Belgian culture respects cultural specificities of the main cultural groups: the Flemings (Flemish people from Flanders) and the French speaking Valons (from Brussels and Wallonia.).
Some of the most impressive museums in Belgium are The Royal Museum for Fine Arts, in Antwerp, which has an admirable collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens, the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, with the Flemish Primitives, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, which has a cinema, a concert hall, and artworks of many periods, including a large René Magritte collection.
| Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium - source |
Furthermore, the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, a world heritage site, is the complete factory of the largest publishing house of the seventeenth century.
Belgian literature as such does not exist. Flemish share their authors with the Dutch (see Dutch literature, Flemish literature), and French-speakers with the French (see French literature), which tend to confuse people on Belgian authors’, several great French authors went to Belgium for refuge (e.g. Apollinaire, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine) and conversely, top French-speaking writers often settle in Paris (e.g. Simenon, Amélie Nothomb). It is also sometimes difficult to cast Belgian authors into the French or Flemish category because many Flemish authors have written in French (e.g. Suzanne Lilar) and spent a large part of their lifes outside of Flanders or of Belgium (e.g. Emile Verhaeren or Maurice Maeterlinck). The confusion is also enhanced by the fact that many French-speaking individuals are coming from originally Dutch-speaking families (particularly in Brussels, e.g. Jacques Brel). There have also been writers in the Walloon language, such as Nicolas Defrecheux and Edouard Remouchamps.
Belgium has produced several well-known authors such as poets: Guido Gezelle (1830-1899), Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916), Max Elskamp (1862-1931), Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949), Paul van Ostaijen (1896-1926), Henri Michaux (French born and educated in Belgium, 1899-1984) and Jacques Brel (1929–1978) and writers: Hendrik Conscience (1812-1883), Charles de Coster (1827-1879), Willem Elsschot (1882-1960), Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962), Georges Simenon 1903-1989, Louis Paul Boon (1912-1979), Hugo Claus ( 1929 -2008 ), Pierre Mertens (born in 1939) Ernest Claes (1885 - 1968), and, Amélie Nothomb (born in 1967).
| Gezelle Guido - source |
Belgium has numerous well-known cartoonists, such as Hergé (The Adventures of Tintin), Peyo (The Smurfs), Franquin (Spirou et Fantasio, Marsupilami, Gaston), Willy Vandersteen (Spike and Suzy), Morris (Lucky Luke), Edgar P. Jacobs (Blake and Mortimer), Jef Nys (Jommeke) and Marc Sleen (Nero). More recently, Jean Van Hamme (XIII, Largo Winch, Thorgal, etc.), Raoul Cauvin (Les Tuniques Bleues, Agent 212), François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters (Les Cités Obscures) are among the most read cartoonists.
Belgium is home to some of the most important European comics magazines and publishers, with Dupuis (Spirou magazine), Le Lombard (Tintin magazine) and Casterman.
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| The Adventures of Tintin - source |
Many important classical composers were born in Belgium. The most famous is undoubtedly César Franck but Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe, Guillaume Lekeu and Wim Mertens are also noteworthy. Many great Medieval and Renaissance composers, such as Gilles Binchois, Orlande de Lassus, Guillaume Dufay, Heinrich Isaac and Jacob Obrecht came from the area which is now Belgium. Well-known singers include pioneer Bobbejaan Schoepen, Jacques Brel, Johnny Hallyday, Arno, and Maurane.
Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born in Belgium. The country has also a very active jazz scene that is achieving international recognition with bands like Aka Moon, Maak’s Spirit and Octurn. Harmonicist Toots Thielemans and guitarist Philip Catherine are probably the best known Belgian jazz musicians.
Hooverphonic, formed in the mid-1990s, is a Belgian pop / trip hop band that achieved international recognition through their inclusion on the soundtrack Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1996 film Io Ballo da Sola (English: Stealing Beauty). Other popular Belgian pop music comes from Axelle Red, Vaya Con Dios, Kate Ryan and K’s Choice.
Belgium has also influenced electronic music with a.o. Front 242, Praga Khan (also known as Lords of Acid) and 2 Many DJ’s, and rock music with dEUS.
Belgian hip-hop started with the rise of Starflam, CNN (a Brussels-based crew) and ’t Hof van Commerce in the mid 1990s.