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters
The Potato Eaters
The Potato Eaters is a painting by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh which he painted in April 1885 while in Nuenen, Netherlands. It is housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam...
(Oil on Canvas, 1885), of Dutch land peasants, was indirectly inspired by the bad conditions for miners and families in the Borinage, but was not painted there.
Dutch-born Belgian painter Henry Luyten
Henry Luyten
Henry Luyten was a Dutch-born Belgian painter.-Biography:Hendrik Luyten was born in Roermond, the Netherlands as the son of Francis Hubert Luyten and Johanna Hendrica de Bee . He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium from 1878...
resided in the Borinage during 1886 and 1887. He witnessed the great strike and its bloody suppression. In response, he painted the triptych "The Strike" on which he worked until 1893. The painting (international title: "Struggle for Life") measures 3 to 5 meters. The painting on the right-hand panel (3 by 2 ½ meters) is called "After the uprising" and the left-hand panel is called "Misery".
This region was emblematic of the whole Sillon industriel
Sillon industriel
The sillon industriel is the former industrial backbone of Wallonia and thus of Belgium. It runs across Wallonia, passing from Dour, in Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, through Mons, La Louvière, Charleroi, Namur, Huy, and Liège, following the valleys of the rivers Haine, Sambre,...
in Wallonia and of the Belgian general strikes
Belgian general strikes
The Belgian general strikes were a peculiar phenomenon of the social, economical and political life in Belgium due to huge concentrations of workers in the Belgian Cities as Ghent, Antwerp, mainly in Wallonia, in Charleroi and Liège but also in other places in the Walloon Sillon industriel, e.g....
which often broke out in the Borinage. For instance the Belgian general strike of 1893
Belgian general strike of 1893
The Belgian general strike of 1893 was ordered by the General Board of the Belgian Labour Party after the Belgian Parliament rejected the Law Proposal on universal suffrage....
was initiated by the Borains according Marcel Liebman
Marcel Liebman
Marcel Liebman was a Belgian Marxist historian of political sociology and theory, active at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.- Biography :...
Misère au Borinage
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Misère au Borinage
Misère au Borinage
Misère au Borinage is a 1933 Belgian documentary film directed by Henri Storck and Joris Ivens.The film opens with these words: Crisis in the Capitalist World. Factories are closed down, abandoned...
(1933) made by Henri Storck
Henri Storck
Henri Storck was a Belgian author, film-maker and documentarist.In 1933, he directed, with Joris Ivens, Misère au Borinage, a film about the miners in the Borinage area. In 1938, with Andre Thirifays and Pierre Vermeylen, he founded the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique...
and Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...
. It is one of the most important references in the documentary genre. In 1932, a great strike paralysed the coalmines of Wallonia and the response of employers and the police had been merciless. Throughout it all the broader population was ill-informed and largely indifferent. André Thirifays, Pierre Vermeylen and all the indignant young people involved in the Club de l'écran, decided to bear witness to this dire poverty using their weapon, the camera. With the aid of a doctor and a lawyer, with very little funding, hiding from the police but supported by the whole population, the shoot took place in difficult and exciting conditions. The film is hard, magnificent. It has lost nothing of its force, its strong emotional impact of indignation and compassion. It has left to the working class the strongest images of its history and struggles: evictions;thin-faced and absent-looking children packed together in slum houses; the procession with the portrait of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
; the collecting of low grade coal on the slagheaps at dawn; the begging miner etc. There is also the shock of images placed side by side: houses standing empty while homeless people sleep in the street, near-famine conditions with no aid, whereas big sums of money go to construct a church...
Present day Borinage
Borinage is often considered the western end of the sillon industrielSillon industriel
The sillon industriel is the former industrial backbone of Wallonia and thus of Belgium. It runs across Wallonia, passing from Dour, in Borinage, in the west, to Verviers in the east, through Mons, La Louvière, Charleroi, Namur, Huy, and Liège, following the valleys of the rivers Haine, Sambre,...
, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of Wallonia's population.
Since the last mines closed in the 1960s the Borinage has had the highest unemployment ratio of Belgium.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
has its major Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an datacenter in Saint-Ghislain
Saint-Ghislain
Saint-Ghislain is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 22,466 inhabitants. The total area is 70.18 km², giving a population density of 320 inhabitants per km²....
.
The listed mine complex of Grand Hornu
Grand Hornu
Grand-Hornu is an old industrial mining complex in Hornu in the municipality of Boussu, Belgium. It was built by Henri De Gorge between 1810 and 1830. It is a unique example of functional town-planning. Today it is owned by the province of Hainaut, which houses temporary exhibitions in the...
is a witness of the region's history. It is also the most important museum of Contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
in Wallonia.
In Frameries
Frameries
Frameries is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On June 21st 2011 Frameries had a total population of about 20,652...
there is a Scientific adventures parc around the Crachet's reconstructed Pit head frame.