
Fire destroys stage at Belgian electro festival
There were no injuries, organisers said, insisting that they would still go ahead with the festival over the next two weekends.
Some 100,000 participants are expected in the town of Boom, some 16 kilometres south of the port city, with many planning to camp on site.
The festival's "DreamVille" campsite will open as planned on Thursday, organisers said.
Several dozen DJs and electronic music stars, such as David Guetta, Lost Frequencies, Armin Van Buuren, and Charlotte de Witte, are to perform from Friday for the first weekend, with two-thirds of the events split between the now destroyed "Main Stage" and the "Freedom Stage."
Several hundred firemen had toiled to save the stage. Antwerp prosecutors have opened an investigation, though they said the fire appeared accidental.
Founded 20 years ago by two Belgian brothers, Tomorrowland has become an internationally renowned brand. A winter festival is now held in the French ski resort of Alpe d'Huez and another in Brazil.
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The Star
12 hours ago
- The Star
Singapore photographer Lui Hock Seng, who had his first solo exhibition at 81, dies at 88
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His black-and-white photographs of the country, taken in the 1960s and 1970s, gained recognition in the past several years. His work recorded a Singapore that has long vanished, capturing images such as snake meat vendors in Chinatown, letter-writers for the illiterate and a boy drawing water from a well in a kampung. After a career as a mechanic, Lui worked as a cleaner. From 2012, he was employed at Singapore Press Holdings (now known as SPH Media), where his talent in photography was discovered. He left his job based at the local media company, which publishes The Straits Times, after he got cancer. Singaporean photographer Lui Hock Seng found acclaim and public recognition with his first solo photography exhibition when he was 81. - Photo: Ryan Chua An ST article profiling him in 2016 prompted two strangers who admired his work to come together to gain a wider audience for Lui. 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Later that year, then Prime Minister Lee shared a BBC video of Lui in a Facebook post, saying it was clear that his passion for photography had not diminished, but grown stronger as he got older. He described Lui as 'a brilliant example of active ageing'. Objectifs has represented Lui's work since their first encounter and Chua told ST that he developed a friendship with Lui. Chua said: 'When I first saw his work, I was really impressed. I was like, wow, what a treasure trove. He is such a talented person and his work is very artistic – the composition, light and shadows are beautiful. I thought, how come nobody knows about him? 'He preserved a piece of history that the younger generation have not seen, and may not know about. For the older generation, it probably evoked the good old times.' Chua placed Lui in the tradition of salon photography. Salons, held around the world, are competitions in which photographers submit their best images to be judged and critiqued by experts. Lui picked up awards in several photography competitions over the years, and was accepted as an Associate of The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain in 1963. In 2016, he won third prize in the colour category in the Kampong Glam Community Club photography competition. Chua says Lui's work was also influenced by pictorialism, an international movement that dominated photography in the early 20th century. It generally refers to a style in which the photographer creates an aesthetic image, rather than documenting an otherwise straightforward photo. Chua said: 'He was very kind and down to earth, and so approachable and friendly. He was generous as well. When we passed him the earnings from sales of his work, he donated some money to us as a way of giving back.' Objectifs is a registered charity with Institution of a Public Character status. Chua said he was impressed by Lui's resilience, from training his left eye after suffering partial vision loss to having cancer to the death of his wife in recent years. In an accident at work when Lui was in his 40s, a metal splinter struck his right eye while he was repairing a car. He simply put his left eye to the camera instead. Chua said: 'Even though life had been difficult, he was always positive.' Lui became interested in photography as a teenager in the 1950s. A friend introduced him to the South-east Asia Photographic Society, where he honed his skills after becoming a member for a few years. The son of a tailor and a housewife, he spent decades working as a mechanic, his first job out of school. The third of six children, he could not afford a camera and could not pursue his interest until his eldest brother bought him a German-made Rolleiflex in his youth. In Lui's old age, he kept up with the times, using a digital camera and occasionally experimenting with Photoshop. When he was younger, he took on freelance photography jobs, taking pictures at weddings, dinners and funerals. He stopped at the age of 60 when he found the work too tiring. He told ST previously that he did not think he could make a living as a full-time photographer as he felt he would not have a stable income. Looi remembers his father as kind, humble, hardworking, soft-spoken and gentle. He said: 'He never showed off. He would just smile and say thank you when others commented on his work. He said, when you're kind to people, people will be kind to you in return.' While there were other small-scale showcases of Lui's work afterwards, Lui was glad that he got the chance to show the public his work through his first solo exhibition. Looi said: 'He told me he was very happy that his wish had come true.' - The Straits Times/ANN


The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Three-Michelin-star Paris restaurant Arpege switches to plant-based dishes
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Hype Malaysia
2 days ago
- Hype Malaysia
Maje's Qixi 2025 Capsule Collection Marries French Flair With Eastern Romance
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